Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
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Other form(s) of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
The London Dispensary was founded in 1777 for the provision of free medicines and healthcare. It was at first situated in Primrose Street, Bishopsgate, but moved to Artillery Lane and then to No. 27 Fournier Street, where it remained between 1828 and 1946. It served Spitalfields, Mile End, Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Norton Folgate and Bethnal Green.
In 1809 sermons were preached to raise money for the Dispensary, these noted that since 1777 nearly 99,000 patients had been seen. A letter of recommendation from a governor was needed in order to see one of the doctors. When a patient was cured they had to send an official letter of thanks to the governor who recommended them, otherwise they would not be allowed further treatment.
The Dispensary was closed in 1946 when the National Health Service was created. Remaining funds were given to the Mildmay Mission Hospital.
From: 'The Wood-Michell estate: Fournier Street', Survey of London: volume 27: Spitalfields and Mile End New Town (1957), pp. 199-225.