redcrosssociety

Red Cross Society in Biggenden 1918

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  The Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society began on 13 August 1914 at Government House, Melbourne, nine days after the outbreak of the First World War. The Queensland Division was inaugurated just a day later, at a meeting at the Town Hall, Brisbane. Presiding over the meeting was Lady Morgan, and the Mayoress of Brisbane, Mrs. Jenkinson. Queensland’s Governor His Excellency Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams was the founding patron, and his wife, Lady Goold-Adams the founding president. Within weeks, 196 branches were established across Queensland, as the Society’s mission and ideals spread and thousands of people, mostly women, volunteered in towns all over the state. Joining the Society gave its volunteers a dutiful purpose and a sense that they could contribute to the war effort from the home front. Their tireless work provided money, clothing, comforts for the sick and wounded, and equipment for military hospitals in Queensland and overseas. The geographical distance between branches presented many challenges, and the nature of district activities was adapted for each branch location. Some branches held fundraising events, and knitted and sewed socks, towels, and vests, while others sewed uniforms, or put together comfort parcels containing soap, cigarettes, fruit cake, tinned foods, and handkerchiefs. Remote branches with few resources sometimes simply collected money. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/red-cross-society-queensland