Press for Royal Women's Hospital Seal
Date
Circa 1920
Description
Device for embossing the Royal Women's Hospital common seal into paper. Heavy steel with lever action, black enamelled and decorated with gold leaf. A metal plate is attached to the press with the words "ROESZLER / LT. COL. ST. / MELBOURNE painted on it. The seal shows the front façade of the 1858 building facing Swanston Street with the words "ESTABLISHED 1856" above and in an outer ring the words "ROYAL WOMEN'S HOSPITAL" and "COMMON SEAL". The dies were either altered or replaced when "Royal" was added to the hospital's name in 1954.
Date when use discontinued unknown, but probably when the RWH merged with the Royal Children's Hospital in 1995. There is a new seal for the Women's and Children's Health Network.
The manufacturer, Roeszler, is still in business in South Melbourne (2007). They also made (and still make) brass plaques; many of the plaques in this collection were made by them. It is a family business, now run by the 4th generation. The business opened in Australia in 1869, having come from England, and in Melbourne in 1870. They were in Little Collins Street from 1920, so this press could not be from earlier than then.
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