**s 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 1 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Royal Mineral Water 
 hospital 
 
 BATH 
 
 4
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 /" -In.
 
 HISTORY 
 
 ROYAL MINERAL WATER HOSPITAL 
 
 BATH. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE LATE RANDLE WILBRAHAM FALCONER, M.D., 
 
 CONTINUED TO THE PRESENT TIME 
 
 BY 
 
 ANTHONY BEAUFORT BRABAZON, M.D, 
 
 Publica morborum requies, commune medentum 
 Auxilium, prcesens numen, inemta salus." 
 
 Claud. Eidyl. 49 v. 69. 
 
 5Tjlirti Eggue. 
 
 BATH : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE PRESIDENT AND GOVERNORS OF THE 
 
 ROYAL MINERAL WATER HOSPITAL, BATH, BY CHARLES HALLETT, 
 
 BLADUD BUILDINGS AND BRIDGE STREET. 
 
 1888.
 
 WX 
 FE5 
 
 Befcicatefc 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRESIDENT, GOVERNORS, DONORS, 
 
 AND 
 
 SUBSCRIBERS, 
 
 ROYAL MINERAL WATER HOSPITAL, 
 BATH, 
 
 BY THEIR FAITHFUL SERVANT, 
 
 A. Beaufort Brabazon, M.D. 
 
 August, 1888.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 1THE whole of the edition of the admirably written History 
 of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital, Bath, by the late 
 Dr. Ra?idle Wilbraham Falconer, being noiu exhausted, the 
 President and Governors of the I?istitutio?i have kindly 
 entrusted to me the task of writing a Continuation of his 
 work to the present time. 
 
 In doing so, to the best of my ability, I have followed 
 the lines laid down by Dr. Falconer, by simply adding a 
 fourth part to the three parts which constituted his work. 
 
 I need scarcely say I have not ventured to alter a line 
 in the composition of a man so singularly gifted in felicity of 
 expression, and who, at the same time, 7oas so thoroughly 
 acquai?ited with the subject as was my late colleague. I have, 
 however, for the more ready refere?ice of readers, placed the 
 interesting and valuable notes at the foot of each page to 
 which they apply, instead of at the end of the book, as in 
 the former edition. 
 
 I have much pleasure in acknowledging the valuable 
 assistance I have received from my friend, Mr. Peach, by 
 whom the original work was published, in the editorial 
 arrangements of the new edition, and in kindly revising the 
 proofs as they issued from the press. 
 
 I must also tha?ikfully acknowledge the assistance readily 
 and kindly afforded to me by Mr. Dingle, the very efficient 
 and intelligent Registrar of the Hospital. 
 
 A. BEAUFORT BRABAZON, M.D. 
 
 12 Darlington Street, 
 Bath.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 Chapter I. — From 171 1 to 184 1 ... 9 
 
 „ II. — From 1842 to 1 86 1 ... 62 
 
 „ III.— From 1861 to 1863 ... 84 
 
 „ IV.— From 1864 to 1888 ... 99
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE GENERAL HOSPITAL, 
 
 NOW KNOWN AS 
 
 THE ROYAL MINERAL WATER HOSPITAL, 
 
 BATH. 
 
 Chapter fc 
 
 IN the year 1597, an Act of Parliament 
 received the Royal assent, by which a 
 right to the free use of the Baths of 
 Bath was given to the diseased and 
 impotent poor of England ; and the sum of money 
 which they were entitled to carry with them, to 
 defray the cost of their journey, was limited, and 
 they were also forbidden to beg on their way. 
 Previously, however, to this date, Justices of the 
 Peace, in the several counties, were empowered to 
 license such persons to travel to the healing 
 springs of Bath for the cure of their ailments.* 
 
 * " Such two Justices may * * * license diseased persons 
 living of alms to trauell to Bathe or to Buckstone, for remedie 
 of their griefe." — The Office of the Justices of the Peace. By 
 William Lambard, 1588, 2nd edit., /. 334. " Anno tricesimo nono 
 Regin. Eliz., cap. iv., a.d. 1597. An Act for Punishment of Rogues, 
 Vagabonds, and sturdy Beggars." — "None resorting to Bath or 
 Buxton to beg." 
 
 2
 
 IO 
 
 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 These acts caused the city to be inundated with 
 beggars, of whom many, though ostensibly frequent- 
 ing it for the use of the waters, were more intent 
 upon the alms which fortune might grant them from 
 the purses of the charitable and opulent who con- 
 gregated at the springs, than upon anything else. 
 Thus the mineral waters of Bath became a focus 
 of attraction to beggars of various characters, 
 insolent, vociferous, and sturdy, who were general- 
 ized, and are still commemorated, in the proverb, 
 " Beggars of Bath. 11 * 
 
 In 17 14, the Act above referred to was repealed, 
 doubtless to the great satisfaction of the visitors 
 and residents of the city ; but the beggarly stream 
 still continued to flow towards it, under the old 
 pretext ; and, in order effectually to check imposi- 
 tion, and with the view of relieving those who really 
 were objects of compassion, the establishment of a 
 
 v 
 
 * "Beggars of Bath.'" — "Many in that place; some natives 
 there, others repairing thither from all parts of the land ; the 
 poor for alms ; the pained for ease. Whither should fowl flock in 
 a hard frost, but to the barn door ? Here, all the two seasons, 
 being the general confluence of gentry. Indeed, laws are daily made 
 to restrain beggars, and daily broken by the connivance of those 
 who make them ; it being impossible, when the hungry belly barks 
 and the bowels sound, to keep the tongue silent. And although oil 
 of whip be the proper plaister for the cramp of laziness, yet some 
 pity is due to impotent persons. In a word, seeing there is the 
 Lazar's Bath in this city, I doubt not but many a good Lazarus, the 
 true object of charity, may beg therein." — Fullers Worthies, co. 
 Somerset. " Such multitudes of Beggars come hither, partly for cure, 
 and partly for relief, that the ' Sturdy beggars of Bath ' are become 
 a proverb." — Mackay's Journey through England, Let. viii., /. 413, 
 1732. The expression " Go to Bath" not improbably arose from 
 the circumstance narrated above ; the importunate beggar of distant 
 localities being summarily dismissed with this curt advice to join 
 his fellows at " The Bath."
 
 Chapter I. n 
 
 Hospital for their reception was mooted. About 
 two years after (cir. 17 16), Lady Elizabeth 
 Hastings* and Mr. Henry Hoare proposed 
 the founding of a General Hospital for the 
 benefit of proper objects of relief; and Sir JOSEPH 
 JEKYLL shortly after was interested in the proposal, 
 and promoted the scheme to the utmost of his 
 ability. Dr. Oliver f and Mr. Nash — otherwise 
 known as " Beau Nash " — were also among its early 
 supporters. Oliver Goldsmith, in his life of the 
 latter, when alluding to his many beneficent actions, 
 says : — " But of all the instances of Mr. Nash's 
 bounty, none does him more real honour than the 
 pains he took in establishing an hospital at Bath* 
 in which benefaction, however, Dr. OLIVER had a 
 great share. This was one of those well-guided 
 
 * Lady Elizabeth Hastings was a person of some note. 
 Her character is briefly drawn under the name of "Aspasia'' 
 in the Tatler, No. 53. She was an intimate friend of Archbishop 
 Sharp and Robert Nelson. Her aunt by marriage, Lady Hunting- 
 don, built the Chapel in the Vineyards, Bath, known as Lady 
 Huntingdon's Chapel. 
 
 t It is well to state that there were two Doctors Oliver. The elder 
 was at one time attached to the personal staff of William III., and 
 was afterwards Physician to the Fleet, and later he was appointed 
 Physician to the Royal Hospitals of Chatham and Greenwich. He 
 died in Bath April 14th, 17 16. Although he never practised in 
 Bath, he wrote a Treatise on Fevers and the Bath Waters ; also a 
 Practical Dissertation on the Bath Waters. 
 
 The second Oliver is he who was connected with this institution, 
 and who was the illegitimate son of the former. As a man he was 
 ist inguished by every manly virtue ; as a philanthropist he rendered 
 great services to the Hospital ; as a physican of 40 years' standing in 
 the city, he was never excelled in activity or in skill. Dr. Oliver, 
 indeed, was distinguished as the "Famous Dr. Oliver." The 
 biscuits called "Oliver Biscuits" were the invention of Dr. Oliver.
 
 12 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 charities, dictated by reason and supported by 
 prudence. By this institution the diseased poor 
 might recover health, when incapable of receiving 
 it in any other part of the kingdom. As the dis- 
 orders of the poor, who could expect to find relief 
 at Bath, were mostly chronical, the expense of 
 maintaining them there was found more than their 
 parishes thought proper to afford. They therefore 
 chose to support them in a continual state of 
 infirmity, by a small allowance at home, rather than 
 be at the charge of an expensive cure. An hospital 
 therefore, at Bath, it was thought, would be an 
 asylum and a place of refuge to those disabled 
 creatures, and would, at the same time, give the 
 physician more thorough insight into the efficacy of 
 the waters, from the regularity with which such 
 patients would be obliged to take them. These 
 inducements, therefore, influenced Dr. OLIVER and 
 Mr. Nash to promote a subscription towards such 
 a benefaction. The design was set on foot so early 
 as the year 17 11, but not completed till the year 
 1742.* It was not, however, until the autumn of 
 1723, that a subscription was opened for carrying 
 the proposal into effect. 
 
 Among four collectors, who at the commence- 
 ment undertook to obtain subscriptions, was Mr. 
 Nash, of whose devotion to the establishment of 
 the Hospital we shall have presently more to say. 
 The list of subscriptions obtained by Mr. Nash 
 and his colleagues amounted to £273 \2s. id. On 
 the 2nd of October, 1723, the first general meeting 
 of subscribers was held, when the heads of a scheme 
 
 * The Life of Richard Nash, Esq., &c. Second edition, p. 116. 
 London, 1763.
 
 Chapter I. 13 
 
 were submitted to their approval. It is stated that 
 this scheme was prepared under the direction of 
 several eminent persons of almost all denominations ; 
 and among those interested in it were the LORD 
 Presidents of England and Scotland, the 
 Master of the Rolls,* and other eminent lawyers, 
 and also Sir RICHARD STEELE, the friend and 
 coadjutor of ADDISON in the publication of the 
 Spectator. 
 
 The general intent of this scheme was to make 
 provision "for poor lepers, cripples, and other 
 indigent persons resorting to Bath for cure, well 
 recommended, and not otherwise provided for, 
 and to discriminate real objects of charity from 
 vagrants and other impostors, who crowd both the 
 church and the town to the annoyance of the gentry 
 resorting here ; and who ought, by the care of the 
 magistracy, to be expelled and punished." This 
 annoyance appears to have continued for many years 
 after, as, about the middle of the year 1742, some 
 of the Hospital Committee were appointed to meet 
 the Corporation " to consult of the proper methods 
 
 * Lord Presidents of England and Scotland — Lord Carleton — 
 Henry Boyle, brother to the second Earl of Burlington — was Lord 
 President of the Council in 1721, and retained that office until his 
 decease in 1725. In Mr. William King's book of Subscribers to the 
 Hospital, is the following entry: — "Lord President of Scotland, £2 
 2s. od." — Wood's Description of Bath, vol. 2, /. 276. From 
 " Beatson's Political Index," it appears that there were Lord Presi- 
 dents of the Privy Council of Scotland from 1625 to 1702. Probably 
 the personage set down in the list as Lord President of Scotland, 
 was the Lord President of the Court of Sessions ; if so, this office 
 was held by Duncan Forbes, of Culloden, in 1737, and by Robert 
 Dundas, of Arniston, in 1748. Sir Joseph Jekyll was Master of the 
 Rolls from 17 17 until 1738, and Chief Lord Commissioner of the 
 Great Seal in 1755.
 
 14 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 to clear the town of vagrants." No report, however, 
 is made of the decision arrived at by the con- 
 ference. 
 
 According to the scheme brought under the 
 consideration of the subscribers in 1723, as above 
 mentioned, it was arranged that certain gentlemen 
 should be named, who at a time to be appointed 
 were, " First, to inspect and examine into the 
 number and condition of the poor cripples and 
 other indigent strangers, proper objects of this 
 charity, now here for cure, distinguishing those that 
 ought to remain here, from those that are judged to 
 be incurable, or are recovered, and should return ; 
 in order to provide for the relief of the former, 
 during their necessary stay, and immediate dis- 
 mission of the latter, and furnishing them with 
 something towards the necessary expense of their 
 return. Also, secondly, to make an estimate of 
 what the expense attending such dismission will 
 amount unto. Thirdly, likewise what apartments 
 will be proper to be taken for the reception of 
 those intended to be supported and relieved by this 
 benefaction ; and what will be the rent thereof, and 
 fitting up the same ; and other incident expenses ; 
 and what number may be provided for ; so that a 
 greater number may not be received, than the fund 
 for the time being will, upon a reasonable computa- 
 tion, maintain." Of the money by this time 
 collected, it was decided that ^250 should be 
 invested, and the balance, £20 \2s. od. f together 
 with a sum not exceeding a fifth part of what 
 should be contributed before the next (second) 
 General Meeting of Subscribers, should be employed 
 as above directed. At this meeting it was reported
 
 Chapter I. 15 
 
 that £\g gs. 8d. had been "applied for the use of 
 the poor people at that time in the city." No 
 record is discoverable as to the continuance of this 
 mode of relief, and, judging from the nature of 
 subsequent proceedings, it appears to have been 
 relinquished, and attention entirely given to procuring 
 a suitable site for the erection of the HOSPITAL. 
 
 Among the gentlemen to whom the guardian- 
 ship of the subscriptions collected up to Oct. 2, 
 1723, was intrusted, were Mr. Nash, Mr. HENRY 
 Hoare, Dr. Cheyne (who published a work on 
 the Bath Waters in 1720, and whose life, by Dr. 
 GREENHILL, is worthy of perusal) ; Dr. BAVE, who 
 lived in the house which was afterwards converted 
 into the Bath City Dispensary and Infirmary and 
 now forms the older and back part of the Bath 
 United Hospital, and will probably in a short time 
 be pulled down to afford space for the improvement 
 of that Institution * ; and Dr. QuiNTON, who wrote 
 several works on the "Mineral Waters of Bath," 
 one of which, printed in 1733, he dedicated to Mr. 
 NASH.t On the 4th October, 1723, the scheme 
 
 * This has been carried out. 
 f The title of the treatise is, "A Treatise of Warm Bath 
 Water, and of Cures lately at Bath, in Somersetshire, plainly proving 
 that it is more probable to cure diseases by drinking Warm 
 Mineral Waters and bathing in them, than in Cold Mineral Waters.— 
 By John Quinton, M.D. Printed in the year mdccxxxiii.," pp. 4 
 to 99. The dedication to Beau Nash is as follows:— "To that 
 worthy and true Benefactor of the City of Bath ; and Encourager of 
 all the Diversions, and Pleasures there enjoy'd, so necessary to 
 render the Medicinal Waters efficacious for the Recovery of Health, 
 Richard Nash, Esq., this Treatise of Baths, with all gratitude, for 
 the many Favours he has conferr'd on me, is Humbly Dedicated by, 
 Honour'd Sir, Your most Obedient, Oblig'd, Humble Servant, John 
 Quinton."
 
 1 6 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 having been fairly engrossed, was submitted to the 
 subscribers for confirmation. Nothing took place in 
 1724 or 1725, except a single meeting, at which the 
 Treasurer was appointed, and the vacancies in the 
 Committee caused by deaths were filled up. There 
 was no meeting held in 1726, and matters appeared 
 to be in a languishing condition. In the early part, 
 however, of 1727, Mr. Wood, the architect, pressed 
 upon the Trustees the propriety of taking a portion 
 of the ground at the north corner of the Ambrey,* 
 then an open space, upon which St. James's 
 Parade and the buildings adjoining the river, and 
 in the direction of Milk Street, have since been 
 erected. This suggestion was attended to, and 
 designs made for a hospital ; one was for a quad- 
 rangular, and the other for a circular building, 
 each calculated for the reception of sixty patients, 
 and in each, provisions was made for a bath. In 
 Wood's ground-plan of Bath, dated 1 735,t tne 
 number 30 refers to " an Hospital intended for 60 
 poor strangers." A small thick circular line marks 
 the spot on the map which represents the locality 
 above mentioned, and the same is repeated in maps 
 of Bath, dated 1755, 1759, and 1760, many years 
 after the present hospital was opened for the recep- 
 tion of patients. 
 
