On a summer's day in 1858 a terrific explosion occurred
at the waterside rolling mill of Snowden and Hopkins. One of the standing
boilers that supplied steam for the working of the mill and the steam
hammer burst with a tremendous report. Part of it hurtled into the river
carrying with it several workmen, part tore with terrific violence through
a thick wall scattering debris on the men working below, and a workaday
boiler room was made a horror of scalding steam let loose. Some seventeen
men were injured, and the nearest hospitals were at Newcastle and at York.
Two men died on the way to Newcastle, one or two were taken home, and some
too bad to move were placed in the stables of the Ship Inn, Stockton
Street where the stench from the nearby Stell was unbearable. One man died
through sheer fright.
At Coatham there lived a lady of independent means, now
an orphan, who had been trained by Pastor Fleidner at Kaiserworth. She was
a devout member of the Christ Church Sisterhood at Goatharn. Her name was
Frances Mary Rachel Jacques, later affectionately known as Sister Mary,
and she was known by John Jordison. He brought her to Middlesbrough. After
attending the injured men, she spent some time visiting the poorest part
of the town to make herself acquainted with the facilities, or rather the
lack 'of facilities, for succouring the sick. With two helpers she took a
house in Albert Road, and began her work of mercy in August 1858. Another
house in Albert Road and two cottages, 46 and 48 Dundas Mews, were taken.
On 7th March 1859 the first patients were admitted to the first Cottage
Hospital in England. In the first nine months fifty-five patients were
treated, together with 490 outpatients at a total cost of £446. The
hospital was staffed by Sister Mary and a few women who took religious
vows, and who became known as the Community of the Holy Rood under Mother
Teresa. Thus was established the first religious community in
Middlesbrough since the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539.
North Ormesby at this time had a population of 900, but
it was here before the end of 1859 that a site for a permanent hospital
had been purchased. The foundation stone was laid on the 9th July 1860,
and a year later 23rd May i86i it was opened with twenty five patients,
although work continued until 1862. The cost of £2,646 was raised by
public subscription, and it was still known as the Cottage Hospital.
Income rose from £566 in 1861 to £1,6oo in 1871. Work-men who had
voluntarily had deducted one halfpenny a week from their pay had in 1867
formed their own committee to stimulate the method of collecting and in
1871 increased their subscriptions to one penny per man per week. A
Hospital Sunday Fund was started in 1872, and churches were asked to make
a hospital collection on a specified Sunday each year. The secretary, H.
Hyhon Taylor, arid a surgeon, Mr. J. Ellerton in 1872 started a Saturday
Fund. Once each year a colourful procession was staged. Between 1872 and
1948 the North Ormesby Hospital received from this fund £15,000 from a
total collection of £35,400. Sister Elizabeth succeeded Sister Mary in
1873, and started a Guild of Nurses who were available for home nursing at
£1 1s. od. per week, but this was abandoned in 1879. In 1879 the Cochrane
family, connected with the hospital from 1872, built at a cost of £2,400
the first extensions to the hospital. The A. B. Cochrane wing doubled the
number of beds available, and included a nursery ward, which released part
of the main block fUr fcrnale patients. Another family closely associated
was the Penny-mans of Ormesby Hall, the last ColonclJ. B. W. Pennyman
being a member of the council and a trustee until the hospital became part
of the National Health Service in '948.
Dr. William Knott, physician and surgeon in the early
days of X-ray, commenced a 50 years period of service in 1881. He opened a
casualty department with two wards above, and a nurses bedroom on the
second floor, which was completed in 189! at a cost of £2,100. This
outpatients department was in use until a more up-to-date one was erected
in 1952. Worsley House, purchased in 1895 for £15,ooo as an isolation
block, was in 1896 exchanged with the Sisters of Holy Rood for the old
orphanage, which was required for extensions to the main hospital.
A Diamond Jubilee Fund organised by Colonel (Sir) S. A.
