As St Helens Hospital prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary next year, historian Stephen Wainwright continues his description of the original cottage hospital that was run by a tough Quaker matron and three orphan girls.
One might have thought that the people of St Helens would have been jumping for joy to finally have their own hospital.
The St Helens Newspaper described the absence of such an institution as having been a “reproach to the town”, with the many victims of industrial accidents instead treated in their own homes – and many consequently dying.
However, when the town’s first infirmary opened its doors on January 15, 1873 there was some opposition, mainly through the hospital’s charge of a shilling a day for each patient.
Martha Walker, the hospital’s first matron
The St Helens Newspaper wrote later that ignorance had also played its part: “The hospital was but a new thing, imperfectly understood, and therefore indifferently appreciated.”
Even some clergy were hostile and would not permit church collections in aid of the new hospital.
Some St Helens doctors were initially unsupportive too – but the trio that drove the new venture were undaunted.
They were chemical manufacturer Andrew Kurtz, copper smelter John Fenwick Allen and the indomitable Martha Walker.
The latter was the hospital’s first matron who had plenty of nursing experience on her CV.
The Quaker had served in a hospital camp in the American Civil War and had more recently nursed in France.
Martha recruited three orphan girls from Whiston Workhouse to act as her assistants.
Martha Gillon was just seven while Alice Kay and Sarah Ann Dickinson were eight.
The children were essentially fostered out from the workhouse with the hospital receiving three shillings a week for each girl’s keep.
Two of the young nurses who worked at the hospital
The newspaper wrote: “They will be employed in a general capacity by Mrs Walker, whose experience has taught her that a contingent of girls may be made exceedingly valuable as assistants to a nurse, and at the same time so far instructed in the elementary part of the profession as to be eligible for training institutions afterwards.”
So it was free labour for the hospital – with the girls in exchange being fed and housed and given rudimentary nurse training.
There were no resident doctors until 1919, with local doctors instead visiting, treating and occasionally operating on their own patients. In fact, during its first six months, only one operation was carried out – and that was an amputation.
Patients were simply provided with good, basic hospital care to stimulate their healing and reduce chances of infection.
After paying a visit, the newspaper wrote: “Cleanliness is everywhere, and pervades everything, and it is Mrs Walker’s determination that it shall be an abiding principle of the establishment.”
The newspaper also stated that the site, in Marshalls Cross Road, had been carefully chosen as it “adjoined a main road, was so far out of reach of population as to be free from noise and bustle and stood within a few minutes’ walk of a number of large and busy manufactories.”
Pure air had also been sought – virtually impossible then in smelly St Helens - and the promoters had to settle for the next best thing, as the paper described: “Although the air which the patients will have to breathe is not as clear as we could wish, it will be found an agreeable change from the heavy odours of the manufactories and the more populous localities.”
A newspaper advert for the hospital
Being in hospital was a completely new experience for almost all St Helens folk – and some don’t appear to have known how to behave.
The list of patients during 1873 included a 62-year-old cooper (barrel maker) with a wounded leg whose condition had been “aggravated by an unhealthy constitution”.
It sounds likely that the man had too much liking for ale and his drinking led to him being ordered out of the hospital.
Their report said: “This man was restored to good health and his leg was rapidly healing, but he left before it was cured, as he did not comply with the necessary discipline of the hospital.”
- Stephen Wainwright’s book ‘The Hidden History Of St Helens’ is available from the St Helens Book Stop at 11 Bridge Street and online from eBay and Amazon. Price £12.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here