Hospitals in the United Kingdom

[marky]

Royal Southern Hospital, Toxteth, Liverpool

A couple of colour pictures are here:

Since demolished and partly built over by Toxteth Ambulance Station.

[hunter1]

My great uncle died in the Military Hospital, Mossley Hill, Liverpool - does anyone know anyhting about this hospital - he died a while after the war but I assuem from injuries sustained int he war or related.

I have his brothers records to a point - as he died in France during the war, but cant find anyhting on this Uncle who died later.

Any suggestions on the hospital records, information about the hospital or finding his army records

Thank you

[David_Underdown]

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/hospitalrecords/ may tell you where records now are. I think these military hospitals passed to the Ministry of Pensions once the war had ended

[hunter1]

Many thaks David

I have tried the archive link but it didn't recognise the hospital, I understand there is still a hospital in that area - but cant seem to find out anything about the old military hospital

We also have another relative who sever in the RMAC and surprisingly because a lot of records ere los tin the bombin gof MOD we have some of his war records - he served with different hopsitals in Uk, but "abandoned his family in 1920'ish and we think may have gone abroad = so will maybe get his records

out and check where he served and try to find out about him or the hospitals too.

Wish me luck

[Sandie Hayes]

Mossley Hill Hospital is still in use. It's now a specialist hospital for the elderley. I doubt much of the original buildings are left but there are a few.

For the 'scousers' among us Mossley Hill Hospital is where 'home loans' are now based.

The hospital is on Park Avenue, walking distance from Aigburth Vale.

Have you tried the Liverpool Records Office? http://liverpool.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/archives-local-and-family-history/

Sandie

[Sandie Hayes]

Royal Southern Hospital, Toxteth, Liverpool

A couple of colour pictures are here:

http://www.flickr.co...157626343198514

http://www.flickr.co...157626343198514

Since demolished and partly built over by Toxteth Ambulance Station.

The 'Southern' was where Noel Chavasse was house surgeon. His last entry in the staff book was 2nd August 1914 'Away Territorials Camp for 2 weeks. Back on 16th.' He never returned.

[hunter1]

Mossley Hill Hospital is still in use. It's now a specialist hospital for the elderley. I doubt much of the original buildings are left but there are a few.

For the 'scousers' among us Mossley Hill Hospital is where 'home loans' are now based.

The hospital is on Park Avenue, walking distance from Aigburth Vale.

Have you tried the Liverpool Records Office? http://liverpool.gov...family-history/

Sandie

[hunter1]

Many thanks Sandie

I knew something of Liverpool in my youth, went to grammar school there from Warrington, daily but that is now changed a lot too. I don't know a lot about some of the areas as apart from travelling to school dailyby bus and trasin and the odd weekend visit to school friends mostly knew out school area and the centre of Town.

I have lived away from the North west since my early twenties, my husband in the RAF, so we travelled a lot and settled in Lincolnshire. Still have family in the area so may take a visit and do a recce sometime - in the meantime will check your link. Need to see if I can get his records too.

Thanks again - will post any results

Rita

[Sandie Hayes]

I can help with photographs if you want any. I visit there once a month for the discharge clinic, next one is in a couple of weeks.

Sandie

[Guest IsabelleRE]

I am new to this forum and I joined just to try to contact the member who placed the post below. I have just found an autograph book kept by my husbands great aunt who was a nurse in a red cross hospital in Chippenham in WW1. It contains many lovely drawings, jokes, anecdotes made for her by patients. I would like to learn more about her time in the hospital and know where she worked. I am confused by a post that suggested the hospital was at Drayton Hall Sutton Benger as there also seems to be mention of Town Hall Chippenham being used. Her name was Nurse Dora B Hart. I would like to hear from anyone with information about her, the hospital or about patients at that time. Thank you

<img src="style_emoticons/default/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Chippenham Auxiliary War Hospital, Wiltshire

Wards in the Neeld and Town Halls 1915-18

Operated by Wiltshire 6 VAD (Ladies)

1876 Patients passed through. One ward named Loyalty and a second named Unity the Motto on the Borough Crest being Loyalty & Unity.

Only one death recorded, a Canadian who is buried in London Rd. Cemetery Chippenham with a headstone raised by public subscription in the town.

3 VAD staff died of 'flu' in 1918 and a 4th died following complications after an appendectomy op.

Commandant awarded OBE, Quartermaster and Assistant Commandant both awarded MBE and a Staff Nurse awarded the ARRC.

MO was local Doctor whose wife was Commandant their three sons were all KIA (2 in France 1 in Mespot).

I have a list of VAD staff and awards they received which I am happy to pass on to anyone with an interest. Chippenham Museum has a photo of staff outside the Hospital.

There is a plaque on the wall of the buildings commemorating the hospital and the Certificate acknowledging the service given is held by Chippenham Museum.

Wilts 13 VAD (Men) provided stretcher bearers and drivers to collect patients from Chippenham GWR Station. Commandant of VAD 13 Red Cross medals are in Chippenham Museum Collection.

A silver cruet set given by patients to Sister Vicborn is also in the museum collection.