Sadler, Mayor '896-7, raised £ 1,772, and a contribution by the
Archbishop of York out of a Marriot Bequest paved the way for the Jubilee
Wing. This wing, providing improvements to the kitchen and dining rooms,
nurses bedrooms and extra wards, was opened 29th July 1901 by the Marquis
and Marchioness of Zetland.
The appointment of Mr. H. D. Levick in 898 as Honorary
Surgeon resulted in rapid progress in surgical work: he was the first
surgeon to undertake abdominal surgery in this area. Cottages in Moses and
Cromwell Streets were adapted in 1902 to provide operating theatre, X-ray
room, isolation ward, post-mortem room, mortuary and laundry. This brought
the accommodation to ninety beds, and the discontinuation of the word
Cottage from the title of the hospital. In addition to a subscription of
£500 to the building hind Mr. A. O. Cochrane provided the X-ray apparatus
at a cost of £52 I0s. 0d.
In 1904 Elizabeth Caroline Brown of Ormesby left a
legacy of £4,000, and a new wing bearing her name and costing £12,500
was opened by the Archbishop of York on the 15th March 1909. On the 12th
Novcmbcr 1905 Sister Elizabeth died. In 1921 Sister Lucy, a fully trained
nurse was appointed Matron, and this ended the voluntary work of the
Convent of the Holy Rood. In 1867 the Sisters had opened a home for orphan
and destitute children, and in 1924 when they left the hospital for their
Grove Hill home the children went with them. The hospital spent £10000 on
the purchase of Holy Rood House for a nurse's home and Worsley House.
The Cochrane Memorial Wing foundation stone was laid 2nd
July 1923 by Sir Napier Burnett, and was opened by Sir Hugh Bell on the
20th October 1924; it cost £10000. The scheme to raise £30,000 was
launched by a Grand Bazaar in the Town Hall 221W w 24th October 1930,
resulting in f8,ooo, but by the end of the year the sum off £28,973 had
been raised. Mrs. C. Dorman, secretary of the Linen Guild 1914-8, laid the
foundation stone of the extensions to the Jubilee Wing on the 10th January
1931. The building, corn1ictcd by November 1932, was called the Sister
Elizabeth Wing.
The Second World War brought immense difficulties,
resulting in 1946 of a deficit of £5000 and in 1947 one off £13,ooo,
which meant drawing on reserves. On 5th July 1948 the sum of £36,000 was
handed over to the Ministry's Central Fund.
When the hospital was transferred under the National
Health scheme, it became the headquarters of the Committee and formed the
main surgical unit of the group. Mr. Gerald D. Cochrane became first
chairman of the Tees-side Hospital Management Committee. On 11th May 1959
the hospital celebrated its centenary with a luncheon in a marquee on the
tennis court, a tour of the hospital, a nurses' prize giving ceremony, the
naming of a Centenary Wing, a service of thanksgiving and a brochure
containing the history of Middlesbrough's first hospital.
How the hospitals became part and parcel of the National
Health Scheme, and the deep affection that had been engendered throughout
the years of voluntary service will be shown after we have discussed the
history of the North Riding Infirmary.
The North Riding Infirmary: The new turnpike road to Stockton, to be
called Newport Road, was opened in 1858; the first Cottage Hospital was
opened in 1859. The Ironmasters under the leadership of Mr. H. W. F.
Bolckow decided they required a hospital nearer to the Ironmasters
District for the benefit of 'such as might need surgical aid through
accidents at the different ironworks and mines'. At a meeting in 1859 Mr.
Hustler offered an acre of land on the Long Plantation facing the new
road. This Plantation ran south from Newport Road to what was to become
Parliament Road. Mr. Hustler also promised a subscription of /980 and Mr.
