Roseneath Hospital For Wounded Returned Soldiers

WWI began in 1914 but by a few months into 1915 it was realised that existing Tasmanian hospitals were not going to cope with the growing number of casualties returning from the Front. The opening of a hospital at Austin’s Ferry was believed to provide part of the answer. Roseneath Hospital, operated by the Red Cross, was opened in August 1915 and operated until March 1919. Though official records have long been lost, newspapers of the time tell about the hospital, its staff and some of the hundreds of wounded returned soldier patients. Although Roseneath House, the site of the hospital, was destroyed in the bushfires of 1967, visitors to nearby Historic Austin’s Cottage (C.1813) can learn the history of Roseneath Hospital and the story of some of its patients through photographic and documented displays. This exhibition is open every Sunday during May