Rosalind Eva Ballard
Address : care Whittlesea Post Office
Next of kin : Mother Mrs Charles E. Ballard, care Whittlesea Post Office. Father Charles died 13 August, 1915.
Rosalind Ballard was the only nurse residing in the Shire of Whittlesea to volunteer for overseas service. She was 29 when she enlisted on 11 December, 1916 and embarked on RMS Mooltan with a group that included other from the northern districts assigned to the British Indian Nursing Service.
On arrival on the sub-continent in January, 1917, she was initially posted to the Alexandria War Hospital in Bombay, later serving periods with the Victoria War Hospital, also in Bombay, the Station Hospital at Deccan and the Hislop Hospital in Secunderabad.
She embarked for the standard one month’s leave in England granted to nurses serving in Egypt and India on 25 November, 1918. completion of the leave, she worked at No. 2 AAH and was promoted to Sister on 20 March, 1919. On 10 April, 1919, she was granted special leave to attend courses in Domestic Economy at the Battersea Polytechnic in London before returning to Australia, arriving 11 November, 1919.
Sister Ballard returned to Australia on 10 November, 1919 and her appointment was terminated on 28 February, 1920. In 1941, Rosalind Ballard was appointed Matron of the new Lady Dugan Red Cross Hostel and Convalescent Home for War Nurses in Domain Road, South Yarra, a property lent by Mrs. Ernest Poolman.
It was noted at the time that she had served in public hospitals at Bairnsdale, Mildura and Wangaratta as well as the Women’s Hospital in Melbourne before opening her own private hospital in Mildura which she operated for ten years. Sister Ballard enlisted during the Second World War in October, 1940 as V6574 and was assigned the rank of Lieutenant and served as sister in charge of the Tatura camp dressing station and the Seymour camp dressing station before resigning her commission to take up the management of the Hostel which had accommodation for 10 convalescent nurses and 20 nurses intestate or country nurses assigned to duties in Melbourne
Born Whittlesea, she died at her home in Church Street, Whittlesea at 69 years on 8 February, 1956 and was cremated at the Springvale Botanical Cemetery