 In 1728, an order was made to treat with Mr. 
 Gay (whose name is perpetuated in Gay St.), the 
 owner of the property, for the land required. In 
 1730, at the general meeting of the Trustees, it was 
 
 * The name " Ambury " is still retained in a street connecting 
 Corn Street with the Broad Quay on the river bank. 
 
 f The book containing the plan was not published until 1742.
 
 Chapter I. 17 
 
 stated that Mr. Gay was prepared to present them 
 with the ground required, which generous offer was 
 accepted ; and, in consequence of considerable 
 support being promised to the undertaking, the 
 plans for the Hospital were greatly enlarged, and a 
 design eventually completed for the accommodation 
 of one hundred and fifty patients. It appears that 
 the Trustees addressed a letter to Mr. Gay in 
 reference to his proposed gift, which, however, met 
 with no reply. He subsequently intimated that 
 he would not part with more ground than would 
 be sufficient for a building which would accommodate 
 sixty patients. The designs were consequently again 
 altered, and one, as approved by Mr. Gay, submitted 
 to the Trustees, April 29, 173 1, at Lindsey's Assem- 
 bly House, which stood near the south-eastern end 
 of the Abbey. The plan was engraved and printed 
 and with it an address was published. The expense 
 of building the hospital and furnishing it was 
 estimated at £2,500. At this period of the 
 proceedings, the necessary legal measures were taken 
 for the conveyance of the land to the Trustees, 
 during the progress of which, some person, repre- 
 sented as inimical to the building of the Hospital, 
 obtained the remainder of the tenant's lease of the 
 ground, amounting to a period of eight years, and 
 the Trustees were, in consequence, compelled to 
 seek for a new site, and several years elapsed before 
 an eligible one presented itself. 
 
 On the 2nd Feb., 1737, Mr. BENJAMIN HOARE 
 was appointed Banker in London to the charity, 
 and the banking firm under this name have continued 
 to be its London Bankers up to the present time, 
 viz. : for a century and a half. In the same
 
 18 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 year Dr. Oliver made an offer of some land for 
 the erection of the proposed hospital, but though, 
 at first, it was accepted, the decision was afterwards 
 declared void without any recorded reason. In the 
 same year an Act of Parliament was passed for the 
 suppression of play-houses, and the theatre, together 
 with two dwelling-houses, and some out-houses, near 
 the Upper Borough Walls, or St. Marys Rampire, 
 and adjoining the Bath Rectory House, were offered 
 to the Trustees for purchase, and accepted. 
 
 It may here be mentioned, that the first regu- 
 larly-built theatre in Bath was erected in 1730,* and 
 was the property of a widow, named Poore, and 
 managed by Hornby, a comedian. It was afterwards 
 purchased by Lady Hawley, the theatre being, 
 as it is said, under her Ladyship's ball-room, and 
 the seats reaching to within four feet of its floor ; 
 but subsequently it became the property of Mrs. 
 CARNE,f or CAIRNE, and a Air. DILLON also had 
 some interest in the property. 
 
 From the period of the purchase of this site, 
 after " surprising disappointments'," as the Hospital 
 records state, matters appear to have progressed 
 favourably. The Trustees issued an address to the 
 public soliciting their support, which was printed in 
 the newspapers. 
 
 On the 9th of February, 1738, Mr. Wood pro- 
 
 * Wood, in his Description of Bath, refers to a theatre erected at 
 an earlier date, namely, in 1705, vol. II., pp. 288 and 445. 
 
 + The family of Came was descended from Sir Edward Carne, 
 who was Queen Elizabeth's ambassador to Pope Julius III. During 
 his embassy he gave some curious information to Andrias Baccius, who 
 gave the substance of it in his book — " De Thermis" — a book now 
 worth its weight in bank notes.
 
 Chapter I. 19 
 
 duced perfected designs for the Hospital to be 
 erected on the site of the theatre, and also a fair 
 plan and elevation of the same, which being approved 
 by the Trustees, Mr. NASH was requested to take 
 them to London for the purpose of submitting 
 them to the inspection of His MAJESTY and the 
 ROYAL Family* after which they were conveyed to 
 Mr. Pine, to be engraved. A copy of this design, 
 together with the address to the public,* framed, 
 
 * This design is printed at the head of a large sheet, and below 
 it, a plan of the hospital, having on the west side Vicarage Lane, and 
 the garden attached to the Bath Rectory House, on the site of which 
 the new portion of the Hospital is erected ; on the east, is the "Bear 
 Inn" yard. In front, "St. Mary's Rampire, now called the Bur 
 Walls, over which there is an open view of the country from the 
 Hospital." The address to the public is headed, "The plan and 
 Elevation of a new General Hospital intended to be erected at Bath for 
 the reception of one hundred and fifty poor strangers. Anno Dom. 
 1737." In the tympanum is delineated a design from the parable 
 of the Good Samaritan, and under the pediment is inscribed, " Go 
 and do thou likewise." As this address is rarely to be met with, it is 
 here given : — " The usefulness of hospitals for the reception of sick 
 people, is so well known, that it is needless to say anything of it. 
 The frequent and noble benefactions to St. Thomas's and St. Bartholo- 
 mew's, in London, &c, shew the conviction people have, after long 
 experience, that such donations are true charity. It is upon this 
 general principle of relieving the poor and distressed, that many 
 well-disposed persons have set on foot, and hope to establish, an 
 Hospital at Bath. And what more particularly moved them to 
 promote this work was, the consideration that in many cases the 
 diseased poor might there recover their healths, which they could not 
 do from any other charity, or by any other means whatsoever. The 
 care of the physician, the assistance of the surgeon, and the medicines 
 of the apothecary, may be had in any other part of the kingdom ; but 
 the benefit of the Bath Waters, in their full virtue, can only be enjoy'd 
 at the fountain-head. The expense, indeed, of living at Bath long 
 enough to receive a cure, is greater than most parishes are able or 
 willing to defray ; and therefore they chuse rather to support their 
 poor cripples, by a small allowance at home, than be at the charge of
 
 20 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 and glazed, is hung in the Registrar s Office, at the 
 General Hospital. The principal front, as repre- 
 sented in the engraving of the Hospital, corresponds 
 with the elevation of the old building, with the two 
 
 endeavouring their relief by maintaining them at Bath. Few parishes 
 are free from such persons, who, by the loss of their limbs, are become 
 a burden to themselves and their neighbours, and drag on an uneasy 
 life, which, by God's blessing on the charity here proposed, might be 
 render'd comfortable to themselves, and profitable to the public. It 
 would be endless to enumerate the many different cases in which the 
 like good effects of this Charity might reasonably be expected ; and 
 surely, a consciousness of having been the instruments, under God, of 
 the restoration of such objects from misery to ease, from impotence to 
 strength, and from beggary and want, to a capacity of getting an 
 honest livelihood and comfortable subsistence, would be so sincere a 
 pleasure to all good minds, that they must think it cheaply purchased 
 by a generous contribution towards so good a work. But, though 
 the relief of our miserable fellow-creatures might be sufficient to 
 induce all good-natured persons to promote this charity, especially 
 those who have themselves felt the benefit of these healing Waters ; 
 yet it may not be amiss to mention another very great advantage that 
 will accrue to the publick from such an Hospital being founded at 
 Bath. All physicians allow, that the greatest certainty that can be 
 attained to in the knowledge of the nature and virtues of any medicine, 
 arises out of the number of observations of the effect it has on human 
 bodies in different circumstances. The world is indeed greatly 
 indebted already to many worthy and learned gentlemen of the faculty, 
 who have published their observations on the Bath Waters, and given 
 the histories of their patients' cases with great exactness. These 
 histories are very valuable, and greatly assist the present practitioners 
 in the performance of the many cures which numberless living wit- 
 nesses can now testify that they have received upon the place ; but, 
 surely, if the knowledge of the nature and efficacy of these Waters 
 could still be render'd more extensive and certain, it would be doing 
 great service to every individual person, who may hereafter, in any 
 country or age, have occasion for their use. Nobody can doubt but 
 that this Hospital will greatly contribute towards this desirable end, 
 who considers, that persons of higher rank, are too often negligent of 
 their own health ; and, by no means, so exact in taking their medi- 
 cines, abstaining from things which hurt them, and staying a due time, 
 as could be wish'd, and is indeed necessary, in order to give the
 
 Chapter L 21 
 
 following exceptions, namely: an additional story 
 has been erected, which was built in 1796, and 
 from the tympanum over the entrance, has been 
 omitted the design taken from the Parable of the 
 
 Physician a sufficient opportunity either of doing them all the service 
 their case would admit of, or of making observations for the future 
 benefit of others. Whereas, in this Hospital every person will be 
 under his government and direction in all circumstances regarding his 
 health ; so that a few years will furnish more histories of cases which 
 may be depended upon (if the Physicians keep due registers of the 
 sick under their care) than any man's private practice could have done 
 in an age. And it is to be hoped, that the success which may 
 reasonably be expected from the regularity of these poor creatures, may 
 induce others of better condition voluntarily to imitate them in the 
 management of themselves, that they may receive the like benefits. 
 Everybody may therefore see how great an advantage this Hospital will 
 be to the public. The sick will be healed, many parishes eased of 
 the burden of their useless poor cripples, and the knowledge and use 
 of the Bath Waters will be greatly improv'd to the benefit of all 
 succeeding generations. It being necessary, for the promoting, 
 carrying on this charity that persons of honour and reputation should 
 take it into their protection and guardianship ; the contributors present, 
 have agreed, ' That every person contributing twenty pounds, or any 
 sum exceeding that, towards this charity, shall be admitted a Governor 
 of this Hospital. It is proposed by the contributors present, to 
 build an Hospital capable of receiving and commodiously entertaining 
 one hundred and fifty poor, distressed persons. The expence of 
 building the said Hospital, according to the above draught, and of 
 furnishing the same with beds, and other necessaries, it is thought, 
 upon the most moderate computation, will amount to the sum of Six 
 Thousand Pounds. Any persons inclin'd to encourage this under- 
 taking, are desir'd to send their contributions to Richard Nash, Esq. ; 
 Francis Fauquier, Esq.; and Dr. Oliver, at Bath; or Mr. 
 Benjamin Hoare, Banker, at the Golden Bottle, in Fleet Street, 
 London ; or leave their subscriptions with them for the use of this 
 charity; and they may be assur'd, that all such donations shall be 
 faithfully applied to the purposes intended by the donors, and a 
 monthly account published by Mr. Hoare, of all such donations. 
 Effectually to prevent any poor persons coming to Bath, and being 
 burdensome to the town, under a pretence of desiring to be admitted
 
 22 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Good Samaritan. This design was never com- 
 pleted, although an order was given to Mr. Mathys- 
 scns to cut it in freestone, and that he " be paid the 
 sum of twenty-five guineas for the same " ; a model, 
 also, was subsequently made, for which, and several 
 
 into the said Hospital, the following order for such admission is agreed 
 on, viz. — The person proposed shall first have his case drawn up by 
 some Physician or skilful person in his neighbourhood, which, being 
 duly attested by the Minister and Churchwardens of the Parish he 
 resided in, and transmitted to the Physicians of the said Hospital, 
 together with the age of such person, shall by them be carefully con- 
 sidered and examined ; and if they find that the person is a proper 
 object of this charity, they shall signify such their judgment to the 
 Minister of the said Parish ; and so soon as there is a vacancy in the 
 said Hospital, shall notify it to him by letter, for the person to come 
 within a limited time, who is to bring back these letters of the Physi- 
 cians to the Minister ; by which he or she is to be admitted into the 
 said Hospital ; and if any person shall come to Bath, under pretence of 
 proposing himself to the Hospital, contrary to this order, he shall 
 not only be refused admittance, but be treated as a vagrant, with 
 the utmost severity of the law. Ever)' Parish sending a person to the 
 Hospital, shall supply him with thirty shillings, which, upon his 
 admission, shall be lodged in the hands of the Treasurer of the Hos- 
 pital, to defray the charge of his funeral, in case he dies in the 
 Hospital ; or to be returned to him whenever he is discharged from 
 thence, to answer the expense of his journey to his own abode. 
 Whenever any person is proposed to the Physicians of the Hospital, 
 and is adjudged by them to be a proper object, he shall be immediately 
 minuted down to succeed to the next vacancy that shall happen ; and 
 every person so minuted, shall absolutely succeed in his turn, any 
 interest or application from any person whatsoever notwithstanding. 
 These articles are all that are now thought necessary to be settled by 
 the contributors present ; but as soon as the foundation of the Hospital 
 is laid (publick Notice whereof will be given in some of the Papers), 
 General Meetings of the Trustees and Contributors will be appointed, 
 for them to consider and settle such farther regulations as they shall 
 then judge to be for the good of this charity. These articles are 
 submitted to the judgment of the publick : and all persons are desired 
 to give their opinions as to any alterations or additions, to promote the 
 good which is intended by all the contributors."
 
 Chapter I. 23 
 
 drawings of the same, he was paid five guineas. 
 In reference to the engraved plan, Mr. WOOD says : — 
 " the printed plan of the HOSPITAL was for the 
 sake of ornament, and, to gain a point in the pur- 
 chase of the land, made different from that which 
 was intended for execution ; but when the last 
 bargain was completed for a stable belonging to Mr. 
 William Boyes, at the south-west corner of the 
 land purchased of Mrs. Carne or CAIRNE, I pro- 
 duced the real plan to the Trustees, who, approving 
 of it, 25th August, 1738, ordered it to be carried 
 into execution instead of that which was printed." 
 The resolution confirming this change is as follows : — 
 " Resolved, that the wards of the Hospital be en- 
 larged, and other alterations from the plan as 
 permitted to be made according to a new plan 
 brought this day by Mr. WOOD, the Physicians 
 apprehending that large wards will be more conducive 
 to the health of the Patients." Wood's statement 
 and the resolution will explain the cause of the 
 difference between the actual arrangements of the 
 ground-plan of the present HOSPITAL, and the plan 
 which had been engraved. 
 
 On the 24th April of this year, the subscriptions 
 amounted to £2082, and, on the same day, the 
 workmen commenced pulling down the old out- 
 buildings. Mrs. ANNE Cairne was paid £630 for 
 the play-house, on the 9th May ; on the 25th, 
 directions were given to pull down the theatre, and 
 on the 30th its destruction was commenced. When 
 the rubbish had been cleared away, and sufficient 
 space made, the foundation stone was laid on the 
 6th July, at the north-eastern corner of the intended 
 building, that ceremony being performed by the Right
 
 24 
 
 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Hon. William Pulteney, afterwards Earl of Bath. 
 
 The following inscription was cut upon the foundation 
 stone : — " This stone is the first which was laid in 
 the foundation of the GENERAL HOSPITAL, July the 
 sixth, A.D. 1738. God prosper this charitable 
 UNDERTAKING." A memorandum appears in the 
 records of the Hospital of the date of the laying of 
 the foundation stone, and of the inscription placed 
 on it ; no mention, however, is made of the individual 
 by whom it was laid. 
 
 On the 15th January, 1738, the accounts of the 
 Treasurers, Dr. WILLIAM Oliver, RICHARD NASH, 
 Esq., and FRANCIS FAUQUIER, Esq., were examined 
 and approved, "from the 2nd of March, 1737, being 
 the commencement of this charity." But the sums 
 collected in 1723, " to be employed as well towards 
 the immediate relief of poor strangers then in Bath, 
 as towards a fund for building an Hospital for such 
 poor necessitous persons, as being not otherwise 
 provided for, that come to this place for the use and 
 benefit of the Bath Waters," are included in the 
 report published on the 15th January, 1738. The 
 commencement of the charity, so far as regards the 
 raising of funds for the erection of a Hospital, is 
 incorrectly stated in the report to have been on the 
 2nd March, 1737. 
 
