The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital
The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital established at 32 Golden Square was founded by Frederick Hervey Foster Quin on 10.4.1850, the anniversary of Samuel Hahnemann’s birthday, initially with fifty in-patient beds.
Patron: The Duchess of Cambridge
Vice Patron: The Duke of Beaufort
President: The Marquis of Anglesea Henry William Paget
Vice Presidents: Archbishop of Dublin, Marquis of Worcester, Earl of Essex, Viscount Sydney, Viscount Maldon, Lord Francis Gordon MP, Lord Clarence Paget MP, Lord George Paget MP, Colonel Wyndham, Frederick Hervey Foster Quin, Marmaduke Blake Sampson
Trustees: George Hallett, Phillip Hughes, William Watkins, D W Witton
Honorary Secretary: Ralph Buchan
Management Board: Nathaniel Barton, Richard Beamish, Captain Branford, Captain Chapman, John Boradhurst, Colonel Disbrowe, J B Crampern, Edward Esdaile, Francis Fuller, George Hallett, Phillip Hughes, J P Knight, R Pope, R T Reep, H Rosher, Charles Culling Smith, Colonel Sir J Smith, Charles Snewin, Thomas Uwins, William Watkins
Auditors: James D Cuff, Henry Goez
Collector: George Middleton
Medical Council: Hugh Cameron, Goodshaw, Edward Hamilton, Hilbers, Irvine, Joseph Kidd, Thomas Robinson Leadam, J Lynch, Victor Massol, Massy, Mayne, W McDonald, T McKern, George Newman, John Ozanne, Samuel Thomas Partridge, Frederick Hervey Foster Quin, Henry Reynolds, Roche, John Rutherford Russell, H Searl, E Smith, J L Vardy, W Watson, Dionysius Wielobycki, Severin Wielobycki, Stephen Yeldham, J G Young.
With thanks to Peter Morrell and the Illustrated London News April 1858:
The supporters of homeopathy are now striving to establish a large metropolitan hospital, which shall be conducted according to the principles inculcated by Hahnemann, which will be a school for homeopathic students, and which will afford to allopathic physicians the means of inquiring into the merits of the new doctrine and practice.
A public dinner in aid of the building fund of this charity took place on Wednesday, April 21 at Willis’s Rooms, when the Duke of Beaufort, Viscount Lismore, Viscount Maldon, Lord Rokeby, Lord Grey de Wilton, Lord Cormo Russell, the Hon. Robert Grosvenor, Mr Truman MP, Major Blake, Captain Fishbourne, RN, Mr Pritchard [High Bailiff of Southwark], Mr Sheriff Rutherford, Frederick Hervey Foster Quin, John Rutherford Russell, and about 150 other gentlemen, known as supporters and practitioners of homeopathy in the metropolis and in the provinces.
The usual toasts were given, viz– “The Queen;” “The Prince Consort and the Royal Family;” and “The Army and Navy,” responded to by Lord Rokeby and Captain Fishbourne, who alluded to their experience of the benefits personally derived by them from homeopathy during their service in the Niger expedition and in the Crimea.
The Chairman then proposed “Success to the London Homeopathic Hospital,” which was enthusiastically received. From the statement of the chairman it appeared that the institution was opened in 1850, at a house rented for that purpose in Golden Square, and had been removed, last October, to freehold premises in Great Ormond Street, WC, purchased for £5,000.
During its existence the hospital had, at an average expenditure of £1,000 a year, afforded relief to 23,000 sick persons, of whom nearly 1200 were in-patients. The returns of treatment were stated to prove the advantages of homeopathy. Thus, while, according to the Registrar General, the rate of mortality in the allopathic metropolitan hospitals is 7.5 per cent, the deaths in the Homeopathic Hospital, including those from cholera, have not exceeded 4.6 per cent.
The premises recently purchased in Great Ormond Street are estimated to provide accommodation for almost 200 in-patients, and, when the necessary alterations are completed, there will be two accident wards, a ward for children, a theatre for a school of medicine, &c. The estimated cost of these alterations, and of fittings and furniture, is £4,000, and contributions have been received which reduce the amount to £2,500.
The total receipts since the opening of the hospital have amounted to £15,000; and the management had thus far not only defrayed current expenses, but had been enabled to purchase the new premises, besides investing £800 towards the formation of an endowment fund.