Bolckow promised £5,000. The foundation stone was laid by the Earl of
Zetland with full Masonic honours on 7th August 1864, an occasion of great
rejoicing. The Provincial Lodge of which the Earl was Master held their
meeting in Middlesbrough that day. The building was completed by 1864, and
on 5th June 1864 the first House Surgeon, Dr. Ellerton received his first
patients. Mr. H. W. F. Bolckow opened the Infirmary. The building cost
£7,865. It was decided that the Court of Governors should meet quarterly,
but they appointed a House Committee, which met weekly.
Dr. W. M. Veitch came to Middlesbrough in 1866 as House
Surgeon. He has left a record which tells us that there were 'Green fields
and pastures new near the Infirmary, but that the tide ebbs and flows in
some open stells just opposite his residence in the Infirmary, and that
enteric fever is much in evidence after rain and storms and river floods'.
To meet the outstanding debt on the building of £2,500
the Rev. V. H. Moyle and Mr. Carl Bolckow suggested holding a bazaar. In
November 1867 a strong band of ladies were called together under the
Mayoress, Mrs. W. R. I. Hopkins. The bazaar was held in the newly opened
Royal Exchange on 31st July z868 under the patronage of His Worship the
Mayor, W. R. I. Hopkins. On the 6th August i868 a Grand Ball was held when
120 couples danced from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. an orchestra organised by Mr.
Groenings played Music. The bazaar and ball raised £2,373.
The year 1873 saw a deficit of/9697 on the year's
working which the Bolckow, Vaughan firm, paid off.
The Secretary who succeeded James Gregory in July 1872
was Angus MacPherson. He was also Secretary of the Cleveland Institute of
Engineers and edited their proceedings. He was associated with many
literary ventures until his death in May 1904.
It is an impossible task to pay tribute to the
innumerable people who have contributed to the success of this much-loved
Infirmary. Every well-known industrialist served on the Board of
Governors; all those physicians and surgeons whose names became household
words gave much time and service to hospital patients. Mr. H. W. F.
Bolckow, a vice-president and a life governor, died in 1878, and from his
estate the Infirmary received its first bequest of £5,000.
In the year 1885 the opening of the Eston Hospital meant
a loss of revenue of £800, being workmen's contributions. Special efforts
were organised to meet the subsequent deficiency which in 1888 was in the
region of £73o. On 27th January '888 500 people attended the
Middlesbrough Charity Ball in the Exchange Hall. In the same year a
committee of ladies organised a bazaar in the new Town Hall. (This Hall
was not officially opened until 23rd January 1889). These efforts
resulted in a sum off 1,102 being handed over to the Infirmary.
It was in 1889 that the Infirmary was connected with the
Northern Telephone System in order that news of accidents could be the
more quickly transmitted. Between i88o and '888 there were 4,705 patients
attended to, in the year 1889 there were 572 in-patients and 2,007
outpatients. It is of interest perhaps to note here that Infirmary Street
was re-named Hartington Road in 1875.
As the town grew in stature so did the North Riding
Infirmary; and as the years rolled by ever greater demands were made on
its overtaxed resources. In 1895 a new operating theatre on the first
floor, together with a lift, were planned, and these were opened on
4th April 1896 by Sir Raylton Dixon, who gave [105 towards its total cost
of £2,000. On 2nd April 1897 an operating room, two new wards and a
reception room were opened by the Mayor, Colonel (later Sir) S. A. Sadler,
and accommodation was increased to 8o beds and cost £2,123 9s. 9d.
It was in 1897 that Dr. Malcolmson, the town's Medical
Officer, died from overwork and anxiety after his tremendous labours
during the smallpox epidemic of 1897-8. He had been connected with the
hospital from 1884.
The Diamond Jubilee of Qucen0Victoria, 22nd June 1897
gave the necessary impetus to organise essential extensions. The Diamond
Jubilee Wing comprised a children' s ward on the ground floor with nurses'
sitting room and bedrooms above. Six memorial stones were laid on 10th
July 1899 by Sir Raylton Dixon, Miss E. Carter, Mrs.
