IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0387 LH
Held at: Royal London Hospital
Title: ROYAL LONDON HOSPITAL RECORDS
Date(s): 1740-[1999]
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 200 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Royal London Hospital
London Hospital
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The London Infirmary, as it was originally called, was established in the Autumn of 1740 by a group of seven men, including John Harrison, a surgeon, Josiah Cole, an apothecary and Fotherley Baker, a lawyer. Their main objective was "The relief of all sick and diseased persons and, in particular, manufacturers, seamen in the merchant service and their wives and children". A house in Featherstone Street was rented for the purpose, and received its first patients on 3rd November. Money to finance the venture was raised by letters asking for subscriptions of five guineas. Subscribers of 5 guineas were entitled to be a Governor of the Infirmary for a year; those subscribing 30 guineas, or more, could be Life Governors. Governors retained the right to vote for the appointment of officers until the nineteenth century and to recommend patients until 1896.
Management of the infirmary was originally in the hands of all the subscribers but, as they increased in numbers, this became impracticable. As early as April 1741 a Grand Committee consisting of a small group of subscribers was appointed to meet weekly to transact the general business of the infirmary. This Committee developed into the House Committee, which exercised effective control of the Hospital until its abolition in 1948. The subscriber's meetings became the Court of Governors, which normally met quarterly, and to which the House Committee reported. In 1758 the Hospital was granted a Royal Charter, which gave the Governors corporate status.
In May 1741 the infirmary moved to rented premises in Prestcot Street, but it was soon apparent that converted houses were not adequate buildings. A new site at Whitechapel, the Mount and Mount Field, was purchased and building began in 1752. The London Hospital, as it was now known, partially opened in 1757. The building of the front block was completed in 1759. There have been many subsequent alterations, developments and extensions, but parts of the original building are still in use. In 1755 and 1772 the Governors of the Hospital purchased separately the two halves of Red Lyon Farm, which lay immediately behind the Hospital between Whitechapel Road and Commercial Road. Many of the Hospital's departments are built on parts of the former London Hospital Estate.
Executive authority of the Hospital was at first split between several officers: the Secretary, the Steward, the Apothecary and the Chaplain; all exercised varying degrees of authority at different times. In 1806 a Superintendent was appointed and this officer, later called the House Governor, became the principal Executive Officer.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the London Hospital was the largest voluntary, general Hospital in the United Kingdom. In the early years of the twentieth century the number of beds passed 1,000 on several occasions.
In 1783 William Blizard and Dr James Maddocks sought the Governors' support for a medical school, so that both practical and theoretical education could be received on the same site. The Governors allowed Blizard and Maddocks a piece of land at the east end of the Hospital on which to build a lecture theatre and museum, which was opened in 1785. Until 1854 the medical school remained largely independent of the Hospital but, from then until 1948, the Hospital House Committee exercised ultimate authority over the College. The London Hospital Dental School opened in 1911 to provide specialised treatment to patients, and training and research opportunities.
For many years the London Hospital had a number of Annexes and Convalescent Homes associated with it. At various times the Hospital managed the Zachary Merton Home, Banstead; the Brentwood Annexe; the Herman de Stern Home, Felixstowe; the Catherine Gladstone Home, Mitcham; the Croft and Fairfield Annexes in Reigate and the Hore and Marie Celeste Homes in Woodford. There was also Hayes Grove, a Home for Sick Nurses. From 1945 until 1972 Queen Mary's Maternity Home, Hampstead, was managed by the Hospital.
