Ambulance Building is a heritage-listed former ambulance station and now museum at 157 Gill Street, Charters Towers City, Charters Towers, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Walter Hunt and built in 1903 by Arthur Reid and James Walker. It is also known as Ambulance Building (former). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 4 December 2015.
History The former Ambulance Building (1903) is the first QATB branded building in Queensland (CATB 1892–1901, QATB 1902–1991) is a two-storey masonry structure, located in the former mining town of Charters Towers. As the second purpose-built, and oldest surviving ambulance building in Queensland, it is important in demonstrating the establishment of ambulance services in regional centres throughout the state in the early 20th century. It is an excellent example of an early 20th century ambulance building, makes a strong aesthetic contribution to the townscape, and has a special association with the Queensland Ambulance Service (formerly QATB).
Charters Towers was established after gold was discovered at the foot of Towers Hill in December 1871, leading to the proclamation of the Charters Towers Goldfield on 31 August 1872.Townsville Daily Bulletin, 20 February 1939, p. 10Townsville Daily Bulletin, 22 July 1922, p. 9Rockhampton Bulletin, 16 Mar 1872, p. 3 cited by QHR 602801 ED Miles Mining Exchange (former).
The settlement began with a number of shops and hotels along a track, which became Mosman Street, with the population reputedly 3000 by August 1872. In 1877 the comprising Charters Towers, centred on Mosman Street, was declared a municipality (the Borough of Charters Towers).Brisbane Courier, 27 Aug 1872, p. 3Brisbane Courier, 7 Jan 1873, p. 2Diane Menghetti, "Charters Towers", PhD Thesis, Townsville: James Cook University, 1984, p. 93 cited by ED Miles Mining Exchange (former) QHR 602801.
In the 1880s Charters Towers continued to prosper and grow, becoming the most productive goldfield in Queensland. The completion of the Great Northern railway line from Townsville to Charters Towers in December 1882 boosted the town's prosperity, by lowering the cost of supplies and building materials. An influx of capital from English speculators from 1886 funded further mining. In 1889 the famous Brilliant Reef, the richest on the field, was discovered, boosting the goldfield's fortunes.
Charters Towers consistently out-produced all other Queensland goldfields between 1880 and 1913, apart from a brief spike in production at Mount Morgan in 1888–1889, coinciding with a brief economic downturn at Charters Towers due to drought reducing the water supply for crushing machines.AL Lougheed, The Brisbane Stock Exchange 1884-1984, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1984, pp. 51-3"Aldborough", QHR 602668"ED Miles Mining Exchange (former)", QHR 602801. According to Government Geologist Robert Logan Jack, Charters Towers was the third largest gold producing area in Australia, after Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo).Robert Logan Jack, The Mineral Wealth of Queensland. Centennial International Exhibition, Melbourne 1888, p. 6 cited by ED Miles Mining Exchange (former) QHR 602801. From 1883 to gold was Queensland's second largest or largest export by value.Lougheed, Brisbane Stock Exchange, pp. 29-30, 48-9, 66-7. Gold competed with wool as Queensland's most valuable export.
At the turn of the century, Charters Towers had just achieved peak production (1899), comprised a multi-cultural population of around 26,500, was Queensland's second largest city, and was known colloquially as "the World".Aldborough QHR 602668Michael Brumby Research and Writing Services, 'A history of the former Ambulance Building, Charters Towers, Michael Brumby, May 2005, p. 14.
During the field's period of high production, its mines were dangerous places to work. Death and injury figures between 1890 and 1901 for Charters Towers "were consistently higher, in proportion to the number of miners employed, than for the colony in general".Figures compiled from Dept of Mines accident reports cited by Diane Menghetti, "Mine and Town", RHSQJ, 6, May 1988, pp. 219.
The whole community was affected by accidents, poor mine sanitation (resulting in typhoid and other enteric disease) and "miners lung". The causes were poor health and safety due to inappropriate managerial practices, and the field's geology. In addition, there were the usual injuries such as fractures, contusions, gunshot wounds, cuts, burns, bites and drownings.Menghetti, "Mine and Town", pp. 216, 218, 220, 226Brumby, "A History of the Former Ambulance Building Charters Towers", p. 8.
An ambulance service for Charters Towers was proposed in 1900, as an initiative of the City Ambulance Transport Brigade (CATB), which had operated in Brisbane from 1892, due to concerns about the lack of adequate medical aid for accident victims. Prior to its establishment, the sick and injured were required to make their own way to medical services, at times, worsening injuries. The objective of the brigade was to provide first aid and to transport sick and injured people to hospital.Brumby, "A History of the Former Ambulance Building Charters Towers", pp. 5-6.
Elsewhere in the world, ambulance services had commenced earlier. In the United States of America, the Commercial Hospital in Cincinnati started the first public, hospital-based ambulance service before 1865. Britain's first hospital-based ambulance, for transportation of fever and smallpox patients in London, commenced in 1867. The Red Cross formed in Europe in 1870 and St John's Ambulance Association commenced in England in 1877. Wheeled litters were used in London from 1880 with police taking responsibility for transportation of the injured. In Australia, Sydney's Board of Health formed the first recorded ambulance corps in 1881, for transportation of patients with suspected infectious diseases to the Coast Hospital. Thereafter, other Sydney hospitals replicated this service.Brumby, "A History of the Former Ambulance Building Charters Towers", p. 5.
