The parish of Saint Andrew, Lower Streatham, was formed in 1887. The church building was constructed in the previous year, built of red brick in a 15th-century style.
From: 'Parishes: Streatham', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 92-102.
The parish of Christ Church was formed from the ancient parish of Saint Leonard Streatham (P95/LEN), the first of her 13 daughter churches. The architect was James William Wild and the style Italian basilican with different coloured bricks being used to create patterns in the external brickwork. The foundation stone was laid on the 11 August 1840. Consecration by the Lord Bishop of Winchester took place on Friday 19 November 1841. The church suffered war damage on 10 September 1940 when nearly all the stained glass windows were broken and the brick and stonework of the church and boundary walls were damaged by bomb splinters, the vicarage was made uninhabitable.
Saint John the Evangelist, Clapham Road, was designed by Thomas Marsh Nelson and built in 1842. It was originally a chapel of ease for Holy Trinity Church (P95/TRI1). The parish has been merged with Christ Church (P95/CTC2) to form the parish of Christ Church and Saint John.
The present church was constructed in 1935. It is part of the Deanery of Wandsworth; the Archdeaconry of Wandsworth; and the Episcopal Area of Kingston.
Saint Michael and All Angels was constructed between 1897 and 1905 to designs by architect E. W. Mountford. A district chapelry was assigned in 1898.
The church of Saint Paul, Furzedown, was constructed by 1926, in which year it was consecrated. It is in the Archdeaconry of Wandsworth and the Deanery of Tooting.
The local parishes appear to have agreed in 1927 to work together for the formation of a new parish in Streatham Vale from sections of the parishes of Immanuel Streatham, Saint Andrew, Lower Streatham, Saint Mark, Mitcham, and Saint Barnabus Mitcham. A diocesan missioner, C.P. Turton, was appointed in July 1928 and services were held in what was to be the parish hall of the new parish, which had been erected in Churchmore Road, in the parish of Saint Andrew. For a time, the projected new parish was known unofficially as Saint Luke, Streatham Vale, but in May 1930, it was formally constituted as the parish of the Holy Redeemer, Streatham Vale. The church was consecrated on 5 March 1932.
Saint Stephen's Church, Manfred Road, Wandsworth (built 1881), established a mission church on Putney Bridge Road consisting of a church with a hall and mission rooms.
The church of Saint Michael and All Angels was constructed in 1878 to the designs of J.W. Walters. A nave was added in 1889, designed by William Butterfield; and further extensions were added in 1954. The parish has been merged with Saint Mary Magdalene (P97/MRY) to form the parish of Saint Mary Magdalene with Saint Michael and All Angels. The church remains open and in use.
Brentford Magistrates' Court:
Brentford Magistrates Court, situated in Market Place, Brentford High Street, was originally opened in 1850 as a combined Town Hall and Police Court. A second Court was added in 1891 and the front extensively rebuilt in 1929. Ealing Magistrates Court, Green Man Lane, Ealing was built in 1914-1915, to a design commissioned by the Middlesex County Council.
History:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Clerkenwell Magistrates' Court:
Clerkenwell Police Court was originally established in Hatton Garden, St Andrew Holborn, under the Act of 1792. It was transferred to Bagnigge Wells Road (renamed King's Cross Road in 1863) in approximately 1841. Part of the district it served was transferred to the newly established Dalston Police Court circa 1888.
Historical information:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Finsbury Petty Sessions Division:
Finsbury was the name given to one of the administrative divisions of the ancient county of Middlesex included within Ossulston Hundred. It included the parishes of Islington, Clerkenwell, St Luke Old Street, St Sepulchre, Hornsey, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Stoke Newington, and the Liberty of Glasshouse Yard.
In 1853 Stoke Newington was transferred to the Edmonton Division and became itself a division in 1890. On 17 October 1890 Hornsey, Finchley, and Friern Barnet were transferred to the new Highgate division within the administrative county of Middlesex.
On 1 July 1956 the Finsbury Division ceased to exist and was incorporated within the newly formed New River Petty Sessional Division.
History of Petty Sessions:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Marlborough Street court was one of the seven Public Offices established in 1792. It has the distinction of being the only Metropolitan Police Court to remain on its original site, 21 Great Marlborough Street, Westminster.
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Stoke Newington Magistrates Court:
For the purposes of petty sessional business, Stoke Newington parish fell within the Finsbury Division until 1853. In that year it was transferred to Edmonton Division. In April 1890, with the formation of the county of London within which Stoke Newington was situated, it became a petty sessional division in its own right.
History of magistrates courts:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
South Western Magistrates Court:
According to the London Post Office Directory of 1950, the South Western Magistrates Court was situated at Daventry House, 217 Balham High Road, SW17. Its jurisdiction covered "the space included within the following boundary ... from a point in the middle of the roadway on Vauxhall bridge, at the middle of the river Thames, south-eastward along the middle of that roadway and of Vauxhall Bridge rd., Harleyford rd., the roadway on the south side of Kennington Oval, Harleyford St., Camberwell New rd., Brixton rd., Brixton hill, Streatham hill, and of Streatham High rd. to the boundary of the County of London; thence southward and westward along the said County boundary, by Lambeth cemetery, Garratt pk. and Beverley brook, then northward and eastward along the said County boundary to the middle of the river Thames west of Fulham palace; thence eastward along the middle of the river Thames to the aforementioned point in the middle of the river Thames to the aforementioned point in the middle of the roadway of Vauxhall bridge".
History of magistrates courts:
An Act of 1792 established seven 'Public Offices' (later Police offices and Police courts) in the central Metropolitan area. The aim was to establish fixed locations where 'fit and able magistrates' would attend at fixed times to deal with an increasing number of criminal offences.
Offices were opened in St Margaret Westminster, St James Westminster, Clerkenwell, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, Shadwell and Southwark. An office in Bow Street, Covent Garden, originally the home of the local magistrate, had been operating for almost 50 years and was largely the model for the new offices.
In 1800 the Marine Police Office or Thames Police Office, opened by 'private enterprise' in 1798, was incorporated into the statutory system. In 1821 an office was opened in Marylebone, apparently replacing the one in Shadwell.
Each office was assigned three Justices of the Peace. They were to receive a salary of £400 per annum. These were the first stipendiary magistrates. Later they were expected to be highly qualified in the law, indeed, to be experienced barristers. This distinguished them from the local lay justices who after the setting up of Police Offices were largely confined, in the Metropolitan area, to the licensing of innkeepers. In addition each office could appoint up to six constables to be attached to it.
The commonly used term of 'Police Court' was found to be misleading. The word 'police' gave the impression that the Metropolitan Police controlled and administered the courts. This was never the case, the word 'police' was being used in its original meaning of 'pertaining to civil administration', 'regulating', etc.
In April 1965 (following the Administration of Justice Act 1964) the London Police Courts with their stipendiary magistrates were integrated with the lay magistrates to form the modern Inner London Magistrates' Courts.
The police courts dealt with a wide range of business coming under the general heading of 'summary jurisdiction', i.e. trial without a jury. The cases heard were largely criminal and of the less serious kind. Over the years statutes created many offences that the courts could deal with in addition to Common Law offences. Examples include: drunk and disorderly conduct, assault, theft, begging, possessing stolen goods, cruelty to animals, desertion from the armed forces, betting, soliciting, loitering with intent, obstructing highways, and motoring offences. Non-criminal matters included small debts concerning income tax and local rates, landlord and tenant matters, matrimonial problems and bastardy.
Offences beyond the powers of the Court would normally be passed to the Sessions of the Peace or Gaol Delivery Sessions in the Old Bailey (from 1835 called the Central Criminal Court). From the late 19th century such cases would be the subject of preliminary hearings or committal proceedings in the magistrates' courts.
Outside the London Police Court Area but within the administrative county of Middlesex lay justices continued to deal with both criminal offences and administrative matters such as the licensing of innkeepers.
The exact area covered by a Court at any particular time can be found in the Kelly's Post Office London Directories, available on microfilm at LMA. The entries are based on the original Orders-in-Council establishing police court districts. A map showing police court districts is kept in the Information Area of LMA with other reference maps. Please ask a member of staff for assistance.
