Sunday 21 October 2012

The Lying-In Hospital

William Burkey Hannam and Ellen McGregor married in Melbourne in April 1859. Their first son William was born in March 1859, information that I had gathered from other family researchers and the Victorian Pioneer Index of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Today I decided to buy his birth certificate. The great thing about the Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria is the instant gratification of being able to download the certificate the moment you have paid for it.


The blank in the marriage column was no surprise, but for the other births on this page, not only do you get the marriage year and place but also the number of other children the couple had previously (living and dead).

Of more interest was where Ellen was when she gave birth - the Lying in Hospital, Melbourne. The use of Lying in Hospitals seems to run in the Hannam family. William's aunt Ann Hannam was born in the Lying in Hospital in Holborn, London in 1788 (daughter of Vincent and Philidelphia Hannam).

I googled to try and find out more about the hospital. It opened in 1856 to provide medical care for under privileged women and after two years it moved to a purpose built building in Carlton, North Melbourne, opening on 22 October 1858. So when Ellen gave birth as a single mother in March 1859 the hospital was still really new. 




This photo is from the history section of "The Women's, Victoria"

Following on from this was the best find of the day... that Midwifery Record Book No. 1, from Aug 19th 1856 to Mar 15th 1879 with images available online. There is also an index to these records put together by volunteers.




So I now know that my great great great grandmother, Ellen McGregor was in labour for 10 hours before giving birth to my great great grandfather, William McGregor Hannam, who was 8lbs and 21 inches long. 

The informant on William's birth certificate was the house surgeon, Mr James Barnett who had been appointed in 1859 at a salary of £200 per annum. Later in the year the hospital became the first in Australia to train nurses and midwives.

It seems to me that in this case being poor certainly had its advantages. 



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