A plaque unveiling was held for Sister Leah Rosenthal QAIMNSR, MM, ARRC was held on Sunday 16^th May 2021, everyone enjoyed a cuppa before we walked to where Leah lies resting.

Our President, Malcolm Gray welcomed everyone. Jane Annois spoke about her Great Great Aunt where we reflected on her bravery and extraordinary work that she did in the first World War and at Vimy House.

Jane together with her sister Kathy and brother Richard unveiled Leah’s plaque.

Leah was born in 1879 to Joseph Rosenthal and his wife Martha née Avinski. She graduated as a nurse at the Alfred Hospital in 1904 and continued  her nursing  career there until 1910 when she & Belle Jobson took over the running of Windarra Private Hospital in Toorak. Leah in her fourth year of active service with the Army at Flanders was awarded the Royal Red Cross Medal. On more than  one occasion she had been recommended for honours by her commanding Officer and matron for heroic conduct at casualty stations under shell fire. Leah was attached to the first casualty station and travelled around France where she saw many atrocities. When Leah returned to Australia she and her friend Belle bought an existing Private Hospital in Queens Road, overlooking Albert Park Lake, which they named Vimy House. And ran for 10 years until her death on 4 October 1930 and was buried with her sister Fanny – Jewish H Graves 86 & 87

Diary Dates for 2023  –

*December 3^rd – Christmas Lunch to be served  at 12 noon in the Lodge at the Brighton Cemetery. Cost $20 per person.

Diary Dates for 2024

11th February 2024 – Mother Daughter Father Son Walk – at 2pm. on this guided tour we will meet the mother who was an activist while her daughter  was a painter as well as the convict and his son the Premier of Victoria along others

17th March 2024 – Odd Bob Walk  at 2pm

19^th April Flag Commemoration —A  further 50 flags are going to be placed – these together with the previous flags it will be an amazing sight seeing 200 flags flying throughout the cemetery. These flags commemorate the role of our Men and Women during the Boer War, WW1 & WW2

21 April 2024 Anzac Walk at 2pm We will be visiting 8 graves as part of the Flag Project.

19th May 2024 – Villains Victims and the Law Walk at 2pm. In one of Melbourne’s little known massacres, five people were shot by a gunman in the Botanic Gardens on 23 January 1924 or of the son that was sent packing to the Colony after he embarrassed his father by riding his horse up the steps of the Cathedral during a church service in a drunken escapade. Did a dispute over land lead to a murder and then to an execution? These are just a few of the people you will meet on this walk.

July 2024 – Open House Melbourne

4th August 2024 AGM