Crystal Palace was constructed in 1851 in Hyde Park, to house the Great Exhibition. After the Exhbition it was dismantled and re-erected in Sydenham where it was used as an amusement park, holding exhbitions, concerts, theatrical productions, firework displays and sports events. It had a small zoo, fountains and a statue park. The Palace burned down in 1936 and was destroyed.
The Queen Adelaide Fund was established in 1835 by Col. Clitherow, Chairman of the Committee of Visitors for Hanwell Asylum, for the assistance of patients discharged cured from Hanwell Asylum in Middlesex, "to enable them to make a fresh start in life". It had come to the attention of the chairman of the Asylum, Colonel James Clitherow, that when cured patients were discharged from the asylum many of them were forced to enter the workhouse as their furniture, tools and even clothes had been sold to support their families while they were being treated. The Fund provided such patients with a grant to enable them to resume their jobs and reunite their families. The fund was supported by Queen Adelaide, consort of William IV, who was also a patron of the Hanwell Asylum. She was the first subscriber to the Fund, donating £100 as well as her name.
The Fund was expanded in 1840 and from 1852 it assisted and administered the similar Queen Victoria Fund for Colney Hatch Asylum patients. In 1889 the Queen Victoria Fund was formally consolidated into the Queen Adelaide Fund.
On the formation of the Middlesex County Council and London County Council, two Trustees were appointed from the Councillors of each County Council. However, the administrative and secretarial staff continued to be supplied by the Asylum, and later by Middlesex County Council. The Clerk to the Committee for Hanwell Asylum was originally also Clerk to the Trustees of the Queen Adelaide Fund, but later this position was taken by the Clerk of the Middlesex County Council.
This collection of photographs had its origins in the Greater London Council (GLC) Architect's Department.
The first assessments of 1692-1693 were made under the terms of an "Act for granting to their Majesties an aid of four shillings in the pound for one year for carrying on a vigorous war against France" [4W and M c.1, 1692/3]. The Act specfied that real estate and personal property, that is buildings and moveable property as well as land, were to be taxed. It nominated, for each borough and county in England and Wales, the local commissioners who were to supervise the assessments and local collection.
The tax was voted annually, usually in the spring, until 1798 when it was transformed into a permanent tax, but was redeemable on a payment of a lump sum. It was levied on a number of different bases: as a pound rate between 1693 and 1696, as a four shillings assessment supplemented by a poll tax in 1697 and, from 1698-1798, on the system whereby each county or borough was given a fixed sum to collect. In 1949 redemption became compulsory on property changing hands and in 1963 all unredeemed land tax was abolished.
The assessors for each county are listed in the annual Acts of Parliament, until 1798. The sums collected for the counties of London, and Middlesex (and the City of Westminster) appear, until at least 1760, to have been passed to the Chamber of London and subsequently to the Exchequer.
The hundred of Gore comprised the parishes of Edgware, Hendon, Kingsbury, Little Stanmore, Great Stanmore, Harrow and Pinner. The hundred of Spelthorne included Ashford, East Bedfont, Feltham, Hampton, Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, and Teddington.
The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see WJP). The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace (within a stated area), and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.
The justices were helped in their work by parish and court officials, and most particularly by the Clerk of the Peace who was responsible for the everyday administration off the court as well as maintaining a record of its work.
The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws.
In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence quarter sessions): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when. The Middlesex justices were also empowered to try the more serious cases (including those from Westminster) under the Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery normally given to the Assize Judges, but these cases were heard at the Old Bailey Sessions House (see classes MJ/GB, OB).
The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.
During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums, to regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff (High Bailiff in Westminster), the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.
Another solution for dealing with increased judicial business was (by an Act of Parliament passed in 1819) to allow the justices to divide in order that two courts could sit simultaneously (see MJ/SB/B and MJ/SB/C). The Middlesex Criminal Justice Act of 1844 decreed that there should be at least two Sessions of the Peace each month, and also that a salaried assistant judge (a barrister of at least ten years experience in the Middlesex Commission) should be appointed. The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day; apart from relevant records in the main sessions series' (WJ/O, WJ/SP, MJ/SP), there are uncatalogued records in the class WA. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, which was reformed in 1834. By the end of the century and the passing of the Local Government Act in 1889, which established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions existed until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.
Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of the registration and deposit of official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see WR). Much of the routine judicial and administrative work was carried out by small groups of justices during the period covered by the existing records. This was done outside the main court sittings by the justices in their local areas - usually within a Hundred division. Special Sessions were held for purposes such as licensing alehouses (Brewster Sessions), or to organise the repair of the highways. More common were the meetings of one or two justices in what became known as petty sessions and which dealt with issues such as rating, granting of licences, the appointment of parish officers, and the examination of witnesses and suspects prior to the start of the next sessions. Increasingly here the justices also began to determine cases involving minor offences and exercise 'summary jurisdiction'. The inconvenience of using their own homes for this work, and the need for the public to know where magistrates would be available led to the setting up of a 'public office'. The first was in Bow Street, Westminster from about 1727. Following this example, in 1763 Middlesex set up three such offices in the divisions of Ossulstone Hundred nearest to the centre of London. Here two (paid - stipendary) justices would sit each day on an hourly rota basis. It was not until 1792 that the system was officially established by an Act of Parliament, when seven more public offices were set up in Westminster and Middlesex. The Bow Street office, (under John Fielding, and his brother Henry, the novelist, both magistrates for Westminster), had introduced paid constables as early as 1756, and each new public office from 1792 had six constables of their own; these were the forerunners of the Metropolitan Police as introduced by an Act of 1829. In 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were allowed to create within each county, divisions for petty sessions, thus formalising any earlier informal arrangements. Although there are occasional references to early petty and special session meetings in the main records (see WJ and MJ), the class of records concerned with such sessions (MSJ) covers mainly the nineteenth century.
The City of Westminster covered an area from Marylebone and Paddington in the north to Pimlico in the south, from Hyde Park and Knightsbridge in the west, to Covent Garden and Soho in the east. The Commission of the Peace to hold separate sessions to Middlesex was first issued in 1618, although the reasoning is unclear; perhaps the fact that Westminster became a city in 1540, and set up a Court of Burgesses in 1585 to deal with its minor cases and moral offences, may indicate a growing feeling of civic consciousness at this time. The Westminster sessions lasted until 1844, when they again became part of the Middlesex courts' sittings, held "by adjournment" several days after the end of the latter's own, when the court literally adjourned or moved to the Westminster sessions house. Thus the Westminster records eventually came into custody of Middlesex.
Prior to 1752 the Westminster sessions met in the Town Court House near Westminster Hall; thereafter in "a building of great antiquity" demolished at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1805 the Westminster Guildhall was built in Broad Sanctary, and enlarged in 1888 and 1889 before the Middlesex sessions moved there. Lack of space prompted the building next door of the Middlesex Guildhall in 1913.
The origins of the Justices of the Peace lie in the temporary appointments of 'conservators' or 'keepers' of the peace made at various times of unrest between the late twelfth century and the fourteenth century. In 1361 the 'Custodis Pacis' were merged with the Justices of Labourers, and given the title Justices of the Peace and a commission (see WJP).
The Commission (of the Peace) gave them the power to try offences in their courts of Quarter Sessions, appointed them to conserve the peace (within a stated area), and to enquire on the oaths of "good and lawfull men" into "all manner of poisonings, enchantments, forestallings, disturbances, abuses of weights and measures" and many other things, and to "chastise and punish" anyone who had offended against laws made in order to keep the peace.
The cases which the justices originally dealt with were offences which could not be dealt with by the manorial court (misdemeanours), but which were less serious than those which went to the Assize Judges (felonies). Misdemeanours included breaches of the peace - assault, rioting, defamation, minor theft, vagrancy, lewd and disorderly behaviour, and offences against the licensing laws.
In 1388 a statute laid down that the court sessions should meet four times a year (hence quarter sessions): Epiphany, Easter, Trinity (midsummer) and Michaelmas (autumn) - two or more justices (one at least from the quorum) were to decide exactly where and when. The Middlesex justices were also empowered to try the more serious cases (including those from Westminster) under the Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery normally given to the Assize Judges, but these cases were heard at the Old Bailey Sessions House (see classes MJ/GB, OB).
