Catalogue description CAPEL VILLAGE HOSPITAL, COMMITTEE MINUTE BOOK

Capel Village Hospital

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Originally deposited among records of The Broadwood family by the Broadwood Trust (ref 2185).Deposited on loan by Mr R J Ede, on behalf of the Charlotte Broadwood Trust, in November 1983.

According to Kelly's Directory of Surrey, 1882, the Capel Village Hospital, containing ten beds, was built in 1864 by Mrs Charlotte Broadwood, in memory of her late husband, the Rev John Broadwood. The first meeting of the Committee of Management under the Deed of Trust took place on 17 October 1866. The plan to meet quarterly did not prove effective in practice, and on 15 November 1900 the Committee agreed to hold annual meetings. The future of the Hospital was uncertain during the years of the First World War, until 9 September 1918, when it was proposed that the Hospital and income should be loaned for the duration of the War and for three years afterwards to Miss B M Broadwood and the Secretary of the Cottage Benefit Nursing Association. The first meeting of the new Committee (comprising entirely of women) took place on 24 October 1918. A note entered at a later date by Mr W A Calvert (secretary of the re-established Committee from 15 March 1920) states, 'These minutes should not have been entered in this book'; the minutes are crossed through between 24 October 1918 and 9 February 1920. The loan of the Hospital to Miss B M Broadwood and the Secretary of the Cottage Benefit Nursing Association terminated on 19 July 1924. On 21 May 1924 it was agreed that the Committee (of the Charlotte Broadwood Trust) should reassume control of the Hospital and ask the Committee of ladies to continue their work as a Sub-Committee of Management. Subsequently, joint meetings of Committee and Sub-committee were held annually in January

The rules set out in 1866 state that a subscriber of a minimum of 10s per annum would be able to recommend a patient for admission into the Hospital, and that all patients should pay a weekly sum according to their circumstances. 124 patients were admitted during the first five years of the Hospital's existence, and at 20 September 1872 there was a balance in hand of £77 2s 0½d. In 1887 the Hospital received £2,247 29s 4d from the legacy of the late Mrs Charlotte Broadwood.

During the 1880s and 1890s the Committee invested several legacies and gifts in Railway Stock. On 22 February 1886 the Hospital had made sufficient profit for £100 of the balance to be invested. On 6 December 1904 the rule concerning subscriber's letters was revised: one letter giving one week's free maintenance in hospital would be issued for every £1 subscribed, but the letters were to be used only for patients who were too poor to pay for their own board. The Hospital's financial position was deteriorating by 10 January 1912, when every patient admitted free was costing the hospital 25s-30s per week; the Committee resolved to issue no more free admission letters to subscribers. On 29 March 1915 it was decided to receive patients without forms of recommendation, upon payment by the patient of a weekly contribution of at least 5s for women and 7s 6d for men. By 16 February 1931 the Hospital was being run at a loss: £100 of capital had been spent and there was an overdraft of £200 at the bank. The Committee agreed to increase the fees for maternity cases. The situation had improved by 20 January 1932, when the Hospital achieved a surplus of income over expenditure of £91 15s 7d.

The minutes for 30 January 1933 are the final entry. Kelly's Directory of Surrey, 1934, states that the Hospital contained 6 beds, indicating a reduction of services. Kelly's Directory of Surrey, 1938, does not mention the Hospital.

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