Site Map

The Thorndon Hospitals

• New Zealand's First Colonial Hospital - opened in Thorndon, 15 September,1847

• Dr J P Fitzgerald, Colonial Surgeon - the Hospital's 1st Medical Officer

• Earthquake damage - 1848

• The 1849 Banquet - to celebrate the presentation of a portrait of Queen Victoria

• The 2nd Thorndon Hospital - completed 1855

• Plan of the 2nd Thorndon Hospital

The First Newtown Hospital

• C Julius Toxward's proposal letter to the Superintendent of the Province of Wellington UPDATED

• The Newtown Hospital completed (1881)- viewed in 1885 from a distance across the hospital groundsUPDATED

• Hospital layout - 1885

• An imposing Main Entrance

• Inside Ward 1 - Hinemoa Ward

• Inside Ward 2 - Rotorua Ward

• Inside Ward 3 - Arawata Ward

• Inside Ward 4 - Waiwera WardNEW

• Courtyard between wards - "for the promenading of patients"

• Early toilet block Ward 1

• The Main Corridor

Top of Page

Initial Hospital Expansion

• The 1st accommodation for nurses, & for paediatric patients

• The Hospital in 1890

• Plans for two new adult wards - 1

• Plans for two new adult wards - 2

• Inside the completed Ward 5

• The Hospital in 1897

• Building the 1st Operating Theatre block

• The Victoria Operating Theatre opening ceremony in 1901

• Inside the newly-opened Operating Theatre

• A child being prepared for surgery

• The Hospital after completion of the Operating Theatre

• A new Nurses' Home erected in 1904

• A postcard showing the Nurses' Home

• The Victoria Wards for the chronically incurable opened in 1905

• Inside one of the Victoria Wards

• Seddon Shelters erected on the hill for the care of tuberculosis patients

• 1906 Ceremony for the opening of the Seddon Shelters & Ward

Top of Page

Longer-term planning

• Competitive designs for future Hospital expansion sought

• The Hospital in 1910 - looking east

• The Hospital in 1910 - looking south

• The Hospital in 1910 - looking west

• A Fever Hospital under construction in 1910

• The completed Fever Hospital - renamed Ewart Hospital

• Dr John Ewart - a very popular Resident Medical Superintendent

• The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for Children, opened in 1912

• Inside one of the newly-opened Children's Wards

• A new Outpatient & Laboratory facility opened in 1913

• Verandahs were enclosed in Wards 5 & 6 to accommodate more patients

• Resident Medical Staff accommodation built above a 'private suite'

• The 1st Specialist Medical Department - Eyes, Ear, Nose & Throat

• A new Fever Hospital opened on top of the hill in 1919

Top of Page

The 1920s

• The main entrance to the Hospital grounds, 1923

• A panorama of the Hospital, taken in 1923

• The panorama enlarged, and labelled

• The fountain, balustrade & band rotunda, in 1925

• Construction underway of new ward & administration blocks

• The Front Block nearing completion

• The Front Block opened - in 1928

• The Front Block and new Ward Block

• New Ward block with a unique design

• The Children's Play Area bordering Riddiford Street

• The Front Block from across Riddiford Street

• The 1st Cardiology Department occupies the remaining 'Private Suite'

• A 1932 view of the South-eastern corner of the Hospital complex

• An aerial view of the Hospital in 1936

• The 1936 aerial view enlarged, and labelled

• Another aerial view of the Hospital in 1936 - looking North-west

Top of Page

Redevelopment Plans - the 1930s & 1940s

• The Hospital in 1938

• Plans for a 'Centenary Hospital

• Excavations underway for the Centenary Hospital

• A scaled-down version of the Centenary Hospital

• Wards 20 and Wards 21 & 22 (Soldiers' Block)

• The 210-ward block under construction

• The completed 210-ward block

• Every available space utilised

• The 1947 Centenary of the Public Hospital in Wellington

Top of Page

Redevelopment Plans - the 1950s & 1960s

• The Hospital in 1958

• Preparing to build an extension to the Front Block

• The Hospital in 1960

• An aerial view of the Hospital in 1960

• The original main corridor - revisited

• The original main corridor - from the opposite direction

• The new Seddon Wing under construction

• The new Seddon Wing - completed (1966)

• The hospital after completion of the Seddon Wing

• Plans for a major redevelopment of Wellington Hospital

• Multiple tower blocks planned

Top of Page

Down with the Old

• Demolition of Wards 2 & 3

• More demolition, temporary corridors, and Block B arises

• Wards 5 & 6 demolished

• A new Hospital arises - the Ward Support & O&G blocks

• Preparing for a new Paediatric Hospital

• The new Paediatric Hospital completed - opened in 1988

The Last 10 Years

• A summary of developments over the 1990s

• A new Emergency Department opens in 2000