Hospitals and healthcare records in Calderdale

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale

Hospital and healthcare records in Calderdale

Halifax General Dispensary/Halifax Infirmary and Dispensary Halifax General Dispensary was founded in 1807, on the initiative of the Rev Dr H W Coulthurst who was the Vicar of Halifax at that time. It was founded particularly to meet the needs of the poor residing within the township of Halifax, and medical treatment, medicine and advice were available ‘free from all expenses’. It opened in 1808 in Hatter’s Close, before moving to premises in Dispensary Walk, owned by the trustees of the Waterhouse Charities. From the day it opened to 1831 the total number of patients admitted to the dispensary was 80,346. In 1825 a surgical ward was opened in a nearby cottage property and by 1830 over 213 patients had been admitted for treatment, of which 178 were treated for injuries sustained in industrial accidents. Demand continued to grow and in 1838 the new Halifax Infirmary and Dispensary was opened on a site in Blackwall, adjacent to the New Assembly Rooms. Designed by George Townsend Andrews, the new Infirmary with its imposing portico was financed, largely by public subscription. In 1845, a member of the commission inquiring into the sanitary conditions of large towns described the new infirmary as ‘an elegant and commodious house where good attention is paid to patients’. It was enlarged in 1863-1864 and 1874, and in 1877 the adjoining Assembly Rooms were bought for a children’s ward of 16 beds, opening in 1881. The entire Infirmary was demolished in 1896 and the new Royal Halifax Infirmary was opened.

St John’s Hospital, Gibbet Street, Halifax

St John’s Hospital was originally the workhouse of the Halifax Poor Law Union, which was opened on 25th March 1840, at a cost of nearly £12,000. The workhouse was extended in 1854, 1856 and 1870, when new infirmaries, fever and lunatic wards were added. It continued until 1930 when Poor Law institutions came under the care of the town and city councils under the Public Health Act 1929. A Public Assistance Committee was set up and in time the Institution became the Welfare Home. With the nationalization of hospital services in 1948, the Leeds Regional Hospital Board took over the Welfare Home, which eventually became St John’s Hospital. The hospital closed in 1971 and was demolished in 1972. It was replaced by Northowram hospital.

Stoney Royd Hospital, Southowram

The hospital building was formerly a large redbrick mansion erected on the estate of the Lord of the Manor of Southowram in 1764. The Corporation bought half of the grounds surrounding the mansion in 1861 and later acquired the house and the remainder of the grounds. The mansion was adapted into the isolation hospital and was opened on 30 April 1872. It was capable of housing 50 patients, suffering from smallpox, typhoid fever, scarlet fever and diphtheria, and by 1875, 250 patients had been admitted, with 44 deaths. In 1882 a separate smallpox hospital was opened on the site and in 1897-1900 new wards and laundry buildings were added. From 1891 the Halifax Borough Sanitary Committee began to look for a new and better site, but it was not until 1930 when the Northowram Hall estate was purchased that the search ended. All the buildings on the Stoney Royd site were demolished in 1936, except for the administration block and the laundry.

The Royal Halifax Infirmary, Free School Lane, Halifax

The Royal Halifax Infirmary was built on Free School Lane, Halifax and opened by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1896. It was designed by Messrs Worthington and Son, Manchester and built on the ‘very latest principles approved by the leading hygienic scientists of the day, with the wards built separate from the main administration buildings’. Financed by a voluntary hospital movement, the building of this hospital was a remarkable example of community provision through philanthropy, self-help and mutual co-operation. Over £60,000 was raised through numerous voluntary subscriptions from ordinary men, women and children, as well as more substantial donations from wealthy local families such as Appleyard, Baldwin, Crossley, McCrea, Porter and Whitworth after whom the wards were then named. The 1895 Directory described the building as ‘one of the most important and public-spirited enterprises ever undertaken by the Halifax public’. Between 1921 and 1929 new maternity wards, open-cir and x-ray wards, an orthopedic outpatients department, new operating theatres, pathological laboratory and a nurses’ home were added to the building, again being largely financed by legacies and public donations. In 1948, the Royal Halifax Infirmary was incorporated into the National Health Service, under the management of the Halifax Area Hospitals Management Committee. The hospital was closed in 2001 with the opening of the Calderdale Royal Hospital on the site of the General Hospital.

New Workhouse Infirmary/St Luke’s War Hospital/Halifax General Hospital

St Luke’s Hospital was opened on 9 April 1901 at Salterhebble by the Halifax Board of Guardians and opened by the Chairman of the Building Committee, J W Tillotson. Designed by W Clement Williams at a cost of £98,000, it was the largest public building in the town and designed to relieve pressure on the workhouse premises in Gibbet Street. In December 1915, its 400 beds were acquired for military use, with additional accommodation being provided for 302 patients in marquees erected in the grounds. In 1935 it was renamed the Halifax General Hospital and after 1948 it was administered by the Halifax Area Hospitals Management Committee. The need for a new hospital for Halifax was discussed as far back as 1968, but it was only in 2001 that the Calderdale Royal Hospital was built on the site of the General Hospital.

Halifax Women’s Welfare Clinic/Halifax Family Planning Clinic

During the inter-war years the question of birth control was a sensitive issue. Following an initiative from the National Birth Control Association, a local committee of ladies assembled by Lady Hattie Fisher-Smith (American wife of the Halifax wire manufacturer, Alderman Sir George Henry Fisher-Smith) applied to the local Medical Office of Health for premises to start a family planning clinic, but this was declined. However, these ladies were undeterred and on 10 October 1934 in the TOC H rooms at 32 Clare Road they opened the Halifax Women’s Welfare Clinic. It was founded entirely by public subscriptions with the first medical officer, Dr Heynemann and the first nurse, Miss Williamson acting as unpaid volunteers.