T. D. Dent, Francis R. G. Samuelson, Major Jias. MacFarlane and Edward
Dawson respectively. This Jubilee Wing was opened by Sir Raylton Dixon
with a silver key on i 7th July 1900, Councillor Thomas Carter, and
Chairman of the House Committee, presiding. The children's ward was named
the Malcomson Memorial Ward. Colonel (Sir) S. A. Sadler unveiled a
memorial tablet to Dr. Malcomson, which had been executed by a West
Hartlepool sculptor Mr. Jones, and provided by this much-loved doctor's
colleagues on the staff. It hangs in what is known as the Tonsil Ward. The
cost of these extensions amounted to £1,994 plus £7 120 expended on fire
extinguishers. During the last three years £6,146 had been spent on
extensions and alterations. Sir Raylton Dixon contributed £100 towards
building nurses' quarters and later furnished them at his own expense. The
Diamond Jubilee Fundraised £1,772 5s 7d. and the splendid efforts of the
ladies in 1899 raised £1,000.
In 1896 Mr. Hustler offered £100 if another £900 could
be raised. This was accomplished. In 1900 he made a similar promise with
the same results. In i8q8 the hospital was equipped with its first
diagnostic X-ray machine, a gift of Mr. Cochrane at a cost of £52 10S.
0d. during this period the House Surgeon was Dr. Geo. F. Longbotham.
Mention has already been made of Mr. Angus MacPherson,
Secretary from 1872 until his death in May 1904. His work for the
Infirmary was acknowledged by the opening of the MacPherson Memorial Fund
which raised the sum of £115 6s. 0d. On the wall of the passage from the
hospital main corridor is a plaque to his memory. A man who came to
Middlesbrough to work for the Tees Union Shipping Company and who had been
a member of the Infirmary House Committee was appointed to succeed Angus
MacPherson. A year or two later he was called Secretary-Superintendent. He
was a Past Provincial Master of Oddfellows, and when they visited
Middlesbrough in 1899 he wrote a history of the town. His name was Charles
Postgate, and he was 87 years of age when he died on 15th November.
The pressure on the resources of the Infirmary
continued, but the forward-looking attitude of the Governors and House
Committee made closer the bonds by which for many years this institution
was held in the hearts and minds of the people by whom it was supported.
With the turn of the century plans were made for
alterations to the Accident and Medical Wards, and an Out-patient
Department was under construction. The erection of an Administrative Block
was made possible by the generosity of the Samuelson family following the
death of Sir Bernhard Samuelson, the building known as the Sir Bernhard
Samuelson Memorial wing being opened in 907. On 23rd November 1911 Sir
Francis Samuelson opened a splendidly appointed new operating theatre at
the South-West extremity; a suite of rooms consisting of ante-room,
anaesthetic room, operating theatre, X-ray room, sterilising room and
surgeons' retiring room.
The ceremony was presided over by His Worship the Mayor, Councillor
Harkess. Sir Francis Samuelson was President of the Infirmary, .having
succeeded Sir Bernhard Samuelson in 1906. The cost of the Unit was mostly
met by Sir Francis and an anonymous donor who each donated £500.
The Great War 1914-18 saw the Infirmary like the North
Ormesby Hospital simply glad to exist and do their job as best they could,
but income was reasonably well maintained. As soon as war finished the
committee was busy with schemes to meet ever-increasing demands. These
schemes included the purchase of two villas for nurses' homes and the
adaption of the existing nurses' quarters as a new children's ward. The
cost of this work was to be £17,500 of which £11500 had been received in
1925, mostly from contributions from Dorman Long & Co., Samuelsons and
the North East Steel Company. On i8th September 1925 Sir Hugh Bell opened
the new children's ward, the Mayor, Councillor E. Turner presiding.
