Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
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.