Fonds RLHEL - East London Hospital for Children and Dispensary for Women

Identity area

Reference code

RLHEL

Title

East London Hospital for Children and Dispensary for Women

Date(s)

  • 1868-c.1980 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

15 linear metres

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

The East London Hospital For Children And Dispensary For Women was founded in a converted warehouse at Ratcliff Cross in 1868, and originally known as the Shadwell Hospital for Women and Children. It was established by Dr Nathaniel and Mrs Sarah Heckford as a result of their experiences in Wapping during the 1866 Cholera outbreak. In 1875 the Hospital moved to a new building in Shadwell, helped by Charles Dickens raising funds by publishing two articles about the Hospital. In 1930 it had 136 beds. Its name was changed in 1932 to the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital for Children.
In 1942 an Act of Parliament was passed to amalgamate the Hospital with The Queen's Hospital for Children in Hackney to form The Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. The Hospital was administered as one, but functioned on two sites: Queen Elizabeth, Hackney Road and Queen Elizabeth, Shadwell. A third site at Banstead, Surrey, the Banstead Wood Country Hospital, was opened in 1948. By the early 1960s the number of beds at Shadwell had fallen to less than 50. The Hospital was closed on 30th April 1963 and the building subsequently demolished.

The Queen's Hospital for Children was founded in 1867, in Virginia Road, Bethnal Green as the North Eastern Hospital for Children. The Hospital moved to Hackney Road, Bethnal Green, shortly after its foundation, and was renamed Queen's Hospital for Children in 1907. The Hospital was amalgamated with the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital, Shadwell, in 1942, and renamed the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. The Queen Elizabeth Group Hospital Management Committee was formed in 1948 to administer The Queen Elizabeth Hospital on its three sites on Hackney Road, Shadwell and Banstead.
On the closure of the Shadwell site in 1963 the Hospital amalgamated with the Hackney Group to form the Hackney and Queen Elizabeth Group. This arrangement lasted until 1968, when the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was detached from the Hackney Group and placed under the Board of Governors of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street. The Hospital's Convalescent Home was managed by a Committee which selected a site in Bognor in 1868. The foundation stone was laid in October 1897, and the Home closed in 1912.

Archival history

RLHEL 1868-c.1980 Collection (fonds) 15 linear metres East London Hospital for Children and Dispensary for Women
The East London Hospital For Children And Dispensary For Women was founded in a converted warehouse at Ratcliff Cross in 1868, and originally known as the Shadwell Hospital for Women and Children. It was established by Dr Nathaniel and Mrs Sarah Heckford as a result of their experiences in Wapping during the 1866 Cholera outbreak. In 1875 the Hospital moved to a new building in Shadwell, helped by Charles Dickens raising funds by publishing two articles about the Hospital. In 1930 it had 136 beds. Its name was changed in 1932 to the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital for Children.
In 1942 an Act of Parliament was passed to amalgamate the Hospital with The Queen's Hospital for Children in Hackney to form The Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. The Hospital was administered as one, but functioned on two sites: Queen Elizabeth, Hackney Road and Queen Elizabeth, Shadwell. A third site at Banstead, Surrey, the Banstead Wood Country Hospital, was opened in 1948. By the early 1960s the number of beds at Shadwell had fallen to less than 50. The Hospital was closed on 30th April 1963 and the building subsequently demolished.

The Queen's Hospital for Children was founded in 1867, in Virginia Road, Bethnal Green as the North Eastern Hospital for Children. The Hospital moved to Hackney Road, Bethnal Green, shortly after its foundation, and was renamed Queen's Hospital for Children in 1907. The Hospital was amalgamated with the Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital, Shadwell, in 1942, and renamed the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. The Queen Elizabeth Group Hospital Management Committee was formed in 1948 to administer The Queen Elizabeth Hospital on its three sites on Hackney Road, Shadwell and Banstead.
On the closure of the Shadwell site in 1963 the Hospital amalgamated with the Hackney Group to form the Hackney and Queen Elizabeth Group. This arrangement lasted until 1968, when the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was detached from the Hackney Group and placed under the Board of Governors of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street. The Hospital's Convalescent Home was managed by a Committee which selected a site in Bognor in 1868. The foundation stone was laid in October 1897, and the Home closed in 1912.

Transferred from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children to Tower Hamlets Library in May 1973 and to the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum in 1985.

Administrative records, financial records, patient records, nursing records, photographs, pharmacy records and miscellaneous records.

See Scope and content.

Some material is restricted. Please contact the repository in the first instance.

Copying and digitisation services are available for unrestricted material. Researchers should contact the repository in the first instance.
English

See 'Detailed catalogue' link above.

Originally compiled by Julie Tancell as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Updated by Clare Button, Archivist, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. June 2001, updated April 2020. Anaesthesia Dickens , Charles John Huffam , 1812-1870 , novelist and journalist Documents East London Hospital for Children and Dispensary for Women Elizabeth II , b 1926 , Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland England Europe Formularies Health Health policy Health services Hospitals Information sources London Manuscripts Margaret Rose , 1930-2002 , Princess and Countess of Snowdon Maternal and child health Medical institutions Medical personnel Medical profession Medical sciences Paramedical personnel Patients Personnel Photographs Princess Elizabeth of York Hospital for Children Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children Shadwell Social sciences Social welfare Stepney Surgery UK Visual materials Western Europe People by occupation People Tower Hamlets

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Transferred from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children to Tower Hamlets Library in May 1973 and to the Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum in 1985.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Administrative records, financial records, patient records, nursing records, photographs, pharmacy records and miscellaneous records.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

See Scope and content.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Some material is restricted. Please contact the repository in the first instance.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copying and digitisation services are available for unrestricted material. Researchers should contact the repository in the first instance.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

See 'Detailed catalogue' link above.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Barts Health NHS Trust Archives

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area