A commemorative plaque has been placed at the site occupied by the Royal Children’s Hospital from 1876 until it moved to its current site in 1963.

Dame Elisabeth Mudoch D.B.E. and Mr Gordon Moffat former Chairman of Trust, the company which currently owns and occupies the site on the corner of Pelham and Rathdowne Streets in Carlton, unveiled the plaque at an event attended by guests from the hospital and Trust.  The plaque was then placed on a restored pillar, the only remaining remnant of the original building and classified by the National Trust in 1982.

Dame Elisabeth became president of the hospital in 1954 and continued the struggle of her predecessor to move the hospital from Carlton and build the new children’s hospital on its present site in Parkville.  She was determined to provide Melbourne with the best possible facilities for the care and treatment of sick children, and for paediatric teaching and research.  This year marks the 70th year of Dame Elisabeth’s relationship with the hospital.

The committee of management of the ‘Melbourne Hospital for Sick Children’ purchased ‘Carlton Gardens’, the home of Judge Sir Redmond Barry in 1875, for the grand sum of 10,000 pounds.  After extensive renovations and modifications it was officially opened as a children’s hospital on September 27th 1876.  By 1912, the original house was demolished to make way for urgently needed surgical wards.

When the hospital was first established in September 1870 it was known as the ‘Free Hospital for Sick Children’, but the name ‘Melbourne Hospital for Sick Children’ became the more familiar name from 1871.  In 1903 the committee formally changed the name of the hospital to ‘Children’s Hospital’, and the ‘Royal’ prefix was granted in October 1953.

Contact Julie Webber on 9345 5130 for further information.

A photograph and story about this event appeared in the Herald Sun 26th September 2003.