Annie Elsie HOCQUARD - Staff Nurse
Annie was born on 18th August, 1886 in Ballina, NSW. Her father, John HOCQUARD was a boat captain, and her mother was Sarah Ann NEWBERRY. She attended Cooks Hill Superior Public School and then she trained as a Nurse at Newcastle Hospital, passing her exams for the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association in 1913[1]. She nominated her mother, who was living at "Au Revoir", Carlisle Street, Stockton (119 Mitchell St), NSW as her next of kin.
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| Annie Hocquard (in uniform) with one of her brothers, her mother and her sister Vera (Genevieve) standing outside their house, Au Revoir, in Carlisle Street, Stockton (119 Mitchell St) Photo courtesy of Barrie Bertram. |
She enlisted on the 29th September, 1916, joining the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) as a Staff Nurse[2]. She embarked from Sydney, NSW, on board HMAT A38 Ulysses on the 9th May, 1917 for England, where they arrived on 29th July, 1917. She was assigned to the Croydon War Hospital in August, 1917 and then moved to the 2nd Australian Auxiliary Hospital (2AAH) at Southall which specialised in the fitting of artificial limbs. While serving her she was struck down with influenza but recovered quickly and was transferred to the 3rd Australian Auxiliary Hospitals (3AAH) at Dartford, which specialised in the treatment of war-related nervous disorders. She was then ordered overseas in September 1918 relocating to the 3rd Australian General Hospital (3AGH) at Abbeville, France[3]. This was a tent hospital, located close to the battlefields of the Somme. She returned to Australia on the HS Karoola on 6th May 1919, her sister, Nurse Genevieve Nimmo HOCQUARD was on the same voyage. For both nurses, it was a working voyage as they accompanied 400 wounded soldiers on the transport ship[4].
By 1922 she is working as a nurse locally in Stockton[5], however, there is no mention of an associated hospital. The address in the advertisement appears to be the family home in Carlisle/Mitchell St.
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“Advertising,” Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate,
February 11, 1922, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140992479. |
Genevieve Nimmo HOCQUARD - Staff Nurse
Genevieve Nimmo HOCQUARD, also known as Vera, was born in 1890 in Lismore, NSW. Her father, John HOCQUARD was a boat captain, and her mother was Sarah Ann NEWBERRY. She trained as a Nurse at Maitland Hospital. She passed her exams for the Australasian Trained Nurses’ Association while working there in 1916[6] and continued to work until her enlistment. She nominated her mother, who was living at Carlisle Street, Stockton, NSW as her next of kin. She is also referred to as Vera or May in some records.
She enlisted on 11 May 1917 into the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). Her embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board RMS Mooltan on 9 June 1917 headed for a stop at Egypt, and then onto Salonika. After her first year there, she was struck down with a case of dysentery, with which she was seriously ill for over a month[7]. She remained in Salonika until March 1919, having served at the 42nd, 43rd and 50th General Hospital[8] where she nursed a variety of non-Australian troops and civilians. She was then ordered to report to AIF Headquarters in London. She remained in England for only a couple of months before returning to Australia on the HS Karoola on 6th May 1919. Her sister, Nurse Annie Elsie HOCQUARD was also on the same voyage[9]. She was discharged on 28th June, 1919. On her return to Australia she was honoured at several receptions in both Maitland and Stockton.
Once back in Australia it appears she returned to Maitland, where between 1922 and 1923 she was part of a group of nurses associated with the Maitland Trained Nurses Association[10].
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| “Advertising,” Sydney Stock and Station Journal, March 17, 1922, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125383734. |
St. Helier Private Hospital
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"Advertising -
Thanks" The Newcastle Sun 16 February 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163221746. [11] |
In June 1924 St. Helier Private Hospital is advertised as operating under the auspices of Annie Elsie HOCQUARD and Genevieve Nimmo HOCQUARD[12]. The advertising for their hospital highlights their service as both trained nurses, and an as recent members of the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) during the First World War.
The name of the hospital appears to have been an homage to the birthplace of their father in the main city of the Channel Island of Jersey, St. Helier.
The hospital was located on the right-side of Dunbar Street, between Monmouth and Hereford streets[13]. Annie was listed as the licensee in the Register of Private Hospitals, NSW 1910-1928[14].
