Records relating to the British Lying-In Hospital, Endell Street, London

Records relating to the British Lying-In Hospital, Endell Street, London, including casebooks, possibly of Dr Christopher Kelly (1767-1781), and a notebook (1753) entitled 'Some Memoranda on Midwifery' containing notes on disorders attending pregnant women, instructions for the use of forceps and the delivery of twins, and notes on a lecture given by Dr William Hunter (1754).

The British Lying-in Hospital was established in 1749 for married women only, it was situated in Brownlow Street, Long Acre, Holborn until 1849 when it moved to Endell Street. It catered for the 'distressed poor with special attention to the wives of soldiers and sailors'. The sort of women admitted were the wives of poor men who, in the earlier years particularly, had come to London from all over the country, many of them the wives of Irish servicemen. There was provision both for in and out care: assistance was given with home deliveries, though most of the patients were provided with a bed in the hospital. It was supported by private subscription. The hospital was regulated by 13 George III c.82 and closed in 1913, merging with the Home for Mothers and Babies, Woolwich, to become the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies, which closed in 1984.

Open to researchers by appointment, Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm. archives@rcog.org.uk

Open Copyright

Reproductions are available at the discretion of the College Archivist.

Donated to the RCOG by Keith Vartan FRCOG in 1984 following the closure of the British Hospital for Mothers and Babies, Woolwich.

Other records of the British Lying-in Hospital may be found at the London Metropolitan Archives, The National Archives and the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.