The Sydney Eye Hospital, established in 1882, is the largest eye hospital in the southern hemisphere. The hospital was originally the ophthalmic department of the old Sydney ‘Infirmary’ (Sydney Hospital), which was founded with the settlement of the Colony in 1788.
The Ophthalmic Department later transferred to a new site at Millers Point (The Rocks), which consisted of three historic residential houses known as ‘Moorcliff’. The department then became known as The Moorcliff Ophthalmic Branch of Sydney Hospital.
In 1790 with the arrival of the second fleet, a prefabricated hospital was erected on the western shores of Sydney – Drawing by Simon Fieldhouse
The General Hospital, Macquarie Street, was erected by Governor Macquarie 1811-1816. Known as The Rum Hospital, it was demolished in 1879 and replaced with the present Macquarie Street buildings – Drawing by Simon Fieldhouse