In 1968 Mile End and St Clement's Hospitals were transferred to the management of the Board of Governors and were designated to the London Hospital (Mile End) and the London Hospital (St Clement's). Under the terms of the National Health Act, 1946, the Court of Governors and the House Committee were replaced by a Board of Governors in 1948. This Board was itself dissolved in 1974, when the Hospital became a part of the Tower Hamlets Health District in the City and East London Health Authority (Teaching). The Hospital was granted a Royal title in 1990 and became known as the Royal London Hospital.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Royal London Hospital, formerly the London Hospital, 1740-[1999], comprising administrative records, 1741-1980, including Charter of Incorporation, 1758; bye-laws, 1758-1819; annual reports, 1741-1978; House Visitors books, 1750-1924; reports to the House Committee, 1779-1931, including Superintendent's and House Governor's report books, 1811-1830; Physicians and Surgeons report book, 1836-1867; registers and lists of Life Governors, 1841, 1859-1948; register of Medical and Surgical Staff, 1849-1890; registers of appointments of Medical and Surgical Officers, 1888-1954; testimonials and papers of applicants for medical and surgical posts, 1744-1926, registers of lay, domestic and ancillary staff, [1867]-1942; records of committees, 1741-1978, notably minutes of the House Committee, 1741-1948, Hospital Committees and Sub-Committees, [1750]-1948; minutes of associated bodies, notably Accumulating Fund Society, 1811-1853, Board of Stewards of the Anniversary Feast, 1744-1828; Meetings of Physicians and Surgeons, 1808-1823; Residents' Meetings, 1925-1942; minutes of the Board of Governors Committees and Sub-Committees, 1948-1978; minutes of the Court of Governors, 1740-1953; reports of the House Committee, 1742-1948; minutes of the Board of Governors, 1948-1974;
correspondence and papers of London Hospital House Governors and Secretaries, 1750-1964; papers of Chairmen of the London Hospital House Committee, 1898-1948, principally of Sydney Holland, 2nd Viscount Knutsford, 1898-1931; newsletters of the London Hospital, 1933-1978; copies of The Hospital: a weekly journal of Science, Medicine, Nursing and Philanthropy, 1890-1991;
title deeds, 1713-1983, notably of the Hospital site, 1755-1927; Red Lyon Farm, 1713-1773; subsequent sales and alterations of the Hospital estate, 1824-1942; agreements relating to the Medical College, 1854-1870, and Hospital Estate, 1780-1916;
financial records, 1740-1973, notably Treasurer's ledgers, 1740-1951; Treasurer's cash books, 1749-1968; journals, 1824-1947; House Steward's cash books, detailing daily expenses of the hospital, 1749-1816; House Steward's cash ledgers, 1752-1811; Tradesmen's ledgers, 1751-1814, giving detailed lists of daily supplies and equipment; legacy books, 1743-1947; records of endowments, endowed and named beds and cots, [1880]-1962; Hospital estate financial records, 1724-1966, including accounts of rents, 1784-1824; records of salaries and wages, 1742-1958; Trustees' accounts for intended building of the infirmary, 1740-1759;
Surveyors and Estate records, 1752-1989, notably estate maps and plans, 1783-1989; plans and drawings of the Hospital buildings, 1752-1983; estate buildings, 1891-1954; estate papers, 1807-1989;
records of the Works Department, 1905-1937; papers relating to the use of computer technology at the London Hospital, 1968-1978; records of the Public Relations Department of the London Hospital, 1965-1980; records of the Chaplain's Department, 1880-1991, including registers of baptisms, 1888-1990; records of the London Hospital Social Society, 1936-1990;
photographs relating to the Hospital, [1850-1999], including of Hospital and College buildings, medical and nursing staff, wards, departments and schools, laboratories, treatment of patients, students, war scenes, annexes and convalescent homes; records of the Medical Photography Department, 1945-1995, comprising 16 mm films made by the London Hospital Film Unit, [1950-1980]; films made by the London Hospital Dental School Film Unit, [1960-1975]; negatives of clinical photographs, 1945-1974;
records of London Linden Hall Association Ltd, 1950-1979, including memorandum and articles of association, 1950, minutes, 1950-1977, register of members, 1950-[1975], annual accounts, 1952-1975; records of The London Hospital (Ligature Department) Ltd, 1920-1970; records of the Pharmacy, previously Dispensary, 1897-1986, including drug purchase ledgers, 1897-1914, pharmacopeias and formularies, of the London Hospital, 1842-1986; records of the London Hospital School of Physiotherapy, 1933-1989;
records of the Cardiac Department, comprising visitors' book, 1913-1958; Dermatology Department, comprising descriptions of clinical cases with photographs, 1959; Department of General Medicine, 1968-1985; Neurology Department, 1947-[1975], comprising case summaries, 1947-1968, post mortem reports, 1954-1966; Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, 1949-1992, including annual obstetric reports for Whitechapel and Mile End, 1974-1985, Proceedings of The London Hospital Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society, 1955-1964, case notes and medical photographs of gynaecological patients, [1940s]; records of the Orthopaedic Department, comprising case studies, 1953-1954; Radiotherapy Department, 1903-1961, notably x-ray case book, 1903-1906, registers of patients, 1943-1961; Radiology Department, 1924-1959;
