{"id":169805,"date":"2026-08-16T06:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T06:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/169805\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T06:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T06:46:08","slug":"the-lasting-legacy-of-the-swedish-nightingale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/169805\/","title":{"rendered":"The lasting legacy of the ‘Swedish Nightingale’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opera singer Jenny Lind was world famous in the 19th Century but the legacy of the ‘Swedish Nightingale’ is particularly remembered in one UK city.<\/p>\n

Lind, who was depicted in The Greatest Showman, is still celebrated in Norwich, where she performed during four visits between 1847 and 1862.<\/p>\n

“Jenny-mania” swept Europe as Lind toured, and funds raised from her 1849 concerts in Norwich were used to create the Jenny Lind Infirmary for Sick Children, which opened in 1854.<\/p>\n

Although now in a different location, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital children’s department still bears her name and proudly “celebrates her legacy today”, according to consultant paediatric surgeon Richard England.<\/p>\n

Lind’s 1849 concerts in the city raised \u00a31,253 – equivalent to about \u00a3140,000 in 2026 – for the infirmary.<\/p>\n

It was modelled on Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, which had opened two years earlier, making Norwich the second city in the country to have a children’s hospital.<\/p>\n

England said Lind “rose to stardom from quite a poor background” in Sweden and “endeared” herself to the people of Norwich for her charitable work.<\/p>\n

Speaking on an episode of the Secret Norfolk series on BBC Sounds<\/a>, he said: “Her arrival in Norwich was delayed because of her illness… she felt so sorry for people in the city that they all were wanting to come and hear her, that she added a third concert with prices reduced so the poor of the city could come along as well.”<\/p>\n

After raising money for charity she gifted the funds to the city and so the children’s infirmary was opened in Pottergate, in the centre of the city.<\/p>\n

It moved to Unthank Road in 1900 before becoming part of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital on St Stephen’s Road in 1975.<\/p>\n

The Jenny Lind Children’s Hospital is now part of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on Colney Lane, where England works.<\/p>\n

“The memory of Jenny Lind’s original donation was always remembered,” he said.<\/p>\n

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In 1975 the Jenny Lind Children’s Hospital was integrated into the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, which was demolished in 2003. The Jenny Lind Park is now part of a housing development on the site [PA Media]<\/p>\n

When Lind came to Norwich in 1849 she stayed with Bishop Edward Stanley. The room she once slept in still stands as part of Norwich School.<\/p>\n

Tour guide Paul Dickson said that wherever she went, people flocked to see her.<\/p>\n

“When she arrived at the railway station, the message went straight up to St Peter Mancroft and the bells started ringing in joy for her arrival and they also had a fusillade of rifles to celebrate her arrival in the city,” he said.<\/p>\n

However, having an opera singer stay with a Bishop caused controversy.<\/p>\n

“There were people in the Church of England who thought this was really not the done thing, but here she was and she gets on incredibly well with the Stanleys” Dickson added.<\/p>\n

“The Bishop actually died in September 1849, but after that his wife really supported Jenny a lot.”<\/p>\n

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The Jenny Lind Children’s Hospital moved as part of the new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in 2003 [PA Media]<\/p>\n

More on the Jenny Lind Children’s hospital<\/p>\n

In 2017 Lind was portrayed by Rebecca Ferguson in The Greatest Showman, which fictionalised her American tour with PT Barnum, played by Hugh Jackman.<\/p>\n

However, England said reading a biography would give a more accurate retelling of Lind’s career.<\/p>\n

“Hollywood does what Hollywood does,” he said. “It’s sad actually because you read the story of the tour with PT Barnum – 130 concerts across America and Canada and she parted ways with PT Barnum halfway through.<\/p>\n

“He was very into generating customers and she was more into giving money away to charities.”<\/p>\n

England said Lind’s legacy has been passed down through her family with her daughter and subsequent generations visiting Norwich.<\/p>\n

“Jenny Lind’s life itself is an incredible rags-to-riches fairytale,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Even through all these difficulties she rose to become a superstar. She is like a dream for many young women and young girls to do so well in the arts like that.”<\/p>\n

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