Stannington Sanatorium Project

Previous blog postings have touched upon how the history of Stannington Sanatorium and the people involved in making the idea of a children’s tuberculosis hospital a reality. Roland Philipson was one such person, whose contribution of £5000 allowed the building of the sanatorium and the initial intake of 100 patients in 1908. However, Philipson was not the only philanthropist to come to the aid of Stannington Sanatorium. Many others offered financial donations towards the cause of children’s tuberculosis, a few of which are detailed below.

Mr A.E. Ward, Trustee of the late Mr Robert Scott – Scott Trust

A large financial contributor to the Stannington Sanatorium vision was Mr A.E Ward, who acted on behalf of the late Mr Robert Scott. Robert Scott had been involved in the investigation of the curability of tuberculosis, and it was through his investigations that he contracted tuberculosis himself and subsequently died of the disease. Upon his death he left a sizeable trust fund, overseen by his friend Mr A.E. Ward, which was to be used for local charities in Northumberland. Due to the nature of Mr Scott’s death, Mr Ward saw the scheme for a children’s tuberculosis hospital at Stannington to be a fitting receivership for the ‘Scott Trust’ and donated £500 in the first instance providing that further local support was forthcoming.

As part of the opening ceremony of the Sanatorium, Mr Ward made a further donation of £500 from the Scott Trust, making his overall contribution to the Children’s Sanatorium £1000. An additional contribution of £1000 was made towards an Endowment Fund that was set up on behalf of the Sanatorium.

In light of his significant financial contributions, a marble tablet was installed within the Sanatorium in memorial to Mr Robert Scott. This was unveiled as part of the opening ceremony by his friend and the trustee of the Scott Trust, Mr A.E. Ward.

 

The Lady Stephenson Wing

On opening the Stannington Sanatorium in 1907, it was noted by Dr. T.M. Allison that a secondary centre should be added to wards treating tuberculosis of the lungs, for those children suffering from ‘localised tuberculosis’ or extrapulmonary tuberculosis (bones, joints, glands).

This extension of the hospital became a reality in 1911 through a generous donation from the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Sir William Stephenson.  Following his first visit to the Sanatorium, Sir W.H. Stephenson enquired as to the cost of building and equipping a new wing and subsequently, after consulting his daughters, donated the full cost of £4000.

The fully furnished and equipped West Wing consisted of two floors each with two wards containing 8 beds. It also held a medical aspect to it containing a dispensary, a bacteriological room, an examination room and operating room. The new wing was to accommodate up to 50 additional patients and had the facilities to treat surgical cases, now allowing for the treatment of all types of tuberculosis.

The foundation stone for the West Wing was laid on the 13^th August 1911 by the Lady Mayoress of Newcastle, Charlotte Stephenson. Miss Stephenson, the eldest daughter of Sir William Stephenson, had previously held the title of Vice-President of the Poor Children’s Holiday Association and Rescue Agency. Although she died in 1914, Miss Stephenson’s obituary found in the Newcastle Daily Journal from 7^th July 1914, commended her on her philanthropic work with the association and noted she was in large part responsible for the addition of the new wing at Stannington. The West Wing was re-named ‘The Lady Stephenson Wing’

The Lady Stephenson Wing was opened on 28^thOctober 1911 with the ceremony being overseen by Earl Grey (Morpeth Herald and Reporter 27/10/1911).

 

Brough Wing

Following in the footsteps of The Lady Stephenson Wing, a second additional wing was added to Stannington Sanatorium in 1926. In 1925 J.W. Brough generously funded the building of a new wing to increase capacity by another 30 beds bringing the total capacity up to 300 patients in total (Yorkshire Post 24/01/1925).

Duke of York opened the new wing presenting J.W. Brough with a silver salver, the gift of the Poor Children’s Holiday Association. He described Stannington as being ‘a national asset of the highest value’ (The Evening News 29/05/1926).

Of Additional Note

In addition to large scale contributors noted above, there are others who contributed a smaller, but no less significant amount. George Burton Hunter, of the Swan Hunter Shipbuilding Company, in collaboration with Mr T. Swinney, of Morpeth, placed motor cars at the disposal of the Sanatorium for situations which required moving patients to alternative hospitals, occasionally in emergency circumstances.

George Burton Hunter also supplied the engine necessary to supply power to the x-ray plant, the plant having been a gift from Miss Kate Stephenson, daughter of Sir William Stephenson.

Kate Stephenson’s donations also counted a new wing, the ‘Charlotte Stephenson Wing’ named for her late sister, added to the sanatorium in 1920. This wing came in addition to the ‘Ochiltree Ward’ a donated by the late Miss Ochiltree and the ‘United Services Ward.’ All three wings, catering for a further 120 patients, were opened by the Duke of Northumberland on 30^th October 1920.

 

Sources

Wain, C (Ed). 1913. A Regeneration of Romance. Published by Andrew Reid.

 

Following on from our post of 28^th November we have the second entry from the Matron’s Medical Report Book with an additional 4 patients being admitted and reports on the progress of all the 9 patients currently in the sanatorium.

 

May 9^th 1908

“Four new patients have come during the last month.

7. Henry James Robinson, aged 14 ½; Address 50 Warwick St, Gateshead. Admitted April 11^th

8. Dorothy Tuff, aged 11; Address 181, Butler Rd, Benwell. Admitted April 20^th

9. Dora Patterson, aged 16 ½; Address 10, Saltwood Place, Bensham. Admitted May 2^nd

10. John Joseph Mills, aged 11 ½; Address, 50 Mansfield St, Newcastle. Admitted May 2^nd

 

The total number is only 9 owing to the fact that one boy, John Nicolson, developed appendicitis on May 2^nd.  He was removed by Dr Allison to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, the next morning & operated on within 2 hrs of his arrival there.

The general condition of the patients continues to improve though the gain in weight in most cases is not so striking satisfactory as during the first month.  The average gain in weight per week per person is .95 lb.

No patients have fever now.  Five of the nine patients cough up no phlegm.  Of the remaining four the sputum has been examined for tubercle bacilli in 3 cases & in 2 of these (Maggie Smith & James Robson) they were found to be present in small numbers.

The local condition is satisfactory in all patients though there is no obvious improvement in the case of J. Robson & H. Robinson & also of the latest two arrivals.

We are feeling the need of encouraging the children to do some work.  One boy (J. Kenney) is now looking after some hens that live on the field; & more light work of this kind would be much appreciated by the children & would help to improve their moral tone.

Also it is becoming increasingly desirable that the boys should be kept more separate from the girls by occupying wards on a different floor.  This would mean that another nurse would be most valuable as we find it impossible to leave the children for five minutes without regretting it.”