Catalogue description Admiralty: Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar: Miscellaneous Books and Records

On 15 September 1744 the Navy Board presented a memorial to George II, proposing to build hospitals at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham, for the cure of sick and wounded seamen from HM Ships, as the service suffered "so greatly from the loss of seamen either by death or desertion, who are sent on shore for the cure of their distempers".

In 1745 land was acquired at Haslar near Gosport, Hants, and the Royal Hospital Haslar was built 1746-1762. Its architects, Sir Jacob Ackworth and Theodore Jacobsen, based their design on the double-block design used for Greenwich Palace by Inigo Jones. The Navy Board had specified that the Hospital should accommodate 1500 patients: it was the largest brick building in Europe. The first patients were received in 1753. In 1954 "Naval" was added to the hospital's name.

There have been many famous medical officers at Haslar, including James Lind, Sir John Richardson, Sir William Burnett and Sir Thomas Spencer Wells, all of whom appear in The Dictionary of National Biography.

The hospital still has a museum and library. The museum grew considerably in the 19th century, with the great number of naval expeditions undertaken, but many specimens were lost in World War II when it was hit by a bomb. The library contains some very old medical books dating back to the 16th century.