First patient

Thomas Tindale Makepeace was the Ipswich Hospital’s first patient. Mr Makepeace was admitted the day after the official opening on March 3, 1860. Mr Makepeace was born in northern England in 1823. He travelled with his wife Hannah and their three children to Australia in September 1856 on board the “Morning Light”.

Thomas found work at the Riverside Colliery, at Moggill, managed by his brother-in-law, until it closed. Thomas was working at the Redbank Coalmines at the time of his admission.

After losing his leg in a mining accident, Thomas turned his hand to farming. Thomas died on September 7, 1911 and is buried in the Moggill Cemetery.