Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary Explained

The Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary was a hospital in Southgate Street, Gloucester.

History

The hospital was originally established at a public house in Westgate Street 1755 but moved to more permanent premises, which were designed by Luke Singleton and erected in Southgate Street, as the Gloucestershire General Infirmary in 1756.^{[1] [2]} The Infirmary merged with the Gloucestershire Eye Institution in 1878^[1] and, with the permission of King Edward VII, the combined facility became the Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary and Eye Institution in 1909.^[2]

On the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948 it was amalgamated with the Gloucester City General Hospital.^[1] Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Duke of Edinburgh, paid a visit to the hospital during a visit to the city on 3 May 1955.^[3] The hospital in Southgate Street closed to in-patients in 1975 and to out-patients in the early 1980s.^[1] It was demolished in 1984 and replaced by offices known as Southgate House.^[4]

Notable staff

A number of matrons at Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary, and its predecessor hospital were trained or worked at The London Hospital under Eva Luckes.^[5]

• Elizabeth Yeats (1847–1928),^[6] Matron, from 1887 to 1904.^{[7] [8] [9]} Yeats trained at The Nightingale School at St Thomas's Hospital, London.^[10] Yeats then worked as a sister at Shadwell Infirmary and Manchester Infirmary before working at The London for six years between 1881 and 1887. Yeats was also Matron of Gloucester Isolation Hospital, 'Over Hospital', Gloucestershire from November 1904 until she retired in 1905.^{[11] [12] [13]} Following her death a tablet in her memory was erected in the hospital chapel by her former colleagues in 1929.
• Gertrude M. Carrick (1878–),^[14] Assistant Matron from 1917 to 1919.^{[15] [16]} She trained at The London between 1903 and 1905.^[17]
• Florence Mary Tillson (1875–1964), Matron, 1917 until about 1922.^[18] She also trained at The London between 1903 and 1905.^[19]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 'Gloucester: Hospitals', in A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4, the City of Gloucester, ed. N M Herbert . London. 1988. 269–275. British History Online . 27 March 2019.
2. Web site: Gloucestershire Royal Hospital (Southgate Street Branch), Gloucester. National Archives. 14 April 2019.
3. Web site: Royal Visit to Gloucester. British Movietone. 3 May 1955. 14 October 2020.
4. Web site: Tom Gibbon . Huge Gloucester office block fully occupied for first time in almost a decade . Gloucestershire Live . 2018-06-16 . 2019-04-14.
5. 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)
6. 27 April 1928 . Gloucester Royal Infirmary: Tributes to Former Matron . . 10 . www.findmypast.co.uk.
7. Matrons Annual Letter, No.1, Matron's Annual Letter to Nurses, 1894–1916; RLHLH/N/7/2, No.1, May 1894, 9; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
8. Elizabeth Yates, RG12/2015, 109, The General Record Office, The England and Wales Census 1891 for Gloucester, Gloucestershire; The National Archives, Kew [Available at: www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed on 26 January 2019].
9. Elizabeth Yeats, RG13/2429, 11; The General Record Office, The England and Wales Census 1901 for Gloucester, Gloucestershire; The National Archives, Kew [Available at: www.ancestry.co.uk, accessed on 26 January 2019]
10. Elizabeth Yeats, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/1, 28; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
11. 7 January 1905 . Appointments . . 37 . 954 . 204 . www.rcn.org.
12. 9 Matron's Annual Letter to Nurses, No.12, Matron's Annual Letter to Nurses, 1894–1916; RLHLH/N/7/2, No.12, April 1905, 30; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London.
13. 15 October 1904 . Appointments . . 37 . 942 . 44 . www.rcn.org.
14. Gertrude Maude Carrick, Birth Certificate, 11 July 1878, Lowthorpe, Yorkshire General Register Office for England and Wales
15. 13 October 1917 . Appointments . . 26 . 38 . www.rcn.org.
16. 12 April 1919 . Appointments . . 62 . 246 . www.rcn.org.
17. Gertrude Maude Carrick, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/10, 123; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London
18. 25 August 1917 . Appointments . . 59 . 122 . www.rcn.org.
19. Florence Mary Tillson, Register of Sisters and Nurses; RLHLH/N/4/2, 90; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London