IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0405 A
Held at: Barts Health NHS Trust Archives (St Bartholomew's Hospital Archives)
Title: Alexandra Hospital for Children with Hip Disease
Date(s): 1866-1959
Level of description: Collection (Fonds)
Extent: 1341 items
Name of creator(s): Alexandra Hospital for Children with Hip Disease
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Alexandra Hospital for Children with Hip Disease was opened on 12 March 1867. Founded by a group of women (two of whom were nurses at the nearby Great Ormond Street Hospital), it was initially based in 19 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London. Until 1870, it was known as the House of Relief for Children with Chronic Diseases of the Joints, and from 1870 to 1881 the Hospital for Hip Diseases in Children. Hip disease, or tuberculous arthritis, was a common disease at this time.
The demand for the hospital's beds was such that 18 Queen Square was purchased in 1872 to provide additional accommodation. 17 Queen Square was acquired in 1873 and properties in Queen Square Place were added over the following years. In 1881 the hospital was re-named after Princess Alexandra, and by 1897 the Alexandra Hospital had sixty-eight beds. However, the buildings in which the hospital was accommodated were dilapidated and unsanitary and in 1898 a decision was taken to re-build. The hospital took temporary accommodation at 34 Guilford Street, Russell Square, London whilst the rebuilding took place. The new hospital buildings opened on 20 July 1899. The Alexandra Hospital also had convalescent homes at Helen Branch Hospital, Bournemouth, Hampshire (1874-1993); Wash Well Home, Painswick, Gloucestershire (1893-1914); and Clandon Branch Hospital, East Clandon, Surrey (1903-1936).
In 1920, the Alexandra Hospital moved from its central London location. It took up residence at the Kettlewell Home in Swanley, Kent, the site of St Bartholomew's Hospital's convalescent home. The Alexandra Hospital had maintained close ties with Bart's from its foundation in 1867, and many of its medical staff had served both institutions. These links were now strengthened and on 3 November 1922, the hospitals amalgamated. After the amalgamation the Committee of Management was renamed the Committee of the Alexandra Hospital and Kettlewell Home.
In 1940, the Alexandra Hospital moved for the final time, to Stockwood Park near Luton, Bedfordshire, a property on lease from Luton Borough Council. It was later proposed that a further move be made to Nyn Park in Hertfordshire, but these suggestions came to nothing and in 1958 the Ministry of Health closed the Alexandra Hospital.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Comprises: Dispensary; Alexandra Hospital School; Administrative records; Financial records; Estate and property records; Drawings and illustrations; Postcards; Nursing records; Medical records; Photographs; Staff records; Operating theatre records; Supplies Department; External publications.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
See Scope and content.
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.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
See 'Detailed catalogue' link above.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Administrative records, consisting of annual reports 1897-1938, are held by London Metropolitan Archives, ref: SC/PPS/093/01.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Original description compiled by Neil Hargreaves, 2006-2007, thanks to generous funding from The Pilgrim Trust/Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Cataloguing Grants Programme. Updated by Clare Button, Archivist, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London.
Date(s) of descriptions: 2006-2007 ; updated July 2020.