HERITAGE HERSTON

The Nursing Museum is located on the first two levels of the 1931 wing of Lady Lamington Building, formerly the Nurses’ Home, in the grounds of the Royal Brisbane Hospital. The Lady Lamington Building is heritage listed on the Register of the National Estate, the National Trust Register and the Queensland Heritage Register. Lady Lamington, the wife of the Governor of the day laid the foundation stone on 14 September 1896. Robin S. Dodds was the architect of the original 1896 “L” shaped building. The 1896 building provided accommodation for the Head Nurse, four Charge Nurses, fifty trainee nurses and four servants. A second wing was added to the Nurses\' Home in 1914 providing a further 98 cubicles for nursing staff, mainly trainee nurses.

With the growth of the Brisbane population in the 1930s and the increasing needs of the community during the economic depression, the Brisbane and South Coast Hospital Board appointed Architectural firm, Conrad, Atkinson and Powell to develop a modern hospital on the Herston site. Similarly at this time there was a need to train more nurses to staff the new wards and services buildings. The 1931 building facing the north-east, provided an additional 105 cubicles mainly for trainee nurses bringing the total accommodation provided for nursing staff at that time to 207. This wing has four floor levels and was used as night duty accommodation for the trainees. Sitting rooms, each with a fireplace, were a feature of the two top floors.

The Queensland Energy Museum highlights our energy heritage with an array of objects and displays illustrating the social history of the electricity and gas supply industry. Early documents are available for visitors to browse or undertake serious research.

The collection is being expanded to include all forms of energy.

The UQ Marks-Hirschfeld Museum houses one of the finest collections of medical memorabilia and medical and surgical instruments in Australia. It includes instruments and equipment such as nineteenth century carbolic spray (used for antisepsis during surgery) and a copy of the apparatus Wilhelm Roentgen used to discover X-rays in 1895. The museum serves scholars and researchers as well as visitors and forms a focus on the medical past which brings a better perspective to the present.

The Nursing Museum presents a unique collection in a unique setting. Displays depict stories of nurses and nursing from late nineteenth century to late twentieth century - aspects of 'living-in', photographic images, nursing uniforms, textbooks, hospital and clinical equipment, operating theatre equipment, an 'iron lung'. A patient model lends authenticity to the displays. The Museum is open Tuesdays 11.00am to 2.00pm.