Laying the foundation stone. Rotherham Hospital and Dispensary.

Date:
[1870]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Laying the foundation stone. Rotherham Hospital and Dispensary. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    jjtatjwrjram Hospital antr Jispcitsam. LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE. (Reprinted from The Rotherham and Masbro' Advertiser, Saturday, January 22nd, 1870.) On Wednesday last the foundation stone of Rotherham Hospital and Dispensary was laid with masonic honours, by Earl De Grey and Ripon, K.G., Lord President of the Council, Deputy Grand Master of England, and Provincial Grand Master of the West Riding-. The want of a hospital for Rotherham and its populous district has been felt and acknowledged for many years, and this want has been rendered still more urgent by the acci- dents peculiar to the trade of the town and neigh- bourhood. In numerous instances of personal injury sustained by workmen the sufferings of the unfortunate have been greatly intensified by their removal to the Sheffield Infirmary, and in some cases death has been hastened by the journey. Realising their responsibility under such circum- stances the principal inhabitants of Rotherham decided that their town should no longer be desti- tute of a hospital. The Dispensary in College- street has rendered good service to the afflicted, but its incapacity to meet the emergencies of the town and district has long been evident. The pre- sent Dispensary, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1828 by the late Earl Fitzwilliam,—the cost being £2,000,—will be merged into the new hospital. THE HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT. The first proposition for building a hospital was introduced to the public in February, 1863, when Mr. Yates, of Oakwood House, offered a plot of land near the College, Masbro’, together with a contribution of £500, on these conditions—that half an acre of some adjoining land were pur- chased, and that an expenditure of £2,000 were incurred. A committee was formed, of which Mr. Yates himself was chairman, but the matter was allowed to rest, and was not revived until Decern-