Inglemere House and Hospital

The June/July 2026 Strathfield-Homebush District Historical Society Newsletter features an article on the history of Inglemere, a Federation-style house at 2 Abbotsford Road, Homebush, now operating as Darcy’s Hotel. Built in 1906 to a design by architect Ernest Lindsay-Thompson, the property began as a private residence for Alice Humphrey and her mother Ellen, members of a prominent Burwood family connected with civic life, local philanthropy and St Paul’s Anglican Church. The house stood on land originally part of the 1793 Frederick Meredith grant, later incorporated into the Underwood estate and subdivided as part of the “Village of Homebush”.

The article explains how Inglemere’s grounds were gradually subdivided and how the property shifted from a large family residence to a private hospital. In 1928, the owner Alice Humphrey received approval to convert the house into Inglemere Private Hospital, adding rooms at the rear. The hospital first operated under Matron Ellen Jeanie Imlay, an experienced nurse and World War I nursing service veteran whose broader career is recognised in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. She managed Inglemere until the late 1930s.

From 1938, Matron Elizabeth Neil became associated with the hospital and later purchased the property in 1947. Under her long management, Inglemere continued as a medical, surgical and maternity hospital. The article places the hospital within the broader context of NSW private hospitals, noting that such institutions were licensed and regulated but that few private hospital records have survived.

Inglemere is remembered as a significant local maternity hospital, with births recorded there from 1928 until the early 1960s. The article highlights several notable people born there, including heritage architect Dr Clive Lucas, television producer and writer Greg Haddick, and a son of cricketer Richie Benaud. Community memories quoted in the article describe Matron Neil as strict, protective, generous and highly respected, offering a social history of the hospital’s operations.

The hospital appears to have closed in 1962. The property later became known as Crescent Private Hospital or Nursing home, before eventually returning to private ownership. In the early 2000s it was adapted as a bed and breakfast and now trades as Darcy’s Hotel.