THE ROYAL HOSPITAL - SHEFFIELD
Whilst I was undertaking research into my Family History, I
ascertained that my great great great grandmother Harriet Speed had died at the
"Public Dispensary"
Speed, Harriet (Widow, age 56). Died at
Public Dispensary; Buried on December 23, 1885 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 12412, Section X of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield.
I was rather mystified as to the location of the Dispensary
but the only information I could find came from the following extract from the
Sheffield Red Book of 1898. I also realised that there was very little either
on-line or in print about the hospital which I remember quite clearly from my
childhood and adolescence.
The following description is taken from the Sheffield Red Book 1898
"This institution was established in 1832 simply as a dispensary; but in order to
provide accommodation for in-patients liberal subscriptions were given in
1857-8-9, and the building was remodelled and enlarged, accommodation being
provided for 61 in-patients. In 1868 the building was again enlarged and the
number of beds being increased to 105. The hospital is open to sick and lame
persons of every nation, and there are separate wards for children. His Grace
the Duke of Norfolk is the president; Sir F. T. Mappin, Bart., M.P., and Sir H
Stevenson, vice-presidents; Mr. G. F. Lockwood, chairman of the board; Mr.
Philip K. Wake, treasurer; Dr. W. Dyson, Dr. H. J Branson, W. S. Porter, Dr. W.
R. Thomas, and Dr. S.Roberts, consulting physician Dr. H. J. Hunter, Dr.
Keeling, and Mr. G. K.Thorpe, consulting surgeons; Dr. Waterhouse, consulting
surgeon-accoucheur; Dr. Duncan Burgess, Dr. Arthur Hall, and Dr. Crochley
Clapham, physicians; Mr. R-,J. Pye-Smith,,1), Dr Sinclair White, and Mr.H.
Lockwood, surgeons. A dental department was opened in 1896, and dental patients
are seen every morning from 9 to to 10 o'clock. The dental officers are Mr. C.
Stokes, Mr. R. C. H. Drabble, Mr. J. L. Pike, Mr. W.B. Tolputt, Mr. F. G.
Mordaunt, and Mr. J. S. Allen. Mr. A. Young is the house surgeon; Mr. H. Hallam
and Mr. T. Priestley, assistant house surgeons~ Mr. W. H. Lee, house physician;
Mr. G. M. Tomlinson, dispenser; Miss Stibbard, matron; Mr. J. W. Robinson,
secretary; office, The Royal Hospital (Westfield Terrace entrance).
The late Mr. Bernard Wake on accepting the office of treasurer, in 1882,
undertook to maintain a bed at his own cost. Thus was instituted the
first ,' endowed bed," and this worthy example has been followed by several
other benevolent friends of the charity. Each endowed bed requires
an annual subscription of £31 10s., and anyone may have the use of a bed for a
year for patients of his own nomination by payment of that
subscription.
The demands upon the resources of the institution having completely outgrown its
capability, the Board of Management decided to provide enlarged accommodation.
Donations had been made at various times in aid of anew building. and under the
will of the late Miss Ray the hospital became entitled to a legacy amounting to
between £10,000 and £11,000. Mr.Bernard Wake generously offered to give sum
sufficient to build the out-patients' department, this being roughly estimated
something over £6,000; and the Town Trustees made a grant Of £5,000 in aid the
building fund. In these circumstances it was decided to erect a Hospital well
appointed and of ample capacity, and which should be in every respect worthy of
the city. Adjacent property was purchased, making the total area available site
of the new hospital over an acre in extent. In 1893, plans and elevation by Mr.
Charles Hadfield, architect, were adopted, and the building of patients'
department was begun.
It was evident, however, that the project in its entirety could not be carried
without much additional capital. A bold appeal to the public, therefore issued
for a round sum of £50,000, that amount being required for the building apart
from furnishing. A public meeting, presided over by the president, his grace the
Duke of Norfolk, was held in July, 18(4, at which the claims of the hospital
were forcibly and ably set forth by the noble Duke and other gentlemen . At that
meeting and afterwards donations flowed steadily in, but at the time of going to
press with the Red Book " a sum of about £17,000 was still needed to complete
the entire scheme.
