| Title | View of Mount Morgan and the Dee River from the hospital ca.1910 |
| Description | The photograph is an early 20th century view of the gold mining town of Mount Morgan from the town’s original hospital, the General, opened in 1890. The Dee River is pictured flowing under two bridges (which no longer exist). The bridge closest to the hospital, a trestle bridge, was called East Street Bridge. The name of the other bridge is unknown to this author. The Dee River, which stems from the Fitzroy River, was a key source of water for the hospital. Watermills along the bank of the river pumped water up to the hospital on Hospital Hill. The daily management of water was one of the miscellaneous duties of the hospital’s Dispenser until 1910 when the yardman took over the role (The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld.: 1875-1929), 5 March 1910). The Dispenser, George Howard, a long-term member of staff at the hospital, would have performed this function. (He appears in the 1896 and 1905 Mount Morgan Hospital photographs on our website’s ‘People Collection’). The former Royal Hotel (front left) in Dee Street supplied a different kind of liquid to the town. On the centre awning of the hotel, the name, ‘S. Nash’, is written. This seemingly insignificant detail assists in dating the photograph. Charles Nash acquired the hotel licence in 1905. His licence was transferred to his widow, Sarah Nash (aka Mrs Charles Nash), in 1906, and she held the licence until early 1910. The licence dates suggest the photograph was taken between 1906 and 1910. [Description prepared by Catherine McIntosh, great-granddaughter of Thomas Upsell Stubbs (1868 - 1954), original furnace worker at the Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company Limited and foundation member of the Mount Morgan Brass Band in the 1880s, and great-granddaughter of Lillian Elizabeth Stubbs (née Ryder), who passed away from pneumonia at Mount Morgan's first hospital in 1915 (aged 46). This would have been the last view of the town that she saw.]” |
| Publisher | Australian Country Hospital Heritage Association Inc. |
| Source (Original) | Photograph by Jens Hansen Lundager (1853-1930) ca. 1911 (State Library of Queensland Image 37649) |
| Format of Original | photographic image: b&w 25.4 cm x 16.1 cm; scan .tif 6000 x 3808 pixels |
| Rights | This image is provided for the purpose of private study and research and must not be reproduced without the permission of the Australian Country Hospital Heritage Association Inc. |