 In February of the same year, it appears from 
 the following resolution that arrangements were 
 made with the Mayor and Corporation of Bath, 
 for the use of the Mineral Waters by the Hospital 
 patients : — " Resolved, that the offer of the CORPO- 
 RATION to the Trustees of the new HOSPITAL, by 
 Councillor Roberts, be accepted, and the thanks of 
 the Trustees be returned to the CORPORATION for
 
 CJiapter I. 25 
 
 their said offer of the free use of the Hot Bath, 
 and the old Pump, for the use of the sick persons 
 belonging to the said HOSPITAL." 
 
 On the 19th April, 1739, the subscriptions 
 amounted to .£4,268 ; and in this year an act of 
 Incorporation was obtained, the ruling body being 
 recognized under the style and title of the PRESI- 
 DENT and Governors of the Hospital or 
 Infirmary at Bath.* Thomas Carew was 
 appointed first PRESIDENT, at a General Meeting of 
 Subscribers, held July 16th, 1739, and on the 24th 
 he appointed Dr. OLIVER, Deputy- President, who, 
 with Dr. E. HARINGTON f and Dr. A. RAYNER, 
 
 * This Act was intituled, " An Act for Establishing and well 
 governing an Hospital or Infirmary in the City of Bath," and was 
 passed in the 12th year of the reign of George the Second. An Act 
 was subsequently passed in 1779, by which the President and 
 Governors of the Hospital were more effectually enabled " to take or 
 acquire, and hold, any Lands, Tenements, or Hereditaments, and any 
 Money or Personal Property, to be laid out in Lands, &c, pursuant to 
 any Will, or otherwise, to the amount limited in the said Act." This 
 Act restricted the Corporation to holding landed property, the income 
 from which exceeded one thousand pounds yearly. A third Act was 
 passed in 1830, by which alterations were made in the first Act, but 
 which enabled the Corporation to effect a most important improvement, 
 namely, the formation of Baths in the Hospital, and the conveyance, 
 with the consent of the Mayor and Corporation of Bath, of the 
 Mineral Waters from the King's Bath Spring to the Hospital Baths. 
 
 + Dr. E. Harington. — I have not succeeded in identifying this 
 gentleman, but he is thought to have been a member of the distinguished 
 family of the same name. He resigned the office of Physician to the 
 Hospital in 1750. [This Dr. Harington, whom Dr. Ealconer was not 
 able to identify, was the 6th son of John Harington, Esq., J. P., co. 
 Somerset, by his marriage with Helena, eldest daughter of Benjamin 
 Gostlett, Esq., of Marshfield, co. Gloucester. He was born at 
 Kelston, 1696. Entered Wadham College, Oxon, 1712. B.A., 1715. 
 M.A., 1718. Bach. Med., 1722. Med. Doc, 1726. Buried at 
 Kelston, 8th August, 1757.]
 
 26 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital 
 
 were appointed Physicians to the HOSPITAL, on 
 May ist, 1740, and Mr. J. Peirce * Surgeon. Mr.. 
 CAREW continued in the office of PRESIDENT until 
 1 74 1, when he was succeeded by the Hon. LlEUT.- 
 GENERAL WADE.f The first meeting of the 
 President and Governors of the Hospital, 
 under their Act of Incorporation, was held at Mr. 
 Cogswell's Rummer Tavern, Cheap Street, and 
 several previous meetings were held at the same 
 place ; but it was not until Monday, Jan. 19, 1741, 
 that the Governors first met in the new building, 
 when rules for the management of the charity were 
 agreed to ; an annual subscription was opened in 
 November for the maintenance of the patients ; and, 
 on Christmas Eve,J the first matron, Mrs. Whitlock, 
 
 * This was Jerry Peirce, who was the intimate friend of Dr. 
 Oliver. Peirce was of the family, if not directly descended from Dr. 
 Peirce, of the* Abbey House, where he received Queen Anne on one 
 occasion, and to whom he was physician. Jerry Peirce lived in a 
 curious little house, called Lilliput Castle, built by Wood, on the site 
 now called " Battle Fields." The picture of Oliver and Peirce exam- 
 ining a patient, painted by Hoare, hangs in the board-room. Oliver and 
 Peirce resigned on the same day— May 1, 1761. Oliver died in 1764, 
 and was buried in the Abbey. 
 
 f Genej-al Wade. — In the Guildhall are preserved a few of the 
 remaining portraits of Members of the Bath Corporation, "painted by 
 Van Dyce at the expense of General Wade, as a compliment for their 
 free and unanimous choice of him as their representative in three 
 successive Parliaments. His is also in the Hall." — Vide "The 
 Stranger's Assistant and Guide to Bath," p. 54, 1773 ; said to have 
 been written by Dr. William Falconer, M.D., F.R.S. One of the 
 lost portraits, that of Ralph Allen, was recovered by W. Bush, Esq., 
 when Mayor of Bath, in 1856. General Wade was returned Member 
 for Bath, in 1722, 1727, 1734, and 1741. The Rev. F. Kilvert was 
 preparing at the time of his decease, in 1863, a biographical sketch of 
 General Wade, but died before he was able to complete it. 
 
 % The Meetings of the Committee were, at this period, generally 
 held late in the afternoon or in the evening.
 
 Chapter I. 27 
 
 was appointed. Immediately after this meeting, it 
 is stated by Wood that a benefaction of ^"2,000 was 
 paid to the Treasurer by Mrs. Jane HOLDEN; it 
 appears, however, on reference to the Hospital minutes, 
 that this legacy was received from Mrs. JANE HOLDEN 
 as executrix of her late husband, SAMUEL HOLDEN, 
 Esq. On Tuesday, May 18th, 1742, the institution 
 was opened for the reception of patients. 
 
 One of the principal features of this charity was, 
 that poor persons were admitted to it, "from any 
 part of Great Britain or Ireland',' and no inhabitant 
 of the city of Bath was allowed admission. This 
 regulation, WOOD states, was affirmed at a meeting 
 of the Trustees on March 23rd, 1737. But no such 
 limitation was then made. The resolution passed at 
 that meeting was as follows : — " It is proposed by 
 the contributors present to build an Hospital capable 
 of receiving and commodiously entertaining one 
 hundred and fifty poor distressed persons, from any 
 part of Great Britain or Ireland." But in November, 
 1743, the following resolution was passed, viz., " That 
 the inhabitants of this city are excluded admission 
 into this Hospital by Act of Parliament." This 
 exclusion, however, only affected those who resided 
 within the limited area of the city walls. This 
 resolution, however, was rescinded in 1835;* but, 
 notwithstanding, it is now open to those who were 
 excluded; the number annually admitted is very 
 small, as in 1855, out of five hundred and three 
 
 * This question originated a considerable discussion among the 
 Governors, and the admirable and exhaustive view taken of the subject 
 at the time by the Rev. Dr. Falconer, M.D., though it failed to secure 
 a majority opposed to the rescinding of the resolution, has been 
 since regarded as a true and just exposition of the view entertained 
 by the founders of the Hospital.
 
 28 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital 
 
 patients admitted, only ten were from the old Bath 
 parishes, and, as the facilities for affording the poor 
 of the city access to the public baths have of late 
 years been much increased by the Corporation, even 
 the small number who now apply for admission into 
 the Hospital will probably be diminished. In 1779, 
 a second Act was passed to enable the Corporation 
 " to take or acquire, and hold, any Lands, Tenements, 
 or Hereditaments, or an)- interest in Lands, Tene- 
 ments, or Hereditaments, and any Money or Personal 
 Property, to be laid out in Lands, Tenements, or 
 Hereditaments, pursuant to any Will, or otherwise, to 
 the amount limited in the said Act. In 1830, a new 
 Act was obtained by the Governors of the Hospital, 
 by which they were enabled to construct baths on the 
 Hospital premises, and lay down pipes in the public 
 streets for the conveyance to them of the hot 
 mineral water, which was, according to an agreement, 
 supplied by the Corporation of the city, and for other 
 purposes. By this arrangement the patients, who 
 had previously to be carried to the bath in quaint- 
 looking machines, or sedan chairs, as they were called, 
 of curious construction, were enabled to bathe at a 
 short distance from their wards ; and a staff of chair- 
 men, supported at the expense of the charity, whose 
 conduct is represented as being extremely obnoxious 
 and irregular, was dissolved.* 
 
 The Hospital records commenced on Feb. 23rd, 
 1737, the most prominent entry of which day's pro- 
 ceedings is the following, signed by Mr. Allen : — 
 
 * On one occasion it appears that some of the chairmen and 
 patients were found intoxicated at the Hot Bath, the former procur- 
 ing the spirits for the purpose.
 
 Chapter I. 29 
 
 a I do hereby promise and oblige myself, my 
 executors, and administrators, to deliver, at my wharf, 
 in the Dolemead, adjoining the city, free of all 
 expenses, all wrought free stones, paving stones, wall 
 stones and lime, which may, from time to time, be 
 wanted to build and complete the new General Hospital 
 intended to be erected in this city on the ground lately 
 purchased of Mrs. Cairne, commonly called the Old 
 Playhouse, to such person or persons as the Treasurer 
 of the said Hospital for the time being shall appoint 
 to receive the same. 
 
 " Ralph Allen.* 
 
 " Witnessed by James Sparrow, Francis Fauquier, 
 W. Oliver." 
 
 Independently of this donation, Mr. Allen, on 
 several occasions, gave in different sums to the charity, 
 ;£ 1,600, which included ^500 for furnishing the Hos- 
 pital, and ^400 when its funds were so diminished 
 as to necessitate the reduction of the number of 
 patients to forty, and also a bequest of £150 from 
 POPE, devised by the latter in the following terms : — 
 u In case R. Allen, Esq., above said, shall survive 
 
 * In 1857, the late Rev. F. Kilvert published a very interesting 
 sketch of "Ralph Allen and Prior Park," which contains, it is 
 believed, all the information respecting Mr. Allen which can, or at 
 least could then, be obtained of him. There is also a short notice 
 of this gentleman in the supplement (/. 13) to Monkland's "Litera- 
 ture and Literati of Bath," published in 1855. There are several 
 portraits of Mr. Allen. In the 5th edition of Bishop Hurd's "Moral 
 and Political Dialogues," published in 1776, which are dedicated to 
 the memory of Mr. Allen, there is a masterly and spirited medallion 
 of him, etched by W. Hoare, bearing date 1764. There are two 
 marble busts of Mr. Allen : one in the Entrance-Hall of the Hospital, 
 and another in the Council-Room of the Guildhall.
 
 30 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 me, I order my executors to pay him the sum of £150, 
 being, to the best of my calculation, the amount of 
 what I have received from him, partly for my <nvn, 
 and partly for charitable uses. If he refuse to take 
 this himself I desire him to employ it in a way I 
 am persuaded he will not dislike — to the benefit of 
 the Bath Hospital." The following entry in the 
 Hospital Minute Book occurs May 7, 1755: — "A 
 benefaction of Ralph Allen, Esq., which was a 
 legacy of the late ALEXANDER POPE, Esq., £150."* 
 Mr. ALLEN was elected a member of the Committee 
 in 1728, and President of the Hospital in May, 1742, 
 and was one of the Treasurers for many years. The 
 bust, in the vestibule of the Hospital, of this noble sup- 
 porter of the charity, was the gift of Dr. Warburton, 
 Bishop of Gloucester, who married Mrs. Allen's niece 
 (Gertrude Tucker), to the President and Governors, 
 by whom it was thus acknowledged : — " The Gover- 
 nors of the General Hospital, met in Committee, April 
 27th, 1757, return their thanks to the Reverend Dr. 
 Warburton, for his kind intention ofjnaking a pre- 
 sent of a bust of Ralph Allen, Esq., to the Hospital — 
 a present most acceptable, as it will perpetuate a more 
 lively remembrance of that great benefactor to this 
 charity, and to which it will remain an honour to 
 have had so worthy a promoter, longer than marble 
 will endure" 
 
 The same records bear ample testimony to the 
 perseverance of Mr. Xash in aiding the establish- 
 ment of this charity ; and there are but few pages 
 of its transactions which do not contain proofs of 
 the regularity of his attendance at the meetings of 
 
 * See Pope's Will, printed at the end of the 9th volume of his 
 works, edited by Warburton.
 
 Chapter I. 31 
 
 the Trustees, and of the interest which he uniformly 
 manifested in its welfare. He was appointed one of 
 the Treasurers of the Hospital in 1738, and held 
 that office until his decease in 1 761. His first dona- 
 tion to the charity, as stated in the report of 1738, 
 was ;£ioo, and in the space of about six years, a 
 sum of more than £2, 100 was paid by him to the 
 Treasurer of the Hospital, consisting of donations 
 obtained by his individual exertions. His biographer, 
 Oliver Goldsmith, relates the following anecdote 
 relative to his soliciting support for the Hospital : — 
 " The sums he gave and collected for the Hospital 
 were great, and his manner of doing it was no less 
 admirable. I am told that he was once collecting 
 money in Wiltshire's Room for that purpose, when 
 a lady entered, who is more remarkable for her wit 
 than her charity, and, not being able to pass him 
 unobserved, she gave him a pat with her fan, and 
 said ' You must put down a trifle for me, Nash, I 
 have no money in my pocket.' ' Yes, Madam,' says 
 he, ' that I will with pleasure, if your Grace will 
 tell me when to stop;' then taking a handful of 
 guineas out of his pocket, he began to tell them 
 into his white hat, one, two, three, four, five. ' Hold, 
 hold,' says the Duchess,* 'consider what you are 
 about.' ' Consider your rank and fortune, Madame,' 
 says Nash, and continued telling six, seven, eight, 
 nine, ten. Here the Duchess stormed, and caught 
 hold of his hand. ' Peace, Madam,' says Nash, ' you 
 
 * The lady was the Duchess of Queensbery. She was the 
 daughter of Henry, Earl of Clarendon and Rochester. It has been 
 said by some writers that it was the Duchess of Marlborough, but 
 that is erroneous. The flippancy displayed was very characteristic of 
 the former lady, who was the wife of "Old Q.," as the Duke was 
 commonly called.
 
 32 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 shall have your name written in letters of gold, 
 Madam, and upon the front of the building, Madam ;' 
 sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. ' I 
 won't pay a farthing more,' says the Duchess. 
 1 Charity hides a multitude of sins,' replied Nash ; 
 twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, 
 twenty-five. ' Nash,' says she, ' I protest you frighten 
 me out of my wits ; I shall die !' ' Madam, you will 
 never die with doing good ; and if you do, it will 
 be the better for you,' answered Xash, and was 
 about to proceed, but perceiving her Grace had lost 
 all patience, a parley ensued, when he, after much 
 altercation, agreed to stop his hand, and compound 
 with her Grace for thirty guineas. The Duchess, 
 however, seemed displeased the whole evening ; and 
 when he came to the table where she was playing, 
 bid him ' stand farther, an ugly devil, for she hated 
 the sight of him.' But her Grace, afterwards hav- 
 ing a run of good luck, called Xash to her. 'Come,' 
 says she, ' I will be friends with you, though you 
 are a fool, and to let you see I am not angry, there 
 is ten guineas more for your charity. But this I 
 insist on, that neither my name, nor the sum, shall 
 be mentioned.'"* A casual visitor to Bath says: — 
 " I cannot quit Mr. NASH without observing, to his 
 honour, that he is no less a promoter of public charity 
 than a hero in every diversion. You see him as com- 
 plaisant and diligent with the basin at the Abbey, to 
 collect alms for the hospital and charity children, as 
 he is busy in getting subscriptions for balls. His 
 memory, perhaps, will be revered and loved for the 
 good accruing from the General Hospital, which he 
 zealously forwards, and hath already brought to some 
 
 * The Life of Richard Nash. Second Edition : p. 121, Lond., 1765.
 
