Catalogue description CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL HAMPSTEAD

This record is held by The London Archives: City of London

Details of CHH
Reference: CHH
Title: CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL HAMPSTEAD
Description:

The surviving records of the Children's Hospital Hampstead.
Date: c.1821-1948
Held by: The London Archives: City of London, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Home for Incurable Children, 1875-1919

Northcourt Hospital and Home for Sick Children, 1919-1928

Hampstead Hospital for Children, 1928-1929

Children's Hospital, Hampstead
Physical description: 2 linear metres
Custodial history:

Details of the transfer of these records to the Archives Centre have not been recorded, but it is thought either that they were preserved with the administrative records of the Hampstead General Hospital or left in the basement of the house in College Crescent and cleared when it was sold.
Subjects:
  • Health services
  • Maternal and child health
Administrative / biographical background:

The Children's Hospital Hampstead (originally known as the Home for Incurable Children) was founded in 1875 in order to address the "difficulty experienced in obtaining admission at any hospital in the Metropolis for children suffering from incurable diseases". Originally situated at 33 Maida Vale, the hospital cared for sick children up to the age of 16, after which they were "returned" to family or friends. The children suffered from a variety of ailments, including spina bifida, epilepsy and rickets, but those with infectious diseases were not admitted.

 

The Home for Incurable Children moved to larger premises at 2 Maida Vale in 1883, and in 1904 moved to its permanent home "Northcourt" at 40 College Crescent, Hampstead. By 1919, many diseases which would once have rendered their sufferers incurable could be treated, and the hospital changed its name to Northcourt Hospital and Home for Sick Children. There were further changes of name: the hospital became known as the Hampstead Hospital for Children in 1928, and the Children's Hospital Hampstead the following year.

 

At the outbreak of the second world war the hospital was requisitioned by the war office. Throughout the war years various plans were proposed for its future use, including a merger with Hampstead General Hospital. The hospital eventually joined the Royal Free Group when the NHS came into being in 1948, and the building was used firstly as the School of Nursing Preliminary Training School (PTS), and then as a nurses' home until its sale in 1990.
Link to NRA Record:

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