Lucy OsburnPrint Page 
The seat commemorate Lucy Osburn (1836 - 1891), the first Lady Superintendent of Nursing at Sydney Hospital.
Lucy Osburn arrived in 1868 accompanied by five trained nurses following the Sir Henry Parkes appeal to Florence Nightingale for trained nurses for the Sydney Infirmary. Lucy Osburn trained at St Thomas’ Hospital in London and also at the Kaiserwerth Hospital near Dussledorf in Germany, which had greatly influenced Florence Nightingale’s ideas. She was identified as ‘an outstanding graduate’ at the Nightingale School and set sail for Australia following her appointment as Superintendent and Chief Female Officer of the Sydney Infirmary (later called the Sydney Hospital).
Together with five other Nightingale nurses, Ms Osburn arrived in Sydney in 1868, where she encountered appalling conditions, and hostility from medical staff. She spent the next 12 years transforming the hospital and training nurses in the Nightingale tradition.
Miss Osburn left Sydney in 1884. She died on 22 December 1891.
Note : The inscription on the plaque is believed to contain historical inaccuracies particularly in relation to her date of birth. A book "Lucy Osburn, a Lady Displaced: Florence Nightingale's envoy to Australia " by Judith Godden contains a more historically accurate account of her life.
Location
| Address: | George Street, Surgeons Court, off Nurses Walk, The Rocks , 2000 |
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| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.860296 Long: 151.208334 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Seat |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Medicine |
| Link: | http://adb.anu.edu.au/ |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Wednesday 11th July, 1984 |
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Lucy Osborn (1835 - 1891)
First Lady Superintendent of Nursing Sydney Hospital 1868 -1884 when Sir Heny Parkes, then Colonial Treasurer of NSW, appealed to Florence Nightingale for trained nurses for Sydney Infirmary, Lucy Osborn was selected and appointed Lady Superintendent.
Accompanied by five trained nurses from the Nightingale School of Nursing, St. Thomas Hospital London, she arrived in Sydney in 1868.
Starting under primitive conditions she successfully established nurse education in Australia on a professional basis.
This plaque and seat dedicated to her memory were erected by the Sydney Hospital Nurses` Association and unvelied by Lady Rowland, C.St.J., on 11th July 1984
