Ipswich Hospital Museum

The Ipswich Hospital Museum preserves and promotes the history of nursing and medicine at Ipswich Hospital.  Run by volunteers, the museum was started in 2010 and covers the history of the hospital from when it first opened in 1860 to the present.  

The museum originally was housed in the Jubilee Building.  Since early 2026, the museum has operated from Cribb House, off Chelmsford Avenue.

Ipswich General Hospital, Jubilee Children's Ward, Ipswich, 1889

The Ipswich Hospital Museum is located on the Ipswich Hospital campus in the historic and beautiful Jubilee Building.  The Jubilee Building started life as a single-story Children’s Ward built to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Victoria.  Some time later a second story was added for nurses’ accommodation.

Foyer of the Ipswich General Hospital A.E. Wilcox School of Nursing, Ipswich, n.d.

In 1968, the A.E. Wilcox School of Nursing was opened in the renovated ground floor of Jubilee Building. The top floor housed the Medical Officers’ quarters and a flat for the matron.

Libby McNalty, operating theatre, Ipswich General Hospital, n.d.

Libby McNalty, nurse, Ipswich General Hospital, 1979

All the while, Elizabeth (Libby) McNalty, the charge nurse of the Operating Theatres, was collecting and hoarding many items she thought would have some historical significance in the future. Libby remembers “As buildings were demolished during the years of redevelopment, other departments would contribute their ‘treasures’ to my storage collection area until an appropriate area was available to set up as a museum.”

Fire at the Jubilee Building, Ipswich General Hospital, 2005

Who would know that a fire in the Jubilee Building in 2005, would be the beginning of an Ipswich Hospital Museum.

Opening of the Ipswich Hospital Museum, Jubilee Building, Ipswich

Peter Merrell with Steph Shannon, opening of Ipswich Hospital Museum

When the Jubilee Building was refurbished the then District Manager, Pam Lane, gave permission for a former School of Nursing Library be allocated for the purpose of a hospital museum.