Middlesex Hospital

History

Development of the hospital

The first Middlesex Hospital, which was named after the county of Middlesex, opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in Windmill Street in 1745. The infirmary started with 15 beds to provide medical treatment for the poor.

The foundation stone for the second Middlesex Hospital, in Mortimer Street, was laid by the hospital's president, the Earl of Northumberland, in 1755. The central block of the new hospital opened in 1757.

Over the years extra wings were added but, in 1924, it was decided that the building was structurally unsound and an entirely new building would be required.

After coming under the management of the Bloomsbury Health Authority in 1980, the Middlesex Hospital became associated with various specialist hospitals in the local area. In 1992 the local urology hospitals, St Paul's, St Peter's and St Philip's, were closed down with services transferred to new accommodation in the Middlesex Hospital.

Middlesex Hospital Medical School

The Middlesex Hospital Medical School traced its origins to 1746 (a year after the foundation of the Middlesex Hospital), when students were 'walking the wards'. The motto of the medical school, Miseris succurrere disco, was provided by one of the deans, Dr William Cayley, from Virgil's passage about Queen Dido aiding a shipwreck: Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco ('Not unacquainted with misfortune myself, I learn to succour the distressed').

At the establishment of the then London University (now University College London), the governors of the Middlesex Hospital declined permission of the former's medical students to use the wards of the Middlesex Hospital for clinical training. This refusal prompted the foundation of the North London Hospital, now University College Hospital, in 1834.

The Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School was opened by Samuel Courtauld in 1928, the foundation stone having been laid on 20 July 1927. Its main entrance was in Riding House Street. Courtauld also endowed a Chair of Biochemistry.

The medical schools of the Middlesex Hospital and University College Hospital merged in 1987 to form the University College and Middlesex School of Medicine (UCMSM). UCMSM itself merged with the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in 1998 to form the UCL Medical School.

Broderip Ward and the Early AIDS Crisis

Main article: Broderip Ward

The Broderip Ward, named for 19th century benefactor Francis Broderip, was the first ward dedicated to the care and treatment of people affected by HIV/AIDS in the United Kingdom. The Broderip Ward took its first patients in January 1987, and was officially opened by Diana, Princess of Wales, on 9 April 1987. None of the patients agreed to be photographed with Diana at the opening of the ward due to fears of being publicly identified. Diana notably shook the hand of patients without wearing gloves on the ward. Diana subsequently visited the ward with the First Lady of the United States, Barbara Bush, in July 1991.

Patients on the ward participated in the early trials of zidovudine, and new antiretroviral medicines.

The site of the AIDS Memorial in London has been chosen for its proximity to the Middlesex Hospital and the Bloomsbury Clinic.

Closure and redevelopment

The Middlesex Hospital closed in December 2005. Candy and Candy failed in plans to redevelop the site into a 273-apartment luxury accommodation complex, named "NoHo Square", and transferred the property to the nationalised Icelandic bank, Kaupthing Bank.

The site was purchased by Clive Bush and Daniel Van Gelder's Exemplar Properties and Aviva Investors in July 2010. Exemplar decided against retaining either the Candy and Candy designs or the NoHo Square name, and instead appointed new architects in Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Sheppard Robson to prepare new designs. Following a public exhibition, a planning application for the proposed scheme was submitted in September 2011.

Planning consent for the new development, now called Fitzroy Place, was granted in February 2012. The new development, which combines 295 homes with 240000 sqft of offices, including the regional headquarters for cosmetics multinational Estée Lauder, was completed in 2016.

Fitzrovia Chapel

Built between 1891 and 1892, the former chapel of the Middlesex Hospital by John Loughborough Pearson is now the only surviving building of the hospital. The chapel was completed after the architect's death under the supervision of his son, Frank, also an architect. The chapel was structurally complete by the mid-1920s; the surrounding hospital was then demolished and rebuilt around it between 1928 and 1929. The chapel was not formally opened until 1929, by which time much of the lavish interior decoration of marbles and mosaic in a mix of Italian gothic and romanesque styles had been added, giving it the appearance it broadly retains today. The chapel is a Grade II* Listed building.

The fabric of the chapel was allowed to decline in the closing decades of the Middlesex Hospital, with water ingress through the roof causing substantial damage to the fabric of the building. The chapel fabric and interior was subject to a £2m restoration, and the building re-endowed with maintenance funds by Exemplar Properties. Never consecrated, named or dedicated, the chapel was given the name "Fitzrovia Chapel."

In 2024, the chapel served as the setting for the King’s Christmas message.