The judicial process began even before the sessions opened with examinations being taken by the magistrates once the crime had been reported by the constable, injured party or a common informant. The accused could then be bailed to keep the peace or to appear at the next sessions, be remanded in gaol before a trial, or acquitted. Once the sessions had opened there was still an examination by a Grand Jury as to whether there was a case to answer, before the trial proper could get underway.
During the sixteenth century the work of the Quarter Sessions and the justices was extended to include administrative functions for the counties. These were wide ranging and included maintenance of structures such as bridges, gaols and asylums, to regulating weights, measures, prices and wages, and, probably one of their biggest tasks, enforcing the Poor Law. The dependence of the justices on officials like the sheriff (High Bailiff in Westminster), the constables, and the Clerk of the Peace to help them carry out their functions (judicial and administrative) cannot be underestimated. As their workload grew, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, more help was needed and there was an increase in the number of officers appointed for specific tasks, and committees for specific purposes were set up.
Another solution for dealing with increased judicial business was (by an Act of Parliament passed in 1819) to allow the justices to divide in order that two courts could sit simultaneously (see MJ/SB/B and MJ/SB/C). The Middlesex Criminal Justice Act of 1844 decreed that there should be at least two Sessions of the Peace each month, and also that a salaried assistant judge (a barrister of at least ten years experience in the Middlesex Commission) should be appointed. The bulk of the administrative work was carried out on one specific day during the court's sitting known as the County Day; apart from relevant records in the main sessions series' (WJ/O, WJ/SP, MJ/SP), there are uncatalogued records in the class WA. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was clear that the Quarter Session's structure was unable to cope with the administrative demands on it, and it lost a lot of functions to bodies set up specifically to deal with particular areas - the most important of these was the Poor Law, which was reformed in 1834. By the end of the century and the passing of the Local Government Act in 1889, which established county councils, the sessions had lost all their administrative functions. The judicial role of the Quarter Sessions existed until 1971, when with the Assize courts they were replaced by the Crown Courts.
Alongside the aforementioned functions of the Quarter Sessions, was its role as the place of the registration and deposit of official non-sessions records, which needed to be certified and available for inspection (see WR). Much of the routine judicial and administrative work was carried out by small groups of justices during the period covered by the existing records. This was done outside the main court sittings by the justices in their local areas - usually within a Hundred division. Special Sessions were held for purposes such as licensing alehouses (Brewster Sessions), or to organise the repair of the highways. More common were the meetings of one or two justices in what became known as petty sessions and which dealt with issues such as rating, granting of licences, the appointment of parish officers, and the examination of witnesses and suspects prior to the start of the next sessions. Increasingly here the justices also began to determine cases involving minor offences and exercise 'summary jurisdiction'. The inconvenience of using their own homes for this work, and the need for the public to know where magistrates would be available led to the setting up of a 'public office'. The first was in Bow Street, Westminster from about 1727. Following this example, in 1763 Middlesex set up three such offices in the divisions of Ossulstone Hundred nearest to the centre of London. Here two (paid - stipendary) justices would sit each day on an hourly rota basis. It was not until 1792 that the system was officially established by an Act of Parliament, when seven more public offices were set up in Westminster and Middlesex. The Bow Street office, (under John Fielding, and his brother Henry, the novelist, both magistrates for Westminster), had introduced paid constables as early as 1756, and each new public office from 1792 had six constables of their own; these were the forerunners of the Metropolitan Police as introduced by an Act of 1829. In 1828 all courts of Quarter Sessions were allowed to create within each county, divisions for petty sessions, thus formalising any earlier informal arrangements. Although there are occasional references to early petty and special session meetings in the main records (see WJ and MJ), the class of records concerned with such sessions (MSJ) covers mainly the nineteenth century.
The City of Westminster covered an area from Marylebone and Paddington in the north to Pimlico in the south, from Hyde Park and Knightsbridge in the west, to Covent Garden and Soho in the east. The Commission of the Peace to hold separate sessions to Middlesex was first issued in 1618, although the reasoning is unclear; perhaps the fact that Westminster became a city in 1540, and set up a Court of Burgesses in 1585 to deal with its minor cases and moral offences, may indicate a growing feeling of civic consciousness at this time. The Westminster sessions lasted until 1844, when they again became part of the Middlesex courts' sittings, held "by adjournment" several days after the end of the latter's own, when the court literally adjourned or moved to the Westminster sessions house. Thus the Westminster records eventually came into custody of Middlesex.
Prior to 1752 the Westminster sessions met in the Town Court House near Westminster Hall; thereafter in "a building of great antiquity" demolished at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1805 the Westminster Guildhall was built in Broad Sanctary, and enlarged in 1888 and 1889 before the Middlesex sessions moved there. Lack of space prompted the building next door of the Middlesex Guildhall in 1913.
Until the sixteenth century prison was seen primarily as a place to remand before sentence, not as a place of punishment. From this date, houses of correction (or bridewells) were established in each county to house able-bodied vagrants, and also to reform them through the punishment of hard labour. Increasingly the justices sent petty offenders to these houses following their trials, and the overcrowding and poor conditions became notorious and widespread. The Westminster Bridewell was in Howick Place until 1664, from which date it moved to Tothill Fields and became known as the Westminster House of Correction. In 1834 this prison was replaced by a building in Francis Street, which in turn closed in 1877 when the inmates were transferred to the Millbank Penitentiary. There was also a prison in the Gatehouse of Westminster Abbey, at the western end of Tothill Street. Built in 1370 it had two gaols - one for clerics, and one for lay offenders, and was demolished in 1776-1777.
The Department of Education and Science was created in 1964. These plans were created by the Department and its predecessors in the course of their work.
Community Health Councils were established in England and Wales in 1974 "to represent the interests in the health service of the public in its district" (National Health Service Reorganisation Act, 1973). Often referred to as 'the patient’s voice in the NHS', each Community Health Council (CHC) served the public and patients in its local area by representing their interests to National Health Service (NHS) authorities and by monitoring the provision of health services to their communities.
CHCs were independent statutory bodies with certain legal powers. CHCs were entitled to receive information about local health services, to be consulted about changes to health service provision, and to carry out monitoring visits to NHS facilities. They also had the power to refer decisions about proposed closures of NHS facilities to the Secretary of State for Health. For this reason, CHCs were sometimes known as the ‘watchdogs’ of the NHS. The co-ordinated monitoring of waiting times in Accident and Emergency departments led to ‘Casualty Watch’ which gained national press coverage. Locally, many CHCs represented patients’ views by campaigning for improved quality of care and better access to NHS services, and by responding to local issues such as proposed hospital closures.
Each CHC had around 20 voluntary members from the local area. Half were appointed the local authority, a third were elected from voluntary bodies and the remainder were appointed by the Secretary of State for Health. Members met every month to six weeks and meetings were usually open to the general public. Guest speakers or guest attendees were often invited, particularly when a specific topic or issue was under discussion.
All CHCs employed a small number of paid office staff and some had shop-front offices, often on the high street, where members of the public could go for advice and information about local NHS services. CHCs published leaflets and guidance on a wide variety of topics from ‘how to find a GP’ to ‘how to make a complaint’.
Within the guiding principles and statutory duties of the legislation, CHCs developed organically in response to the needs of the communities they served and for this reason considerable variation can be found in the records of different CHCs.
Hammersmith and Fulham Community Health Council (CHC) began in 1974 as South Hammersmith Community Health Council. Members were appointed from the London Borough of Hammersmith and the London Borough of Hounslow as well as from voluntary organisations, the local authority and the regional health authority. The Council had a shop front office at 42 Fulham Palace Road.
South Hammersmith Community Health Council ceased to exist when Hammersmith and Fulham District Health Authority was created in the NHS Restructuring of 1982. A new CHC was formed to cover the area of Hammersmith and Fulham, named Hammersmith and Fulham CHC.
The Greenwich Workshop for the Blind, began as the Workshop for the Blind of Kent, opened in 1875 by Major-General PJ Bainbrigge, to provide training and employment for local blind men. The workshops were situated on Greenwich High Road, fronted by a shop in which the goods made by the blind were sold. These included household goods such as brooms, baskets, rugs and mattresses. Among the workshop's many customers were several of London's poor-law unions and hospitals, which purchased their mattresses from the shop.