<img src="style_emoticons/default/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[HERITAGE PLUS]

Isabelle

PM sent to you in response to yours.

Dave

[Guest dapahn]

QUOTE (BeppoSapone @ May 16 2005, 05:35 AM)

Can you tell me as much as you know about Bradmore Hospital - exactly where it was etc. I am writing a book about Archibald Baxter who spent some time there in 1918. Thanks.

[John Orchard]

"Hospital or Asylum during the war ?

Not sure about this one - But talking to a guy from our village he told me his uncle was admitted to SEVERALLS with shell shock and susequently died there.

Severalls Hospital, Colchester

The second Essex County Asylum

Opened May 1913"

The answer to the question is simply hospital. It is true that Severall's was the second County Asylum, but it was placed under military command for the duration and it accepted military casualties of all types. My grandmother and my great-aunt were nurses at Severalls, my grandmother being in training from 1915. She passed her final examinations just after the hospital was handed back to the civilian authorities after the war. If you look at the Severall's website: http://severallshospital.co.uk/. I submitted a number of items of ephemera and photographs to the site that had belonged to my grandmother, Gladys Taylor (nee Morgan), who died aged 100 in 1992. The most prescient item in the context of the hospital's role in the war is hidden in my grandmother's autograph book, of which I have scanned and submitted a number of pages. The picture of the ubiquitous 'Tommy' was drawn by a recuperating patient who was on a general medical ward. These scans can be accessed through the website by entering the links about Staff.

[John Orchard]

Hello again Jake

I should have gone on to say that Lord Northcliffe became The Viscount Rothermere but the rest remains the same.

Cheers, Tonym

seven years later than the post, is probably a bit late to mention it, but Tonym, that's not true. Lord Northcliffe was originally given a Barony and he was later raised to Viscount, as 1st Viscount Northcliffe. You are confusing this very well connected family who had more titles than most. Northcliffe was Alfred Harmsworth. His elder Brother Harold was Viscount Rothermere. They had three other brothers: Cecil, Baron Harmsworth, Sir Leicester and Sir Hildebrand, both of whom held baronetcies.

John

[John Orchard]

According to the book 'Croydon and The Great War' published by the Libraries Committee of the Corporation of Croydon in 1920, there were a number of War Hospitals that have not been mentioned in the list on this site, and one which has a mention but not in the capacity that the book gives.

A number of council schools were taken over as War Hospitals and placed under the control of the RAMC, eventually under the command of Lt. Col. H E Dearne, RAMC. These schools, are as follows:

Davidson Road School, Addiscombe (later Davidson Secondary Modern school) (interestingly D H Lawrence had been teaching her from about 1907 for a couple of years)

Ecclesbourne Road School, Thornton Heath (later a primary school)

The Crescent School, Selhurst, (later Selhurst Grammar School)

Ingram Road School, Thornton Heath (later Ingram Secondary Modern school)

Stanford Road school, Norbury, SW16, (later Norbury Manor Secondary Modern)

The children that were supposed to be attending these schools were split amongst the remaining schools for the duration.

These School-Hospitals had a combined bed total of 1000.

Additionally, Croydon had access, to war beds in Croydon General which acted as an auxiliary hospital, but within which two wards were exclusively for injured servicemen,

There were overspill beds (80) at the Reigate Infirmary and a further 20 at Oxted.

The Shirley Park Hotel (These days the site is occupied by the Trinity School of John Whitgift), complete with its golf course, was designated a hospital for RFC/RAF officers.

[jtjmartin]

I have been reading through a number of replies, but not all so apologies if this information has already been provided.

The No5 Northern General hospital (Leicester) (previously mentioned); the buildings still exist as Wyggeston School at the junction of Welford Rd and University Rd, they clearly exhibit the style of hospital buildings of this period. I have never been inside so do not know if there are any commemorative plaques.

Leicester General Hospital was opened for casualties in 1915 and several photographs of this period exist in the hospital and also a book 'Palace on the Hill' ( there is another reference also in one of the history of Leicester books, but cannot remember which sadly). It had a number of wards specially designed and built for gas victims; the sides of these wards could be raised completely exposing the whole ward to the open air. It is recorded that all soldiers (including gas casualties) received 10 cigarettes (if remember the number correctly) each day! It would be interesting to know if this helped in their recovery, or otherwise.

[Sue Light]

According to the book 'Croydon and The Great War' published by the Libraries Committee of the Corporation of Croydon in 1920, there were a number of War Hospitals that have not been mentioned in the list on this site, and one which has a mention but not in the capacity that the book gives.

A number of council schools were taken over as War Hospitals and placed under the control of the RAMC, eventually under the command of Lt. Col. H E Dearne, RAMC. These schools, are as follows:

Davidson Road School, Addiscombe (later Davidson Secondary Modern school) (interestingly D H Lawrence had been teaching her from about 1907 for a couple of years)

Ecclesbourne Road School, Thornton Heath (later a primary school)

The Crescent School, Selhurst, (later Selhurst Grammar School)

Ingram Road School, Thornton Heath (later Ingram Secondary Modern school)

Stanford Road school, Norbury, SW16, (later Norbury Manor Secondary Modern)

The children that were supposed to be attending these schools were split amongst the remaining schools for the duration.

