Exhibition shows Balmain’s caring history

The old stone watch house served as Balmain’s police station from 1854 until 1925. Rescued from demolition by the National Trust and the Balmain Association it often hosts community exhibitions. Balmain Cared showed how all the community groups cooperated to “raise funds, provide material comforts … to assist returning wounded soldiers and their dependents facing financial as well as emotional difficulties”.
The Balmain-Rozelle Fund was supported both by weekly subscription by local residents and by contributions from churches in the area. The Rozelle Red Cross held a three-day bazaar early in 1916 to raise money for the Balmain and Rozelle Wounded Soldiers Fund. Again the local churches provided lots of support. “In August 1916 further fund raising provided comfort packages including tobacco, stationery, pencils, clothing and literature. These were sent to the Australian Base Hospital in Belgium.”
As casualties grew their families needed comfort and help too. So did returning soldiers, often damaged by shellfire or gas. “Annandale timber merchants Frederick and William Langdon offered their house, Broughton Hall, to the government as a convalescent hospital for shell-shocked soldiers”. Broughton Hall became No. 13 Australian Military Hospital and eventually combined with Callan Park to form the recently retired Rozelle Hospital.
The story of the Sock Competition included in the exhibition was a highlight. The Balmain- Rozelle Girls Brigade Committee organised a section for “all comers” and another for girls under 16 to knit socks for the harsh winters for soldiers serving on the Front. The socks were knitted in grey three, four or six-ply wool, following a recommended pattern. Fifty entries had to be received in the section to permit judging to proceed. Prizes of one guinea, a half- guinea and five shillings in each were a greater encouragement than today’s value would represent! ($2.10, $1.05 and 50 cents). But then these were caring people in Balmain.