Anzac Hostel Brighton (Kamesburgh Mansion)
74-104 North Road BRIGHTON, BAYSIDE CITY
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Statement of Significance
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Veterans Description for Public
Anzac Hostel Brighton (Kamesburgh Mansion) - Veterans Description for Public
The Anzac Hostel Brighton (Kamesburgh Mansion), at 74-104 North Road Brighton, is a large two storey, rendered brick Italianate mansion set in an extensive formal garden. Kamesburgh was built in 1874 for businessman William Kerr Thomson by builder David Mitchell to the design of architect Lloyd Tayler. The property remained a domestic dwelling until the ownership of the prominent pastoralist, financier and politician Duncan McBryde.
In 1918, negotiations with the Repatriation Department led to purchase from McBryde by the well-known Melbourne businessmen and philanthropists, the Baillieu brothers. The Baillieu brothers bought the property for £25000, gifting it as a rehabilitation centre for severely incapacitated ex-servicemen who required constant observation and nursing care, though not hospital treatment. The donation was the largest Australian philanthropic gift for veterans of the First World War and was later formalised in the Repatriation Fund (Baillieu Gift) Act of 1937. The Baillieu brothers in agreeing to this purchase desired that when the purpose for which the hostel had been acquired had been fully served, the hostel should be realised and the proceeds applied to provide university scholarships tenable by lineal descendents of ex-servicemen who were deceased or totally and permanently incapacitated as a result of war service. The Kamesburgh mansion was renamed Anzac Hostel and formally opened on 5th July 1919 by Sir Arthur Stanley, Governor of Victoria.
In this period the building was converted with the addition of a lift and an enlargement of the service wings and the administration of the building handed to the Red Cross.When it first opened the Hostel had twenty-five beds and seven nurses on staff. The Repatriation Department also constructed an occupational therapy building (the day centre) and a mortuary. The Anzac Hostel continued to provide care for disabled servicemen from 1919 until 30th June 1995 when the house was converted for use as a school. However a new Anzac Hostel was built on the grounds and opened 27th July, 1998.
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ST JAMES CHURCH AND PRESBYTERYVictorian Heritage Register H0748
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KAMESBURGHVictorian Heritage Register H1186
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SECCULL HOUSEVictorian Heritage Register H2406
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