Catalogue description South Western Hospital

For records relating to the administration of the hospital 1868 - 1930 see the records of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, including minutes of the South Western District Hospital Sub-Committee 1868 - 1930 (ref MAB/1141-1167), annual reports of the Committee of Management 1871-1878 (ref MAB 2468-2475) and annual reports of the Medical Superintendent 1879-1885 (ref MAB 2476-2482).

For records of the administration of the hospital 1930-1948 see the records of the London County Council, especially minutes of the South Western Hospital Sub Committee 1933-1948 (ref LCC/MIN/2670-2672), files on the hospital 1933-1944 (ref PH/HOSP/3/165-167) and a survey and plan of the hospital buildings 1929-1930 (ref AR/CB/3/3).

Minute books of Lambeth Group Hospital Management Committee for 1948-1957 have also been transferred here (ref H15/LG/A1-A4). Architect's drawings by T H Wyatt for Stockwell Smallpox Hospital approved in 1868 have been deposited with the Royal Institute of British Architects.

Stockwell Fever Hospital, c 1871-1884

Stockwell Smallpox Hospital, 1871-1884

South Western Hospital, Stockwell, 1884-

RECORDS OF THE SOUTH WESTERN HOSPITAL, LANDOR ROAD, STOCKWELL, LONDON SW9 9NU, FORMERLY STOCKWELL FEVER HOSPITAL AND STOCKWELL SMALLPOX HOSPITAL, TRANSFERRED TO THE GREATER LONDON RECORD OFFICE, 40 NORTHAMPTON ROAD, LONDON EC1R 0HB, BY THE SPECIAL TRUSTEES OF ST THOMAS' HOSPITAL, 24 MARCH 1986 (ACC 2258)

• Infectious diseases

The South Western Hospital was originally built by the Metropolitan Asylums Board as two separate, adjacent hospitals, Stockwell Fever Hospital and Stockwell Smallpox Hospital. Stockwell Smallpox Hospital opened on 31 January 1871 to admit patients suffering from the virulent epidemic of smallpox which was then afflicting London. Stockwell Fever Hospital was also initially used to treat smallpox patients. As a result of a report of a Royal Commission in 1882, the Metropolitan Asylums Board decided to stop admitting smallpox cases to hospitals within London. They were to be sent instead to hospitals established in isolated positions on the banks of the Thames or to hospital ships on the river. The two Stockwell Hospitals, now renamed the South Western Hospital, were converted in 1884 to form one hospital to be used for patients suffering from infectious diseases.

In 1930 the Hospital was transferred from the Metropolitan Asylums Board to the London County Council. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service as one of the Lambeth Group of hospitals within the South West Metropolitan region. In 1968 it was transferred to the Board of Governors of St Thomas' Hospital and in 1982 passed to West Lambeth Health Authority.

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