Lady Bowen Hospital in Brisbane, ca. 1875, c. 1875, courtesy of Picture Queensland, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
Details
The Queensland Lying-In Hospital was established on 2 November 1864 in rented accommodation, "Fairview House", Leichardt Street, Brisbane. A ladies committee ran the hospital. On 26 January 1866, the hospital moved to newly built premises in Ann Street, Brisbane. It was renamed the Lady Bowen Hospital, after the wife of Queensland's first governor, in November 1867. The Queensland Lying-In Hospital provided hospital care for indigent, unmarried and destitute women of Queensland and their babies.
At this time in Queensland the majority of women gave birth at home. Commonly, it was the poor or unmarried who entered hospital to have their babies, although the hospital accommodated paying as well as non-paying patients.
An advertisement appearing in the Brisbane Courier on 15 September 1864 described the facilities at Fairview House:
Hall, Six Large Rooms, Detached Kitchen and Servant's Room, large Tank and Yard.
1864 - 1867 Queensland Lying-In Hospital
1867 - 1938 Lady Bowen Hospital
1938 - 1967 Brisbane Women's Hospital
1967 - Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Classified Advertising', Courier Mail, 15 September 1864, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1262001; 'Lying-In Hospital', Brisbane Courier, 16 December, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1284069; 'Queensland Lying-In Hospital', Brisbane Courier, 20 November 1866, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1276922; Patrick, Ross, The Royal Women's Hospital, Brisbane : the first fifty years, Boolarong Publications, Brisbane, 1988, 186 pp.
Prepared by: Lee Butterworth
Created: 22 August 2012, Last modified: 1 October 2014
Last updated: 7 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/qld/biogs/QE00456b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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