This year marks Brookshaw’s Golden Jubilee – 50 years of dedicated care for those no longer able to live without some degree of support, whether it be the provision of a meal a day in their flats, semi-frail assistance, or full-on frail care.
This year marks Brookshaw’s Golden Jubilee – 50 years of dedicated care for those no longer able to live without some degree of support, whether it be the provision of a meal a day in their flats, semi-frail assistance, or full-on frail care.
Current Council members join the contributors to this advertorial to celebrate their 50th and take the opportunity to express their appreciation and gratitude to all previous Council members, employees and staff for their support over the years. Council also acknowledges the assistance of the Department of Social Welfare, Makana Municipality and the Rotary Club of Grahamstown, which was key to the founding of Brookshaw in 1962 and has been raising funds for the Home ever since.
Not least, Council wishes to thank the Grahamstown Community at large for their loyal, generous assistance and support in so many ways, not least the annual fête. Council is particularly grateful to Alan P Bamford, resident for nine years, who researched and wrote the detailed history of the site of Brookshaw Home on which this article is partly based.
In 1960, Laura Elizabeth Brookshaw (née Chapman) died aged 93. A home for the aged was her inspiration and she provided a bequest of R 46 000 (a great deal of money at the time) for the establishment of Brookshaw Home for elderly citizens of Grahamstown.
The Rotary Club of Grahamstown offered to assist the trustees, and the next year, Rotarian A K Rautenbach, mayor at the time, convened a meeting of churches and community service organisations to elect an advisory council that would help realise the intention of the bequest.
Colonel C E Espin, MC, trustee of the Brookshaw Bequest, suggested that R20 000 should be spent on establishing the home, with the remaining R26 000 reserved for subsidising residents who could not afford the full cost. The spirit of assisting those in need continues to this day.
The advisory council urged the trustees to purchase the villa known as Woodville and its annexe, St Michael’s Lodge, at 9 Donkin Street. It had just come on the market. Built by Richard Graham Stone in 1849, the property has a fascinating history that is closely bound up with the history of Grahamstown.
Alan Bamford describes the house: “For splendour and inspired creation, it is a masterpiece and one of the architectural gems of South Africa.” Stone had the property for only 11 years before he went insolvent. It was bought by George Wood, who gave it its name, Woodville. He was a trader and founder of the general dealer’s business, Wood Brothers. His son was the first Mayor of Grahamstown.
One of his descendants, Muriel Wood, is a resident of Brookshaw. In 1884 Mother Cecile of the Community of the Resurrection was permitted to use the house and its annexe, St Michaels (which they purchased years later), for an orphanage and a training school, a project the nuns ran for nearly 70 years.
When the Nationalist government stopped subsidising the smaller orphanages, the extensive site between Donkin and Beaufort Streets was ready for a new role. After the purchase of the site in 1961, the Advisory Committee was enlarged and Rotarian L. Engels, architectural advisor, planned the restoration of Woodville and the conversion of St. Michael’s.
Local building contractors helped and advised freely. Members of the Rotary Club of Grahamstown and the Rotary Anns undertook the furnishing the home and the garden layout with much hands-on activity. Round Table contributed built-in cupboards in the servery.
Rhodes University donated an Esse stove and provided a large refrigerator at cost. By 1 February 1962 the first residents were able to move in and a little later the Department of Social Welfare and Pensions granted the home registration as a Welfare Organisation. Brookshaw Home is governed by a Council elected by the residents at their annual AGM.
Between 1963 and 1996 Espin Lodge and Shuttleworth Lodge were erected in the grounds, greatly expanding the amount and range of accommodation, and an extension was added for the dining room and an enlarged kitchen.
Later, the purchase of Guardian Lodge added four two-bedroom and four one-bedroom flats to the complex. In 2002 a Frail Care unit costing about R1 million was completed and joined to St. Michael’s Lodge, which now catered for the semi-frail. Expansion and renovation have continued during the past 50 years.
“During the past nine years of my tenure as resident,” says Bamford, “enormous improvements have been made to the buildings and garden on the property. Shower rooms have been added to nearly all the rooms in Espin Lodge and their balconies have been enclosed. A row of carports has been erected and the driveway bricked. Both the exterior and interior of Woodville have been thoroughly maintained and two new shower rooms added upstairs. The exteriors of all buildings have been painted. Plumbing in Espin Lodge has been replaced.”
The beneficiaries, the residents, are highly appreciative of all the Council and management, consisting of Bill and Judy Harvey, are doing for them. “Brookshaw is wonderful in that it suits different people in different ways. My wife is not a friend of the kitchen, and so we can happily live by ourselves in our flat, knowing we will be catered for,” observed John Eller. John and June have been living at Brookshaw for 13 years.
June commented: “The gardens here are an absolute pleasure; everything is well spaced and beautiful.” Residents such as the Ellers can also enjoy bridge, musical evenings and participate in religious services in the lounge or chapel, secure in the knowledge that expert care is available if and when they need it.
Brookshaw Home for the Aged is something worth celebrating as it turns 50. Typical of this community, the founders and successive Councils and managers respected its heritage without compromising on delivery. Brookshaw is well set for another 50 years of invaluable service.