On the 11th May 1895, the first portion of the new hospital was formally opened
by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York, and on
September , patients were received in it. Her Royal Highness afterwards laid the
foundation stone of what will be known as the "Nurses' Home," whose front
is towards Eldon-street. The home was occupied early in 1897. The administrative
block, which will form a considerable portion of the main
facade ie building in West-street, is now in course of construction. This block
contain the principal entrance, secretary's office, elevator for
patients, kitchens, &c."
The 1908 Sheffield Guide adds some additional information
on the origins and growth of the hospital
In 1828 a ” Self-supporting Dispensary ” was first
established in Sheffield. In an account of the "Sheffield Public Hospital and
Dispensary" by that authority on "Old Sheffield" the late Mr. Arthur Jackson,
published in 1894, no mention is made of the situation of this institution ; but
in 1832 a reconstituted "Dispensary" was established in Tudor Place. These
premises soon proving inadequate, a private house was purchased in West Street
and converted into more or less suitable quarters.
Here the work of a Dispensary, without beds, was carried on until 1857, when it
was proposed to add to it a hospital . Mainly through the exertions of the late
Dr. J. C. Hall this was effected, and the "Public Hospital and Dispensary" with
61 beds, was opened in 1860. It was further enlarged and re-opened, with 105
beds, in 1870.
In 1890 it was decided to entirely rebuild the Hospital, the late Mr. Bernard
Wake assisting the project very actively. The first instalment, including the
Out-patient Department and some new wards, was opened, and the foundation stone
of a Nurse’s House laid, in 1895, by their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess
of York, now Prince and Princess of Wales. It was on this occasion that the
title of the hospital was changed to the "Sheffield Royal Hospital."
The completion of the re-building scheme only awaits the attainment of
sufficient funds to carry it out. an appeal for which is now before the Public."
The title "Royal Hospital" was given by the command of Queen Victoria. The
hospital was gradually expanded over the next few years. In 1900, the hospital
board completed the purchase of all the frontage between Westfield Terrace and
Eldon Street. Two years later, a central block containing five wards was opened.
The old demolition of the old dispensary was completed in 1906. In 1908, the
last remaining shops facing West Street were demolished and construction started
on new buildings that were completed four years later in 1912.
The First World War meant that further work on the hospital was suspended.
However two of the new wards were used for wounded combatants before they
reverted to civilian use in 1919.
1922 saw the purchase of the Mount Zion Chapel on Westfield Terrace which
was converted to an Outpatients Department for £9,000. It was formally opened in
1927 by the future Prime Minister Mr Neville Chamberlain
The two postcards, the latter taken in 1906 show a fine late Victorian
building but post-war advances in health and medicine meant that the Hospital
was becoming more and more outdated. When the decision was made to build a new
hospital further West Street - Glossop Road, the end was in sight for the
hospital. Services were gradually transferred to the new Hallamshire Hospital
and in 1978, the building was demolished.
From The Sheffield Star dated Saturday 14th October 1978
I am not at all sure if proper
consideration was given to alternative usage but I should imagine that the
costs of conversion would far outweigh the costs associated with demolition. The
only section that still remains is the frontage of the Mount Zion Chapel (the
former outpatients entrance) on Westfield Terrace which had listed status.
The demolition of the hospital - the Zion chapel is to
the rear of the hospital
This photograph is further up Eldon Street. Apart from
the demolition it also shows a Gas Lamp!
After demolition and clearance of the site, it was used as a rather shoddy
N.C.P car-park for more than twenty years. Quite why this happened I cannot say.
For such a large area of land in one of Sheffield City Centre main streets to
remain derelict and to be quite frank an eye-sore for so long is mystifying to
say the least. However the turn of the twenty-first century saw the site
transformed into the usual bland non-descript private development of shops, bars
and apartments much favoured by the planers and politicians in Sheffield.
Sources
1908 Sheffield Guide
Extract taken from 1898 (Sheffield Red Book) Courtesy Eric Youle
A Popular History of Sheffield - J Edward Vickers
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on 23/09/17 15:42