#BenoniBygones: Glynnwood born out of a passion for healthcare
The City Times is proud to revive a monthly history piece compiled by local history enthusiast Glynis Cox Millett-Clay, which she has named Benoni Bygones.
Around the turn of the century, a beautiful large mansion situated at 131 Woburn Avenue was owned by Mr and Mrs Sceta.
Their only daughter, Hazel, qualified as a nurse and, just before the start of World War One, Mr Sceta decided to turn their house into a nursing home, which he named Hazeldene.
Hazel became the first matron of Hazeldene and ran the nursing home until her death.
Her father sold the property to the Athlone Nursing Home sometime in the early 1920’s.
In 1928, the Germiston Athlone Nursing Home was demolished and only the Benoni Athlone Nursing Home remained.
It is interesting to note that the original Athlone in Germiston took its name from the Earl of Athlone, whose seat was Athlone Castle on the River Shannon in Ireland.
The Duchess of Athlone (Princess Alice) actually opened the nursing home in Germiston.
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During the Second World War, the Athlone Benoni closed its doors as a nursing home in order to house RAF families of men stationed at No. 4 Air School in Farrarmere.
Immediately after the war, the Home was re-opened and was run by the Pagean Sisters from 1948 to 1949 when it was taken over, yet again, this time by Sister Glynn, who changed the name to The Glynnwood.
It only remained in her hands for a few years until her death and was bought over by a group of 12 doctors.
Matron Strauss took over the running of the nursing home until her retirement in 1981.
Clinic Holdings, part of the Afrox Group, acquired majority shares in The Glynnwood and, in 1986, Afrox became the majority shareholder.
Plans were put in place to build a major hospital from scratch as the previous owners of the “old” Glynnwood had recognised the need for a new state-of-the art hospital.
Architects had been commissioned and plans for the new hospital, on the corner of Harrison Street and Prince’s Avenue, were in process.
They kept abreast of overseas trends in England and America and the best ideas were adapted to suit South African conditions.
Building operations on the new Glynnwood commenced in 1987 and, once complete, the old nursing home was demolished to make way for hospital parking.
Chris Redfern, from Afrox East London, was transferred to the healthcare division where he joined the project team as the hospital’s manager.
In addition, on the corner of Harrison Street and Woburn Avenue, a separate building was being built for medical suites.
On May 1, 1989, Dr Chris Barnard officially opened the hospital, which boasted a staff of 147.
The first matron was Hilda Becker. Today the hospital is known as Life The Glynnwood.
(Source: Various articles, leaflets and BCT/Typed and story: Glynis Cox Millett-Clay October 7, 2016. Updated May 14, 2025 – information shortened).
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