The Workshop was administered by a committee until 1 April 1958 when it was taken over by the London County Council. The Council's services for the blind included the keeping of a register of all blind persons, home visiting, social and handicraft clubs, the teaching of handicrafts and the disposal of the finished products. In 1942 the Council had established a placement service for finding employment for blind people in war work. After the war the placement service was expanded and the Council took over the administration of the Greenwich Workshop as part of this service.
The Small Pox Hospital was founded on Windmill Street, Tottenham Court Road in 1746, and was later moved to the parish of Saint Pancras on the site of the present King's Cross Station. The institution was rebuilt in c 1793-1794 when it received patients from the Cold Bath Fields Hospital in Clerkenwell, a foundation originating in Islington in 1740.
The hospital moved from King's Cross to Highgate Hill in c 1846, and from there to Clare Hall, South Minns c 1895-1899. It was acquired by the Middlesex Districts Joint Small Pox Hospital Board c 1900-1910. In May 1911, the Local Government Board made an order permitting the admission to Clare Hall of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Under a special order of the Minister of Health in 1928, the Hospital became a Middlesex County Council Institution. This came into effect on 1 April 1929 and the Joint Board was dissolved. In 1948 on creation of the National Health Service, the hospital was transferred to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1949 non-tuberculosis patients were admitted for treatment. The hospital was closed in 1975.
Lambeth Hospital had its origins in two institutions both built and administered by Lambeth Board of Guardians. These were Renfrew Road Workhouse opened in 1871 and Lambeth Infirmary, opened in 1876 on an adjoining site, but with its main entrance in Brook Drive. By 1922 the Lambeth Guardians had an excess of accommodation for the able bodied poor and too little for the sick. Consequently they amalgamated the two institutions under the control of the medical superintendent and matron of the infirmary, which was renamed Lambeth Hospital. The Hospital now provided the following services and facilities - a lying-in ward (until 1922 accommodated in Renfrew Road Workhouse), an antenatal clinic, VD wards, two large observation wards, two weekly sessions by an ophthalmic surgeon, a pathological laboratory and radium and deep x-ray apparatus. The Lambeth Guardians not only purchased the necessary equipment, but also sent Dr George Stebbing on a tour of European capitals to study radiotherapy.
As a result of the 1929 Local Government Act, from 1930 Lambeth Hospital came under the control of the London County Council. The LCC sought to create an integrated hospital service for London, concentrating certain specialised departments in particular hospitals. Lambeth Hospital lost its observation wards, but the development of the Radiotherapy department was encouraged. Mr Stebbing was appointed Surgeon specialist and Medical Officer in charge of the radiotherapy department. A Cardio-Vascular Unit was formed at Lambeth Hospital under the direction of Lord Dawson of Penn with Mr Lawrence O'Shaughnessy and Dr H.E.M. Mansell as medical officers. In the early 1930's a Uterine Cancer Unit was transferred from the North Western Hospital to Lambeth Hospital with its Medical Director, Sir Comyns Berkeley, and Mr Arnold Walker. A few years later Mr Stebbing absorbed the unit into the Radiotherapy Department. The LCC built a Nurses' Home in 1936, provided a new Maternity Block in 1938, and completed a Pathology Block in 1940.
By 1939 Lambeth Hospital could accommodate 1,250 patients and was one of the three largest municipal hospitals in London. During the Second World War many air raid casualties were treated at the hospital, from which elderly, long term patients had been evacuated. Several bombs fell on the hospital killing ten members of staff and destroying two ward blocks, the kitchen, dining rooms and laundry. Three other ward blocks were badly damaged.
In 1948 Lambeth Hospital became part of the National Health Service administered by the South Western Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. It formed part of the Lambeth Group of hospitals, together with the South Western Hospital, South London Hospital for Women and Children, Annie McCall Maternity Hospital and from 1956, the Royal Eye Hospital. Money for the repair and replacement of war damaged buildings was, at first, scarce, but between 1960 and 1962 a new two storey block containing kitchens, dining rooms, and offices was constructed. In July 1964 the Lambeth Group of hospitals was dissolved. Lambeth Hospital became part of the Saint Thomas' Hospital Group, and then from 1974, part of the Saint Thomas' Health District (Teaching). In 1970 Lambeth Hospital was an acute, general hospital with 468 beds. A new twin operating theatre block had been completed in 1967 and a new Renal Unit opened in 1969. The hospital closed in 1976 on the opening of the new North Wing of Saint Thomas' Hospital. On part of the site of the hospital in Monkton Street, the Lambeth Community Care Centre was completed in 1985.
The Kirchner Convalescent Home was a gift to the Royal Waterloo Hospital in 1914 by Mr and Mrs Frederick J. Kirchner. The property was Sea Copse Hill, Wootton, Isle of Wight. The house stood in nine acres of land and was handed over to the Hospital fully furnished with beds, linen and household equipment. The house was sold in 1924 by the Board of Governors and the proceeds went towards general hospital purposes.
These prints and photographs form part of the Nightingale Collection deposited in the Greater London Record Office by the Nightingale School. They illustrate the life of Florence Nightingale and the work of the school of nursing, which she founded at Saint Thomas' Hospital in 1860. Many of the prints and photographs have been given to the Nightingale School by former 'Nightingales' and other benefactors. The collection is divided between the London Metropolitan Archives and the Florence Nightingale Museum at Saint Thomas' Hospital.
Saint John's House was founded in 1848 as a "Training Institution for Nurses for Hospitals, Families and the Poor". It was an Anglican religious community run by a Chaplain and Lady Superior, although the sisters and nurses took no vows. The records from 1848 to 1919 have been listed separately and this list should be consulted for the early history of the Institution.
In May 1920 the house at 12 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, was given to Saint Thomas' Hospital and two sisters from the Hospital took charge in April 1919. The institution was renamed Saint John's and Saint Thomas' House and was used as a centre for private nursing, the staff being composed of the remaining Saint John's House nurses, and those nurses who had been trained at Saint Thomas' Hospital and who wished to take up private nursing under the direction of the Hospital. Payments were made according to the fees earned with deduction for the expenses of the house.
The house was closed during the Second World War and the building was damaged by bombing. After the war, no residence was maintained for the private nurses but the organisation was continued from the Matron's Office at St Thomas' Hospital. The last remaining Saint John's and Saint Thomas' House nurses resigned in April, 1964.
The building itself was reopened in 1947 as a Night Nurses' Home and continued in that role until January 1967, when it was closed due to staffing difficulties.
Saint Thomas' House, initially known as the College House Extension, was built between 1925-1927 on a site in Lambeth Palace Road opposite Saint Thomas' Hospital, as a memorial to those connected with Saint Thomas' Hospital who died in the First World War. It provided accommodation and club facilities for medical students and house officers. During the Second World War several floors were occupied by hospital maids. The architect was Harold W. Currey.
This collection of prints, topographical notes and photographs relating to Saint Thomas' Hospital and other buildings of historical interest in Southwark was gathered together and researched by staff at the hospital before being deposited in 1970.
The Queen Mary Convalescent Auxiliary Hospital for sailors, soldiers and airmen who lost limbs in war service was founded in May 1915 from an idea by Mrs Gwynne Holford. Mr Kenneth Wilson had placed the stately home Roehampton House at the hospital's disposal, free of rent, but in 1920 the governors were able to purchase the house outright. Limb-makers factories and workshops soon grew up around the hospital, on the Roehampton Estate.
The Queen's Auxiliary Hospital, Sidcup was set up in 1917 by Mr Charles Kenderdine, one of the original founders of Queen Mary's Hospital, for the treatment of ex-servicemen with severe facial and jaw injuries. Close links between this hospital and Queen Mary's continued until 1930, when The Queen's Hospital was sold to the London County Council. Its patients were transferred to Queen Mary's Hospital.
The Ministry of Pensions began contributing to the hospital's costs in 1920, and in 1925 an agreement was entered into, whereby the ministry would bear the cost of major re-building works in return for the use of the hospital beds for any of its patients, except those suffering from tuberculosis or mental illness. The hospital's limbless patients still had priority treatment under this agreement, and the governors retained responsibility for the upkeep of all buildings and grounds on the estate. Also in 1925 the name of the hospital was changed to the Queen Mary (Roehampton) Hospital.
In 1939 a new artificial limb factory was opened at the hospital and plans were approved for an additional 550 beds. In the year 1938-1939, the number of war pensioners attending for artificial limbs totalled 10,987 combined with 355 civilians and 16,251 limbs were sent by post.
