Stannington Sanatorium Project

Dr T. M. Allison

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Thomas Moffatt Allison was born in 1861 in Guisbrough, North Yorkshire, the son of a mining engineer.  He went on to study medicine and appears to have moved to Newcastle in the 1890s and by 1901 is recorded in the census as living and working at Dene House Hospital, a private hospital in Ellison Place, Newcastle.

 

During this time he was heavily involved with the Poor Children’s Holiday Association (PCHA), the charity behind Stannington Sanatorium, holding the role of Honorary Physician to the PCHA and sitting on its General Management Committee.  Through his position within the charity he was instrumental in the establishment of the sanatorium at Stannington, which is clear from the annual reports of PCHA.  In the 1906 annual report Dr Allison explains what is currently being done to tackle tuberculosis in the area as well as detailing the benefits that a sanatorium at Stannington will bring:

“Speaking of consumption, we have had quite a number of examples of local tuberculosis (bone and gland cases), and also of lung tuberculosis (or consumption), during the year.  These we have provided for as well as we could, – having regard to the danger of infecting others if sent to homes where there are other children – that is to say, we have isolated them as far as possible, and provided sputum flasks, etc.

But to cope properly with consumptive children there must be a proper place for them.  And we are indeed glad that next Spring our Stannington Sanatorium – (the first in England) for Consumptive Children, will be ready for opening.” [HOSP/STAN/1/3/2]

Patients and Staff Outside the Sanatorium c.1920s [HOSP/STAN/11/1/54]
Patients and Staff Outside the Sanatorium c.1920s [HOSP/STAN/11/1/54]

Once the sanatorium opened in 1907 his close involvement with institution continued as he took on the role of visiting physician and quite clearly held the sanatorium and its young patients close to his heart.  The matron in July 1916 made the following comments about a visit he made:

“Dr Allison brought out with him a gentleman to look over the Institution – he also gave me £1 to buy something for the children & has promised to send us records for our gramophone.” [HOSP/STAN/2/1/1]

Various reports on the early days of the Sanatorium along with newspaper articles from the time show Dr Allison to have been a consistent presence in some of the day to day operations of the Sanatorium and not just the medical side of things.  His presence at social events and in children’s Christmas parties is reported upon on several occasions.

 

During his career he wrote extensively on the treatment of tuberculosis and childhood disease with many articles and letters published in the British Medical Journal.  He was also active in other areas of local society and was the President of Newcastle Rotary Club and also stood for parliament as a coalition candidate for Morpeth Borough, but was unsuccessful in this particular political venture.

 

He died in Newcastle on 9 October 1928 leaving a widow, Frances Sarah Allison.  His son Gordon, a Lieutenant in the 1st King George’s Gurkha Rifles predeceased him having died in action in north-west India on 8th June 1919 aged 20.

 

Sources:

‘A Nation of Workers.  Will a Nobler Understanding Arise from Comradeship?’, North-Eastern Daily Gazette, 4 Nov 1916

‘Northumberland.  Vigorous Contests Anticipated.’ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 20 Nov 1918

Heliotherapy

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Heliotherapy, or sunlight treatment, was one of the key therapeutic measures used by sanatoria to tackle tuberculosis and in this respect Stannington was no different.  Most sanatoria were built in the countryside where patients could benefit from fresh air whilst receiving plenty of rest and a good diet.  In addition to this sunlight, whether real or artificial, was an essential component in aiding recovery based on the principle that it would strengthen the patient and better enable them to fight off the disease.  Many of the photographs of children in the sanatorium from the collection show them to be outside on most occasions whether they be in school, in bed, or taking part in leisure activities.

 

HOSP-STAN-11-01-34
HOSP/STAN/11/1/34

Stannington had been using arc lamps since 1920 in the treatment of skin lesions and ulcers with the aim of speeding up the healing process of such lesions by exposing them directly to the light.  In 1926, however, a large artificial light department was introduced and equipped with ultraviolet apparatus to allow patients suffering from various forms of TB to be treated and to continue to receive light treatment even in adverse weather conditions.  Patients may have been required to spend time in the artificial light room for several minutes each day for as long as it was seen to be beneficial.  For many patients with mild cases of tuberculosis, or where there were no surgical options, this may have been their main and only active course treatment.

 

HOSP-STAN-11-01-31
HOSP/STAN/11/1/31
Children at rest in the vita glass pavilion

One very notable part of the sanatorium buildings was the vita-glass sun pavilion, built in 1927 thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, and opened by the Duchess of Northumberland.  It had the capacity to house 50 patients and was used primarily in the treatment of those with pulmonary TB.  Vita glass is designed to allow ultraviolet rays to penetrate easily and the pavilion meant that the children could enjoy natural sunlight whilst being protected from the elements.

 

 

Sources:

T. C. Hunter, ‘Associations and Institutions: Stannington Sanatorium, Northumberland’, The British Journal of Tuberculosis, 1930, 24, 28-32.

R. A. Hobday, ‘Sunlight Therapy and Solar Architecture’, Medical History, 1997, 42, 455-472.

UK Archaeological Sciences Conference 2015

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Yesterday the Stannington Sanatorium Project Team visited Durham University to attend this year’s UK Archaeological Sciences (UKAS) Conference.  The conference is being hosted by the University’s Department of Archaeology and runs from 8th-11th April.  We were fortunate enough to be able to present a poster presentation to demonstrate the potential of the Stannington Collection as an academic resource for those in the field of archaeology, see below.

 

Poster1

 (Click to enlarge)

During the course of the day we spoke to several people interested in the collection and the poster will continue to be displayed for the duration of the conference for delegates to view.  We also had the opportunity to view other posters and hear various presentations on some of the interesting research currently being carried out by those in the field of archaeology.  The topics covered were varied and included investigations into Iranian pottery production, the origins of agriculture, entheseal changes, and the migration of red deer to the Outer Hebrides and the Orkneys in the Neolithic period.  All in all it was a very interesting day and a great opportunity for us to promote the collection further.

 

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