During the week i9th to 27th September 1925 the Mayor,
Councillor E. Turner organised one of the most colourful carnivals the
town had witnessed: [£10504 was distributed among medical charities, the
Infirmary's share being £1,o88 which went a long way to clear off the
Extension Fund deficit of £500. The next year however was a testing time.
The General Strike and subsequent unemployment meant something like a
£3,200 loss in contributions.
On 27th October 1926 with a gold key inscribed with the
Town's Arms Miss Samuelson opened the Nurses' Homes in Park Road. They
cost in the region of [24,300, including [4,445 paid for the two handsome
villas. At the end of this year 1926 it was agreed to place the sum of
£3,000 at the disposal of the Extension Fund.
The tremendous light necessary by an institution
depending upon voluntary contributions is made evident by the fact that
the whole of the available revenue from investments was appropriated
during 1926 and 1927. It was decided that some special effort should be
made for the intended Extensions Schemes. A sub-committee was formed under
J. C. Tiplady, the secretary being J. J. Smith, and they formulated a 'Big
Push Carnival'. The inventive brains of the 'Big Push Three' Dr. A. Bryan,
T. W. Brodie and W. Keay Thompson concocted celebrations lasting from 17th
September to 22nd September 1928. There was R Town Hall Bazaar, Tykes
Concert Party (Dr. Bryan was their president), a Choir Sunday in Stewart
Park, and a massive horse, motor and cycle parade; to say nothing of
weighing a ton of pennies. The whole affair resulted in the Extension Fund
being augmented by £4,500. By October 1928 there was in use a new
Out-patient Department with commodious waiting room, dressing room and
casualty room, X-ray room and massage room. The residential quarters above
resulted in the medical staff being increased from one to three house
Surgeons. A new mortuary, post mortem room and chapel were contemplated.
This constructional work took two years, and cost well over £2,000.
It was in 1933 that Charles Postgate resigned as
Secretary-Superintendent. The committee recorded that it 'was largely to
his untiring energy and devotion that the Infirmary owes its unique
financial position'. He was succeeded by Mr. Gerald A. Kenyon, who came
from Bath.
On the 22nd September 1934 and three successive days a
Postgraduate School was held in the institution under the auspices of the
Middlesbrough branch of the College of Nursing.
The Ladies' Linen League, which had been started in 1924
under the presidency of Lady Dorman, provided at a cost of £110 all the
blankets for a new male surgical ward, which was opened 20th July 1934 at
a cost of £500. This League was soon providing all the linen and work
materials by means of subscriptions and sales of work. Vice-presidents
subscribed £1 1s. 0d. per annum, and were asked to obtain ten associates
each of whom were to subscribe five shillings and give two articles of
linen.
The Matron, Miss C. E. Bailey resigned in 1922, and Miss
N. Stringer was appointed. In April 1928 a sub-committee of the House
Committee resolved that drastic reforms were necessary. In 1930 the
committee most reluctantly made a change in the office of Matron, and
Sister M. P. Storey took over the office. On 2nd March 1931 there was an
unfortunate strike by 38 nurses in sympathy with the dismissed Nlatron.
Mr.J. McGarrell, chairman of the committee, and Mr. W. S. Dickie F.R.C.5.
appealed to their loyalty to the institution and the patients. Mr. W. S.
Dickie came to Middlesbrough in 1900 to begin a 32 years devoted service
to the Infirmary. When he resigned in 1932, he was appointed Honorary
Consulting Surgeon and a Vice-President. He died aged 87 years in March
1960.
Sister Storey, by which name she loved to be known, had
entered the hospital in '897 as a probationer. A remarkable tribute was
paid to her in the printed Annual Report when she died in 1937. 'Though
she was Matron she remained simply Sister Storey to those who had known
her, worked with her and had been cared for by her during so many years.'
Miss Margaret H. Prince was appointed from 1st January 1938.