On the outbreak of World War II the Ministry of Pensions assumed overall responsibility of the hospital area of the estate. At this time the governors were running schemes which enabled civilians to be provided with artificial limbs, and agreements were made with the Railway Companies' Association and mine-workers' associations.
With the addition of 550 beds, the total now reached approximately 900. The Limb Fitting Centre and factory were expanded also, prompted by the memories of 40,000 men losing limbs during the First World War. The plan was for Queen Mary's to deal with amputees, fractures and facial injury cases. However, there were approximately half the number of amputees during the Second World War. Leon Gillis (QMH Consultant Surgeon, 1943-1967) summarised the reasons for this as follows:`Advances in surgical techniques, in chemotherapy and in the general management of any injury, better treatment of infection and the availability of blood transfusion' all helped to lower the levels of amputation. Techniques developed in the First World War, also played a significant role.
In addition to the expansion of the existing departments of Plastic Surgery, Neuro-surgery and General Medicine, a Department of Tropical Diseases was established at Roehampton. This was in response to the needs of men who had been stationed in countries where tropical diseases were endemic. Roehampton was to suffer considerably from bomb damage during the War, with Roehampton House being damaged in the autumn of 1940 and February 1944. In 1953 control of the limb-fitting centre was also passed to the Ministry of Pensions.
In 1960 Queen Mary's Hospital was acquired by the Westminster Hospital group, and in 1961 it became a National Health Service Hospital. The Hospital's academic connection with the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School was emphasised by changing the name to Queen Mary's University Hospital. In 1982 the Roehampton Estate was sold to the NHS.
From 1974 to 1982 Queen Mary's Hospital came under the South West Thames Regional Health Authority and the Westminster Hospital Group (Teaching) Regional Health District. In 1982 the District Health Authority became Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton. On the 1st April 1993, Queen Mary's became part of the Richmond, Twickenham and Roehampton NHS Trust. However, this was not to be the last change as, in 1998, Queen Mary's became the headquarters for the South West London Community NHS Trust. The same year saw the start of the reduction of acute provision on the Queen Mary's site.
Yarrow Convalescent Home at Broadstairs in Kent was purchased by the Westminster Hospital in May 1947.
The hospital later known as The Princess Beatrice Hospital was founded in 1887 as a voluntary hospital called the Jubilee Hospital to commemorate the jubilee of Queen Victoria. It was situated at the corner of Finborough Road and Old Brompton Road, then known as Richmond Road. There were 14 beds, this being increased later to 18 by the addition of a children's ward of 4 beds. The name "Jubilee" was at some time before 1910 changed to Fulham and Kensington General Hospital and in 1921 to The Kensington, Fulham and Chelsea General Hospital. In 1928 the number of beds was increased to 19. Work commenced on a new and bigger hospital in January 1930, and the foundation stone was laid by Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice. The name of the hospital was changed in 1931 to the Princess Beatrice Hospital. The new outpatient hall opened in December 1931, and the in-patient department in January 1932. In 1933 the Ladies Association was formed, with Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, as President, and the Marchionesses of Carisbrooke and Linlithgow as Vice Presidents. When the Health Service was inaugurated in 1948 the hospital was for two years attached to St George's Hospital, and on 1 August 1950 was transferred to the No.4 (Chelsea) Group Hospital Management Committee. The hospital was closed in July 1971 in order to convert it to an Obstetric Unit. It had been decided in the late 1960's that owing to the development of St Stephen's Hospital, the acute services at the Princess Beatrice Hospital would be transferred to St Stephen's Hospital as soon as the re-development of that hospital enabled this to happen. The hospital re-opened in 1972. With the re-organisation of the Health Service in 1974 it became part of the Kensington Chelsea and Westminster Area Health Authority, South District. The hospital was finally closed at the end of March 1978.
There was a proposal in 1899 by Miss Nott Bower, Matron of the Hospital, that a Babies' Home should be established for the children of the women who worked in the Laundry Hostel and elsewhere in the Hospital. A property known as "Shelford", 182 Devonshire Road, Honor Oak was purchased and the Home, known as "the Haven", was opened in November 1899. Miss E.H. Fullager was appointed Lady Superintendant in 1900. The decision was taken to close the Home at a meeting of the Council of the Children's Home on 15 January 1908, after the resignation of the Treasurer, Mrs Wells.
The Trained Nurses Institution was established by Edward Hearbord Lushington, Treasurer of Guy's Hospital, in June 1884. The original memorandum he issued stated that "The Governors of Guy's Hospital have sanctioned the establishment of a Nursing Institution in connection with the hospital, wholly independent of the Hospital for its support, though subject to Regulations to be approved by the Governors".
The objects of the Institution were to: provide the public with skilled nurses trained in the hospital and of good character, to supply the hospital with extra nurses when required in emergencies and remove the need to hire casual nursing staff, and to provide nursing free of charge to those in the locality who could not afford other care.
Subscriptions were invited and £968.10.0 were received for the establishment of the Institution, its furnishing and the training of nurses. It was hoped that the Institution would be self-supporting within the first year. In September 1884 the Institution opened its doors for the first time at No.12 St Thomas' Street. The expansion of the Institution led rapidly to a need for further accommodation, therefore nos. 14 and 10 St Thomas' Street were leased from the Governors of St Thomas' Hospital in 1890 and 1899; the Institution took applications from women aged 23-32 yrs. Applicants were interviewed by the Lady Superintendent; they then had to work a month's probation on the wards before commencing their training. They were trained in medical and surgical nursing for a period of three years on the wards of Guy's Hospital, after which they were required to engage in private nursing on account of the Institution for a further year and a half.
Between 1884-1892 the management of the Institution was in the hands of Edward Lushington, in consultation with the Matron of Guy's Hospital and the Lady Superintendent of the Institution. In 1892 an Indenture was signed that vested all the property, funds and monies of the Institution in a body of Trustees, however the day to day administration was still in the hands of Mr Lushington. It was not until 1896 that an amendment was made to the Indenture and to the management of the Institution. The Deed Poll of 1896 created a body of managers to govern the Institution, this was to consist of four ex-officio members, the President, the Treasurer and the Matron of Guy's, and the Lady Superintendent. There were also three representatives from the Governors and two representatives drawn from the Medical and Surgical staff of the Hospital.
The Trained Nurses Institution was also responsible for the maintenance of two maternity nurses. These women were paid by the Institution to nurse in their homes, women attended by students of Guy's during their confinement who were subsequently suffering complications. In 1900 a Midwifery Training School was established in No.10 St Thomas' Street with a resident midwife to prepare pupils for the examination of the Central Midwives Board. Nurses on the staff of the Institution took the course on completion of their four and a half years training. Other Guy's Nurse could pay to undertake the course, or were trained free of charge on the condition that they served on the staff for nine months after qualification. The Midwifery School began as a charity, and then became a source of income, as a means of attracting nurses to the Institution.
During the First World War a large number of nurses from the Institution saw active service. They were serving with the War Office (Civil Hospital Reserve), the British Red Cross and the St John's Ambulance Associations and other organisations. This was to have a direct impact on the future of the Institution. The shortage of staff due to the number participating in war nursing led to a decrease in receipts and increased expenditure. This resulted in the Institution operating at a loss. From as early as 1917 the minutes of the Board of Managers show the concern that was felt over the financial situation and discussions were taking place about the institution's future. On 10th November 1921 a resolution was passed unanimously by the Managers "That having regard to the financial position of the Institution and being satisfied the same cannot be continued without further loss and that it is advisable that the affairs of the Institution be wound up. The Managers acting in pursuance of the powers conferred upon them Hereby resolve that the Institution be wound up as from the 31st December next." The Institution was liquidated as from 31st January 1922 and the remaining nurses entered into private practice.
The British Lying-In Hospital was founded in November 1749 by a group of governors of the Middlesex Hospital who were dissatisfied with the resources allocated by that hospital to lying-in women. They purchased a house in Brownlow Street, Long Acre, and ordered it to be furnished with twenty beds. They decided that it should be staffed with "2 physicians who practise midwifery, 2 Surgeons who practise midwifery, a Chaplain, an Apothecary, a Secretary, a Matron well skilled in midwifery, and nurses and other inferior servants as shall be found necessary." Women were to be received in the last month of their pregnancy on production of a letter of recommendation from a subscriber, an affidavit of their marriage and their husband's settlement. No money was to be received from them. On the approach of any labour, the Matron was to send to the Physician or Surgeon whose week of attendance it was so that he might judge whether the case required his assistance or might be left to the Matron. The Matron was to deliver women in easy natural labour. From 1752 female pupils were admitted to the hospital for periods of six months in order to learn midwifery.
