The following memories and stories about the Maitland Hospital emerged from background research, and from being shared by artists, staff, volunteers, patients and community members.
Germ proofing.
Infectious diseases and the Maitland Hospital’s 1891 and 1916 isolation wards.
A gold key.
A key crafted by local jeweller John Hart to commemorate the opening of the 1905 building on the Maitland Hospital site.
Roast beef, plum pudding and Santa Claus.
Christmas at The Maitland Hospital, then and now.
Success as a surgeon.
1860s and 1870s new surgical procedures by one of The Maitland Hospital’s honorary medical officers, Alexander Morson.
That’s him there.
Kerrie Steward shares the story of her great-great-grandfather, Samuel Fairhall, who died after a fall from the hospital verandah.
A kind of historical museum.
Reflections on past attempts to establish a hospital museum and a sample of items from the Maitland Hospital Collection.
Cured, relieved, died.
An overview of nineteenth century patient numbers at The Maitland Hospital.
Asylum to the sick and destitute.
The Maitland Benevolent Asylum, precursor to The Maitland Hospital.
A practice of doctors.
Holly McNamee shares family history insights about her three doctor ancestors who all worked at Maitland Hospital.
A magnificent black pig.
Vegetable gardens and livestock as integral parts of the Maitland Hospital site.
A conspicuous object.
The 1840s Maitland Hospital building - the first building on the current hospital site.
Handsome and substantial.
The past and present of the 1905 building on The Maitland Hospital site.
Jigsaw of buildings.
The expansion of buildings and structures on the Maitland Hospital site throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries
On or off duty.
A noticeboard that links to stories about surgical dressers/wardsmen who, collectively, worked at The Maitland Hospital for over 130 years.
Clipping the press.
Press clipping scrapbooks in The Maitland Hospital Collection that provide easy to browse accounts of the hospital at different times.
A drunk resident apothecary.
The Maitland Hospital Minute Book for 1859 to 1872 with its cursive handwriting and details about finances, staff and other developments at the hospital.
A stolen stone and an empty beer bottle.
The bizarre fate of the 1846 foundation stone of The Maitland Hospital.
First president.
The Maitland Hospital’s first president and notable local resident - Edward Denny Day.