Jessops Hospital for Women, Leavygreave Road, Sheffield
The place where I was born
The Hospital
site is on the corner of Broad Lane and Upper Hanover Street and
replaced the earlier Sheffield Womens Hospital in Figtree Lane
(opened 29th June 1864 with just six beds). Designed by Mr
J.D.Webster the hospitals original Victorian building opened in
1878.and was built in the late Gothic style. It takes its name
from Sheffield steelmaker Thomas Jessop (1804-1887) who donated
£30,000 towards the building costs. Jessop's fortune came from steel; his father was a steel smelter and a partner in a steel firm.
Thomas worked his way up through the family business and when his brother died in 1872, Thomas became
the owner. The Jessop works at Brightside became one of the biggest steelworks
in the country and in 1875 the firm became a limited company with a share capital of £400,000. Jessops
specialised in Crucible steel for cutlery, edge tools, and engineering and also gained a reputation in America, particularly for cutlery steel.
Thomas
Jessop was a well known public figure and held many important civic posts including Master Cutler (1863), Mayor (1863-4), Alderman (1864), Town Trustee
(1862) and JP (1863). As Mayor in 1864 Jessop had to deal with the aftermath of the great Sheffield flood. He became treasurer of a compensation fund of around £50,000. Jessop was also a member of Sheffield's first town council when the
town became a corporate borough in 1843.
All babies born at Jessop's receive a certificate stating they are truly 'made in Sheffield'
Initially the hospital had a bed capacity of 35 but increasing demand led to an extension being added in the early 1900 which ran the length of the upper part of Gell Street to the point where it met Broad Lane. Incidentally it was designed by the same architect as the 1878 building. The six story St Georges block which faces St Georges Church was completed in the 1940's and twenty years later the Antenatal/Postnatal units together with the Physiotherapy Units were opened.
Like many public buildings in the Sheffield area in general and this area in particular, the hospital was allowed to deteriorate and eventually a new hospital was built behind the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. The site is derelict (2002) but has been purchased by the University of Sheffield for redevelopment.
The above photograph was taken in 1950 and shows the main entrance to the hospital together with the car park.
An article in the Sheffield Telegraph in March 2004 (pdf format) shows the latest position with regard to the Jessops site. Demolition of the Laundry block began in April 2004.
Since that date the main hospital buildings have remained untouched as far as I can see. However in November 2006 the University of Sheffield eventually announced
"This next phase will see us refurbish and bring back to
life the historic Victorian Wing of the old Jessop hospital building and build a
landmark new
building on the west corner of the same site. These developments will provide
new homes for the departments of Music, English,Law and History, and provide
outstanding facilities for staff and students across the University.
The department of Music will move into the Victorian wing, once the careful
refurbishment of this Grade II listed building is complete, whilst English, Law
and History will all move into the new landmark building on the west corner of
the site.
The new landmark building has been designed by Sauerbruch Hutton, award winning
architects renowned for delivering iconic buildings, with environmental
sustainability as a top priority. Sauerbruch Hutton won the contract as part of
an internal architecture competition held by the University last year. This is
an exciting time for us and we look forward to starting work early in 2007 and
moving departments into their new homes in 2008."
In late January 2007, the demolition of the 1940's St Georges Wing at the Jessop Hospital site began to prepare the site for the development new academic buildings
Note
| Name | Relation | Marital Status | Gender | Age | Birthplace | Occupation |
| Thomas JESSOP | Head | Married | Male | 77 | Sheffield, York, England | Magistrate Retired Steel Manftr |
| F.Y.JESSOP | Wife | Married | Female | 63 | Liverpool, Lancashire, England | |
| Catherine MAKON | Serv | U | Female | 31 | Monaghan Glebe | Cook (Dom) |
| Elizabeth STANLEY | Serv | U | Female | 16 | Carlton, Nottingham, England | Housemaid (Dom) |
| Lucy DURRAN | Serv | U | Female | 23 | Greasbro, York, England | Housemaid (Dom) |
| Maria COOK | Serv | U | Female | 23 | Sheffield, York, England | Chamber Maid (Dom) |
| Elleanor NORBURN | Serv | U | Female | 24 | Rotherham, York, England | Cook (Dom) |
JESSOP HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN.
This institution, under the name of the Sheffield Hospital for Women, was originated by Dr. Aveling, supported by numerous friends. Its object was to attend cases of midwifery amongst the poor. and to treat diseases peculiar to women. Established in 1864, in a building in
Figtree-lane, its work was carried on there till 1878, when the new hospital in Gell-street, through the munificent liberality of the late Mr.
Thomas Jessop, was built. It is a handsome, capacious, admirably-arranged building, and only requires increased subscriptions, or an endowment, to have all its capabilities fully developed. Mr. Jessop spent more than £30,000 upon it. A steam laundry has since been added by the family of the late Mr. Jessop. at a cost of over £1,000. Mr. J D. Webster was the architect. The medical officers are: Dr. Hime and Mr. F. Woolhouse, consulting; Dr. Kee9rig, Mr. R. Favell, Dr. Laver, and Dr. Martin, honorary; Mr. Sydney F. Barber, house surgeon; Miss Bourchier, matron; Mr.j. H. Barber, treasurer; Mr. H. B. Warner, 18, York-street, secretary.
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This page was last updated on 13/02/07 11:33