The next files are now released: “3600 individual new entries”
File 37 and 38 – from 30th January 1916 to 27 August 1919
The Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital, told us some 17 years ago, that all of the original patient admission registers from the very first days of the Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital were still stored in their records storage area above the laundry We asked the hospital if we could view the records and when permission was granted, we realised what an invaluable source of family and local history they were. The amount of detail in the earlier records was just amazing.
As sickness and accidents show no favourites, the records, we knew, were a unique cross-section of the population of the town at any given time. As the years progressed, you could see the effects of the advent of the water pipeline in 1903 and the difference it made to the admissions for conditions such as Dysentery and Typhoid.
The next thing to be done was to make an application to the Dept of Health for permission to access these records and make them available to family and local historians. We emphasised the importance of these records to Goldfield’s history and requested permission to photocopy them and in time index them so they were available to all.
After some months the Department granted us permission to photocopy the records in full but only up to 1945 (due to privacy laws). The only downside was, that it had to be done on-site, and no ledgers (each folded out to a double A3) were allowed to leave the building. So a huge photocopier was lugged up three flights of stairs along with a large supply of A3 paper, and we set to work with the first book. Each single record spanned over 2 x A3 paper. It took 6 years to complete the project and this is the result (see image above), 32 x A3 Lever arch files. This was only the copying and it took several years more to transcribe the first books into an index. (Sadly one file is missing, No 40)
Over the years I have been most fortunate in the assistance of various volunteers who have helped transcribe these records so they could be digitised into a searchable index and make them available to all. I would like to thank each and everyone who has helped, in particular Michelle.
Each time a new set of files is released we get a huge number of enquiries, which is wonderful, but if you do lodge a request, patience may be required for a reply, but each and every one will be answered I promise. There is no fee or charge for this service.
The following sample entries from File 37 will give you some idea of the type of information included:
GRAY Violet – address: 14 North Tce, Boulder, Contact: can leave a message to Boulder Phone Exchange for parents – Age: 2yrs 3mths – Cause: Gonorrhoea – Admitted: 24 Oct 1917 at 12:30pm – Discharged: 21 Nov 1917 at 2pm – Condition: Relived – 28 days – unable to pay.
ROBINSON Ray – address: Military Barracks Fremantle – Contact: Mother-in-law Mrs T McCarty, 60 Lewis St, Kalgoorlie – 30yrs – Married – Occ: Military – Cause: Cut head and other wounds – Admitted 30 Oct 1917 at 11:15pm – Discharged: 4 Nov 1917 at 12pm – Condition: relived.
SHARMAN Sylvia/Sybil – address: Laughton Lodge, Porter St, Kalgoorlie – Contact: No friends or relatives in WA – 42yrs – Single – Occ: Invalid Pensioner – Cause: Insanity – Admitted: 3 Nov 1917 at 12pm – Discharged: 12 Nov 1917 at 4:30pm – Condition: unrelieved – transferred to ‘Home for the Insane’ Claremont.
TRUSCOTT Edward – address: Union Club Hotel, Boulder – Contact: Friend Joseph Allen at the same address – 58yrs – Married – Occ: Engine Driver – Cause: Delirium Tremis – Admitted 12 Dec 1917 at 12:30am – Died: 14 Dec 1917 11:55am.
TUPPER Ada – address: 11 North Tce, Boulder – Contact: Phone Boulder 166 for message – 12yrs – Cause: Scarlett Fever – Admitted: 22 Dec 1917 at 4:40pm – Discharged: 31 Jan 1918 at 2pm, Condition relived – 40 days.
WINZER Alfred Keith – address: White St, South Kalgoorlie – Phone: Davidson’s Pickle Factory for a message – Cause: Multiple Sclerosis – Admitted 28 Dec 1917 at 2:30pm – Discharged 29 Jan 1918 at 2pm – Condition relived – 132 days.
BURMAN Roland – Address: C/- Boulder Water Supply – Contact: wife at 68 Rose St, Sydney, NSW – 59yrs – Married – Occ: Stockman – Cause: operation for carcinoma of the stomach – Admitted 1 Mar 1918 at 11:20am – Died 2 Mar 1918 – Immediate cause of death: Shock.
At the end of each entry is a ‘Remarks’ column. This is where details of ‘Next of Kin’ or even a friend’s address are. This is so that payment for the stay in the hospital could be recovered. It also shows that many of the married men had left their wives back in the Eastern States or in Perth. The full record may have the following information. Some are very detailed and others very brief. I think it depends on who was keeping the records at the time.
Surname – First name – Marital Status – Age- Religion – Disease/Cause – Date of Admission – Date of Discharge – Date of death – number of days in the hospital – Occupation – State when discharged – Next of kin – and remarks – ability to pay.
A transcript for the full entry for any person on the list can be requested by email: research@outbackfamilyhistory.com.au
This next file may be viewed at – File 37-38 Jan 1916 to Aug 1919
If you cannot find your relative, they could have been in the St John of God Hospital or one of the many private hospitals or even died at home. The previous Kalgoorlie Hospital records from 1894 can be viewed at – Kalgoorlie Hospital Records
Kalgoorlie Hospital Ward 1910 – Photo SLWA
The Tremendous Years of the KRH 1894-1986
by Elva Breeze – published by Anne Petz –
For those of you who may be interested, there is an excellent book on the history of the hospital and staff up to 1986. It is available from your local library and from The EG Historical Soc.
The Tremendous Years of KRH 1894-1986 by Elva Breeze
Moya Sharp
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Thank you do much for doing this.
I may now find out a little more about my Grandfather who died in the Kalgoorlie hospital in 1935.
The information about the Kalgoorlie records is tremendous. Many thanks to all involved with this work. A valuable source of information for researchers.
Wow what an amazing job you have all done. Many thanks and much appreciation no doubt from many families.
Margaret
What an excellent job you are doing. Not only with these hospital records (a monumental effort) but with all the other historic reports. I really enjoy reading your Outback Family History. Have you any records from the 1950s & 60s ?