In 1900 the CATB instructed Superintendent R Nye Stevens to report on extending an ambulance service to the Colony's larger towns and cities. He visited Townsville and Charters Towers to discuss the establishment of ambulance services. A public meeting, organised by Mayor John Asher Benjamin, for those interested in the commencement of an ambulance and transport brigade in Charters Towers, was held on 12 October 1900. Superintendent Stevens informed the meeting that an Ambulance Brigade Centre in Charters Towers would require at least two paid officers, who would be paid per week, while 20–30 honorary staff would be required (at a cost of per head for uniform, badge etc.). The necessary equipment would be three improved Ashford Litters,The Ashford litter was a wheeled stretcher with a canvas cover, designed by Sir John Furley. <homepage.ntlworld.com/dennis.fricker/ashford_litter.htm>, accessed 15 Oct 2015. and associated gear. The headquarters for Charters Towers could be anywhere in the centre of town. The management costs would be met by the public, aided by government subsidy and the first year's expenditure could be covered by from locally-raised subscriptions plus the government subsidy.Ernest, Bradley, History of the Queensland Ambulance, Queensland Ambulance Service, Brisbane, 2003, p. 72. As a result of this meeting, a local committee was formed to establish the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade.Bradley, History of the Queensland Ambulance, pp. 72-74"New Ambulance Centres in the North", The Brisbane Courier, 26 Oct 1900 p. 7Brumby, "A History of the Former Ambulance Building Charters Towers", p. 6The Northern Miner, 10 Oct 1900, p. 1.
The Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade, operational in December 1900 was the first regional centre opened in Queensland. It operated from the fire station in Bow Street under the superintendence of TW Treacy of the CATB.Brumby, "A History of the Former Ambulance Building Charters Towers", pp. 8, 10, 11"Ambulance Brigades Opening New Centres", The Telegraph, 18 Dec 1900, p. 4. Later the centre moved to a six-roomed house on the corner of Deane and Ann Streets, with its stable and plant room located on an adjoining allotment.Bradley, History of the Queensland Ambulance, p. 75.
In 1902, the CATB was renamed the Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB), to reflect the expansion of its operations in regional centres throughout Queensland. Ambulance brigades were established in Charters Towers and Townsville (1900); Rockhampton, Warwick and Ipswich (1901); Toowoomba (1902); Ravenswood and Mackay (1903); Cairns (1904) and Bundaberg (1907). While most ambulance services were affiliated with the QATB, others such as Gympie (1902) were established independently. The goldfields of Charters Towers, Ravenswood and Gympie, with large working populations of miners, were among the first to establish ambulance services in the state.Gympie Ambulance Station (former) QHR 602794Wynnum Ambulance Station QHR 602778"Ambulance Brigade Annual Meeting", The Telegraph, 26 Feb 1904, p. 3.
Recognition of the need for a permanent centre in Charters Towers, and action to achieve it, soon followed. As early as December 1901, the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade Committee discussed the need for a permanent centre. It wished to purchase land and erect its own premises at the cost of about and the Chair, JA Benjamin, thought it should be located near the suburb of Queenton, to the east of the city centre.Brumby, "A History of the Former Ambulance Building Charters Towers", p. 11.
An advertisement requesting details of land for sale in Charters Towers, in a central position and suitable for building the new ambulance brigade quarters, was placed in The Northern Miner in July 1902 by TW Treacy, Superintendent.'QA and T Brigade, Charters Towers', The Northern Miner, 3 Jul 1902, p. 1. Subsequently, land was purchased in Gill Street, Queenton, just beyond Boundary Street, for from Joseph Hopper. On the site was a seven-room house and store.'Today', The Northern Miner, 4 Sep 1902, p. 5. The property was located between the city centre and the railway station, and close to the hospital (one block to the west on Gill Street) and to the principal mines of the goldfield (the Brilliant and Queen reefs to the east); therefore, near transport, medical facilities and potential patients.'The Ambulance Brigade', North Qld Register, 15 Sep 1902, p. 30. Built on Lot 4 of Section 35A (now Lot 4 CT18223).
Fundraising for the Ambulance Brigade Fund was necessary, but attracted criticism. The North Queensland Register newspaper criticised the Charters Towers Ambulance Brigade for spending too much on its new premises, claiming the two-storey masonry building would be costly and take money from hospital fundraising. There was also resistance to the ambulance service from the hospital, which believed that ambulance subscriptions disadvantaged its own fundraising activity. Nevertheless, fundraising continued, with an ambulance sports day attended by the Governor, Sir Herbert Chermside, and musical performances at Charters Towers' Theatre Royal.'The Ambulance Brigade', North Qld Register, 15 Sep 1902, p. 30Brumby, "A History of the Former Ambulance Building Charters Towers", p. 12"Ambulance Brigade", The Telegraph, 14 May 1903, p. 7."Grand Performance in Aid of the Ambulance Brigade Building Fund", Northern Miner, 24 Jul 1902, p. 1