Scrapbook of Birmingham General Hospital

Contains printed pamphlets and reports, news cuttings, drawings, postcards and ephemera relating to the General Hospital, with some items relating to other medical organisations in Birmingham. Internal evidence suggests that the scrapbook was compiled by John L. Marks (fl. 1980), living at Earlswood, near Birmingham.

The General Hospital was founded by Dr John Ash (1723-1798), a local physician. He proposed that there should be a hospital, funded by subscriptions, to provide medical care to the poor of Birmingham, as an alternative to the town workhouse. He advertised for support in November 1765 in Aris's Birmingham Gazette and a foundation meeting held at the Swan Inn raised over £1000 in subscriptions. Freehold land was bought and building commenced on a site in Summer Lane in 1766. However, after the initial enthusiasm, the project ran into financial difficulties and building was suspended. Funds were raised by contributions from the organisers of the Musical Festival, inaugurated in 1768 on the suggestion of James Kempson, a member of the Birmingham Choral Society. The second Festival was held in 1778, and funds from this event encouraged further contributions, and the building was completed and opened on 20 September 1779. Ash was the senior physician, and Thomas Smith, William Withering and Edward Johnstone were also elected as physicians. Robert Ward, George Kennedy, John Freer and Jeremiah Vaux were elected as surgeons. The first ten patients were admitted on 2 October 1779.
The Hospital continued to be funded by annual subscriptions, donations and legacies, but the contribution of the Musical Festival profits also became an important part of the hospital's income. Between 1800 and 1850 the Festivals contributed between one third and two thirds of the hospital's income in every third year, and are credited with keeping the institution solvent. From 1873 the Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund was an important source of funds. This scheme was devised by Sampson Gangee, a surgeon at Queen's Hospital, Birmingham.

The General Hospital had an important role as a teaching hospital for medical students, and had its own medical school, Sydenham College, from 1851 to 1868 when the College amalgamated with the older Queen's College.
The original General Hospital buildings in Summer Lane were in use, with additions, until 1897 when a new range of buildings in Steelhouse Lane was opened. A building committee had been set up by John Charles Holder, chairman of the Hospital Committee, with a bequest of £25,000 left by Louisa Ryland with the suggestion that the Hospital might have a new building. Further funds were raised by subscription, and the new buildings were designed by William Henman. The new hospital was opened on 7 July 1897 by Princess Christian, and in 1898 Queen Victoria became Patron to the General Hospital.
In 1934 the General Hospital and the Queen's Hospital were united as one corporate body, the Birmingham United Hospital. The aim of this was to facilitate management and the teaching of medical students, and to unify the efforts to raise funds for these voluntary hospitals. After 1948, and the establishment of the National Health Service, the General Hospital ceased to be a voluntary hospital. It became part of the new United Birmingham Hospital made up of seven teaching hospitals.
In 1995 the majority of services of the General Hospital were transferred to purpose-built facilities at Selly Oak Hospital, with some out-patient clinics transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and children's services transferred to the Children's Hospital. The General Hospital closed in October, and the site was handed over to the Birmingham Children's Hospital for conversion. The new Children's Hospital opened in 1998.

Birmingham General Hospital Bicentenary 1779-1979 Exhibition Catalogue

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Purchased on the aution of the library of the late Dr Benjamin Tillett Davis, at Phillips, 16 Jun 1999, per David Temperley, Sep 1999 [see also MS128-130]. Previously purchased by Dr Davies per David Temperley, May 1983. Internal evidence suggests that the scrapbook was compiled by John L. Marks (fl. 1980), living at Earlswood, near Birmingham.