patient records, 1760-1991, including registers of in-patients, 1760-1805, registers of Physicians' and Surgeons' in-patients, 1883-1947, diagnostic indexes, 1893-1949, to post mortems, case notes and patient registers; Orthopaedic and Accident Department case notes, [1945]-1950; surgical registers of death, 1902-1924; registers of deaths, 1958-1994; post mortem reports, 1893-1921, with diagnostic indexes, 1893-1901; records of the Receiving Room, later the Accident and Emergency Department, 1924-1955, comprising registers of cases, 1939-1947, registers of death, 1914-1958; patient records of private wards in Fielden House, 1942-1985; admission registers for Zachary Merton Home, Banstead, 1968-1977; admission and discharge registers for the "Marie Celeste" Home, Woodford, 1965-1973; paediatric cases, 1928-1938; case notes, 1889-1944; case summaries, 1916-1951; patient records of the Light Department, 1900-1952, notably Finsen Light registers, 1900-1950, radium treatment registers, 1909-1952, patient case notes, [1903]-1919, X-ray Department registers, 1905-1943; maternity records, 1893-1991, including maternity and midwives' registers, 1893-1983, and for home births, 1905-1957; Woolmer Park Maternity Home midwives' registers of cases, 1939-1945; records of the Whitechapel Clinic for venereal disease, 1929-1960;
London Hospital Nursing Service records, 1880-1989, including registers of nurse probationers and pupil midwives, 1880-1944; registers of sisters and nurses, 1880-1946; ward books, 1901-1941; registers of nurses and cases treated under the London Hospital Private Nursing Institution, 1886-1946;
correspondence and papers of London Hospital matrons, 1884-[1950s]; letters and papers from Edith Cavell to Eva Lückes, 1901-1913; correspondence of Eva Lückes, 1895-1919; papers concerning state registration of nurses, 1904-1916; papers concerning the Preliminary Training School, Tredegar House, 1894-[1950s]; Matron's office staff files, 1948-1990;
records relating to Nursing Education, 1882-1995, including records relating to nurse tutors and teachers, 1954-1987, College staff, 1941-1993, Princess Alexandra School of Nursing, [1960s]; Preliminary Training School records, 1938-1965, including attendance registers, 1955-1964, student records, 1950-1965; records relating to examinations, 1895-1990; papers concerning community nursing experience, 1954-1989; pupil nurse schemes, 1967-1987; records relating to in-service education and training, 1959-1985; papers relating to the mergers of the nursing schools of London Jewish, St Matthews, Bethnal Green and Mildmay Hospitals with the Princess Alexandra School of Nursing, [1970s]; records of Mile End School of Nursing, 1959-1971; photographs, 1946-1986; records relating to Princess Alexandra & Newham College of Nursing & Midwifery, 1989-1995.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
The record are arranged as follows; administrative records, title deeds, financial records, patient records, nursing records, photographs, surveyors and estate records, records from unofficial sources, persons/subjects files, chaplain's department, London Linden Hall Association Limited, London Hospital (Ligature Department) Limited, Microbiology Department, Medical Photography Department, Orthopaedic Department, Dispensary, London Hospital School of Physiotherapy, Public Relations Department, Radiotherapy Department.
Conditions governing access:
Researchers wishing to consult the archives should first contact the Trust Archivist, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London, E1 1BB, for an appointment.
Conditions governing reproduction:
A photocopying service is available at the discretion of the Archivist. Photocopies are supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
A list is available at the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Generated and retained in situ by the Royal London Hospital.
Immediate source of acquisition:
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Records of the London Hospital Medical College (reference: MC), London Hospital Medical Council, 1868-1991 (reference: LM), Medical Advisory Bodies of the London Hospital, 1968-1995, (reference: TM), Marie Celeste Samaritan Society, 1791-1997 (reference: SS), The London Hospital Medical Club, 1792-1985 (reference: ML) and Royal London Hospital League of Nurses, 1921-1993 (reference: LN) are held by the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum. There are also many museum artefacts which complement the archives.
Some clinical and patient records, 1905-1965, are held by the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine Archives and Manuscripts Department; administrative records, 1897-1947, are held by London Metropolitan Archives.
Publication note:
The London: A Study in the Voluntary Hospital System, A E Clarke-Kennedy (Pitman Medical, 1962-1963); London Pride A E Clark-Kennedy (Hutchinson Benham, 1979); The London Hospital Illustrated. 250 years (The Bath Press, Bath, 1990) edited by Claire Daunton.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Sources: Catalogue of the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum; The London. A Study in the Voluntary Hospital System A E Clarke-Kennedy (Pitman Medical Publishing Ltd, London, 1962-1963); LHMC 1785-1985: The Story of the London Hospital Medical College John Ellis (London Hospital Medical Club, 1986); The London Hospital Illustrated. 250 years (The Bath Press, Bath, 1990) edited by Claire Daunton; Wellcome Library and the Public Record Office HOSPREC: On-Line Hospital Records Database. Compiled by Julie Tancell as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.
Date(s) of descriptions: June 2001