On 25th January 1935 it was decided to launch an appeal
for a £10,000 modernisation scheme. Sir Francis Samuelson was president,
and the Appeals Committee served under the chairmanship of Councillor
(later Sir) W. H. Crosthwaite. Sir F. Samuelson broadcast an appeal, and
opened his grounds at Thirsk. In July he organised an exhibition of his
own watercolours in the Infirmary. In January 1937 it was decided to close
the appeal when only £2,751 had been realised, of which Dorman Long and
Company had subscribed £1000.
Wars always have devastating consequences, but they do
appear to have given governments, local authorities and public
institution: a period of stocktaking in the social sphere. In 1919 the
Ministry of Health was appointed to take over the functions of the Local
Government Board. The passing of the Nurses' Registration Act made
provision for the establishment of the General Nursing Council to govern
and control the training and registration of nurses. During and after the
Second World War more revolutionary blows were struck at Voluntary
Hospitals. Linder great difficulties the Infirmary carried on; indeed on
23rd October 1944 they spent £3,000 on re-organising and re-equipping the
radiological, diagnostic and therapeutic departments.
At the outbreak of World War lithe British Hospitals
Association was discussing the possibility of regionalisation of hospital
work, and in I 940 Lord Nuflield created a Provincial Hospital Trust by
donating one million shares in Morris Motors. in October 1941 the then
Minister of Health announced his intention of initiating a survey of the
hospital services. A report was published in 1 946 of a survey of the
North-Eastern Area by Sir Hugh Lett BT., C.B.E., etc. etc.
The report suggested as a possible short-term policy
ending extensive capital development in the way of new hospitals, that
consideration might be given to concentration of special departments at
one or other of existing hospitals, and the report mentioned Ophthalmology
and Ear, Nose and Throat as examples of such specialisations. At the time
of the issue of this report, the Infirmary initiated discussions between
Voluntary Hospitals and Middlesbrough Corporation on this question of
converting the North Riding Infirmary into a special hospital devoted
solely to the diseases of ear, eye, nose and throat.
The report of the Infirmary for the year 1946 was in some ways ominous. It
was pointed out that from 1940 to 1946 there had been a total deficit of
£25,560 (approx.). Particular attention was directed to the fact that the
General Board 'do not desire the workpeople of Tees-side to feel that
their generous help has not been warmly appreciated. On the contrary the
Board are ever grateful for the loyal support which the institution has
received, and long after the introduction of the new National Health
Service the workpeople of Tees-side may feel justly proud of the immense
financial assistance which they rendered it in a voluntary capacity.
Indeed 1946 was a memorable one in the history of
voluntary hospitals for a Bill for the provision of a National Health
Service received the Royal Assent on 6th November 1946.
In the 83rd Annual Report for the year ending 31st December 1947 appear
these words: 'During the past eighty years the Infirmary has, through the
generous support of the people of the town and district, played a leading
part in the provision of a hospital service to the community, in handing
over the institution to the new order the Board would like to express its
thanks to countless men and women of all walks of life who through the
years have voluntarily contributed of their skill, time and money to the
great work of healing which has been carried on within the institution.'
So on the 1st day of April 1948 the Voluntary Hospital ceased to exist,
and the last paragraph in the 83rd Annual Report of the North Riding
Infirmary Middlesbrough reads: 'In concluding what it believes will be its
Valedictory Report the Board cannot help feeling regret at the ending of
the present voluntary system of management; a service which has built up a
close personal touch in the day-to-day affairs of the Infirmary, and which
through all the years has established a fine team spirit among all
concerned in the welfare of its patients.'
Extracted from:
Chapter XV
THE HISTORY OF MIDDLESBROUGH
An Illustration of the Evolution
of English Industry
by
WILLIAM LILLIE
BOROUGH LIBRARIAN
1926- 1951
COMMISSIONED AND PUBLISHED BY
THE MAYOR ALDERMEN AND BURGESSES OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH OF MIDDLESBROUGH