 Chapter I. 33 
 
 perfection, long after his foibles and his favour hath 
 ceased to be the ambition of the young and the gay.'* 
 
 In reflecting on the numerous acts of levity which 
 attach to the name of Beau Nash, the recollection of 
 his earnest advocacy of the interests of the General 
 Hospital ought to have its due weight, and should 
 soften the asperity of the critic who would represent 
 him as wholly occupied in folly and frivolity. In 
 the Pump Room there is a marble statue of Nash, 
 by Prince Hoare ; the right hand of the figure 
 rests on a pedestal, having on the face of it an 
 open scroll, on which is delineated a plan of the 
 General Hospital ; there is also an admirable crayon 
 portrait of Nash, in the possession of the Corpora- 
 tion, presented to that body by Captain B. Peach, 
 the Treasurer for the City and Borough of Bath, 
 and another in oils, in the Mayor's room at the 
 Guildhall ; there is also a smaller portrait in crayons, 
 in the Board-room of the General Hospital. f 
 
 Having mentioned the munificent gifts of the 
 benevolent Allen, and the unwearied exertions of 
 Nash, in support of the Hospital, the generous 
 conduct of WOOD, the architect, cannot pass un- 
 noticed. The following memorandum, signed by 
 Wood, who was elected a Governor of the Hospital 
 in October, 1739, occurs in the Hospital records: — 
 
 " /, John Wood, oj the city oj Bath, architect, do 
 hereby give all the several draughts, plans, and other 
 papers relating to the Hospital at Bath, together with 
 my care, labour, and expenses Jor surveying and direct- 
 
 * Gentleman's Mag., /. 345 ; 1745. 
 
 f This portrait bears date 1742, the year in which the Hospital was 
 first opened for the admission of Patients.
 
 34 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 ing the building of the said Hospital, as a free gift and 
 benefaction to the said Hospital ; and I do hereby 
 accordingly acquit and for ever discliarge the Corpora- 
 tion of the said Hospital, from all debts, dues, or 
 demands, whatsoever. Witness my hand this first 
 day of A larch, 1 7 41— fo. Wood!'* 
 
 Mr. Wood was frequently appointed on Sub- 
 Committees where important matters were to be 
 considered, and continued an active member of the 
 Court of Assistants or Committee, until his decease 
 in 1754. In 1766 Mr. Wood's son presented a Cup 
 and Salver for the Communion Services at the 
 Hospital. 
 
 In 1740 an Act was passed to amend an Act 
 for the more effectual preventing of excessive and 
 deceitful gaming, by a clause, in which it was provided 
 that a moiety of the fines incurred under it, in the 
 county of Somerset, should "go and be applied to, 
 and for the use and benefit of the poor persons 
 admitted into the Hospital or Infirmary lately 
 erected in the city of Bath, for the benefit of poor 
 persons resorting to the said city, for the benefit of 
 the Mineral Waters there. "t 
 
 * John Wood. — This gentleman was the architect of many of the 
 finest buildings of Bath. He was also the author of a Description 
 of Bath, which has conveyed to the present time an amount of 
 information regarding its condition and progress afforded by no other 
 author previous to his time. He died May 23rd, 1754, leaving a 
 son, who inherited his father's architectural taste, and added buildings 
 remarkable for their beauty, to Bath. 
 
 t The Act is intituled, "An Act to restrain and prevent the 
 excessive increase of Horse Races, and for amending an Act made 
 in the last session of parliament, intituled, ' An Act for the more 
 effectual preventing of excessive and deceitful gaming.'" The 
 clause referred to is as follows : — "§ vi. — And be it further enacted by 
 the authority aforesaid, that all penalties and forfeitures incurred by
 
 Chapter I. 35 
 
 The year 1741 was employed by the Governors 
 principally in making arrangements for furnishing 
 the house, for supplying it with provisions, and 
 generally providing for the reception of patients. 
 Preparatory to opening the Hospital, Regulations 
 were drawn up by Dr. Oliver as to the admission 
 and removal of patients, which after receiving the 
 approval of the Governors, were printed, and a large 
 number distributed throughout the kingdom, many 
 being sent to places of known public resort in 
 London. 
 
 On the 1 8th May, 1742, the Hospital was opened 
 for the reception of patients. Three physicians — 
 namely, Dr. W. Oliver, Dr. E. Harington, and Dr. 
 A. Rayner — and one surgeon, Mr. Jeremiah 
 PEIRCE,* had been elected in 1740; and in June, 1742, 
 four other surgeons — namely, Mr. A. CLELAND, Mr. T. 
 Palmer, Mr. H. Wright, and Mr. J. Donne — were 
 appointed. These gentlemen formed the first medical 
 board of the charity. In the autumn of this year, 
 
 any person or persons for any offence against this act shall be sued 
 for and recovered by any action, bill, plaint, or information in any 
 of his Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster, or at the Assizes, 
 and shall be disposed of, one moiety thereof to the use of such 
 person or persons as shall so sue for the same, and the other moiety 
 to the use of the poor of such parish or place where the offence shall 
 be committed ; except such one moiety of such penalties or forfeitures as 
 shall be incurred by, and recovered of, any person or persona within the 
 county of Somerset ; which said one moiety shall go and be applied to 
 and for the use and benefit of the poor persons admitted into the 
 Hospital or Infirmary lately erected in the city of Bath, for the benefit 
 of poor persons resorting to the said city for the benefit of the Mineral 
 Waters there." — An. decim. tert. George II. cap. xix., Stat, at Large., 
 vol. vi., p. 397. 
 
 * Mr. Jeremiah Peine. — There is a bust of this gentleman in the 
 Hospital. He resigned his office of surgeon to the charity in 1761.
 
 36 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 the funds of the Charity being in a languishing 
 condition, several gentlemen, among whom was Dr. 
 David Hartley,* were requested to go from house 
 to house to solicit annual subscriptions. 
 
 The most prominent event of the following year 
 was the dismissal by the Governors of Mr.' A. 
 CLELAND from his office of Surgeon to the Hospital, 
 which took place on the 21st September, on account 
 of misconduct. This event was the source of much 
 warm discussion among the public, and several 
 pamphlets were printed on the occasion. A narrative 
 of the whole proceedings was published by the 
 Governors of the Hospital.-f- 
 
 The financial position oi the charity does not 
 appear to have been materially improved by the efforts 
 made in 1742, for in 1744 it was found necessary to 
 reduce the number of patients to forty. On this 
 occasion Mr. MORRIS, the House Apothecary, offered, 
 with singular generosity, to reduce his salary from 
 sixty to forty pounds a year ; and with a view to 
 render the charity less dependent on the fluctuating 
 sources of voluntary support, it was resolved, " That 
 all single benefactions of fifty pounds or upwards be 
 
 * Dr. David Hartley was elected one of the physicians of the 
 Hospital, May the 15th, 1744, and resigned that office November 2nd, 
 174S. He died in 1757, at Hartley House, Belvedere. His son was 
 member for Hull, and was one of the early promoters of the abolition 
 of the slave trade. — Monkland's Literature and Literati of Bath, p. 11, 
 and Supplement,//. 79 and 81. 
 
 t This statement was in reality published " by the Governors of 
 the Hospital who voted for Mr. Cleland's Dismission. " ! It is entitled 
 "A short vindication of the proceedings of the Governors of the 
 General Hospital at Bath in relation to Mr. Archibald Cleland, &c. ; to 
 which is prefixed a short Narrative of the Proceedings," 8\o, />/>. 34. 
 1744.
 
 Chapter I. 37 
 
 applied towards raising a perpetual fund for the 
 support of the Hospital, unless otherwise specified by 
 the donor." Subsequently to the passing of this 
 resolution, Mr. FRANCIS COLSTON gave one hundred 
 pounds a year for three years, on condition that the 
 number of patients should be increased to forty-five. 
 The offer was at once accepted, and the condition 
 which accompanied it agreed to. 
 
 On the 1st May, 1744, Mr. FRANCIS COLSTON 
 was elected President of the Hospital. No notice of 
 his resignation or decease occurs in the minutes, but 
 on the 29th January, 1745, it was resolved, at a 
 General Court of Governors, " That the Treasurers of 
 this Hospital apply to H.R.H. the Prince OF Wales, 
 humbly desiring his acceptance of the Presidentship 
 of this Hospital/' On the 26th February, the follow- 
 ing entries occur in the minutes : — " At this General 
 Court his Royal Highness Frederick, Prince of 
 Wales, was unanimously elected President of this 
 Infirmary." " Ordered, that Mr. NASH be desired to 
 return the thanks of this Court to His Royal Highness 
 for the honour and favour he does them in accepting 
 to be their President." On the 1st May, 1746, H.R.H. 
 was re-elected ; he was again re-elected on the 1st May, 
 1747, and also on the 1st May, 1748 ; but on the 18th 
 of this month Mr. NASH produced a letter to the Court 
 of Governors " from Sir William Irby, acquainting 
 him that H.R.H. is unwilling to act longer as President 
 of this Hospital." On the same day the Hon. B. 
 BATHURST, Treasurer of the Hospital, reported " that 
 he had received a benefaction of one hundred pounds, 
 by Mr. NASH, from H.R.H. the PRINCE OF WALES." 
 On the 25th of May a General Court was held, and 
 His Grace the DUKE OF BEAUFORT elected President 
 in the room of the Prince of Wales.
 
 38 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Early in 1747, the Governors having previously 
 made a liberal regulation in favour of the admission 
 of soldiers to the benefits of the charity — a large 
 donation was made to the Hospital, under circumstan- 
 ces set forth in the following statement : — " Received 
 of Sir Richard Hoare*, the sum of one thousand 
 pounds for the use of the General HOSPITAL AT 
 Bath, being the benefaction to the said HOSPITAL by 
 the subscribers to the subscription carried on at the 
 Guildhall (London) towards the relief, support, and 
 encouragement of the soldiers employed in suppressing 
 the late Rebellion, in consideration of the readiness 
 shewn by the Governors of the said Hospital in relieving 
 maimed and wounded soldiers, and to the intent that they 
 may continue the like charitable benevolence to them for 
 the future." The thanks of the Governors for this 
 munificent gift were ordered to be conveyed by Dr. 
 Oliver to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, H.R.H. 
 the Duke of Cumberland, and Sir Richard 
 Hoare, and the rest of the subscribers "for their 
 several good offices towards this Hospital in procuring 
 one thousand pounds to the capital fund!' 
 
 In 1749, HENRY Lord COLERAINE, Baron of 
 Coleraine, in the Kingdom of Ireland, executed a 
 deed of gift by which the sum of five hundred pounds 
 was given for the support and maintenance of one 
 patient, over and above the number of patients 
 who might be admitted into the Hospital, to be 
 
 * Sir Richard Hoare, Knt., was Lord Mayor of London in the 
 memorable year of the Scottish Rebellion, 1745. His son, Henry, by 
 his second marriage, married Mary, daughter of William Hoare, Esq., 
 R.A., of Bath. The large picture in the Board Room of the General 
 Hospital, representing Dr. Oliver and Mr. Peirce attending on patients, 
 and also an Altar-piece at the Octagon Chapel, were painted by this 
 artist. He died in 1792.
 
 Chapter I. 39 
 
 called Lord COLERAINE'S patient. In June, 1762, 
 the above sum was invested in the Old South Sea 
 Annuities, and there has been ever since a patient in 
 the Hospital benefiting by this gift. A legacy also of 
 two thousand pounds was received this year from the 
 family of WILLIAM ClJRZON, Esq., which, according 
 to the tenor of the bequest, was to be laid out in land. 
 
 In 1750, the expenses of the Hospital much ex- 
 ceeded the receipts, and it was found necessary again 
 to reduce the number of patients admitted to it from 
 one hundred and twelve to eighty, and although in 
 the following year the full number of patients was 
 admitted, it was reduced to ninety in 1757, and in 
 1758 further reduced to seventy ; in 1765 it was 
 augmented to one hundred and five, and in 1769 to 
 one hundred and twelve, and in 1783 the number was 
 reduced to ninety, there being nearly £600 due to the 
 Treasurers ; but by the 21st of May, in consequence 
 of numerous donations and subscriptions, the debt 
 was paid off, and the resolution for diminishing the 
 number of patients was rescinded ; shortly after which 
 the number was increased to one hundred and thirty- 
 four. 
 
 The Charmy Down Estate was purchased by the 
 Governors for the charity, on the 1st June, 1750, under 
 powers granted by the Act of Incorporation. 
 
 By the first Act of Parliament passed for the 
 government of the Hospital, it is directed that 
 previous to the admission of a patient a sum of 
 money — now called " Caution-money " — should be de- 
 posited with the Treasurer. The amount for a patient, 
 coming from any part of England or Wales, is fixed 
 at Three Pounds, and from Scotland or Ireland at 
 Five Pounds. These sums are demanded in order to 
 defray the cost of removing to their homes the patients
 
 40 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 when discharged from the Hospital. In 1756, Dr. 
 Oliver drew up, at the request of the Governors, the 
 regulations for the admission of Scotch and Irish 
 patients, whieh are given at length in the Hospital 
 minutes. 
 
 In 1758 when the funds of the charity were 
 diminished and the number of patients reduced, an 
 oratorio at the Abbey took place for the benefit of 
 the Hospital, and as it proved successful — the sum 
 obtained amounting to £161 14s. id. — it was deter- 
 mined that. there should be a similar performance 
 every spring and autumn. The subsequent oratorios 
 however, were not so successful as the first, and they 
 appear to have been relinquished, by common consent, 
 after 1759. 
 
 The following minute occurs in the proceedings of 
 the Hospital Committee, under date 1st April, 1761. 
 " Daniel Daxvers, Esq., one of the Treasurers, 
 acknowledges to have received a note of hand of one 
 hundred pounds of RICHARD Nash's, Esq., deceased, 
 payable to Ralph Allen, Esq., which note Ralph 
 Allen, Esq., gives as a benefaction to this Hospital, 
 and DANIEL DANVERS, Esq., promises to account for 
 the dividend the said note shall produce to the Hos- 
 pital. — Resolved that the thanks of the Committee be 
 returned to RALPH ALLEN, Esq., for his benefaction 
 of Mr. Nash's promissory note to the Hospital." 
 From subsequent minutes, it appears that during 
 1762, the year after Nash died, £42 8s. 9d. was paid 
 on account of his note of hand. 
 
 In 1762, the thanks of the General Court were 
 ordered " to be sent to Mr. WILLIAM HoARE, for the 
 elegant picture he has presented to this Hospital." 
 The subject of the picture is not mentioned, but it is 
 probably that of Hygeia, which is in the present
 
 Chapter L 41 
 
 board-room of the Hospital. 
 
