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Bloomsbury Project

Bloomsbury Institutions

Medical

Bloomsbury Dispensary

Also known as Bloomsbury Dispensary for the Relief of the Sick Poor

History

It was founded by George Pinckard on 26 October 1801 as the Bloomsbury Dispensary for the Relief of the Sick Poor at 62 Great Russell Street, with the Duke of Bedford as patron, and an 80-year lease of the building itself from the Bedford estate at about £120 per annum(Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

George Pinckard was its first physician, from 1801 to 1835 (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography); he also founded the Medical, Clerical, and General Life Assurance Society

Pinckard was a well-qualified and experienced doctor who lived close by at 99 Great Russell Street and later in Bloomsbury Square, where he died in 1835 “in the act of writing a prescription”; he was the Dispensary’s Physician for 30 years (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

Its stated aims were 1) “To provide poor persons with medical or surgical aid in times of illness or accident, and the means of enabling them to obtain restoration of health” and 2) “In cases of great pecuniary emergency and illness, to assist patients in obtaining suitable nourishment during illness and convalescence out of the ‘Pinckard Samaritan Fund’ and Benevolent Fund” (The Bloomsbury Dispensary: Rules and Byelaws, undated)

“No persons shall be deemed proper objects of this Charity but those who are really necessitous and require medical or surgical aid, and are not maintained by their parish; and no Governor or member of a Governor’s family shall be admitted a patient of this charity” (The Bloomsbury Dispensary: Rules and Byelaws, undated)

“All patients must enter at the door in Woburn Street [sic], and during their continuance at the Dispensary they must be silent and orderly...Patients must keep their letters under cover in order to preserve them clean, and they are to bring with them to the Dispensary bottles and gallipots to contain their medicines” (The Bloomsbury Dispensary: Rules and Byelaws, undated)

There were 994 patients in the first year, all of whom needed a letter of recommendation; in the first ten years, 10,014 patients were treated, including 1541 visited in their own home, 299 who died, and 825 who were inoculated for cowpox (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

It worked largely to improve the health of the local poor; in his 1866 report, the Physician said he had attended a case of typhoid where a couple were living with their 3 children in a room 8ft square, while other patients frequently attended with chronic bronchitis and other chest diseases, particularly if they were residents of mews over stables (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

Abbey Place, Coram Place, and Russell Place were supposedly the worst of the local streets, being described as “pestiferous” (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

It maintained the loyal support of several local families, including the Pinckards, and later, the Latrielles; its Secretary from 1863–1875 was Frederick Latrielle, and his sons Walter and Henry also held this post from 1875–1881 and 1895–1898 (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

The 1882 report shows a total of 5013 patients: 2011 new patients and 309 continuing ones, totalling 2320, of whom 311 were visited at home, and 2693 surgical cases, 216 of them continuing; 89 of these were visited at home (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

Patients could reside anywhere, but only those living in the local area could be visited at home; the limits for this were north as far as Francis Street, Tavistock Square and Tavistock Place, Compton Street to Wakefield Street; south as far as the north side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Great Queen Street, Castle Street, and West Street; east as far as Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, New Millman Street, Great James Street, Bedford Row, Brownlow Street, and Great Turnstile, and west as far as Greek Street, Soho Square, Rathbone Street, and Charlotte Street as far as North Street (The Bloomsbury Dispensary: Rules and Byelaws, undated)

The surgeon performed minor operations at the Dispensary; others were sent to the Middlesex Hospital, and 7 surgical cases requiring skilled nursing were dealt with in their own home by the MNNA (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

Pinckard’s nephew, George Henry Pinckard, brought in George Stone, a solicitor (for Stone and Turner, solicitors of Clerical Medical), who became Secretary 1841–1855, and left part of his money to the Dispensary on his death in 1879 (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

This was a particularly well-timed bequest, as the Dispensary was at that time negotiating for a lease with the Duke of Bedford of the ground at the corner of Bloomsbury Street and Streatham Street for 80 years at £96 pa to build a new Dispensary; they were finally granted the money, £62000, in 1888 after a case in Chancery (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

The new purpose-built premises were designed by Joseph Peacock of Bloomsbury Square, a member of the committee; they included waiting rooms, casualty and retiring rooms, a board room, a visitors’ room, and accommodation for the Resident Medical Officer, for the housekeeper, and for the porter and his wife (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

It was estimated at £4532 and completed for £5830; the foundation stone was laid by George Henry Pinckard, the founder’s nephew, on 5 May 1880, and the building was opened in 1881, with the first Annual Meeting of subscribers there on 27 April 1881 (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

It continued to cater for a local and largely working-class population throughout the century; in 1884 the Physician reported that most patients were in domestic service or mercantile industries (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

In 1897 it came to an arrangement with the MNNA to have the daily attendance of a nurse at the Dispensary (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

It remained at 22 Bloomsbury Street until the premises were damaged beyond use in 1941 (having survived an earlier wartime bombing raid in 1940); the Dispensary was forced to move into temporary premises opposite, at 5 Bloomsbury Street (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

The Dispensary subsequently attempted to get a new lease for rebuilding, but the Government was at the time considering compulsory purchase of the premises for the British Museum, and refused to grant planning permission for rebuilding work; however, the site remained still undeveloped in 1973 (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

After its Bloomsbury Street premises were destroyed by bombing in the Second World War, the foundation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 rendered much of its work obsolete

It continued to make grants to the sick and those in need of nursing in the neighbourhood

In the 1970s the charity was tackling the problems of alcohol, drugs, and vagrancy (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

In 2005 it was amalgamated with three other local charities, including Thomas Leverton’s Charity, into the St Giles-in-the-Fields and Bloomsbury United Charity (www.stgilescharities.org.uk/html/history.html)

What was reforming about it?

It was a pioneer of vaccination; Edward Jenner (who lived and briefly practised nearby at 15 Bedford Place) was Superintendent of Vaccine Inoculation and on the medical committee of the Dispensary until his death in 1823 (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

In 1849–1850, during the epidemic of cholera and diarrhoea, the Dispensary was open with no need for letters of recommendation; it also treated sexually-transmitted diseases and the eye problems these frequently caused (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

It appointed London’s first Medical Officer of Health, in 1846 (Camden History Society, Streets of Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia, 1997)

Where in Bloomsbury

It opened at 62 Great Russell Street in 1801, with a back entrance for patients in Gilbert Street (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

It built a new dispensary at 22 Bloomsbury Street in 1880 and remained there until the premises were damaged beyond use in 1941, when it moved into temporary premises across the street at 5 Bloomsbury Street (Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary, 1973)

The successor institution remains in Bloomsbury, with its office at 15a Gower Street

Website of current institution

The successor institution is the St Giles-in-the-Fields and Bloomsbury United Charity, www.stgilescharities.org.uk (opens in new window)

Books about it

Roma McAuliffe, The Story of the Bloomsbury Dispensary (1973)

There is also a short history online at www.stgilescharities.org.uk (opens in new window)

Archives

Its records from 1900 are held by Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre; more details are available online via the Centre’s website (opens in new window)

Other records may be on site at St Giles-in-the-Fields Church itself

This page last modified 13 April, 2011 by Deborah Colville

 

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