A General Meeting or Court of the Governors was held every quarter to make the laws and rules of the hospital. A committee of fifteen governors was chosen at each Quarterly General Court to meet at the hospital once a week to receive patients and to direct the ordinary affairs of the hospital. From 1806, except for the years 1811-1820, the General Court met half-yearly instead of quarterly. A new constitution was approved on 9 July 1869. This provided for an annual general meeting of governors who were to elect fifteen of their number to form a Board of Management that was to meet once a month. The Board was to appoint such standing committees as might be advisable including a ladies committee.
In 1756 the name of the hospital was changed from "The Lying-In Hospital for Married Women" to "The British Lying-In Hospital for Married Women". This was in order to avoid confusion with the City of London Lying-In Hospital founded in 1750 and the General Lying-In Hospital, later Queen Charlotte's Hospital, founded in 1751. In 1828 the hospital decided to start sending midwives to deliver outpatients in their own homes. In 1849 it moved to a new building in Endell Street, Holborn.
By the beginning of the 20th century the hospital was facing serious problems. Its buildings were unsatisfactory and old fashioned. It was in financial difficulties. The population of the area was decreasing and the teaching hospitals in the neighbourhood had opened maternity wards. Rather than rebuilding in the same area, King Edward's Hospital Fund advised amalgamation with another maternity hospital, preferably the Home for Mothers and Babies in Woolwich. Agreement between the two institutions was soon reached, though legal difficulties delayed the signing of the Charity Commission Scheme approving the amalgamation until 29 January 1915. The British Lying-In Hospital closed on 31 May 1913 and the Matron, nurses and other staff received gratuities in recognition of their service. The Home for Mothers and Babies was renamed the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies but otherwise continued as before under the guidance of its three founders, Miss Gregory, the honorary secretary, Mrs Parnell, the Matron and Miss Cashmore, the senior sister. The Charity Commission Scheme established a new constitution for the hospital, which was to be controlled by a Managing Committee. Six out of the first fourteen members of the Committee were nominated by the British Lying-In Hospital. The hospital buildings in Endell Street were sold. The money raised by the sale and other endowments assisted the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies to build specially designed and much larger premises in Samuel Street, Woolwich, opened in 1922.
The Council for the Promotion of the Higher Training of Midwives was formed in February 1904 after a series of preliminary meetings in 1903. Its object was to found a national training school for district midwives. Rather than amalgamating with an existing hospital, it was decided to open a new maternity hospital in Woolwich, at this time a part of London with an expanding population and very little hospital provision. The Home for Mothers and Babies was opened in Wood Street, Woolwich on 11 May 1905. The Council appointed an Executive Committee to manage the hospital. All matters of outside policy respecting growth of the hospital or those in any way arising from its work as a National Training School for District Midwives were to be reserved for the Council.
When the British Lying-In Hospital amalgamated with the Home for Mothers and Babies, the Charity Commission Scheme of 29 January 1915 established a new constitution for the hospital. This laid down that six out of the fourteen members of the Managing Committee were to be appointed by the Council for the Promotion of the Higher Training of Midwives on condition that the Council provided the hospital with not less than £400 a year. Miss Gregory described the special mission of the six Council members on the Committee as being:- "(a) to safeguard the higher training of midwives, zealously opposing any lowering of the standard, (b) to demand that the training school was used primarily for those intending to work among the poor rather than the rich - even if higher fees were obtainable from the latter and (c) to resist any effort that might be made in the future to admit medical students as pupils since the training of midwife pupils would infallibly suffer in consequence".
In 1938 the Council decided to terminate its existence. It had failed to raise £400 for the hospital for the last nine years and it felt that its aims and objects were identical with those of the hospital.
The Lambeth Group of Hospitals was formed in June 1948 by the South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board to be responsible for the management of Lambeth hospital (ref. H01/L), the South London Hospital for Women and Children (ref. H24), Annie McCall Maternity Hospital (ref. H24) and the South Western hospital ref. H15/SW).
In October 1956 the group was enlarged by the addition of the Royal Eye Hospital, Southwark and its branch at Surbiton (ref. H15/RE). Holmhurst Home, a halfway house for elderly patients (ref. H15/HH), was opened in 1952, by the King's Fund and attached to the Lambeth Group. Records of all these hospital are held by the London Metropolitan Archives.
On 1 July 1964 Lambeth Hospital was transferred to the Saint Thomas' Hospital Group. Lambeth Group Hospital Management Committee amalgamated with Wandsworth Hospital Management Committee to form the South West London Hospital Group Hospital Management Committee. All other hospitals in the Lambeth Group also became part of the new group. In 1968 the South Western Hospital was transferred across to the Saint Thomas' Hospital Group.
Saint John's Hospital was founded in 1863 by John Laws Milton at 12 Church Street, Soho (now Romilly Street). Two years later it moved to 45 Leicester Square. The justification for founding Saint John's, the second special hospital for diseases of the skin in London was 'on the grounds that general hospitals had refused to institute special departments for the treatment and teaching of skin disease'. The School of Dermatology was established at the hospital by 1885. The first fifty years of the hospital's existence were marked by internal conflict, financial difficulties and public controversy culminating in the libel action brought by the Hospital Secretary, Saint Vincent Mercier, against the editor of Truth in 1889. For further information see the files of the Charity Organisation Society Enquiry Department (ref. A/FWA/C/D17/1-5).
In 1883 the hospital opened a separate inpatients department at Markham Square, Kings Road, Chelsea. This closed in 1886 and both in-patients and out-patients moved to 49 Leicester Square in 1887. A new in-patients department was opened in 1895 at Arlington House, 262 Uxbridge Road, Hammersmith. The outpatients department was rebuilt in 1905 at 49 Leicester Square and then moved in 1935 to its present premises at 5 Lisle Street, Leicester Square.
Saint John's Hospital benefited from the founding in 1923 of the London School of Dermatology based at the hospital. This was taken over by the Institute of Dermatology in 1946. Saint John's Hospital became part of the National Health Service in 1948 and was designated as one of the fourteen post graduate teaching hospitals.
The in-patient department of the hospital at Uxbridge Road had been forced to close after being severely damaged by bombing in September 1940. In 1952 the disused part of the Eastern Fever Hospital at Homerton was made available to Saint John's for the admission of in-patients. Additional wards and laboratories were opened at Homerton between 1953 and 1961. In 1982 Saint John's Hospital became part of the West Lambeth Health Authority. The in-patient department and Institute of Dermatology moved from Homerton to Saint Thomas' Hospital and the Lambeth Hospital site by February 1987. The outpatient department moved from Lisle Street to Saint Thomas' Hospital in 1989.
The foundation stone for Leavesden Asylum was laid on 31st October 1868 by the Chairman of the Management Committee, William Henry Wyatt, J.P. The first patients were not admitted until 9th October 1870, the same date as the opening of Caterham Asylum. Both Asylums were built and run by the recently constituted Metropolitan Asylums Board for the care of "insane paupers" who were "such harmless persons of the chronic or imbecile class as could lawfully be detained in a workhouse". "Dangerous or curable" patients were to be sent to the county lunatic asylums.
By 15th October Leavesden had over 100 patients and within six months all the female accommodation was in use and storerooms had been converted into bedrooms to provide extra accommodation. At first children were admitted along with adults, but from 1873 the children were sent to Darenth Training Colony. However, both Caterham and Leavesden were soon full to capacity.
The need for extra accommodation was a continuing problem and in 1872 a new block was opened to provide accommodation for laundry staff and those patients who worked in the laundry. A further storey was added to this block in 1900. By November 1876 Leavesden was housing 2,118 patients, vastly more than the 1,500 it had been built for. This meant there was ever increasing pressure on beds and staff. In 1903, a further Asylum was built at Tooting Bec although this provided only temporary relief for Leavesden as it was rapidly filled with patients transferred from the workhouses. In 1909 the process of modernising and altering all the ward blocks to take the increasing numbers of elderly and infirm patients into account, was begun. This process was completed by 1931.
