– 150 years of history at The Royal Children’s Hospital –
A concise and chronological record of the rich and diverse 150-year history of The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH).
Please feel free to scroll through all 150 years or easily filter information via categories or tags.
The historical images have been sourced from the RCH Archives and Collections, unless stated otherwise.
Images have been chosen to illustrate the subject matter and may not necessarily reflect the date of the event.
The RCH has produced such an immense amount of groundbreaking achievements and we cannot assume to have captured them all here.
Do you think an achievement, person, or event is missing? Please send your suggestion to: archives@rch.org.au. We hope you enjoy exploring!
Showing Events Tagged with: superintendent
1923
![](https://archives.rch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019.17.23-low-res-1-774x1024.jpg)
Dr Howard Boyd Graham
Appointed to the first medical superintendent role, Dr Graham was interested in the relation between poverty and child health.
1929
![](https://archives.rch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018.64.17-low-res-2-696x1024.jpg)
Dr John Colquhoun
Appointed as the first medical superintendent at The Children's Orthopaedic Hospital, which was soon to be opened.
1931
Dr Stanley Williams
Williams came to the Children’s as resident, then after more training in England was appointed medical superintendent in 1935. He was an innovative and well-published practitioner.
1936
![](https://archives.rch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019.17.38-low-res-1-768x1024.jpg)
Professor Vernon Collins CBE
Appointed as a physician to inpatients, Collins quickly became medical superintendent. As medical director from 1948 to 1959, he worked closely with Lady Ella Latham to reform the hospital in terms of staffing and patient care. He was with the hospital until 1974.
1939
![](https://archives.rch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019.17.25-low-res-1-763x1024.jpg)
Dr Howard Williams
Appointed medical superintendent, Williams was involved with the hospital until 1975. His clinical paediatric experience and enthusiasm for clinical research had a strong influence on the diversity of services offered by the hospital. In 1948 he was appointed as the hospital’s first full-time director of clinical research.
1943
![](https://archives.rch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2711-low-res-1-1024x753.jpg)
Dr Elizabeth Turner
The first woman to become medical superintendent at the hospital, Turner also administered the hospital’s first penicillin treatment in 1944 and was instrumental in the development of a travelling incubator to help bring babies to the hospital.