A stolen stone and an empty beer bottle.

Plaque commemorating the foundation of The Maitland Hospital.

(Maitland Hospital Collection 2)

Di Peers (left) talking to Janis Wilton about the Denny Day plaque, 1 October 2020

(Catharine Neilson)

In October 2020 just before she left her job as the General Manager at The Maitland Hospital, Di Peers shared her attachment to the commemorative plaque that she had on the mantelpiece in her office.

Listen to Di Peers.

Part-transcript: … What I know about this plaque – it’s quite an interesting story. When the Arts for Health group started to work on the new Maitland Hospital we knew that there was a foundation stone for the hospital but we didn’t know where. And so, a few of us were starting to look for it, around the foundations, couldn’t be found. But this then appeared and it was in … a collection of stuff in a cupboard. The story goes that this is actually a replacement for the original stone. It’s a brilliant story. Apparently the original foundation stone was stolen and in its place was left a beer bottle, an empty beer bottle!! And I just love it, so as soon as that appeared, I thought it needs to come into the GM’s office, so at least it can be honoured for the time it has now and whatever future it’s got.

Maitland Mercury, 25 March 1846

The above report from the Maitland Mercury confirms the story Di Peers shared, although her empty beer bottle is a bottle that had been buried underneath the foundation stone.

The buried bottle had contained copies of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Maitland Mercury, a ‘few small coins of the present reign’ and the following lengthy inscription.

Maitland Mercury, 28 January 1846.

Despite a substantial reward of £25 offered by the Governor of New South Wales (Maitland Mercury, 22 April 1846), the original foundation stone was never located.

Significance

The plaque is significant as a marker of the foundation of the first Maitland Hospital building in early 1846. It is also significant for its association with Edward Denny Day and with the stories surrounding the laying and the disappearance of the original foundation stone of The Maitland Hospital.