It was named in honour of the global superstar whose fundraising efforts helped establish it.
Now, Norwich's beloved Jenny Lind hospital is celebrating a landmark moment, having treated more than four million children since it first opened its doors 168 years ago this month.
The facility, which is now based at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), first admitted patients on April 3, 1854, thanks to the generosity and goodwill of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind.
Lind was a major celebrity of the Victorian era known as the Swedish Nightingale and was particularly popular in Norwich, which she visited several times.
Funds raised by her performances here helped to pay for the new children's hospital.
It was the second such facility to open in the UK, with Great Ormond Street Hospital having opened only two years earlier.
The Jenny Lind Infirmary for Sick Children was originally based in Pottergate, in the centre of Norwich.
When that fell into disrepair, Colman's Mustard founder Jeremiah Colman donated land at Unthank Road - now the Colman Hospital site - where a new building was opened in 1900.
In 1975, the children’s hospital became part of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, initially in the city centre and then at Colney.
Today it treats more than 60,000 children a year, with services including cancer care, children’s surgery, treatments for diabetes, respiratory illnesses, allergies, urinary and bowel conditions, plus care for sick and premature babies.
Sam Higginson, chief executive of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which includes the children’s hospital, said: “We have treated over four million children since the Jenny Lind opened in 1854.
"Today, the children’s hospital is going from strength to strength with the two new paediatric theatres opening in later this year.”
A podcast detailing the story of the Jenny Lind Children’s Hospital has been released, along with a new portrait of Jenny Lind, on display in the hospital.
A history book by Bruce Lindsay has also been updated to raise money for the Norfolk & Norwich Hospitals Charity, which benefits the children’s hospital.
Podcast storyteller Richard England, a consultant paediatric surgeon, says: “We are immensely proud of our history, as the second children’s hospital to be established in the country."
Celebrations have been taking place at the hospital, featuring cakes, games and balloons.
Download the podcasts here: https://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/about-us/250th-anniversary-of-nn-hospital/our-250-year-history/jenny-lind-childrens-hospital/
Who was Jenny Lind?
Dubbed the 'Swedish Nightingale', opera singer Jenny Lind was one of the best known and most popular entertainers in mid-19th century Europe.
In 1847, she gave her first concerts in Norwich and they proved so popular that a third concert was arranged.
Her arrival in Norwich was marked by crowds lining the streets, church bells ringing and gun salutes.
She returned to Norwich in 1849, staying with the Bishop of Norwich, and gave two further concerts in St Andrew’s Hall that year, with the intent to raise money for charity.
The money raised from the Jenny Lind concerts were later earmarked for the purpose of an infirmary for sick children
A public meeting in 1853 unanimously endorsed the idea and in 1854 the hospital opened in Pottergate, Norwich.
Jenny Lind, by now married to composer and pianist Otto Goldschmidt continued to support the Children’s Hospital established in her name.
She visited Norwich twice more, as recorded by entries in the visitors book of the hospital, while successive generations of her family have also continued their support.
Lind's celebrity spread throughout Europe and beyond, but she does seem to have been a particular sensation in Norwich.
As well as the hospital, a pub was named in her honour on Gentleman's Walk. It is now a Caffe Nero.
And a steamer called the Jenny Lind ran trips on the river from Foundry Bridge, near the train station, while there is still a Jenny Lind Park, off Vauxhall Street.
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