England Lying-In Hospitals and 20th Century Hospitals - International Institute

Lying-in (Maternity) Hospitals
These were established in many towns during the 18th century, as an alternative to home births. Some run by religious groups or spinsters refused to accept unmarried women, or even married women for their first birth in case the child was conceived before marriage.

The British Lying-In Hospital, Endell Street, Holborn, London has five films of registers covering Particulars of Patients 1754-1868 and Births and Baptisms 1749-1814 which are on the IGI.

Chart: British Lying-in Hospital, Holborn Particulars of Patients 1776  #13277

I wonder if the father was butler to the 3rd Duke of Portland who was twice prime minister?

Chart: British Lying-in Hospital Register of Births and Baptisms 1791 RG8/64 The minister seemed to come round once a fortnight to christen the latest batch.

Gallagher (1999) has presented a detailed study of the Westminster Lying-In Hospital including pictures of the buildings, many names, and photocopies of an order for admission, anexamination certificate and an affidavit.

20th Century Hospitals
The coalition government of WWII placed hospitals under government control so they could be effectively managed for both civilian and returning forces casualties. Thus, my great grandfather, hospitalised in Greenwich in SE London, was sent to a Glasgow hospital to free up beds for injured servicemen shipped from Europe. This centralised system laid the foundation for the National Health Service brought in under the National Health Act of 1948 which provided free health service for everyone. At first, most NHS hospitals were former Victorian hospitals and workhouse infirmaries but replacements and modifications have been made, for example:


 * Former cottage hospitals have often been changed into extended care facilities.
 * Sanatoria for infectious diseases have not been necessary since the widespread use of antibiotics after WWII and have been changed to other uses.
 * Specialist hospitals have commonly been merged to form special departments in larger municipal and county hospitals.
 * Most of the large, remote mental asylums are redundant since community care and drug therapy now predominate.

Many old buildings were unable to be modified for modern usage and have been demolished or converted to other uses such as senior’s residences, housing, offices and a few are even hotels. _______________________________________________________________

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