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| "Advertising – Professional
Notices" Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 11 June 1924 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137640022 [15] |
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| "Family Notices" Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners'
Advocate 6 September 1924, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137780019 [16] |
Other than a number of notices of thanks related to births, illnesses and deaths to the Hocquards and their hospital, we know very little about where the hospital operated or any events associated with it.
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| Advertising, The Stockton Times, 12 September 1924 |
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| “Wise’s New South Wales Post Office Directory,” Trove, 1925, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-613408082. |
After St Hellier
In 1928 Vera was working at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney but returned to Newcastle to work with her brother, Clive who was lessee of the Newcastle Ocean Baths[17]. She married in 1942 in Sydney but returned to Newcastle, where she died in 1970.
By 1929 the hospital seems to have ceased operation, as Annie had given up her midwifery registration, which for a lying-in (maternity) hospital, would mean it was no longer able to operate. After leaving Stockton, she worked for a time in the Welfare Department of the Scott’s Store[18]. She married in 1947, living in Stockton, before moving to Wyong where she died in 1969.
"Advertising - St. Helier, Private Hospital." Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) (NSW), 11 June 1924 1924, 3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137640022.
Armitage, Audrey. A Golden Age of Nursing. Newcastle, N.S.W.: The Royal Newcastle Hospital Graduates' Association Book Committee, 1991.
Australian War Memorial. Awm8 Unit Embarkation Nominal Rolls, 1914-18 War. Canberra, ACT: Australian War Memorial, 1914-1918.
"Captain Hocquard: 33 Years' Service: On Land and Sea." The Newcastle Sun (Newcastle, N.S.W), 4 June 1919 1919, 1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162565805.
National Archives of Australia. B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920. Canberra, ACT: National Archives of Australia, 1914 - 1920.
"Nurses from Stockton." The Newcastle Sun (Newcastle, N.S.W), 30 Jun 1919, 4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162568872.
"Proposal Approved." Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954) (NSW), 02 September 1930 1930, 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164225450.
"Stockton." Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (Newcastle, N.S.W), 25 Nov 1918, 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137497300.
"Wise's New South Wales Post Office Directory." (1909).
[1] Audrey Armitage, A Golden Age of Nursing (Newcastle, N.S.W.: The Royal Newcastle Hospital Graduates' Association Book Committee, 1991).
[2] Austalian War Memorial, AWM8 Unit Embarkation Nominal Rolls, 1914-18 War, (Canberra, ACT: Australian War Memorial, 1914-1918).
[3] National Archives of Australia, B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (Canberra, ACT: National Archives of Australia, 1914 - 1920).
[4] "Captain Hocquard: 33 Years' Service: On Land and Sea," The Newcastle Sun (Newcastle, N.S.W), 4 June 1919 1919, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162565805.
[5] Maitland Weekly Mercury. “Advertising.” March 18, 1922. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136513594.
[6] "Nurses From Stockton," The Newcastle Sun (Newcastle, N.S.W), 30 Jun 1919, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162568872.p.6
[7] "Stockton," Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (Newcastle, N.S.W), 25 Nov 1918, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137497300.p.5
[8] National Archives of Australia, Short B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920.
[9] "Captain Hocquard: 33 Years' Service: On Land and Sea."
[10] “Advertising,” Maitland Weekly Mercury, March 18, 1922, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136513594.
[11] "Advertising - Thanks" The Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954) 16 February 1924: 2. Web. 20 Aug 2023 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163221746>.
[12] Vernon, Kaye, and Billie Jacobsen, eds. Index to the Register of Private Hospitals NSW 1910-1928 from State Records NSW (5/5857-5/5860) /, 2015.
[13] 1925 "Wise's New South Wales post office directory," (Sydney, NSW: Wise's Directories, 1909), p.1215. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-522689844.
[14] Kaye Vernon and Billie Jacobsen, eds., Index to the Register of Private Hospitals NSW 1910-1928 from State Records NSW (5/5857-5/5860) /, 2015, 82.
[15] "Advertising – Professional Notices" Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) 11 June 1924: 3. Web. 20 Aug 2023 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137640022>.
[16] "Family Notices" Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) 6 September 1924: 4. Web. 20 Aug 2023 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137780019>.
[17] 1928 'BATHS LEASED', The Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954), 18 September, p. 4. , viewed 20 Aug 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163966598
[18] "PROPOSAL APPROVED," Newcastle Sun (NSW : 1918 - 1954) (NSW), 02 September 1930 1930, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164225450.