The chairman’s appeal was liberally responded to by the company, and contributions were announced amounting to £1,000—including 20 guineas from the chairman, 15 guineas from the Duke of Beaufort, £100 from the Earl of Wilton, and £100 from Captain Felix V Smith.
“The Memory of Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy,” was proposed by John Rutherford Russell; “The health of the Duchess of Cambridge, the patroness of the hospital,” by the Duke of Beaumont; “The health of the Chairman,” by Frederick Hervey Foster Quin; “The Honorary Secretary, Mr R Buchan,” by the Duke of Beaufort.
Several other toasts were given, and the Duke of Wellington, on leaving the chair, was loudly cheered. The musical arrangements were under the direction of Mr G Buckland, who was assisted by Messrs Lockey, Young and H Buckland.
It may be added that there are homeopathic hospitals in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, and St Petersburg.
In 1854, the London Homeopathic Hospital was turned over entirely to cholera victims. In the Cholera epidemic of 1854, 54,000 people died, the death rate under allopathic methods was 59.2% and only 16.4% under homeopathic treatment.
In 1855 a report on the treatment of cholera patients at the London Homeopathic Hospital was made to Parliament. The London Homeopathic Hospital report for that year reveals 3636 patients were treated, making a total of 18,002 patients treated since it opened in 1850.
Many homeopaths and supporters of homeopathy were involved in the London Homeopathic Hospital at this time, including Hugh Cameron, Francis Richard Charteris, Captain Chapman, John Chapman, Edward Charles Chepmell, George Napoleon Epps, John Epps, Washington Epps, Edward Hamilton, George Calvert Holland, Joseph Kidd, Thomas Robinson Leadam, Charles Powell Leslie, Victor Massol, J Bell Metcalfe, Augustus Henry Moreton, Henry William Paget, Samuel Thomas Partridge, Henry Reynolds, Marmaduke Blake Sampson, Thomas Uwins, David Wilson, Stephen Yeldham, and large numbers of the Aristocracy.
In 1858 a Festival in aid of the London Homeopathic Hospital was held with many Aristocratic and minor gentry patrons attending, alongside Dr. Ayerst, William Bayes, Hugh Cameron, Edward Charles Chepmell, William Vallancy Drury, George Napoleon Epps, Arthur Guinness, Edward Hamilton, Frantz Hartmann, Amos Henriques, Joseph Kidd, Thomas Robinson Leadam, J Bell Metcalfe, Frederick Hervey Foster Quin, Henry Reynolds, John Rutherford Russell, Charles Caulfield Tuckey, George Wyld, Stephen Yeldham, and many others.
In 1859, the hospital outgrew its building, so Frederick Hervey Foster Quin purchased three houses in Great Ormond Street, one of which had been the headquarters of the antislavery campaign, and these were converted at a cost of £15,000. This hospital building was in use for thirty six years and saw 250,000 patients.
The staff of this new hospital included Edward Bach, Henry Bodman, George Henry Burford, James Compton Burnett, John Henry Clarke, Arthur C Clifden, Robert Cooper, William Vallancy Drury, Robert Ellis Dudgeon, Washington Epps, Robert Douglas Hale, John Williams Hayward, Richard Hughes, Edwin A Neatby and Charles Edwin Wheeler and many others.
In 1861, the London Homeopathic Hospital had 200 beds and 27.086 patients had been seen since its inception.
About 1880 John Henry Clarke was a consultant at the London Homeopathic Hospital, alongside John Rutherford Russell and David MacNish. Charles Lloyd Tuckey was Assistant Physician to the London Homeopathic Hospital at this time.
In 1895, the Duchess of Teck opened a new extension of 100 beds at the London Homeopathic Hospital.
In 1903, Octavia Lewin read a paper by James Tyler Kent from America, bringing about a revolution in homeopathy which influenced Octavia Lewin’s successors, Marjorie Blackie and Margaret Lucy Tyler.
In 1908, Robert Henryson Caird was prominent on the Board of Management of the London Homeopathic Hospital in Great Ormond Street since 1904. Robert Henryson Caird became Chairman of the hospital’s House Committee from 1908, and supervised the building of the new wing and nurses’ home in the years that followed.
The Chariman of the House Committee of the London Homeopathic Hospital since 1908, and a Member of the Board of Management since 1904. Chairman of the Building Committee for the building of the Sir Henry Tyler Wing and the New Nurses Home, 1908-1911.