 In 1767 a small burial ground outside the portion 
 of the Upper Borough Walls, opposite to the new 
 portion of the Hospital, was conseccrated. As early 
 as 1743 an attempt was made to provide a burial 
 ground for the Charity, but legal technicalities inter- 
 fered to prevent its acquisition ; eventually, however, 
 the Corporation arranged that the fee simple of the 
 ground should be vested in the President and Gover- 
 nors of the Hospital, and its consecration was thus 
 secured. This burial ground was closed in June, 
 1849, and a tablet attached to the western wall 
 bearing an inscription, nearly the whole of which is 
 now illegible.* 
 
 For some time the duties of Chaplain to the 
 inmates of the Hospital were discharged gratuitously, 
 but in 1770 the necessity for appointing a Chaplain 
 with a fixed salary was brought before the Governors. 
 At this time it was thought undesirable to make use 
 of the ordinary funds of the Hospital for remunerat- 
 ing a Chaplain for his services, and consequently it 
 was proposed to raise a sufficient sum by subscription 
 for that special object, and, in addition to what might 
 thus be obtained, it was determined that £15 should 
 be taken from the amount of Church collections for 
 
 * By the kindness of J. H. Markland, Esq., D.C.L., I am enabled 
 to give the inscription, which was as follows : — " This piece of ground 
 was in the year 1736 set apart for the burial of Patients, dying in the 
 Bath General Hospital, and, after receiving 238 Bodies, was closed by 
 the Governors of that Charity in the year 1849 from regard to the 
 health of the living." A text was added, but it is doubtful whether it 
 was taken from the Revelation of St. John, chap, xi., vv. 25, 26, or 
 from 1 Cor., chap, xv., vv. 42, 43, 44. [It is well to state that the 
 ground is bounded on the south by a fragment of the ancient wall. 
 This wall, which was much dilapidated, was repaired and the battle- 
 ments restored to their original condition. — Editor of new edition.} 
 
 4
 
 42 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 the Hospital, until such time as a fund should be 
 established for providing a suitable salary for the 
 Chaplain. In 1775 the amount directed to be paid 
 for this purpose from the subscriptions was £30 a 
 year ; the surplus, if any, was to be retained by the 
 Treasurer, and set apart towards forming a fund from 
 which the Chaplain's salary might be paid ; to this 
 fund the sum of £100 was contributed by the Hon. 
 John Jefferys Pratt,* in 1782. In 1831 it was 
 resolved that £33 12s. should be paid to the Chaplain 
 out of the Hospital funds, and in 1844 his salary was 
 fixed at £120 a year, which sum was, and is now, 
 paid out of the general income of the Hospital. In 
 the Hospital minutes of 1856, the following entry- 
 occurs : — " A fund for payment of a Chaplain, the 
 produce of subscriptions raised in 1776 and subsequent 
 years, and invested in the names of the Treasurers of 
 the Hospital as Trustees, £600, reduced 3 per cents. 
 The dividends paid to the Chaplain, with an addition 
 from the funds of the charity, until the stock was 
 transferred into the name of the President and 
 Governors by Mr. JOHNSON Phillott, the executor 
 of the last surviving Trustee, Mr. Charles Phillott, 
 in 1842 ; an act, passed in 1830, having previously 
 given power to the Governors to pay the stipend of a 
 Chaplain out of the funds of the Hospital." 
 
 On the 5th November, 1778, a Committee was 
 appointed " to consider of what application may be 
 necessary 7 to be made to Parliament for relief under 
 the present statute of Mortmain." On the 18th of the 
 same month, it was " resolved that the representatives 
 of this City — viz., Sir J. SAUNDERS SEBRIGHT, Bart., 
 
 * The representative of Bath in Parliament and afterwards Mar- 
 quis Camden.
 
 Chapter I. 43 
 
 and Abel Moysey, Esq. — be requested to move 
 Parliament for the relief of this Hospital, in order to 
 accelerate their obtaining the value of one thousand 
 pounds per annum, and that it be referred to the 
 committee already appointed for this purpose to settle 
 the method and for carrying this application into 
 execution." The committee reported, Dec. 1st, that 
 it was found necessary, after taking the opinion of the 
 Attorney General, to apply to Parliament to accom- 
 plish the object in view, and forwarded a request to 
 the Mayor, that his assistance and that of the Corpo- 
 ration generally might be afforded them " in the 
 matter intended to be petitioned for." The Corpora- 
 tion having passed a resolution "to instruct and 
 desire the representatives of this city to support the 
 petition of this Hospital," and the same being reported 
 to the Committee, a draft petition was read and 
 approved, and communication opened with the Recor- 
 der of the city, and its representatives, as well as with 
 members of the House of Lords and Commons, whom 
 it was thought might be disposed to give their support 
 to the petition. Mr. DANIEL Danvers was appointed 
 by the Committee to attend in London, and full 
 power given him to do what was requisite to promote 
 the progress of the Bill through the Houses of 
 Parliament. It was read a third time, and passed the 
 House of Commons on March 10th, 1779. On the 
 1 2th March it was read a second time in the House 
 of Lords, and shortly after received the Royal assent. 
 Mr. DANVERS on his return to Bath, stated that W. 
 Bromley Chester, Esq., Sir Ed. Bayntun, Bart., 
 Paul Methuen, Esq., Charles Barrow, Esq., and 
 Ed. PHELIPS, Esq., " were particularly active in their 
 support of the petition to Parliament," and therefore 
 they were recommended to the Court to be elected 
 Governors of the Hospital.
 
 44 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 In 1780, Dec. 13, the thanks of the Board were 
 given " to WILLIAM HOARE, Esq., for his valuable 
 present to this Hospital of the picture of the late 
 Daniel Danvers, Esq. And that he be requested 
 to make this Hospital a present of his own." A 
 deputation was appointed to wait on Mr. Hoare for 
 this purpose. The portraits of Mr. DANVERS and 
 Mr. W. HOARE are suspended in the present board 
 room of the Hospital. 
 
 In 1782 it was ordered "that thanks be returned 
 for the recovery of patients in this Hospital, on the 
 last Sunday in every month, at all the places of Divine 
 Worship in this city." For how long this order con- 
 tinued in force, or whether it was superseded by an 
 order made in 1786, does not appear. 
 
 In 1785 Mr. Christopher Anstey composed 
 those lines which were for many years placed in the 
 principal Pump Room of Bath, and are still to be 
 seen in its western vestibule. From the following 
 resolution, which is in the minutes of the Hospital, 
 these lines appear to have been written at the request 
 of the Governors : — " Resolved, that the thanks of this 
 Committee be returned to Christopher Anstey in 
 the following terms and signed by the Chairman 
 (CHAS. PHILLOTT, Esq.), in behalf of the Committee : 
 — ' Sir, The Committee of the Governors of the 
 General Hospital at Bath have directed me in the 
 name of the whole body to return you their most 
 grateful thanks for the very just and elegant manner 
 in which you have fulfilled their wishes of informing 
 the public in general of the real state of the Hospital.' " 
 " Resolved, that a copy of Mr. Anstey's inscription 
 relative to this Hospital be handsomely printed and 
 kept hanging from time to time in the several Pump 
 Rooms." " Resolved, that a thousand copies of the
 
 Chapter I. 45 
 
 above inscription be printed, and five sent to each 
 Governor and two to each Subscriber." 
 
 The following paragraph from the Bath Clironicle 
 of May 1 8, 1797, in reference to Anstey's lines, is as 
 applicable at the present day as it was sixty-six years 
 since : — 
 
 " It is the duty of all those who owe their 
 health, the use of their limbs, their very existence, to 
 the healing fountains of Bath, to think of their suffer- 
 ing fellow-creatures, pining in misery and affliction, 
 whom the General Hospital was built to receive, and to 
 administer the best advice and every other comfort 
 their wretched situation demands. Every parish in 
 this kingdom ought to subscribe liberally to this excellent 
 foundation ; it is for the accommodation of their poor 
 it was built, and the doors are never shut to any poor 
 creature whose case is adapted to the Bath Waters, 
 and no recommendation of a subscriber or benefactor 
 is here necessary. The following beautiful lines, 
 written in the year 1783* (by ANSTEY, author of 
 'The New Bath Guide'), and then painted on the 
 pump in the New Pump Room, cannot be too often 
 impressed on the memories and consciences of the rich 
 and good, who drink of these healing springs and 
 bathe in the pool of Bethesda : — 
 
 ' Oh ! pause awhile, whoe'er thou art 
 That drink'st this healing stream, 
 If e'er compassion o'er thy heart, 
 Diffused its heavenly beam : — 
 
 Think on the wretch whose distant lot 
 
 This friendly aid denies ; 
 Think how in some poor lonely cot 
 
 He unregarded lies ! 
 
 785
 
 46 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Hither the helpless stranger bring, 
 
 Relieve his heartfelt woe ; 
 And let thy bounty, like this spring, 
 
 In genial currents flow. 
 
 So may thy years from grief and pain, 
 
 And pining want be free ; 
 And thou from Heaven that mercy gain 
 
 The poor receive from thee.' " 
 
 Mr. ANSTEY was a Governor of the Hospital and a 
 member of the Committee, at the meetings of which 
 he was a regular attendant, He died in 1805 at the 
 house of his son-in-law, H. BOSANQUET, Esq., of Har- 
 denhuish, near Chippenham, in his 81st year. His 
 remains are interred in the parish church of Walcot, 
 and a monument has been raised to his memory in 
 Westminster Abbey.* 
 
 In 1786 the order was first given for the form in 
 which patients "who shall find benefit in this Hos- 
 pital " should return thanks through the ministers of 
 the Churches or Chapels they may attend at their own 
 homes. The form is to the present time regularly 
 
 * A very excellent portrait of Anstey has recently been bequeathed 
 by the late Captain Montagu Montagu to the Corporation of Bath, to- 
 gether with an autograph receipt of Anstey's, to the following effect : — 
 
 "July 31, 1766. 
 " Received of Mr. Dodsley, the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds 
 in full for the sole Right of the Copy of the New Bath Guide. 
 
 Witness my hand, Chr. Anstey." 
 
 The following inscription on a mural tablet to the memory of Anstey is 
 placed on the northern wall of Walcot Church : — 
 
 "In the vaults beneath are deposited the remains of Christopher 
 Anstey, Esq., born 31st of October, 1724 ; died 3rd August, 1805. A 
 monument is erected to his memory in Westminster Abbey. In the same 
 vault, William and William Thomas, sixth and seventh sons, and Sarah, his 
 fourth daughter, late wife of — Sotheby, also the wife of Christopher Anstey. 
 Nat. 7 May, 1732. Ob. 1 Jan., 1812." 
 
 The monument to his memory, in Poet's Corner, in Westminster
 
 Chapter I. 47 
 
 delivered to such patients, when discharged, at the 
 weekly meetings of the Committee. 
 
 Abbey, was erected by his eldest son, the Rev. Christopher Anstey, 
 inscribed with the following epitaph : — 
 
 "M. S. 
 
 CHRISTOPHORI ANSTEY arm : 
 
 Alumni Etonensis, 
 
 Et Collegii Regalis apud-Cantabrigienses olim Socii, 
 
 Poetae 
 
 Uteris elegantioribus adprime ornati, 
 
 et inter principes Pcetarum, 
 
 qui in eodem genere floruerunt, 
 
 Sedem eximiam tenentis. 
 
 Ille annum circiter 
 
 MDCCLXX. 
 
 Rus suum in agro Cantabrigiensi 
 
 mutavit Bathonia, 
 
 quern locum ei praster omnes dudum arrisisse 
 
 testis est, celeberrimum illud Poema, 
 
 Titulo inde ducto insignitum : 
 
 ibi deinceps sex et triginta annos commoratus, 
 
 Obit A.D. MDCCCV. 
 
 et setatis suae 
 Octogesimo primo. 
 
 At non Pcetae fama cum ipso peribit, quern legunt omnes, omnes 
 quern requirunt, cujus carmine nullum in aures dulcius descendit melos, 
 nullum memoria citius retinet aut lubentius. Proprium illi fuit materiem 
 sui carminis, non nisi ex ipsa fontium origine haurire. Aliena vitavit 
 tangere, aut si qua tetigit, pulchriora fecit, et sua. Perpaucis unquam 
 contigit, aut in vita et moribus hominum posse acutius cernere, aut 
 eorum leviora vitia, ineptias, pravae Religionis deliramenta, et quicquid 
 ficti sit, et simulati felicius adumbrare : Perpaucis ludere tarn amabiliter : 
 neque enim Ille Ridiculum suum insuavi vel acerbo miscebat, aut sales 
 suos imbuebat veneno : delectare natus, non laedere. Pectus Illi tener- 
 rimum fuit, Christiana benevolentai incoctum : Jocari autem, ac ludere 
 versatili ejus ingenio non erat satis, potuit enim ad rem seriam ac 
 lugubrem aliquando transcurrere, haud solertior lectori risum movere, 
 quam tristi querimonia elicere lacrymas. 
 
 Haec inter animi oblectamenta, Ille per vitas semitam nee spe nee 
 metu impeditam progressus, annos prius attigit seniles, quam senectutem 
 sibi obrepentem senserat, ingenio adhuc vigens, cum memoria adhuc 
 rerum tenaci, intus domique felix, honoratus foris, suavitate morum ac 
 sermonum omnibus quibus consuevit jucundus, eorum autem quibuscum 
 conjunctissime viverat, ipsis in praecordiis collocatus." — The Poetical 
 Works of the late Ch. Ansiey, Esq., with some Account of his Life, etc., 
 1808, 4/0, p. Ix.
 
 48 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 In the same year the thanks of the General Court 
 of Governors was forwarded to the Medical and 
 Surgical officers of the Hospital " for the trouble they 
 had taken in collecting and arranging materials for 
 publishing the effects of Bath Water on the Patients 
 of this Hospital in Paralytic Cases," and directions 
 were given that they should be printed at the expense 
 and for the benefit of the Hospital, and be advertised 
 as such. These cases were published in 1787, under 
 the title of " Narrative of the Efficacy of the Bath 
 Waters in various kinds of Paralytic Disorders, 
 admitted into the Bath Hospital from the end of 1775 
 to the end of 1785, with particular relations of Fifty- 
 two of their Cases."* This work was dedicated by 
 the Physicians and Surgeons of the Hospital to the 
 President, Lord Vernon, and other Governors of the 
 Hospital. 
 
 In 1788 two benefactions were made to the Hos- 
 pital funds, deserving of notice : one of an hundred 
 and fifty pounds from T. BOWDLER, Esq., the produce 
 of the sale of the copyright of his letters, written in 
 Holland in the year 1787 ; the other, £20, from Miss 
 H. M. Bowjdler, being a further part of the profits 
 arising from the sale of the late Miss BOWDLER'S 
 " Poems and Essays, printed for the benefit of the 
 Hospital."t The profits of this publication were at 
 
 * Several of these cases are deserving of attention. They were 
 taken from the Hospital Records of Cases, and arranged for publica- 
 tion, it is believed, by William Falconer, M.D., F.R.S., who was for 
 five and thirty years Physician to the Hospital, and the author of 
 several works of acknowledged merit on the Bath Waters, and other 
 medical, as well as literary subjects. 
 
 f "As the profits arising from the sale of these poems and essays 
 were applied to the benefit of the General Hospital at Bath, the 
 writer's benevolent efforts seem to have been doubly useful, contribut- 
 ing at once to relieve the bodies and instruct the minds of her fellow
 
 Chapter I. 49 
 
 intervals given to the Hospital by Miss H. M. Bown- 
 LER ; on the 25th Aug., 1802, when the last sum 
 appears to have been paid, they amounted altogether 
 to £600. An edition of this work was published in 
 the Cabinet Library, 1824. 
 
 In 1 79 1, the Governors of the Hospital appointed 
 a Committee " to inquire into the expediency of build- 
 ing a new Hospital," and the subject was also submitted 
 to the consideration of the Medical Board of the Charity, 
 who reported strongly and unanimously against its 
 removal. The Governors having decided against the 
 erection of a new Hospital, took into their consideration 
 plans offered by Mr. BALDWIN, who was the architect 
 of the Town Hall, the Pump Room, and adjoining 
 Baths, for enlarging and improving the present build- 
 ing. The subject, however, of the removal of the 
 Hospital was again revived and discussed at great 
 length, until January, 1793, when another architect, 
 Mr. PALMER, proposed a plan for adding a new story 
 over the front of the present hospital, which was 
 agreed to, and the contract for erecting it was sealed 
 on the 6th March following. An account of the dis- 
 cussions which arose on the proposal to remove the 
 Hospital between 1791 and 1792, is given in a 
 pamphlet entitled, " An Address to the Governors of 
 the Bath Hospital on the propriety of extending the 
 benefits of that humane and laudable Institution, by 
 several of the Governors, 1792.'' During the period 
 which was occupied by protracted discussions, an 
 
 creatures. After the approving testimony of so distinguished a 
 character as William Melmoth, Esq., and the sanction of the public 
 by the rapid circulation of numerous and large editions, it can scarcely 
 be necessary to add anything commendatory." — Preface to the Cabinet 
 Edition,/, viii. — See MonklancTs Literature and Literati of Bath, /. 
 42, and Bath and Cheltenham Gazette, March 7, 1855, for notices of 
 Miss Bowdler's family.
 
