The Royal Hobart Hospital began life in 1804 as a series of wooden huts and modest rented rooms. Medical personnel attended to the health needs of convicts and soldiers within these spaces. (Government officials and free settlers were usually treated in the comfort of their own homes.)
Sixteen years later, in 1820, these makeshift arrangements were replaced by a permanent hospital building on Liverpool Street. It was referred to interchangeably as the ‘Convict Hospital’, the ‘Colonial Hospital’, and the ‘Government Hospital’ before being named the ‘Hobart General Hospital’.
It functioned as the hub for Van Diemen’s Land’s medical department, and achieved autonomy in 1860, when it was transferred to the colonial government.
By the early 1870s, many former convicts had become paupers* because they lacked job skills, had limited opportunities for work, faced social stigma, and suffered from poor health. This meant a lot of them ended up at the hospital on Liverpool Street, which struggled financially as a result. But when Dr. Thomas Smart was appointed as the chair of the hospital’s board in 1878 and 1896, he made several changes that turned it into a proper hospital with trained and qualified nurses.
Between 1914 and 1939, the Hobart General Hospital encountered many challenges, including royal commissions, staff and management issues, and conflicts with the British Medical Association; however, it navigated and overcame these obstacles.
The hospital officially became a public healthcare institution under the Hospitals Act of 1918, and has provided essential medical care and services to the broader community ever since.
It changed its name to ‘Royal Hobart Hospital’ in 1938, and has since been redeveloped and improved to keep up-to-date with the ever-changing healthcare landscape.
The newest part of the hospital is K-Block, opened in 2020, which features a range of facilities including hyperbaric rooms. Other renovations and upgrades are ongoing.
The hospital remains at its original location on Liverpool Street to this day, in fact occupying the entire block bounded by Liverpool, Argyle, Collins, and Campbell.
* Historically, the term ‘pauper’ was commonly used to refer to people who were destitute and relied on public or private charity to survive.
Photo Gallery
Tas That Was is a column that includes:
- anecdotes of life in Tasmania in the past;
- historical photographs of locations in Tasmania; and/or
- documentaries about locations in Tasmania.
If you have an anecdote or photograph you’d like to share with us, please send it to [email protected].
Callum J. Jones studied English, History, and Journalism at the University of Tasmania. He has written fiction and non-fiction for Tasmanian Times since 2018, and can be traced by the smell of fresh coffee.
Follow him on Twitter (@Callum_Jones_10) and Facebook (@callum.j.jones.creative).