Paintings of Frederick Cayley Robinson

For nearly 100 years, four giant paintings welcomed visitors to the reception area of the Middlesex Hospital. The Acts of Mercy were painted in 1912 by Frederick Cayley Robinson, a distinctive yet elusive British artist, after being commissioned by Sir Edmund Davis, one of the governors of the hospital. Prior to the demolition of the hospital, the art was purchased by the Wellcome Library.

Notable patients

People reported to have died there include:

• Jane Carr, actress (1957)
• William Gerhardie, novelist and playwright (1977)
• Rudyard Kipling, journalist and novelist (1936)
• Peter Sellers, actor (1980)

People who have been treated here include:

• Jeffrey Bernard (1997)
• Winston Churchill (1955 and 1962)

Notable staff

Notable staff have included:

• Charles Bell (1774–1842), lecturer
• Edward Hulme (1812–1876), apprentice of Charles Bell at Middlesex hospital. Surgeon and hospital administrator in New Zealand
• Dame Alicia LLoyd Still (4 November 1869 – 23 July 1944) , matron 1909-1913. Matron of St.Thomas' Hospital, founding member of the College of Ltd (later the Royal College of Nursing) and elected member of the General Nursing Council.
• Eva Luckes (8 July 1854 – 16 February 1919) trained at The Middlesex Hospital for three months, probably as a paying probationer for three months from September 1876. She completed a years training as an ordinary probationer at The Westminster Hospital between August 1877 and August 1878. Luckes was Matron of The London Hospital from 1880 to 1919, and was an innovative and influential nursing leader and friend of Florence Nightingale.
• Dorothy Smith (1895–1991), matron from 1929 to 1946
• Godiva Miriam Thorold, matron from 1880 to 1905.
• Shirley Wray, neuro-ophthalmologist and Professor at Harvard Medical School

References

References

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6. (7 January 1987). "A Sister for the Dying". [[The Times]].
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8. (9 April 1987). "Teachers carry on working". [[The Times]].
9. (4 June 2006). "Timeline: 25 years of HIV/Aids".
10. "Prince Harry invokes image of Princess Diana holding hand of dying Aids patient as he warns of HIV complacency threat". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
11. (10 December 2013). "Diana: Story of a Princess". Simon and Schuster.
12. "How London's first dedicated HIV ward changed the AIDS response". [[UNAIDS]].
13. "The AIDS Memorial in London". AIDS Memory UK.
14. Keilthy, Paul. (31 October 2008). "Noho Square Deal in Ruins". West End News.
15. Hipwell, Deirdre. (18 July 2010). "Aviva wins Noho Square scheme". [[The Independent]].
16. Morby, Aaron. (26 September 2011). "New plan for former NoHo Square London site". Construction Enquirer.
17. Bar-Hillel, Mira. (22 September 2011). "Noho Square finally looks poised for redevelopment". [[Evening Standard]].
18. Loeb, Josh. (9 February 2012). "Middlesex Hospital site gets go-ahead to build 300 homes – Permission granted for £750million scheme". Camden New Journal.
19. (2015-02-10). "2 Fitzroy Place launches in style". Exemplar.
20. Historic England. "Middlesex Hospital Chapel".
21. {{NHLE
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29. (6 September 1997). "A cigarette, a fond farewell and Jeffrey Bernard takes his leave". The Independent.
30. (24 September 2017). "Winston Churchill: Aspects in Focus". All about shipping.
31. (1958). "Sir Charles Bell, His Life and Times". E. & S. Livingstone.
32. Belgrave, Michael. "Edward Hulme".
33. St. George Saunders, Hilary Aidan. (1949). "The Middlesex Hospital, 1745-1948". Parrish.
34. Baly, Monica E.. (2004-09-23). "Still, Dame Alicia Frances Jane Lloyd- (1869–1944), nurse". Oxford University Press.
35. Rogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons’? A study of Eva Lückes’s influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022)
36. Anthony, Grainne (2011), ‘Distinctness of Idea and Firmness of Purpose. The Career of Eva Luckes; A Victorian Hospital Matron.’ (Unpublished Master of Arts dissertation, London Metropolitan University, 2011).
37. McGann, Susan. (1992). "The Battle of the Nurses: A Study of Eight Women who influenced the Development of Professional Nursing, 1880–1930". [[Scutari Press]].
38. (2 February 1991). "Dorothy Smith". [[The Times]].
39. (December 29, 2021). "A Great Conversation With Dr. Shirley Wray". Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology.