Badsley Moor Lane Hospital Celebrates Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee

By the year 1897, as Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee marking her 60 years as the Queen of England, Badsley Moor Lane temporary Hospital also had its own celebration for ten years as the isolation hospital serving the people of Rotherham. The 50 bedded small hospital did its best in dealing with all types of epidemics including smallpox, cholera, scarlet fever, typhoid fever as well as diphtheria. The very ill patients were nursed in the hospital and when the emergencies arose, everyone who had any experience of the conditions of a temporary hospital knew how unsatisfactory they could be. The buildings were difficult to repair and maintain and this led to them failing to give value for money. A more permanent infectious disease hospital was long felt needed. It would give the town a great advantage for the inhabitants of the borough, especially the working classes they had no means of isolating a family member in their often overcrowded homes in times of an epidemic. At the end of 1898 concerns led to the sub-committee of the council being appointed to look into building a more permanent sanatorium. The council was very eager to join up with another authority hoping that two great authorities would co-operate in one scheme but meetings with the Board of Guardians and Rawmarsh Council failed to secure joint funding to build a new hospital. When the Authorities failed to agree the council set up several sub-committees to visit other local Authorities where sanatoriums had already been erected. Canterbury, Keighley, Nottingham and Crewe had all been visited and it was decided to erect an institution similar to the sanatorium at Crewe. Now the Rotherham Corporation (later known as the Rotherham Borough Council) had the style of the hospital they wanted, they continued to strive for the building of a more permanent hospital.

The Corporation had already applied to the Local Government to borrow a sum not exceeding Ł2200 for the purchase of land to build the new hospital. This led to a Mr. S.W. Wheaton, Local Government Board Inspector heading a public inquiry at the Town Hall on the 15 July 1902. This meeting allowed everyone to air their views regarding the application. All the important gentry filled the room of the Town Hall. Amongst others the Mayor of Rotherham. Mr. Parkin (Sanitary Inspector) Alderman E. Hickmott Chairman of the Public Health Committee and Dr. Robinson Medical Health Officer, who for a long time had asked for a more permanent hospital. The Corporation were hoping to purchase land across the road from the present site. The Farm land could be purchased at a small price of Ł120 per acre. It was also felt suitable as it was near the town, but away from the bulk of the population. The inspector then proceeded to view the site before he reported to the authorities in London whose decisions were in turn communicated back to the Corporation. This slow process left a two year gap before the first stone was laid on the site of the new hospital. In the mean time the small 50 bedded hospital continued to be full. A continuing epidemic of scarlet fever had put great demand on the hospital and it’s staff. By the end of the year a total of 246 cases would be treated in the temporary hospital. Within the same year smallpox once again gave concern to the Rotherham public. It had been introduced in October by a tramp visiting the town. Fortunately the inhabitants of the town had been well vaccinated and vigorous measures were taken to deal with every case which had had any contact with the man. The epidemic could have been much worse without these factors. A total of 47 cases still occurred even though 38 of them had been vaccinated as children, 5 people died. The horse drawn ambulance continued to bring very ill patients into the hospital on an almost daily basis as the scarlet fever epidemic swept around the town. The Public Health Officer recommended that further cases should be admitted into the isolation hospital without first being examined by the Medical Officer. This ruling was passed in a Council meeting on the 9 July 1904.

Š Neil and Janet Croft 2005