When the new London Homeopathic Hospital was designed and rebuilt in 1895 it was arranged that a further wing facing west to Queen Square could be added at any time when it might be required.
In 1908 it was found that the building was totally inadequate to the demands made upon it, and, indeed, for two or tree years the usefulness of its work had been greatly hampered by the lack of space.
The extension of the London Homeopathic Hospital building on the adjoining freehold ground, including the Queen’s Head public house, which by this date had been purchased for the purpose, was now very forcibly impressed upon the Board of Management. That there was now very forcibly impressed upon the Board of Management.
That there was an urgent need for enlargement was only too apparent when serious cases frequently had to be refused admission because there was no room to receive them. In one small section only of the In patients, nine women each waited over three months, and eight others waited over six months for admission.
The present London Homeopathic Hospital Building has now been in use for sixteen years, 1895 - 1911, and during the last eight years in the old building in Great Ormond Street the In-patients totaled:
1887 to 1895 ….. 5,680
In the next two periods of eight years in the present building the In patient had increased to:
1895 to 1902 ….. 8,150 In patients
1903 to 1911 ….. 8,699 do.After much consideration the Board decided to enlarge the London Homeopathic Hospital, and with a view to starting an extension fund to build a new West Wing to the existing London Homeopathic Hospital, Sir Henry Tyler, as already mentioned, contributed £10,000, the late Mrs. Rylands £5,000, Lord Dysart £2,000, the late Captain Cundy, Vice Chairman of the board, £1,000, C.M. £1,000, and with the assistance of many other warm friends and supporters of the London Homeopathic Hospital, the sum of £47,000 was soon raised for the purpose.
The President of the British Homeopathic Society Wynne Thomas, the President of the previous British Homeopathic Congress James Johnstone, together with the Vice President of the International Homeopathic Council George Henry Burford, met by arrangement the Chairman of the London Homeopathic Hospital, Robert Henryson Caird to consider the necessary preliminaries.
Their consultation issued in the nomination of a Provisional Committee constituted by representatives of the principal homeopathic activities in Great Britain, and the publication of a statement of the case, with an appeal for funds to those favourably inclined to the work.
Thus did the leaders of British Homeopathy lead, and the response of the English speaking homeopaths the world over was immediate and maintained. Fortified by this support, the Provisional Committee nominated two Commissioners Dr. Hoyle and David MacNish to proceed to France to confer with the military authorities there, as well as with the principal homeopathic physicians in Paris.
As the issue of this investigation, the Committee decided to work under the auspices of the French Red Cross Society, and to internationalism as far as possible, the interest it was desirable to arouse of homeopathic supporters in this special procedure.
In 1911, further extensions and additions were made to the London Homeopathic Hospital, including a nurses’ home.
In World War II, the London Homeopathic Hospital suffered extensive bomb damage, the hospital staff won four George Medals during this time. Also during this time, homeopathic refugees Otto Leeser and Erich Ledermann fled Europe to join the staff at the London Homeopathic Hospital.
In 1945 Major J C MacKillop converted to homeopath and began a course of study in the bombed out buildings. Despite the state of its infrastructure, the London Homeopathic Hospital admitted and treated many hundreds of patients.
In 1948, the rebuilt and extensively expanded London Homeopathic Hospital became the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, when George VI conferred it with title.
At this time, many famous homeopaths worked at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, including Edward Bach, Douglas Morris Borland, John Henry Clarke, Donald MacDonald Foubister, James Douglas Kenyon, Thomas Maughan, Percival Quinton, W W Rorke, Margaret Lucy Tyler, John Weir, Charles Edwin Wheeler, Kathleen Gordon Priestman and Harold Fergie Woods.
In 1968, the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital initiated one of the earliest cook-chill catering units in Britain.
On 18.6.1972, the Trident Airliner carrying 16 staff of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, including John Raeside, crashed at Staines near Heathrow on its way to the International Homeopathic League in Brussells, and as a result of this devastating blow, the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital lost its independance, suffered the closure of the operating theatre, the surgical, childrens and geriatric wards, and the number of in-patient beds fell to 25.
Nevertheless, the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital saw new innovation during the 1990s with the pioneering work of Ralph Twentyman, Anthony Campbell, Michael Jenkins and J Dickson Mabon.
In 2002, the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital was extensively refurbished at a cost of £18.5 million, and it is now part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).
Sue :: Oct.11.2008 :: British History :: No Comments »