Faded colour photo of the St. Arnaud Merrymakers Old Time Bush Band sitting in front of a tree playing their instruments. A sign in front of the drums has the name _ St. Arnaud Merrymakers Old Time Bush Band - printed on it.Written on the back - the Merrymakers Bush Band as it was at their last entertainment before disbanding, May 1984. Piano player Mrs. D. Carrol not Present. Players from left to right:- Jim Pritchard - Button Accordion; Alf Johns - Button Accordion; Mrs Joan Morrissee - Drums; Keith McDonald - Piano Accordion; (Ted) John Vallance - Five String Banjo. Taken at laying of foundation of Senior Citizens Hostel at St. Arnaud Hospital.photo, group, st arnaud merrymakers bush band, peter ellis collection, st arnaud merrymakers old time bush band, mrs d carrol, jim pritchard, alf johns, mrs joan morrissee, keith mcdonald, (ted) john vallance, senior citizens hostel, st arnaud hospital

The Northern District School of Nursing opened in 1950 in to address the issues around nurse recruitment, training and education that had previously been hospital based. The residential school was to provide theoretical and in-house education and practical training over three years. The students would also receive practical hands-on training in the wards of associated hospitals. The Northern District School of Nursing operated from Lister House, Rowan Street, Bendigo. It was the first independent school of nursing in Victoria and continued until it closed in 1989. The book "The First of its Kind" was published in 2015. Printed in Bendigo by "Bendigo Modern Press". Three typed pages submitted by Claire (West-Onley) Mortimer, Warrnambool, October 2010 for the period 1952-55.NDSN - three typed pages of reflections on days at NDSN by Claire (West-Onley) Mortimer, PTS 14, October 2010. Text entitled Training Days at St. Arnaud Hospital 1952-1955.all documents were regarding the compilation of the ndsnga inc. book "the first of its kind"., three typed pages

John was the eldest son of Dr Jack (Frederick John) and Mrs Doris Bennett (nee Willmott). His paternal grandfather, John Henry Bennett, was also a doctor who practiced in St Arnaud and Hawthorn. John was born in Melbourne on 23 October 1924 and attended Scotch College for his early education. The family moved to England shortly before WW2 and he completed his schooling at Mill Hill in Uxbridge (and at St Bees School in Cumberland to which Mill Hill was evacuated). He entered St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College in 1946. He married Christina Hudson in Cambridge in 1946 and they followed the rest of the family back to Australia in 1948. John was Resident Medical Officer at the Repatriation Hospital in Heidelberg from 1948-1953. He was an Honorary Clinical Assistant at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1950-1965 and became a member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1953. He joined Drs W Langley Carrington, William (Bill) Vorath and Norman Rose at the Surrey Hills Medical Centre in 1953. He lived in Camberwell and had 2 sons and 1 daughter; one son also qualified as a doctor, working in Hobart. His brother Robert, a radiologist, lived in Mont Albert and one of his 4 daughters, Dr Penny Bennett, also worked at Surrey Hills Medical Centre at a later period. Ref: Article in Chiron - Medical Genes: The Bennett Family written by Dr WRC (Robert) Bennett, 1989. The donor was a niece of John Bennett.The Surrey Hills Medical Centre was one of the first, if not the first, general practice to include specialists as partners soon after WW2. Black and white formal head and shoulders photo of Dr John Willmott Bennett who was a general practitioner in the 1950s and 1960s at the Surrey Hills Medical Centre. doctors, surrey hills medical centre, dr john willmott bennett