 50 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 attempt had been made, but without success, for the 
 accommodation of applicants, who were numerous, 
 for admission to the charity. In 1795, the two new 
 wards constructed by Mr. PALMER were named 
 ■ Nash's " and " Colston's " Wards, the former of which 
 was in this year completed for the reception of 
 patients. In the same year also the Hospital became 
 possessed of shares in the Assembly Rooms by the 
 death of Lord ROKEBY, Primate of all Ireland, who 
 bequeathed them to the charity for the support of two 
 patients, who are to this time known as the Primate 
 of Ireland's patients. 
 
 On the 1st May, 1806, the question of erecting a 
 new Hospital was once more revived, and a portion of 
 ground available for the purpose, in the neighbourhood 
 of the Hot Bath, was reported on, and its capabilities 
 considered. It seems, however, that on this occasion 
 the subject was allowed to drop by common consent, 
 as no final decision regarding it is recorded. 
 
 At the close of 1808, the following entry appears 
 in the Hospital minute book of that year, to which 
 recent events have given a more than ordinary 
 interest : — " Major Thomas Fitzgerald, one of the 
 Executors under the last will of General JOSEPH 
 Smith, who bequeathed Five Hundred Pounds to the 
 Hospitals in Bath, issuing out of a debt due to the 
 testator by the NABOB OF Arcot, having applied for 
 the concurrence of the Governors of this hospital 
 jointly with the other legatees to receive the said 
 legacy in proportionable parts, as the said debt shall 
 be paid, ordered that the same be acceded to." It is 
 somewhat remarkable that this legacy had been over- 
 looked by the representatives of the different charities 
 to which it was bequeathed up to September 13th, 
 1859, when some information regarding it was inci-
 
 Chapter I. 5 1 
 
 dentally given to FREDERICK Dowding, Esq., who 
 in consequence proceeded to make the necessary 
 enquiries, and by consent of the representatives of the 
 General Hospital, the United Hospital, and Bellott's 
 Hospital, ultimately caused a petition to be presented 
 to the Court of Chancery, in order to obtain the sums 
 due to those Institutions. From a report on this 
 subject, presented by Mr. DOWDING to the Municipal 
 Charity Trustees, it appears that on the 20th April, 
 1790, JOSEPH Smith, Esquire, formerly a Brigadier- 
 General in the service of the East India Company, 
 made his will of this date, and thereby bequeathed 
 numerous legacies, and amongst them he gave " five 
 hundred pounds to the different Hospitals at Bath, to 
 the relief of such objects as are annually sent to them." 
 The testator died on the 1st Sept., 1790, at Bath, and 
 was buried in the churchyard at Weston, near that 
 city, and his will shortly after proved by his Executors. 
 On the 22nd Feb., 18 14, a suit was instituted for the 
 management of the testator's affairs, and by an order 
 of the same date it was directed that the interest on 
 the legacies should be computed at the rate of four 
 per cent, per annum from the 15th of May, 1804; 
 and that sum which was due to the hospitals of Bath 
 should be paid into the bank with the privity of the 
 Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery, to be 
 placed to the credit of the cause, subject to the further 
 order of the Court. From this time, until Sept., 1859, 
 the interest had accumulated, and also the dividends 
 from the sum invested in the funds. No investment 
 was made after the year 1 83 1 . The Court of Chancery 
 complied with the terms of the petition, and the sum 
 ultimately paid to each of the Hospitals, after the 
 expenses were deducted, amounted to £652 7s. 9d. 
 stock, and £403 os. 7d. in cash : total, £1,055 ^ s - 4^-
 
 52 
 
 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital 
 
 A tomb and monument, erected by the widow of 
 General Smith, at Weston, were in i860 repaired and 
 restored at the expense of the authorities of the three 
 hospitals who benefited by the above legacy — viz., 
 the President and Governors of the Bath General or 
 Mineral Water Hospital ; the Municipal j Charity 
 Trustees, as managers of Bellott's Hospital ; and by 
 the Trustees and Committee of the Bath United 
 Hospital* 
 
 Among the donations made to the Hospital in 
 1 810 was the sum of ^50 4s. iod., being the profits 
 arising from the sale of a Poem, called ''The Months,"*)" 
 
 * On a monument to the memory of General Smith, in the parish 
 church at Weston, near Bath, is the following inscription : — 
 "Sacred to the Memory of 
 BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOSEPH SMITH. 
 In early life he entered the military service of the East India Company at 
 Madras ; and by making the duty of a soldier his study and employment, 
 he added to distinguished bravery professional knowledge ; when, advanced 
 to the supreme Command, his conduct was altogether worthy of the trust 
 reposed, while every military accomplishment established his reputation in 
 public ; the social virtues were amply displayed in his private retirement. 
 Universal charity was the habitual practice of his life ; and hope well- 
 founded his support at the approach of Death. He departed this life at 
 Bath, on the ist of September, 1790, in the 57th year of his age. " This 
 monument, in addition to one erected over the General's remains in the 
 adjacent Churchyard, was placed here by his disconsolate widow. 
 On the monument in the churchyard is this inscription : — 
 '•' Here is deposited the noblest work of God : an honest man, a brave 
 officer, a loving and affectionate husband, a generous and most sincere 
 friend, 
 
 GENERAL JOSEPH SMITH. 
 Who departed this life, September 1, 1790, aged 57. Regretted'by all. " 
 
 t There is a little history attached to this book. The author, to 
 begin with, was a direct descendant from Peter Sherston, son of William 
 Sherston, Mayor of Bath in Queen Elizabeth's reign. The book is a 
 small quarto, beautifully printed on paper made at Combe Down Mills. 
 It was bound in Bath, and was therefore in all respects a Bath book. 
 There is a frontispiece and other illustrations, engraved after originals 
 by T. Barker. The work was published by subscription, the price 
 of each copy was half-a-guinea. Barker died in 1S47, and is buried in 
 Weston Churchyard.
 
 Chapter I. 53 
 
 by Peter SHERSTON, Esq., who resided at Stoberry, 
 near Wells. The work was published in 1809, for the 
 benefit of the General Hospital. 
 
 In the same year, namely, in 18 10, the Committee 
 of the Bath City Infirmary and Dispensary having 
 communicated to the Governors of the Hospital a 
 resolution not to claim any legacy unless bequeathed 
 specifically to the Bath City Infirmary or Dispensary, 
 it was ordered that the said resolution be filed with 
 the papers of this Hospital. 
 
 In 181 8, a proposal was made to add another ward 
 to the Hospital at the Eastern or Union Street side of 
 the building, as the number of invalids waiting for 
 admission was forty-two. This proposal, however, 
 was not adopted, inasmuch as it was considered that 
 the erection of a ward in the situation contemplated 
 would obstruct the access of light, and preclude the 
 free ventilation of the building. 
 
 In 1824, the following minute appears in the 
 proceedings of the Committee : — "The bequest of Mr. 
 RICHARD Jones, of Dursley, in the County of Glou- 
 cester, in his will, bearing date 31st day of May, 181 1, 
 giving the sum of £250, three per cent, stock, to the 
 Governors of this Hospital on condition that two 
 out-patients and one in-patient should be annually 
 admitted into this Hospital, which was acceded to ; 
 but as there are no out-patients, it was proposed that 
 the three patients should be all admitted as in-patients, 
 and that the Treasurer do execute an undertaking in 
 writing, in conformity to the said will to that effect ; " 
 which was done in the early part of the year 1825, 
 " on behalf of the Governors, to be delivered to the 
 executors of the late Mr. JONES, who had acceded to 
 the proposal that the three patients should be all 
 received as in-patients." Patients coming from Dursley
 
 54 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 under the above provision, and not exceeding the 
 number mentioned, are admitted into the Hospital 
 without prepayment of " caution money." 
 
 In 1826, the payment of Strode's annual gift for 
 poor lepers, coming to the Leper's Bath at Bath, 
 together with arrears, was directed by the Court of 
 Chancery, upon an application made by the President 
 and Governors, founded on a report of the Commis- 
 sioners appointed to inquire into Public Charities, to 
 be then and subsequently paid into the funds of the 
 General Hospital, as the objects intended to be re- 
 lieved by this gift are now provided for by that charity. 
 This gift was made by ELIZABETH STRODE, of Down- 
 side, in the county of Somerset, by will, dated March 
 20, IJ12. The sum annually received by the Hospital 
 on account of this bequest amounts to Five Pounds. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1826, at a General Court, 
 "Charles Phillott, Esq., reported from the execu- 
 tors of the late Dr. Perry that the following sums in 
 the public funds, £26,064 4s. id. 3 per cent. Consols, 
 and £3,216 6s. $d. in the new 4 per cents., are now 
 become the property of this Hospital, but as annuities 
 are still to be paid amounting to £90 per annum, the 
 executors propose keeping the latter sum in their hands 
 to pay the same, handing over the surplus of the divi- 
 dends to the Treasurer of the Hospital." 
 
 On June the 21st, 1826, application was made to 
 the President and Governors of the Hospital on behalf 
 of Mr. THOS. Perry's sisters and niece for them to 
 receive the proceeds of the stock up to the time of 
 Air. Perry's decease, namely, in March of this year. 
 The estate was not considered by the applicant liable 
 to pay the Annuities of this year, as they were not due 
 until the May succeeding Mr. THOMAS PERRY'S 
 decease, Dr. PERRY having died in May, 1825. In
 
 Chapter I. 55 
 
 reply to this application, the President and Governors 
 considered that both questions raised in the application 
 should be decided by the Executors of the will of the 
 late Dr. WILLIAM PERRY, as they could not undertake 
 to decide legal points or " dispose of any property 
 belonging to the Hospital otherwise than for the 
 benefit of the Patients." 
 
 On the 26th July, 1826, at a General Court, "Mr. 
 TuGWELL, one of the executors of the will of the late 
 Dr. William Perry, having attended this meeting 
 and having proposed that in consequence of the death 
 of the late THOMAS PERRY, Esq., the legatee for life 
 of the residue of the property (subject to certain 
 annuities charged thereon), the stock now constituting 
 such residuum, after deducting the legacy duty and 
 other necessary charges — should be transferred into the 
 names of the President and Governors of this Hos- 
 pital, that the annuities now due should be paid out of 
 the dividends received in the present month, and that 
 such annuties should in future be paid by the Hos- 
 pital instead of the executor." This proposal was 
 acquiesced in by the Governors, and their thanks given 
 to Mr. TUGWELL for his attention to the interests of 
 the Hospital on this occasion. In memory of Dr. 
 William Perry's munificent bequest, one of the new 
 wards in the older portion of the Hospital building has 
 been recently named " Perry's Ward." 
 
 Until the year 1827, two sermons had been annually 
 preached in the Churches and Chapels of Bath, one in 
 April and another in December, for the benefit of the 
 Hospital. From this time the December sermon only 
 was preached. Upon what grounds this alteration was 
 made does not distinctly appear, as upon this point the 
 minutes are imperfect. It seems, however, that some 
 remonstrance was made upon the subject by the Arch-
 
 56 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 deacon of Bath and the Rector of Walcot. The follow- 
 ing extract from reasons given against the charge by 
 one of the Governors who dissented from it, affords 
 almost the only clue to the discussion which followed 
 the proposed alteration : " Because it seemed more 
 prudent to maintain a diminished number of patients 
 for one year upon the remainder of the revenue of the 
 Hospital, permanent and contingent, unaided by collec- 
 tions of contributions at the several Churches and 
 Chapels of this city, in order to leave to the Dispensary 
 and United Hospital the undivided benefit which 
 might be derived from such collections, and at the ex- 
 piration of that period of one year to report to the 
 public, what number of patients the Governors were 
 actually enabled to admit, and whether the late acces- 
 sion of property accruing from the bequest of the late 
 Dr. Perry had superseded all future appeals to their 
 liberality." 
 
 The change, however, was effected, and only one 
 sermon is now annually preached at the churches and 
 chapels for the benefit of the Hospital. During recent 
 years, the proceeds from these sermons have materially 
 diminished in amount. 
 
 At the latter part of 1828, it was decided that the 
 whole Hospital should undergo a complete examina- 
 tion, preparatory to its entire repair, and it was order- 
 ed that on and after the 1st of January, 1829, no more 
 patients should be admitted than could be received into 
 the wards which were not being repaired. On this 
 occasion arrangements were made for introducing 
 warm air into the wards, and also gas — in the earlier 
 days of the Charity the wards were lighted by means 
 of lanterns — and for the ventilation of the Hospital 
 generally. Greatly, however, as these improvements 
 contributed to the comfort of the patients, the most
 
 Chapter I. 57 
 
 important change, in many respects, was the erection 
 of Baths in the Hospital for the use of the Waters by 
 the patients, and thus rendering it unnecessary for 
 them to be carried to the Hot Bath for the purpose of 
 Bathing. The introduction of the Mineral Water into 
 the Hospital was due to a suggestion made by the 
 then Resident Apothecary, Mr. BUSH, who received the 
 cordial thanks of the President and Governors for his 
 proposal. 
 
 The repairs of the Hospital were completed about 
 the middle of 1829. The Baths, however, were not com- 
 pleted until the 25th Jan., 1831, when they were for 
 the first time used by the Patients, as it was necessary 
 not only to obtain the consent of the Corporation to 
 draw the water from their springs, but also to obtain 
 an Act of Parliament for powers to introduce the 
 Mineral Water into the Hospital, and to lay down 
 pipes for its conveyance through the public thorough- 
 fares from the King's Bath Spring to the Hospital, 
 which Act did not receive the Royal assent until the 
 2nd June, 1830. 
 
 On the 29th of December, 1827, at a Special 
 General Court, a letter, dated 14th Nov., 1827, was 
 read from Messrs. COUTTS and Co., Bankers, London, 
 stating that, by the decease of Lieut.-Col. Frederick 
 SACKVILLE, late of the Bengal Army, who died at 
 Richmond, Surrey, on the 18th of October, 1827, the 
 sum of ;£ioo had been left to the Hospital, and £50 
 to twelve widows, residing in Bath, of known respect- 
 ability, and each having a family of not fewer than 
 three children, and labouring under sickness, misfor- 
 tune, and poverty. These widows were to be selected 
 by the Governors of the Hospital, within the space of 
 twelve months after the decease of the testator, and in 
 
 5
 
 58 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital, 
 
 the event of the Governors of the Hospital not making 
 the selection within the time directed, then it was to 
 be made by the Society of Noblemen and Gentlemen 
 instituted in Bath for the Relief of Poverty in Distress. 
 The letter from Messrs. COUTTS stated, that the 
 testator had left property in England and also in 
 India, and that as the former did not quite suffice for 
 the discharge of the bequests made under the will, it 
 would be necessary to obtain information as to the 
 Indian property before they were paid. It was not 
 until the nth of December, 1828, that Messrs. 
 COUTTS were able to state that they were in a position 
 to pay the legacies bequeathed by Col. Sackville's 
 will ; consequently the period had elapsed during 
 which the Hospital Governors were empowered to 
 select the twelve widows. As, however, the power 
 had been lost by circumstances over which the Gover- 
 nors had no control, they were still desirous of 
 making the selection, but as the terms of the will were 
 imperative, it was ultimately arranged, that considering 
 the peculiar features of the case, a statement should 
 be made to the Society upon whom the selection 
 devolved, and that a request for joint action in the 
 matter should be made, which was agreed to, and on 
 the 2nd of February, 1829, arrangements were com- 
 pleted by the Governors appointed by the Hospital 
 and the Society for the Relief of Poverty in Distress, 
 for the selection of the recipients of Colonel Sack- 
 ville's bounty. 
 
