Did you know that one of Yeronga’s grandest heritage-listed houses, Rhyndarra, used to be a Salvation Army home for orphaned and wayward girls back in the 1900s?
Built from 1888-1938 by architect Andrea Stombuco, the looming two-storey brick mansion along Riverview Place at Yeronga was more than just a residence. Rhyndarra marked its role in Yeronga’s history when it served as a home for the Yeronga Girls’ Industrial School under the administration of the Salvation Army back in the early 1900s, and as a military hospital and training ground during the World War II and the Cold War.
In 1907, when owner William Williams was declared insolvent, the non-profit life insurance company AMP Society facilitated the sale of the residential Rhyndarra. It was then passed on to William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.
Booth opened Rhyndarra’s doors to girls who were orphaned, or who were deemed during those times to be “of questionable character.” He continued his campaign with the Salvos to help the poor and destitute, by establishing such homes.
The girls staying at Rhyndarra were taught household work and other similar domestic services until they were ready to leave the orphanage to seek employment.
The older girls, on the other hand, were tasked to look after the younger girls, and had the privilege of attending state schools within nearby suburbs.
School and Residence
Rhyndarra itself was restructured in a way to suit the lifestyle of its occupants, both as a school and as a residence. Rooms were combined and converted into a dormitory to accommodate the greater number of its occupants. The stable was used as a schoolroom for teaching the younger girls.
Perhaps the biggest change to Rhyndarra was a two-storey building extension at the back of the house that was constructed and funded by the government, and was used for recreation.
The number of occupants at Rhyndarra shifted along with the changing times as the institution continued to take in orphaned girls relinquished by parents who were in poverty, who were difficult to handle, or who ran away from home.
The economic depression increased Rhyndarra’s occupants in the 1930s, with girls ranging from babies to teenagers taken in by the institution.
Military Post and Hospital Accommodation
The Salvation Army continued its operation of the Yeronga Girls’ Industrial School until it was claimed by the Australian Army in 1942, and became a a training ground for the Australian Women’s Army Service (AAMWS). The girls and the rest of the occupants of the school had then been transferred to other institutions outside of Brisbane.
At the same year, a military hospital was put up for the Australian servicewomen on the grounds, and the rooms and halls of Rhyndarra accommodated the officers. In 1943-1944, the Australian Women’s Hospital at Yeronga, known as the 2 Women’s Hospital, was built northeast of Rhyndarra.
When the war ended, the AAMWS was demobilised, and the 2 Women’s Hospital was taken over by the Department of Social Services and was used as a rehabilitation center. However, because of the housing shortage, Rhyndarra was given to the Queensland Housing Commission within the late 1940s to early 1950s to temporarily accommodate homeless people.
During the Cold War in the 1950s, Rhyndarra was once again used as a training and command post, as well as a hospital for the recruits and trainees. Called as the National Service Training Hospital in 1951, it was renamed in the 1960s as 1 Camp Hospital, then later on as 1 Military Hospital in the 1970s. The hospital’s operation continued until the mid 1990s, when it was decommissioned in June 1996.
Today, Rhyndarra still proudly stands and is listed as one of the heritage sites in Yeronga, because of the significant part it played in Australia’s history.
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