The Fever Ward 1897

Barry Holdaway JP, Marlborough Historical Society

There are many old buildings at Brayshaw Heritage Park – but few of them were built over a century ago and could genuinely be called “historic”.

One that certainly can is situated next to the main entrance to the Park – the Wairau Hospital Fever Ward.

By the late 19th century both European settlers and Maori suffered from serious infectious diseases such as typhus, measles and diphtheria. During one diphtheria scare in 1896 a correspondent to the Marlborough Express suggested putting a fever isolation ward in the centre of Blenheim.

Well-known local doctor George Cleghorn then suggested the building of a Fever Ward at Wairau Hospital and helped raise 100 pounds toward the cost.

The Government Inspector of Hospitals in Wellington then sent a telegram to the Charitable Aid Board saying, “Money subscribed for a Fever Ward will receive a twenty-four shillings in the pound subsidy”. This was a great boost toward the cost of the building and ensured it could be completed.

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated in 1897 and the Fever Ward was largely paid for by the people of Marlborough in commemoration of this event.

The Fever Ward’s original design was shaped like a cross, but a somewhat smaller version was agreed upon to keep the cost below 1000 pounds.

The Ward had to be at least 100 feet from the General Hospital, and meals would be passed through a special slide at the rear of the building. Its nurses served six week shifts and had to stay strictly separate from the main hospital. Initially, there was a pipe joining the general hospital for communication purposes, but by the turn of the century a telephone connection had been installed.

In September 1899 Mr Frank Shaw, the Wairau Hospital Chemist wrote to the Marlborough Express suggesting that Maori should also be admitted as they had subscribed to the costs as well as everybody else. Mr Tuiti MacDonald sent a letter of thanks to Mr Shaw for advocating on their behalf, the letter being signed by himself and 26 other Maori from Wairau Pa.

The Fever Ward was well used, especially during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. However, improvements in general health meant that it was closed in 1946. The building was later used for staff accommodation and hospital offices before the Marlborough Historical Society moved it to Brayshaw Park in 2009. Here it remains as the reminder of a particular period when infectious diseases caused multiple deaths and disablement in our community.