 On the 17th of October, 1829, Mr. W. B. Farnell 
 died ; who had been for nearly forty-four years House 
 Apothecary to the Hospital. In consequence of his 
 increasing infirmities — he was eighty years of age when 
 he died — and in consideration of the faithful and
 
 Chapter L 59 
 
 assiduous manner in which he had performed the 
 duties of his office, the Governors, in February, 1828, 
 had appointed an assistant to him. In October of the 
 following year, being incapable of any longer discharg- 
 ing his duties, a successor was appointed, and at the 
 same time a resolution was passed, that Mr. Farnell 
 be "maintained and lodged in the house at the expense 
 of the Institution, and that every possible attention 
 which can contribute to his personal comfort be paid 
 him." Not long after this resolution was passed, Mr. 
 Farnell died, and the Committee being desirous of 
 giving further expression to their appreciation of his 
 character and regard for his memory, requested the 
 attendance of the members of their body at his funeral, 
 which took place on the 23rd of October, 1829, at the 
 Abbey. Near the place of his interment was erected 
 a tablet to his memory by a friend, and his portrait is 
 in the Hospital Board-room. Mr. FARNELL left by 
 will a legacy of two hundred pounds to the Hospital.* 
 During the period when the draft for the new Act 
 of Parliament for obtaining a supply of Mineral Water 
 to the baths in the Hospital and for other purposes, 
 was under the consideration of the Governors, a 
 question arose as to the legality of the admission into 
 
 * " On Monday, a neat tablet was placed in the Abbey Church to 
 the memory of Mr. Farnell, late apothecary to the Bath General Hos- 
 pital, bearing the following inscription : — 
 
 ' Near this place lie the remains of W. B. Farnell, Apothecary for 
 nearly forty-four years to the General Hospital in this City. He died 
 Oct. 17, 1829, aged 80 years. His faults are before his Maker ; man 
 must remember his good deeds. He was a benefactor to the Hospital 
 by bequest, and more so by his virtues and example. The grateful, when 
 they see his name, will speak of him and praise God. Stranger, as thou 
 can'st, lessen the evils of life. This memorial is placed here by a Friend, 
 who may thus cherish gratitude in others, and is bound to testify his 
 own.' " — Bath Chronicle, Dec. 16, 1829.
 
 60 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 the Hospital of persons residing in Bath. This 
 question was referred to counsel, whose opinion was in 
 favour of their admission, consequently a clause was 
 inserted into the draft of the act declaratory of such 
 right. The Bill, as amended in the Committee and in 
 the House of Commons, was read at a special General 
 Court and approved, and- the corporate seal affixed to 
 it on the 17th of May, 1830. 
 
 This question, however, was revived on the 2nd of 
 May, 1 83 1, when it was moved that the opinions of 
 the Attorney and Solicitor-General, should be taken 
 upon the construction of the Act as to the right of the 
 poor of the City of Bath to be admitted to this 
 Hospital. An amendment was proposed to this 
 motion : — That the original intention of this Hospital, 
 as expressed in the preamble of the Act of Parliament, 
 excluding the inhabitants of the City of Bath, be 
 acted on." The amendment was carried, eleven voting 
 in favour of it, and nine against it. But on the 1st of 
 May, 1835, " It was resolved that the resolution which 
 was passed on the 16th of November, 1743, which 
 declared the Inhabitants of Bath to be excluded from 
 admission to the Hospital, be rescinded, and that they 
 be henceforth admissible conformably with the express 
 declaration of right contained in the fourth section of 
 the original Act of Parliament." This resolution was 
 carried by twenty-four votes to eleven.* 
 
 The discussion which the above intricate question 
 originated was carried on with much earnestness. A 
 most full and masterly examination of the subject was 
 made by the Rev. Thos. Falconer, M.D., which 
 received high legal commendation. 
 
 * The more this subject is examined, the more certain does it 
 appear that the intention of the founders of the Hospital was to confine 
 its benefits to "poor strangers. "
 
 Chapter I. 61 
 
 Since this time the inhabitants of Bath have been 
 admitted to the Hospital, though comparatively few 
 avail themselves of the advantage, which indeed is 
 not surprising when the facility for obtaining gratuitous 
 baths afforded by the regulations established by the 
 Corporation is taken into consideration. 
 
 On the iothof May, 1832, a vacancy having occurred 
 in the office of House Apothecary, Mr. Henry James 
 Prince was elected to that situation. This occurrence 
 only deserves notice from the fact that the gentleman 
 then elected became well known from his connection 
 with an establishment in Somersetshire called the 
 " Agapemone." 
 
 In 1836, a legacy of £600 was left, duty free, to 
 the Hospital by one who himself, as well as his father, 
 had been always interested in the welfare of the 
 charity — PRINCE Hoare.* 
 
 In 1840, a proposal was made to the Governors by 
 Francis H. Falkner, Esq., one of the Vice-Presi- 
 dents of the Hospital, to provide an exercising ground 
 for the patients, by the purchase of the Bath Rectory 
 House and premises, which it was understood was then 
 for sale. The proposal was favourably received, and 
 an offer made for the purchase of the Rectory House, 
 which was declined. Out of this resolution, however, 
 arose those beneficial alterations and additions to the 
 Hospital which have recently been completed, greatly 
 to the advantage of the patients and the better and 
 more complete administration of the Charity, and of 
 which a fuller account will be presently given. 
 
 * Prince Hoare was born in Bath, in 1755, and was educated as a 
 sculptor, though better known as a dramatist. — Vide Monkland 's Sup- 
 plement to " The Literature and Literati of Bath," pp. 51, 52.
 
 Chapter BE. 
 
 In 1842, the Hospital having been opened for a 
 period of one hundred years, it was determined to issue 
 a Centenary Circular setting forth the great advan- 
 tages of this Institution. Fifteen hundred copies of 
 this circular were distributed throughout the kingdom, 
 several being sent " to every county in England and 
 Wales, addressed to the Resident Ministers of the 
 Parishes containing the largest population." 
 
 It was proposed at the same time to celebrate this 
 period by making some addition to the accommoda- 
 tion for the patients, but no measures were taken in 
 this direction. 
 
 At a General Court held on the 1st of May, 1843, 
 amended By-laws were approved, and ordered to be 
 submitted to the Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, and 
 the Justices of Assize for the county of Somerset, for 
 their sanction, after which they were printed, together 
 with an abstract of the Acts of Parliament relating to 
 the Hospital. 
 
 In April, 1846, the Governors determined on pub- 
 lishing Annual Reports of the Institution. The only 
 document which had up to this period been given 
 annually to the public consisted of the names of the 
 Officers and Governors of the Charity, together with 
 an abstract of the Hospital accounts, the names of 
 the Subscribers, and the laws by which the admission 
 of patients were regulated. The first Annual Report 
 was drawn up by the late W. SUTCLIFFE, Esq., and
 
 Chapter II 63 
 
 submitted to the President and Governors at their 
 annual meeting in May of that year. 
 
 On the 1st of April, 1847, the attention of the 
 Governors was a second time directed to the acquisi- 
 tion of the Rectory House and grounds, and a Sub- 
 Committee was appointed to report on the expediency 
 of their endeavouring to purchase this property. No 
 report, however, was made ; but the subject was fully 
 considered in the annual report submitted to the 
 Governors on the 1st of May. This report was re- 
 ceived, and a motion made for the appointment of a 
 Sub-Committee to ascertain the value of the property, 
 and the adaptation of it to the purposes of the Hospital. 
 This motion, however, was withdrawn, as the General 
 Committee stated that it was not their intention to 
 enter into any agreement for the purchase of the pro- 
 perty without again bringing the subject before the 
 General Court. Nothing more was done in the matter 
 for more than two years, when in December, 1849, 
 directions were given to renew the negociations for 
 the purchase of the property. On the 20th of Decem- 
 ber, a letter was received from the solicitor of the 
 Rector of Bath, in which a schedule of the property 
 was given, and the purchase money definitely fixed at 
 ^3,700. On the receipt of this communication it was 
 resolved, that " the purchase should be completed 
 forthwith on the terms proposed." But on the 27th a 
 second letter was received, " by which it appeared that 
 a difficulty exists respecting the sale of the Rectory 
 House, inasmuch as the Rector would be deprived of 
 the income arising from the purchase money until it 
 were re-invested in other property in the parish, for 
 which he has at present no desire." 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1850, a General Court was
 
 64 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 specially held to consider the proceedings which had 
 taken place in reference to the purchase of the Rectory 
 House, and also a letter from the solicitor for the 
 estate, to the effect that arrangements might be made 
 with the commissioners of " Queen Anne's Bounty," 
 by which the alleged difficulty might be overcome, and 
 suggesting an application to that body. This course 
 was approved by a large majority. What took place 
 between the above date and the 28th of November is 
 not recorded, but on the last-named day directions 
 were given for the payment of the costs of the pro- 
 ceedings for the purchase of the Rectory House and 
 premises, and the Committee recorded their regret that 
 the negociations for the acquisitions of the property had 
 failed. 
 
 In 185 1, in consequence of the Hospital accommo- 
 dation being inadequate to meet the increased number 
 of applications for admission, it was proposed that 
 additional wards should be made on the western side 
 of the Hospital, and estimates and plans were prepared. 
 It was, however, very properly suggested that, as the 
 outlay for this purpose would be large, it was desirable 
 to relinquish the proposed plan, and endeavours made 
 to obtain a site for the erection of a new Hospital. 
 This view was adopted by a General Court of Gover- 
 nors on the 29th January, 1852, and on the 5th Febru- 
 ary, a site was submitted to them for consideration. 
 
 From this time until May 1st, 1854, the greatest 
 activity prevailed in endeavouring to obtain an eligible 
 locality for a new Hospital ; the reports, letters, and 
 negociations, were various and numerous, exhibiting an 
 anxious desire to do whatever was in the power of the 
 Governors to carry out their unanimous decision to 
 remove the Institution to another situation. No less
 
 Chapter II. 65 
 
 than six sites were brought under their consideration, 
 namely, Sydney Gardens ; a plot of ground near 
 Manvers Street ; land in St. James's Street, between 
 Seymour Street and Norfolk Buildings ; a portion of 
 the Freemen's Estate, situated between the Victoria 
 Park and Upper Bristol Road, below Marlborough 
 Buildings ; ground in the Villa Fields ; and a site near 
 the North Parade Bridge. The most desirable of the 
 above sites, namely, the Sydney Hotel, could not be 
 obtained by the Governors ; the residents in the 
 neighbourhood objected to the erection of a Hospital 
 near them, and the owner of the property, Lord 
 WILLIAM POWLETT,* yielded to their representations. 
 In another instance the sum required was larger than 
 the Governors considered themselves authorised to 
 expend ; in another, the difficulties in the transmission 
 of the waters, and the distance from the spring, 
 precluded its being selected. 
 
 One site seemed for some time likely to be deter- 
 mined on, namely, the portion above-mentioned of the 
 Freemen's Estate ; and considerable pains were taken 
 to investigate the possibility of conveying the water 
 with undiminished, or but slightly diminished tempera- 
 ture and unimpaired properties to that locality. On 
 this subject a report was made by Professor Maske- 
 LYNE, of Oxford. But one important feature was 
 omitted in the investigation, namely, whether at the 
 proposed distance from the spring a sufficiency of 
 w r ater could be supplied for the Hospital Baths, without 
 materially diminishing the quantity of water necessarily 
 required for the King's Public Bath, and the adjoining 
 private baths. Had this point been suggested for con- 
 sideration, it would have been found at once fatal to 
 
 * Afterwards third Duke of Cleveland.
 
 66 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 the removal of the Hospital to the Freemen's Estate. 
 
 At a General Court, held May 1st, 1854, the 
 President and Committee reported to the Governors 
 the reasons which induced them " to suspend all 
 operations regarding the building of a new Hospital," 
 which received the approval of the Court. The grounds 
 on which this decision was founded were afterwards 
 published in the form of a pamphlet, entitled, u A 
 Brief Statement of the Reasons which induced the 
 President and Governors of the Bath Mineral Water 
 Hospital to decide upon retaining the Hospital on its 
 present site, and upon purchasingthe adjoiningpremises 
 with a view to its enlargement." — May, 185S. 
 
 In 1855, on Thursday, the 15th of March, the 
 following resolution was passed in consequence of an 
 intimation that a large number of invalided and 
 wounded soldiers returning from the Crimean war 
 were about to pass through Bath, and which was 
 highly creditable to the Hospital authorities, and is 
 well worthy of being remembered : — " The Mayor of 
 Bath AY. HUNT, Esq.) having undertaken to provide 
 accommodation for one night (on Friday next), for 
 one hundred and thirty of the sick and wounded 
 soldiers from the Crimea on their way from Ply- 
 mouth to Chatham ; it was resolved that the 
 twenty beds in Queen's Ward be set apart for their 
 use, and the men be supplied with a Dinner, Tea, 
 Breakfast, and that every attention be paid to their 
 comfort ; Major Baker and Mr. MOXKLAND under- 
 taking to superintend the necessary arrangements." 
 
 A like praiseworthy arrangement was made by 
 the authorities of the Bath United Hospital for the 
 accommodation and entertainment of a second portion 
 of the soldiers in that Institution, and a third portion
 
 CJiapter II 6j 
 
 was provided for at the Guildhall, the Banqueting 
 Room in that building being converted for the time 
 into a dormitory for the convenience of the soldiers. 
 
 In the early part of 1856, when it became known 
 that the Hospital was about to be enlarged, an effort 
 was made to incorporate Bellott's Hospital with the 
 General Hospital ; but some legal, as well as other 
 obstacles, were raised, which prevented this desirable 
 and beneficial arrangement from being carried into 
 execution. 
 
 About the close of the same year, Government 
 being desirous of trying the efficacy of the Mineral 
 Waters in the treatment of several diseases to which 
 soldiers are exposed during active service, application 
 was made by the Director-General of the Medical 
 Department of the Army for the admission of a 
 limited number of soldiers. This was acceded to 
 and several were admitted and occupied a ward in 
 the Hospital for about a year. The result of this 
 experiment, it is understood, was satisfactory ; the 
 number of soldiers who recovered and benefited by 
 the use of the waters amounted to seventy-five per 
 cent, of the number admitted. 
 
 In June of this year an opportunity presented 
 itself of opening a fresh negociation with the late 
 Rector, Bishop CARR, to purchase the Bath Rectory 
 House and premises, was gladly embraced by the 
 Governors, which eventually proved successful, though 
 many difficulties presented themselves ; in the same 
 month a portion of the purchase money was paid, 
 and the remainder in 1857, but it was not until May 
 the 1st, 1857, that any decisive steps were taken to 
 procure funds for the contemplated alterations and 
 additions to the Hospital, on which day William
 
 68 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Long, Esq., commenced the subscription on his 
 being elected President of the Charity ; on which 
 occasion, also, the late JAMES Brymer, Esq., made 
 a munificent donation, accompanied with a certain 
 condition, which will be subsequently mentioned. 
 From this time the Governors were occupied in 
 considering different plans prepared by Messrs. 
 Manners and Gill, and in making appeals to the 
 whole country for funds to carry out the wishes of 
 the Governors. Additional property in the neigh- 
 bourhood was also bought, so as to give the fullest 
 possible space for the contemplated arrangements. 
 
 After much deliberation by the Building Committee 
 appointed to consider the subject, a plan was submitted 
 to a General Court of Governors, on the 29th of 
 December, 1858, by which it was proposed to erect a 
 new and capacious building, connected with the 
 present Hospital, to include two large Day-rooms (one 
 for male and the other for female patients), a Chapel, 
 Board-room, Rooms for the officers of the Establish- 
 ment, etc., etc., with a convenient airing-ground for the 
 patients. It was also proposed that when the building 
 was completed, the old building should undergo 
 rearrangement, the provisions for applying the Mineral 
 Water should be improved, and the present board 
 rooms and officers' rooms should be converted into 
 wards. This plan, which was prepared by Messrs. 
 MANNERS and GILL, received the unanimous approval 
 of the Court, and was directed to be carried into 
 execution. On the 14th of March, 1859, the work 
 was commenced by pulling down the Rectory House. 
 The removal of this and adjoining buildings, and the 
 trenching ground for the foundation of the walls, 
 occupied the time from March until the end of May
 
 Chapter II 69 
 
 when the work was sufficiently advanced to allow 
 arrangements to be made for commencing the new 
 building. 
 
