Lady Dufferin Hospital

At the end of the 19th Century, the women of India were prepared to die rather than receive treatment in general hospitals in the presence of male patients.

When Queen Victoria was informed of the plight of these women, 
she asked Lady Hariot Dufferin, the wife of the Viceroy of India at that time, to help find a solution. Lady Hariot Dufferin decided to establish hospitals exclusively for women and children. These Dufferin Hospitals were located in Karachi, Quetta, Shikarpur & Hyderabad in Pakistan and Delhi, Nagpor and Calcutta in India.

She appealed to the local philanthropists to donate to the “Dufferin Fund” in order to build these hospitals. In response to this appeal Mr. Eduljee Dinshaw, a renowned philanthropist, established the Lady Dufferin Hospital, Karachi, by a princely donation, in 1894 as a Charitable Institute.

The foundation laying ceremony of Eduljee Dinshaw Wing was performed on 12th November 1894 by Lady Elgin with Kincardine and completed in 1898.
Katrak Maternity Wing
The Foundation Stone was laid in August 1914 and the building was completed in June 1915. 
The Opening ceremony took place on 6th January 1916.
Total Cost: Rs. 70,000/-
Engineer in Charge: S.G. Lyttle, P.W.D
Physician in Charge: MVS. Leonard
(Gumprich, M.B. ch B)
Architect: Durcdas B. Advani
Contractor: Sewji Ganesh
Honorary: F.S. Punnett
Secretaries: E. A. Pearson

Katrak Maternity Wing (As stand today)
Renovation works commence on 27th February 1999. Ground breaking ceremony was performed by Lt. Gen. (Retd) Moinuddin Haider, Governor of Sindh.

The work completed in December 2005.
In 1915, Dr. Elizabeth Stephens Imprey was appointed the new head of the hospital, but she never made it to Karachi from England. She boarded the P & O liner SS Persia as a first class passenger in Tilbury, London. The ship was sunk off Crete\&s coast by a German submarine on December 30, 1915. More than 340 passengers drowned, including Dr. Imprey.