A history of the Bristol Royal Infirmary / by G. Munro Smith.

  • Smith, George Munro, 1856?-1917.
Date:
[1917]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A history of the Bristol Royal Infirmary / by G. Munro Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of such Persons as should be judged proper objects of a Charity of that kind and as soon as a number of Gentlemen sufficient for forming a regular Society had engaged themselves in the undertaking, printed Advertisements were dispers’d, inviting them to a General Meeting of Subscribers to be held at the Guildhall on the 23rd day of December.” There is therefore, I think, sufficient evidence to show that the Bristol Royal Infirmary was founded in the autumn of 1736. Then as to the claim of priority. Four rivals are in the field, Cambridge, Rochester, Winchester and Edinburgh. It must be understood clearly that it is a question of which was the first provincial hospital in this country supported by voluntary contributions or endowment. Of these four claimants two may be easily dismissed. ADDENBROKE’S HOSPITAL AT CAMBRIDGE. John Addenbroke left the sum of £4,000 in 1719 for the erection of a “ Physical Hospital.” Land was purchased in 1728, but the hospital was not built until 1740, and it was not opened (for lack of funds) until 1766.1 ROCHESTER INFIRMARY. Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, founded a hospital in 1078, about the early history of which we know very little ; but from the year 1627 to 1844 the revenues were enjoyed by the Deans of Rochester “ as Governors and Patrons of the Hospital and Brethren of the same,” and during this period it seems that there was no attempt to devote this revenue to the relief of the sick. 2 WINCHESTER. The County Hospital, Winchester, was not ready for patients, apparently, until 1759 ; but a house was opened as a hospital on St. Luke’s Day (October 18th), 1736.3 This was eight months before patients were received into the Bristol Infirmary, and Dr. Bonython’s letter above quoted appears to confirm this. EDINBURGH. The idea of founding an Infirmary at Edinburgh appears to have arisen in 1721, when proposals were issued for raising a fund for the purpose. The plan met with little success, and was abandoned. It was revived in 1725 by the Royal College of 1 See article by Dr. B. W. Richardson in Medical Times and Gazette, vol. ii., July-December, 1864, p. 631. 2 Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 76, 1851, p. 35. Article by Thomas Stratton, M.D. 3 Medical Times and Gazette, August 1st, 1868.
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