The First World War led to acute staff shortage as many of the nursing staff joined the armed forces. Twenty-two members of staff died on active service. Troops were billeted in the Recreation Hall for a few months and officers were quartered on the Medical Superintendent. In 1918 the staff shortage was so acute, three wards had to be closed, these were not all reopened until 1921.
Further modernisation took place between 1929 and 1931 with the installation of electricity and other changes to improve conditions for the patients at the hospital.
In 1930 the control of Leavesden was transferred to the London County Council under the Mental Hospitals Committee. Leavesden hospital was assigned the special function of caring for 'mentally subnormal persons' described as 'adult idiots and low-grade imbeciles' and also retained the continued treatment of TB cases.
In 1932 the Saint Pancras Industrial School, or Leavesden Residential School, closed and the site, situated opposite the hospital, was purchased for use as an annexe to the hospital. It was to be used for those patients who needed only routine medical care rather than the more structured observation of the hospital. The idea was to help patients who were ready to begin to acclimatise to greater freedom in preparation for their discharge into the community.
The Second World War saw the annexe designated as an Emergency Hospital and the patients were transferred back to the main building. Leavesden was also used to accommodate some patients from Saint Bernard's Hospital, Ealing following bombing in 1944 and children from the Fountain Hospital, Tooting. Hutted buildings were erected in the Annexe grounds and were used for the treatment of war casualties including French survivors from Dunkirk. The Emergency Hospital closed in 1943 and was taken over first by wounded Canadian soldiers and their nursing staff and later by an English Teachers' Training College. The hospital suffered no serious damage during the war but it took years to get back to pre-wartime levels of staffing and maintenance. The Annexe was occupied by the Training School until 1950, which led to overcrowded and understaffed wards on the main site.
The Hospital became part of the National Health Service in 1948 and was under the jurisdiction of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board through a Hospital Management Committee. January 1948 saw the establishment of the Preliminary Training School under the control of two senior nurses. This gave probationers the opportunity to work towards certification and recognised qualifications. The 1950's and 1960's saw the development of training schemes for the young adults at Leavesden, with the aim of enabling them to find local employment.
In 1974 the hospital was transferred to the South West District of Hertfordshire Area Health Authority in the North West Thames Regional Health Authority. The 1970's saw a continuing trend in the decline of patient numbers and in 1984 the Annexe was closed and the site sold for redevelopment, all services were transferred to the main site. The hospital was also transferred to the control of the North West Hertfordshire Health Authority in a further round on NHS reorganisation at this time. There was one further administrative change for the Hospital when Horizon NHS Trust took over it management in 1990. The hospital was closed in 1995.
Chelsea Hospital for Women was founded in 1871 for the treatment 'of diseases peculiar to women'. The Hospital was initially situated at 178 King's Road, Chelsea, where it had eight beds for inpatients. Two of its founders, Dr Thomas Chambers and Dr James Aveling, became the first physicians to the hospital. The Duchess of Albany opened a new and larger hospital containing 63 beds, situated in Fulham Road, in 1883. This was followed in 1890-1891 by the building of a convalescent home at St Leonard's-on-Sea. In 1911 Earl Cadogan gave a site in Arthur Street, Chelsea for a new and larger hospital. This opened on 11 July 1916 with 95 beds. The nurses' home was completed in 1924. Despite suffering damage in an air raid in April 1941, Chelsea Hospital came through the War relatively unscathed. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and was designated a teaching hospital. It shared a Board of Governors with Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital, Hammersmith. In 1988 the former Chelsea Hospital for Women in Dovehouse Street ceased to be used for hospital purposes. All functions were transferred to the Queen Charlotte's site in Goldhawk Road.
In 1739 Sir Richard Manningham, the leading man-midwife of his day, established some lying-in wards in a house adjoining his residence in Jermyn Street. This was the first general lying-in hospital in Britain. In 1752 the hospital moved to Saint Marylebone became known as the General Lying-In Hospital and was established as a teaching hospital. In 1929 an isolation hospital for women suffering from puerperal fever was established on Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith. It was intended that this become part of an enlarged hospital with the Queen's Lying-In Hospital, called Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital. The main hospital building were constructed between 1937 and 1939 and in 1940 the Queen's Lying-In Hospital moved in from Marylebone. After the end of the Second World War Queen Charlotte's started negotiations with the Chelsea Hospital for Women with the object of forming a combined school for teaching obstetrics and gynaecology to postgraduate students. This co-operation was recognised under the newly formed National Health Service through the creation of Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital Management Committee. The hospitals were also in the separate Regional Hospital Board for London Teaching hospitals.
With NHS reorganisation in 1974 Queen Charlotte's became part of the Postgraduate Teaching Regional Health Authority, further recognition of the teaching work done by the hospital. It was in a District Health Authority of its own. In 1982 further reorganisation linked Queen Charlotte's and Hammersmith Hospital's under one Regional Health Authority. This followed the plans, in 1976, to move Queen Charlotte's to the Hammersmith Hospital site on Du Cane Road. In 1988 the long connections between the Chelsea Hospital for Women and Queen Charlotte's were consolidated through the merger of the two hospitals. Since 1994 Queen Charlotte's and the Hammersmith Hospital have formed the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust. Queen Charlotte's Hospital relocated to the Hammersmith Hospital site at the end of 2000.
Chelsea Hospital for Women was founded in 1871 for the treatment 'of diseases peculiar to women'. The Hospital was initially situated at 178 King's Road, Chelsea, where it had eight beds for inpatients. Two of its founders, Dr Thomas Chambers and Dr James Aveling, became the first physicians to the hospital. Initially the main object of the charity was to provide treatment for ladies of limited means, whose 'social positions and refined sympathies' precluded them from entering the general hospitals. Although they could not afford expensive and prolonged medical treatment at home, they were expected to pay a minimum fee of a guinea a week towards the expenses of the Chelsea Hospital for Women. Poor, respectable women were admitted free of charge if they could obtain a subscriber's letter. The Duchess of Albany opened a new and larger hospital containing 63 beds, situated in Fulham Road, in 1883. This was followed in 1890-1891 by the building of a convalescent home at St Leonard's-on-Sea.
The development of the hospital was interrupted in 1894 and 1895 by a series of disputes between the Board of Management, members of the medical staff, and the medical press. A Committee of Enquiry chaired by Lord Balfour investigated allegations that hospital staff had carried out unnecessary and dangerous operations upon poor patients. In consequence ten of the medical staff resigned. Some, but not all, of the medical officers were reappointed by the governors. This led to a campaign in the medical press culminating in fresh elections of the medical staff in January 1895. The new surgeon to inpatients, Mr O'Callaghan, quickly proved to be so difficult to work with that the governors with the backing of the rest of the medical staff relieved him of his duties.
In 1911 Earl Cadogan gave a site in Arthur Street, Chelsea for a new and larger hospital. This opened on 11 July 1916 with 95 beds. The nurses' home was completed in 1924. The following year 'Pay Wards' were introduced. Eighteen beds were set aside as a 'Paying Floor' for patients able to pay £5.5s a week as well as fees to their medical officers. The east block wards were enlarged in 1933. This was followed in 1938-1939 by further extensions to the hospital and nurses' home that increased the accommodation to 126 beds, including a wing of six single rooms. At the same time a new heating system was installed. In 1939 Arthur Street was renamed Dovehouse Street.
In 1940 the hospital was designated Class 1A in the Emergency Hospital Service Scheme whereby 60 beds were placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Health for civilian casualties. In September 1940 the danger from air raids caused the evacuation of the top floor of the hospital thereby further reducing the number of beds. In 1939 some patients from Chelsea Hospital for Women were transferred to the convalescent home at St Leonard's but in 1940 this had to be closed because of the threat of invasion. Between 1940 and 1945 some patients from Chelsea Hospital for Women were treated at South Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth.
Despite suffering damage in an air raid in April 1941, Chelsea Hospital came through the War relatively unscathed. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and was designated a teaching hospital. It shared a Board of Governors with Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital, Hammersmith. In 1988 the former Chelsea Hospital for Women in Dovehouse Street ceased to be used for hospital purposes. All functions were transferred to the Queen Charlotte's site in Goldhawk Road.