These School-Hospitals had a combined bed total of 1000.

These schools were not 'War Hospitals ' in their own right, but they formed five 'Divisions' of Croydon War Hospital, of which there was, strictly speaking, only one.

Sue

[John Orchard]

Hi Sue

Thanks for the response. Under a single command, that makes sense. The language employed in the book from which I quoted starts by using the term 'War Hospitals' and later seems to use the term 'school-hospitals'. It is fascinating to me to see that the lessons learned at the time of the Great War, and continued through the Second World War, influenced the design of schools at a later date. Those commissioned by the Croydon Corporation in the aftermath of the Seocnd War were specifically designed to be immediately converted to fully functioning hospitals in the even of hostilities. Essentially these were one-storey buildings with basements. The ground level would accommodate wards, made out of classrooms merged by the removing of specifically designed removable walls, and the basement areas kitted out with the necessary infrastructure for creating safe, sterile but well equipped operating theatres.

The problem with all the schools that I mentioned previously was that they were of a design that emerged after the Balfour Act of 1902. Two main blocks, one at each end, usually in red brick. These blocks each had a basement level, housing boilers and ancillary equipment. They then had a ground, mezzanine and first floor area, and they were both designed around the two main staircases serving the whole building. The area between the two end blocks was on three levels. The length of this section being about one and half times the length of each end bloc in the same plane, but not quite as deep.

The centre section house a school-hall on the ground and first floor levels, and an area I the roof space that was almost as capacious as the two lower halls but without the classrooms that were attached on the G&F floors. When I attended Davidson, the roof had been converted under the 1944 Act into a science laboratory, but what fascinated me was the side cupboards (literally the eaves) which held all sorts of interesting things, some of which may have been there since the Great War!

[oxlade134]

With reference to Banbury Red Cross enquiry at the beginning of this topic. I have this card of thanks to what was a volunteer untrained nurse (VAD) my thought maybe other cards like this exist in some red cross archive. I'm not sure if this means Banbury hospital though could just be a region as this Marjorie Blencowe lived in Oxford I believe

If your interested in the VAD here is a also very good blog on the VAD's at Chailey Sussex

Roger

[oxlade134]

With reference to Banbury Red Cross enquiry at the beginning of this topic. I have this card of thanks to what was a volunteer untrained nurse (VAD) my thought maybe other cards like this exist in some red cross archive. I'm not sure if this means Banbury hospital though its likely as Marjorie Blencowe lived at Martson St Lawrence a short distance away.

If your interested in the VAD here is a also very good blog on the VAD's at Chailey Sussex

Roger

[archivist]

New Mills, Derbyshire.

There is a photograph of 3rd Northern General Hospital, Auxiliary Hospital, Class 'A', Red Cross Hospital, New Mills here:-

http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2022302/3E49D48D219682C33E4FD74F377AB24483989141.html

And mention of it here too as Red Cross Hospital,New Mills - 40 beds equipped :-

http://sheffieldsoldierww1.co.uk/Hospital/

if anyone else knows more about this hospital I should be pleased to hear about it. My grandfather Alfred Greetham was sent there after being wounded at the very end of the war. My grandmother said she travelled to see him in hospital there on armistice day when people were celebrating peace but she had no idea how badly injured she was going to find him. He did survive, living until a stroke killed him in his early 60s.

3rd Northern General Hospital, Auxiliary Hospital, Class 'A', Red Cross Hospital, New Mills, World War I

-

http://sheffieldsoldierww1.co.uk/Hospital/

Red Cross Hospital,New Mills - 40 beds equipped

[archivist]

Please see (in addition to my posting above re New Mills Red Cross Hospital) :-

https://www.hpacde.org.uk/picturenewmills/jpgh/n00765.jpg

and one or two other photographs on the New Mills History Society website.

[oxlade134]

The British Red Cross Hospital at Banbury is covered in a fine series of photographs at this location. http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en/contributions/5182#prettyPhoto

One of our extended family Marjorie Edith S. Blencowe served there from 1915-19 as a Volunteer (VAD) and was issued this certificate of thanks at wars end.

[David Ridgus]

Battle Hospital in Reading had been the Union workhouse since 1867 and became the Reading War hospital in, I think, 1916. Reading Cemetery has quite a few burials as a result, quite a number of which are Canadians. On the abolition of Workhouses in the late 1920s it was taken over by the local council and renamed Battle Hospital. Closed a few years ago it is now the site of a large Tesco store.

David

[washingline]

I have a copy of a photograph showing patients and staff 1916 "Beechenhurst Hospital" Guilford (assume Guildford). The owner of the picture has it because one of the people in it is his grandfather. All he knows was that he was in a machine gun corps and was convalescing following wounding in 1916. He was likely in the Cheshire Reg though I have yet to establish that for sure. I can also find no record of Beechenhurst hospital. If anyone can add to the information I would be much obliged. I would post the picture but for some reason the site say that I am not allowed to post pictures.