First president.

Portrait of Edward Denny Day

(Maitland Hospital Collection Item 1)

This framed and captioned photographic copy of a portrait of Edward Denny Day was made by Model Studio, Maitland, and probably dates from the 1930s/1940s. The handwritten caption reads:

E.Denny Day, P.M./ First President of the Maitland Hospital/ Also laid Foundation Stone of Hospital Building / at Campbells Hill - Jan 28th 1846

Day remained involved with the hospital in its early years. At the time, he was the police magistrate in Maitland and, at the laying of the foundation stone, represented the NSW Governor Sir George Gipps.

Day is most well-known for his role in bringing to justice the men who perpetrated the Myall Creek Massacre.

The Australian Dictionary of Biography provides a profile of Day.

Maitland City Library holds some of Day’s papers.

Australian Town and Country Journal, 27 May 1876, p.13, published a lengthy obituary that included another portrait noting: ‘The … portrait is from a photograph by Mr M. Moss, of West Maitland, who was fortunate enough to have in his possession the sole negative likeness of deceased’.

Portrait of Edward Denny Day.

Australian Town and Country Journal, 27 May 1876, p.13)

Significance

The photograph and especially the caption are significant for their documentation of Edward Denny Day’s early and ongoing involvement with Maitland Hospital. It is also assumed that, at some stage, the portrait hung on a hospital wall.