The Lady Bowen Lying-in hospital

Early midwifery practice in colonial Brisbane relied on untrained women. As the mortality rate for both mother and child was high, there was a need for a hospital to care for women in childbirth. Lady Bowen, wife of the first Queensland Governor, gave birth to three children at Government House. She recognised the need for those less fortunate to have a safe place to give birth. With a committee of ladies and some gentlemen she established the first maternity hospital, the Lady Bowen Lying-in Hospital, in Leichhardt Street in 1864. Former nurse Joy Wilson will share the 75-year history of this important institution.

About the speaker

Joy Wilson R.N. R.M. (ret) B.N. Dip. App. Sc Nr Ed F.C.N.A has had a career in nursing spanning 54 years. She completed General Nurse training in 1962 at the Brisbane Hospital and Midwifery at the Brisbane Women’s Hospital, now the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH). In 1978, she obtained a Cardiothoracic Certificate at the Prince Charles Hospital and in 1983 a Diploma of Applied Science. She continued her nursing education at QIT (now QUT) and was awarded a Bachelor of Nursing in 1993. Joy worked as a Nurse Educator and Staff Development Officer at the Princess Alexandra Hospital before retiring in 2008. She has a great love of nursing history and is currently the honorary curator at the Museum of Nursing History at the RBWH.

Date: 14 June 2026

Time: 1.40 pm for 2 pm start 

Cost: $10 members and $15 non-members (includes afternoon tea)

Note: If you would like to contribute a plate to the afternoon tea, please contact the Secretary on 0493 276 388

Image: Front view of the Lady Bowen Lying-in Hospital on Wickham Terrace ca. 1912. Image courtesy of the State Library of Queensland.