As Silverchain celebrates 130 years of care, connection, and innovation, we reflect on our organisation's incredible journey.
Our nurses started their rounds with horse and cart or bicycles and eventually moved to cars. In the early 1900s, camels were the vehicle of choice when nurses needed to reach remote locations. Yes, you read that right: camels!
Discover more about our pioneering history.
From galloping on horseback to cruising in air-conditioned cars, our way of getting to work has evolved just as much as our care practices. Imagine a nurse dressed in her crisp uniform, administering care, and saddling up a camel or pedalling through the streets.
Our remarkable Sister Winnifred Howie braved the arid landscapes on camelback, fully clad in her nursing uniform, to tend to patients in remote areas. In 1912, she worked in Marree, South Australia, a town with a significant Afghan camel population. Camels were indispensable for navigating the vast outback, as shown in this photograph of our nurses on camels from 1932.
Bicycles were another popular mode of transport for our nurses in the early days. In February 1914, Nurse Thorup, a dedicated Western Australian nurse, made 102 patient visits around Fremantle. She mostly travelled by foot or bicycle. Fortunately, the Fremantle Tramways stepped in to provide free transport, but as patient numbers grew, our nurses needed better transport. After experimenting with a motorised attachment for her bicycle, Nurse Thorup was eventually given her very own pony and trap in January 1916.
We are grateful for the modes of modern transport we enjoy today.
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