Saint Charles' Hospital was built as Saint Marylebone Infirmary situated in the Ladbroke Grove area of North Kensington. The Prince and Princess of Wales opened the hospital in 1881. Its name was changed to Saint Charles' Hospital when it was transferred from Saint Marylebone Board of Guardians to the London County Council in 1930. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and came under the control of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and the Paddington Group Hospital Management Committee. From 1982 it formed part of the Paddington and North Kensington District Health Authority. In 1992 it became part of Parkside NHS Trust.
The Hornsey Central Hospital, formerly the Hornsey Cottage Hospital, at Park Road, Crouch End, was built by Hornsey Borough Council on land donated by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Although the foundation stone was laid in 1907, the hospital did not open until January 1910.
The building was extended three times, in 1921, 1938 and 1956, and in 1927 changed its name to the Hornsey Central Hospital, mainly because of difficulties recruiting nursing staff, who were unwilling to work in a cottage hospital.
Until 1974 it was a general hospital but from 1974 until 1981 it specialised in acute cases. Since 1981 the hospital has dealt mainly with geriatric patients.
After the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948, Hornsey Central Hospital was administered by the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, and, on a local level, by the Archway Group Hospital Management Committee from 1948 to 1963 and by its successor the North London Group from 1963 to 1974. Since 1974 the hospital has been the responsibility of the North East Thames Regional Health Authority and the Islington District Health Authority, which amalgamated with the Bloomsbury Health Authority in 1990 to become the Bloomsbury and Islington District Health Authority.
The Royal Northern Hospital opened as the Great Northern Hospital on 30 June 1856. Its founder was Sherard Freeman Statham, an assistant surgeon at University College Hospital, and he opened the hospital in York Road, King's Cross where it served workers on the King's Cross and Euston Railways.
The arrival of the Metropolitan Railway Company in 1862 necessitated a move for the hospital. The outpatients were moved to a house in Pentonville Road, while the in-patients were accommodated at the Spinal Hospital in Great Portland Street. At this time the Spinal Hospital amalgamated with the Great Northern Hospital and became its orthopaedic department. In 1864 the in-patients moved into a newly acquired building in Caledonian Road. During 1867 the Hospital expanded into more houses in the Caledonian Road area but purpose-built premises were still needed.
Due to increasing need for another hospital in the area, a Central Hospital for North London had been proposed. It amalgamated with the Great Northern Hospital in 1884, and after a competition to design its premises, the Great Northern Central Hospital moved to Holloway Road in 1888. The outpatients joined them from Pentonville Road in April, and the new hospital was officially opened in July.
Expansion continued, due to the pressure of numbers, and thanks mainly to the hospital's Ladies Association. The Association was officially founded in 1869 but had been active for several years before that. Its aim was to aid and befriend patients and servants on discharge and to brighten the lives of the in-patients; it also helped the hospital financially. The Ladies Association Building Fund was set up in 1890 and remained active until the new block was complete in 1894. Also in 1894 the hospital opened wards for paying patients, which encountered a great deal of hostility from local doctors.
In 1895 the Great Northern Central Hospital was formally recognised as a place of study for fifth year medical students by the University of London and the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons. A grant was awarded to the hospital in 1898 by the Prince of Wales (later the King Edward) Hospital Fund for London.
A charter of incorporation was granted to the hospital in 1900, under the title of "The President, Vice-President and Governors of the Great Northern Central Hospital". All hospital property and land was thereafter vested in the Corporation, not the trustees as before. In 1907 Mr Francis Reckitt donated the money for a convalescent home, to be attached to the hospital. A suitable site was found in Clacton-on-Sea and the 'Reckitt Convalescent Home of the Great Northern Central Hospital' was opened in July 1909. The home was managed by a special committee, appointed by the management committee of the hospital.
A Home of Recovery at Earlsmead, Hornsey Lane, was donated to the hospital in May 1918, by Mr E.G. Harrop. The loan of the home, however, was only temporary and in 1919 the home moved to Summerlee, Fortis Green. Again the loan of the property expired and after negotiations by the Management Committee the hospital purchased Grovelands, a mansion in Southgate, where it opened a permanent home of recovery in February 1921. The home continued as part of the hospital until 1977 when it closed.
The name of the hospital had come into question in 1911 because of its cumbersome nature, and from that date all references to the hospital included "commonly called the Great Northern Hospital" after the title. Doubts about the hospital's name were brought up again in 1919 and in December of that year it was decided to alter the charter of incorporation to read 'Royal Northern Hospital'. The change of name was delayed until November 1921, after the hospital had amalgamated with the Royal Chest Hospital (H33/RCH). Financial difficulties had forced the chest hospital's council to opt for amalgamation with the Royal Northern in preference to closure. A supplementary charter recording the change of name was granted in June 1924.
The Royal Northern Hospital continued to expand. A School of Radiography - one of the first in the country - was founded in 1929, followed in the same year by a school of Housekeeping and Catering. In 1931 a new private block was opened, known as the Saint David's Wing, and in 1937, after a donation by Beechams Pills Limited, the Beechams Laboratories of Pathology, Bacteriology, Biochemistry and Pharmacy were also opened. 1937 also saw the opening of a fracture clinic, an occupational therapy centre and a radiotherapy department.
The introduction of the National Health Service in 1948 caused many and widespread changes in the management of the hospital. The Ladies Association and League ceased to exist at this time and the hospital was placed under the control of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. The Northern Group Hospital Management Committee was set up to administer the Royal Northern and seven other hospitals, which now formed the Northern Group of Hospitals. These other hospitals were the Northaw House Children's Hospital, Highlands Hospital, Wood Green and Southgate Hospital, and the City of London Maternity Hospital (H10/CLM). The Maternity Nursing Association (H33/MNA) was also affiliated to the group. Although the Reckitt Convalescent Home had become part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board in 1948, patients were still sent there by the Royal Northern on account of the close association between the two institutions.
In 1963 the Northern Group Hospital Management Committee joined with the Archway Group to form the North London Hospital Management Committee, their headquarters remaining at the Royal Northern Hospital. After 1974 the Northern Group of Hospitals came under the North East Thames Regional Health Authority; on a local level the Royal Northern was administered by the Islington District Health Authority, while Grovelands Hospital came under the Enfield District Health Authority until its closure.
Brentford Hospital originated in Brentford Dispensary founded in 1818. The parish records of Saint Laurence, New Brentford, include an annual report of Brentford Dispensary for 1928 (DRO58/131) and an account book for 1852-1895 (DRO58/132/1). In 1891 the dispensary committee leased Marlborough House in the Butts as a residence for nurses to care for the sick poor in their own homes and to provide accommodation for some patients. Brentford Cottage Hospital and Nurses Home opened in 1892. The committee was subsequently able to purchase Marlborough House.
Between 1927 and 1928 a new larger hospital was built in Boston Manor Road, Brentford, on a site of over an acre, part of Gale's Orchard. Although it was now known as Brentford Hospital, it remained a general practitioner hospital with beds for 33 inpatients. In 1954 visitors from King Edward's Hospital Fund for London described it as "a very pleasant general practitioner hospital built in 1928. There are six general practitioners on the staff and we gathered that nearly all the patients come from them, except those that come through the Emergency Bed Service. There are medical and surgical consultants, the latter do the operating" (A/KE/735/48).
In 1948 Brentford Hospital was transferred to the National Health Service. It became one of the South West Middlesex group of hospitals of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1974 Brentford Hospital came under the control of Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Area Health Authority (Teaching) as part of Hounslow Health District. After 1976 it ceased to be used as an acute hospital, it reopened late in 1979 as a long stay geriatric hospital. In 1982 it became the responsibility of Hounslow and Spelthorne Health Authority.
Hounslow Hospital was founded in 1874 in Bell Road, Hounslow. Little information appears to survive about its early years. In 1913 it moved to Staines Road, Hounslow to a newly built 20 bed cottage hospital. By 1954 the accommodation had been increased to 81 beds arranged in three ground floor wards, one each for children, men and women. (See A/KE/735/49). In 1948 Hounslow Hospital became part of the National Health Service administered by the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and Staines Group Hospital Management Committee. On the reorganisation of the National Health Service in 1974 it was transferred to Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Area Health Authority (Teaching) and Hounslow Health District. The hospital ceased to admit patients on 31 August 1977.
