Generations of Norfolk children have the kindness of a Swedish singer to thank for the hospital care they have received in Norwich. It was of course, Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale, who donated the money that was used to set up an infirmary for sick children.

Now, on the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Jenny Lind Children’s Hospital, a commemorative ball is being held in the city next Saturday to mark this momentous historic occasion.

A portrait of Jenny Lind.

Money raised by the ball at the Hilton Hotel will go to the Jenny Lind children’s department at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where the legacy of this Victorian singer continues today.

The story of Jenny Lind and how she became so linked to Norwich began in Stockholm in 1820 when she was born, Johanna Maria Lind.

She was born into difficult circumstances and spent much of her childhood in foster care. But she was a happy child and could often be heard singing to herself.

And that was how her beautiful voice came to be discovered. A passer-by with connections to the Royal Opera House heard her singing to her foster mother’s cat one day.

Little Jenny and her family were approached and before long she was given a place at the opera school. She was just nine years old, five years below the usual entrance age.

Her voice was remarkable, even at such a tender age and she was soon being called the Swedish Nightingale. But so much stage singing took its toll on her voice and when she was 12 she gave up performing for four years.

Fortunately, the break and singing tuition in France saved her voice and when she returned to performing she delighted audiences across Europe by singing leading operatic roles, Swedish folk songs and more.

She was a favourite of Queen Victoria and her first visit to England in 1847 soon gained her an adoring public. She was due to sing at St Andrew’s Hall in Norwich that summer, and the Bishop of Norwich, Dr Edward Stanley, invited her to stay at the Bishop’s Palace while she was in the city.

The old Jenny Lind in Pottergate.

His invitation caused quite a furore. Opera singers were like pop singers and film stars are today, so to have someone from such a raffish background staying at the palace offended the high morals of some of the Victorians.

But Jenny Lind was different. Although she was famous for her voice, it was her character that won over the people. She was a very charitable young woman, and her friendship with the Bishop of Norwich was to be a blessing for the county.

It was Dr Stanley who sowed the idea in Jenny’s mind that she might use her singing to help others. This she did in the years to come to great effect.

Her appearance in Norwich caused a huge stir. Thousands of people crammed into St Andrew’s Hall to hear her sing at three performances.
She also met many local people during visits that week to a school for blind people, a charity school for girls, the workhouse and the School of Design in the city as well as to the cathedral.

When she left, Jenny refused to accept the full fee for her performances, leaving the rest to be distributed to charities and hospitals in the city.

Her glittering career continued, with concerts in Germany, Sweden and London. But early in 1849, Jenny was back in Norwich to another rapturous welcome. She gave two concerts in St Andrew’s Hall and these were promoted as being for charity. The proceeds totalled £1263 – the equivalent of probably £40,000 or more today.

Inside the children's hospital.

This was to be used to found a new and lasting charity for the poor of the city. A committee was set up to decide how it was to be used – the initial idea being for a public baths and wash-house.

Eventually, it was agreed that the money should be spent on setting up an institution for sick children.

Boys and girls of poor families were frequently at the mercy of diseases and suffered many crippling injuries, so such a scheme would be a great benefit to many.

The first Jenny Lind Infirmary for Sick Children was a modest affair consisting of 12 beds in a block of specially-adapted houses in Pottergate.

For Jenny, the opening of the infirmary was a source of great delight and she stayed in touch with it until her death in November 1887.
By then she had settled in England, buying a home at Malvern with her husband, the German pianist Otto Goldschmidt, with whom she had a son and daughter.

Her passing was greatly mourned in Norwich, and 10 years later the city vowed to keep the memory of the Swedish Nightingale alive when a new children’s hospital was built.

The Pottergate houses had become unsuitable and money from the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Fund was used to build a new hospital on a site donated by Jeremiah James Colman on Unthank Road in Norwich.

This was to be the new Jenny Lind Hospital for Children, opening with 40 cots and, shortly after, two wards. The hospital grew during and after the first world war until it had 80 beds, an x-ray department and outpatient clinic.

A mock house for patients.

Patients were generally aged between two and 12, and by the end of the second world war the hospital was dealing with more than 5000 outpatients and almost 2500 admissions a year.

In 1948, the Jenny Lind and the Norfolk and Norwich hospitals were amalgamated into the NHS. Although the children’s hospital continued to develop, change was around the corner and in 1975 the Jenny Lind closed at Unthank Road.

Its work transferred to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital where buildings were redeveloped to provide a modern children’s department that was officially opened in 1982.

When the old N and N was replaced in 2001 by the new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital at Colney on the outskirts of the city, the name of Jenny Lind went with it.

And today, the Jenny Lind Children’s Department is still providing vital treatment, care and support to the children of Norfolk.

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