 The 4th of June was fixed on for laying the 
 foundation stone of the new edifice. Considerable 
 interest was shown in this day's proceedings by the 
 residents and visitors of Bath, and the citizens 
 generally. The Mayor and Town Council, with the 
 Members — W. TlTE, Esq., and A. Way, Esq. — and 
 Magistrates for the city, assembled at the Townhall, 
 where they were met by the President and Governors 
 of the Hospital, the Lord-Lieutenant of the County, 
 the Bishop of the Diocese and the Clergy, and also by 
 a large number of influential gentlemen of the city 
 and neighbourhood. A procession was formed, headed 
 by the children of the Blue Coat Schools, which took 
 the route of Cheap Street and Union Street to the 
 Upper Borough Walls ; at the junction of the last- 
 named thoroughfares the road was spanned by an 
 arch of evergreens bearing various inscriptions. 
 
 On arriving at the site of the intended building, 
 which was enclosed and surrounded with galleries 
 thronged with spectators, those forming the procession 
 took up the places assigned to them ; the Lord 
 PORTMAN, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Mayor, 
 the President, and the Governors, assembling near the 
 foundation-stone. The proceedings commenced by 
 the children of the Blue Coat Schools chanting the 
 first and second verses of Psalm cxxvii., and the first, 
 second, and third verses of Psalm xli., together with 
 the Gloria Patri^ at the conclusion of which the 
 Bishop delivered the following prayer : — 
 
 "O God the Father, King of heaven and earth, by whom alone any 
 work of charity can prosper, and who hast abundantly blessed the
 
 jo Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 establishment of this Hospital for healing the sick and needy of our 
 land, look favourably, we pray Thee, upon the undertaking we have 
 this day commenced. Grant that this building, the foundation stone of 
 which is now to be laid, may be for the further benefit of Thine 
 afflicted poor. We know, O God, that no remedy can be effectual 
 unless Thou blessest it. Bless, then, we pray Thee, the use of the 
 waters of this city, and grant that they may be made powerful by 
 Thee to restore health to the sick, as the pool of Bethesda was to 
 give strength to the palsied. O Lord Jesu Christ, Son of the Father, 
 who art the great Physician of souls, look favourably on the labours 
 of those who shall be appointed to minister to the bodily cure of 
 the inmates of this Hospital. Bless the means which they use to 
 relieve the suffering, and strengthen the weak. May they look to 
 Thee for guidance, acknowledging that to Thee belong the issues of 
 life and death ! O Holy Spirit, inspire and assist Thy servant, who 
 is appointed to minister to the sick in holy things, and whom Thou 
 hast appointed to watch for souls as one that must give account. 
 Teach the afflicted to profit by his instruction, to do and to suffer 
 Thy will, knowing that in Thy love Thou affiictest them. Make 
 them to know that in whatsoever way they may be dealt with, Thy 
 will is best for them, and may they cheerfully acquiesce in Thy 
 dispensations ! Incline the inhabitants of this city to be diligent in 
 ministering to the necessities of those who may be sent here for the 
 healing of the waters. Stir up those who are blessed with this 
 world's goods to have pity on the sick and needy, and to give alms of 
 their substance for the support and maintenance of this house of 
 mercy for those who need the healing of these waters. Teach them 
 to give bountifully, with cheerfulness and simplicity, as unto Thee, 
 that they may, through Thy boundless mercy, be found amongst 
 those to whom Thou wilt at last say, ' I was a Stranger, and ye took 
 Me in; sick, and ye visited Me.' Grant these petitions, O Lord, for 
 the glory of Thy Name, through Jesu Christ our Lord. Amen." 
 
 The Lord's Prayer was then said by the Bishop, 
 and repeated by the assemblage. 
 
 The Right Honourable the Lord PORTMAN then 
 proceeded to lay the foundation stone, first, however, 
 placing two bottles into receptacles made for them in 
 the nether stone ; one of which contained seventeen 
 coins of the present realm, including a five-sovereign 
 piece, the gift of the late James Snaith Brymer,
 
 Chapter II. 71 
 
 Esq. ; the other the following statement engrossed on 
 
 vellum : — 
 
 THE BATH GENERAL OR MINERAL-WATER HOSPITAL. 
 
 Incorporated by Act of Parliament, iyjp. 
 
 The following statement comprises a brief account of the proceedings 
 connected with the erection of the additional building to the Bath 
 General or Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 In the year 1840 it was thought to be desirable that an exercising 
 ground should be provided for the patients of the Hospital, and for 
 this purpose the Governors endeavoured to purchase the Rectory-house 
 and premises of the parish of St. Peter and St. Paul, contiguous to the 
 Hospital on its western side. The endeavour to purchase this property 
 proved unsuccessful. 
 
 In 1847 negociations were renewed for the purchase of the Rectory, 
 and continued until 1850, but were again fruitless. 
 
 In 185 1 the accommodation for patients in the Hospital was found 
 inadequate to meet the increasing number of applicants for admission, 
 and suggestions were entertained for adding to the upper story of the 
 Hospital, which were eventually relinquished. 
 
 In 1852 a proposal was considered to rebuild the Hospital on a new- 
 site ; several localities were submitted for consideration both in this and 
 the succeeding year, but various circumstances, and among them the 
 impossibility of removing the Hospital to a distance from the Mineral 
 Springs, prevented the adoption of any of them. 
 
 In 1855 the attempts to purchase the Rectory-house and premises 
 above-mentioned were renewed, and this time with success, and in 1S57 
 the purchase of this property was completed and various plans prepared 
 and considered by the Governors. 
 
 In 1857, May 1st, a subscription for the erection of an additional 
 building to the Hospital was commenced by William Long, Esquire, 
 on his being elected President of the Charity. 
 
 In 1858, December 29th, at a General Court of the Governors, a 
 plan on which it was proposed to erect the new building was adopted, 
 which included day rooms, a chapel, a board room, and officers' 
 apartments, etc. 
 
 In 1859, March 14th, the work was commenced by pulling down the 
 Rectory-house. 
 
 On the 4th June, 1859, the first stone of the new building was laid 
 by the Right Honourable the Lord Portman, Lord-Lieutenant of the 
 County, Custos Rotulorum, etc., etc. 
 
 The Lord Bishop of the Diocese, Lord Auckland, assisted at the 
 ceremony.
 
 J 2 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital 
 
 At this time William Long, Esquire, was President of the Hospital, 
 and Randle Wilbraham Falconer, Esquire, M.D., one of the 
 Physicians of the Hospital, was Mayor of the City. 
 
 The Committee to whom the ordering and management of all 
 matters relating to the new building and the alterations in the old one 
 were delegated consisted of the following Governors : — The President 
 for the time being ; James S. Brymer, Esq. ; David Johnston, Esq. ; 
 James Heywood Markland, Esq., D.C.L. ; Jerom Murch, Esq. ; 
 George Monkland, Esq. ; Randle Wilbraham Falconer, Esq., M.D. ; 
 and William Long, Esq. The Physicians and Surgeons of the Hospital 
 were as follows : — Physicians — Thomas Sanden Watson, Esq., M.D. ; 
 Randle Wilbraham Falconer, Esq., M.D. ; Charles Coates, Esq., M.D. ; 
 Surgeons — Richard Francis George, Esq. ; George Leighton Wood, 
 Esq. ; John Stothert Bartrum, Esq. Resident Apothecary — Charles 
 Terry. The Rev. W. A. Smith, M.A., Chaplain. Benjamin Starr 
 was Registrar of the Hospital. Miss Charlotte E. Brooke, Matron. 
 George Phillips Manners and John Elkington Gill were the Architects 
 of the Building, and William Melluish, Clerk of the Works. God 
 prosper the charitable undertaking. 
 
 These memorials were then covered by a brass 
 plate bearing this inscription : — 
 
 " God Prosper the Charitable Undertaking." 
 
 The First Stone 
 
 of the 
 
 ADDITIONAL BUILDING 
 
 to the 
 
 BATH GENERAL or MINERAL WATER 
 
 HOSPITAL, 
 
 Was laid on the 4th day of June, in the year of 
 
 our Lord, 1859, 
 
 By the Right Honourable 
 
 THE LORD PORTMAN, 
 
 Lord-Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the 
 
 County of Somerset. 
 
 WILLIAM Long, Esq., M.A., President. 
 
 Benjamin Starr, Registrar. 
 
 Randle Wilbraham Falconer, M.D., Mayor. 
 
 George Phillips Manners and 
 
 John Elkington Gill, 
 
 Architects. 
 
 William Melluish, Clerk of the Works.
 
 Chapter II. 73 
 
 Mortar having been spread, the foundation stone 
 was slowly lowered to its appointed place, a band 
 meanwhile playing the Hallelujah Chorus. This being 
 done, the Lord PORTMAN went through the usual 
 proceeding of trying the level, etc., of the stone, and 
 finally striking it at each corner, saying as he did so, 
 " I declare this stone to be duly laid in the NAME OF 
 the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost. Amen." Then, turning to the audience, his 
 Lordship spoke as follows : — 
 
 11 I now certify to you here assembled that the foundation stone of 
 what is intended to be an additional building to the Mineral Water 
 Hospital is truly laid. I have had the honour of holding in my hand 
 the trowel which was used more than a hundred years ago in laying the 
 foundation stone of the other part of the building. May God bless the 
 new building as it has pleased Him to bless the old one ! and may the 
 bounty, the liberality, the good feeling, not only of the inhabitants of 
 the county of Somerset, but of those of the adjoining counties, whose 
 poor and afflicted are relieved by the waters of this city, contribute to 
 complete this building in a way that is worthy the charitable feeling of 
 this great nation. I am aware, as you all are doubtless aware, that a 
 sufficient sum has already been contributed to justify the ceremony we 
 are now going through ; but we all know that in the progress of works 
 of this kind increased assistance is always wanted. I trust that that 
 increased assistance will not fail to be rendered by those who live 
 farther off from Bath than the inhabitants of the county of Somerset, 
 and the county of Gloucester, and the county of Wiltshire, who send 
 their patients here for the relief of the healing waters. I also trust that 
 those who carry back to distant parts of England the recovered 
 health and the benefits which the waters have afforded them, will 
 induce, as they have induced, distant friends to assist in this great 
 undertaking. It is one of the happiest things that can befall any one 
 who holds her Majesty's commission, and who is the chief military 
 officer of the county, to be called on to assist in inaugurating the new 
 building. I am the more happy because I have associations with this 
 great city of Bath. I have affections going back some generations. 
 The fact that two relatives of mine were restored to health by the 
 healing properties of your waters makes me particularly pleased to be 
 called upon to officiate on this occasion. It has pleased God to bless 
 this locality with healing waters, and it is the duty of man to make the 
 
 5
 
 74 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 best use of them, and to make them as beneficial to his fellow-creatures 
 as he possibly can. I trust that what we have originated to-day will 
 result in greatly increased benefit to those who suffer." 
 
 His Worship the Mayor said: — "Mr. President, my Lords and 
 gentlemen ; as representing the municipal body and citizens of Bath, 
 on this occasion, I trust that you will allow me to offer to you and the 
 Governors of the Bath General Hospital, their and my own sincere 
 and cordial congratulations on this auspicious commencement of a very 
 charitable and valuable undertaking. I feel assured that the great body 
 of the citizens of Bath are deeply interested in the welfare of an 
 institution which ranks among the earliest established Hospitals of the 
 kingdom — which is peculiar as respects the object which led to its 
 foundation — and which admits within its portals, without distinction, 
 the sick, and at the same time needy natives and residents of England, 
 Scotland, Ireland, and the principality of Wales. Regarded in this 
 last aspect, it is truly a national charity, and therefore it claims support 
 from the whole of the United Kingdom. But though a national 
 charity, it has its claims upon every citizen of Bath, inasmuch as it is 
 the public and faithful exponent of the virtues and efficacy of those 
 healing springs which it has pleased Providence graciously to place in 
 this locality, and to which the origin, importance, and continued 
 celebrity of this city are mainly attributable. As the custodians of the 
 mineral springs, I hold it to be the paramount duty of every citizen to 
 promote the means specially instituted for their employment, which 
 duty cannot be more effectually fulfilled than by cherishing that Hospital 
 which has been committed to their keeping by the piety of our fore- 
 fathers. I cannot conclude without expressing my conviction of the 
 obligations the citizens of Bath are under to the President of the 
 Hospital. I know full well how anxiously, how zealously, how 
 sincerely, he has endeavoured in every way to promote the prosperity of 
 the Hospital, and especially the success of the present undertaking. 
 But should the public be slow to recognize, as they too often are, such 
 services, he has gained that which neither public approval nor public 
 neglect can make or mar, the happy consciousness of having strenuously 
 endeavoured to advance, for the sick poor of our common country, the 
 welfare of an institution within whose walls his name will ever be 
 kindly remembered by his associates, and can never be disconnected 
 from the pleasing event of this grateful day. " 
 
 The President, in addressing the meeting, said : — " My Lord 
 Portman, my Lord Bishop, Mr. Mayor, ladies, and gentlemen, — One 
 hundred and twenty-two years have passed away since the first stone of 
 the adjoining building was laid by Mr. Pulteney, afterwards Earl of 
 Bath. Since the Hospital was opened for the reception of patients in
 
 Chapter II 75 
 
 1742, 39,137 persons have been received within its walls, of whom 
 11,535 have been restored to their homes cured, and 19,293 relieved. 
 With such abundant evidences of the wonderful virtues and efficacy of 
 the Bath Waters in curing many diseases for which ordinary medical 
 treatment might have been sought in vain, it was natural that the 
 Governors should consider it their bounden duty to take advantage of 
 the earliest opportunity that presented itself for enlarging and improving 
 the Hospital. Through the kindness of Bishop Carr, the present 
 Rector of Bath, the obstacles to the purchase of the piece of ground 
 upon which we are assembled were overcome ; the site was secured, 
 and is now the property of the Governors of the Hospital. We have 
 to-day commenced the great work of erecting the new building, and we 
 look forward to its completion as a means of supplying the deficiencies 
 of the present contracted building, and of providing accommodation 
 for patients during the day-time (the want of which has long been felt), 
 a chapel, board-room, and apartments, and new offices for the officials 
 of the institution. I take this opportunity of stating that the present 
 building will be converted into a dormitory for the inmates, and when 
 re-arranged, not only will the comforts of the patients be increased, but 
 we shall be able to provide twenty additional beds, which, if public 
 liberality will enable us to fill them, will allow of nearly one hundred 
 more patients being passed through the Hospital in the course of a year 
 than can be done at present. Let us hope that the work which has 
 this day been so auspiciously inaugurated by your Lordship, may be 
 carried on to a prosperous conclusion. Let us hope that no contretemps 
 may arise in the course of its progress, and that no accident may befall 
 any one engaged in the erection of the building ; but that in due time 
 it may be satisfactorily completed and opened for the use and benefit of 
 the patients. I am sure that, of all who are assembled upon the 
 present occasion, none more cordially and heartily wish ■ God speed ' 
 to our undertaking than your Lordship and the Lord Bishop of the 
 Diocese, and in the name of the Governors of this Institution I beg 
 to tender you our best thanks for attending here upon the present 
 occasion, and for taking part in the ceremony of the day." 
 
 The singing of the Old Hundreth Psalm, and 
 the pronouncing of the Benediction by the Bishop, 
 brought these interesting proceedings to a close. 
 As the numerous assembly dispersed, a collection 
 was made for the Hospital Building Fund, which 
 amounted to sixty pounds. In the afternoon, eighty
 
 y6 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital 
 
 gentlemen, consisting of members of the committee, 
 governors of the hospital, and others who had joined 
 in the proceedings of the day, were received by 
 the President at a cold collation at the York 
 House. 
 
 It should be mentioned that, on the morning 
 of the day on which the foundation-stone was 
 laid, a special meeting of the committee was held 
 for the purpose of opening and deciding on the 
 tenders for erecting the new building ; and a 
 contract was entered into with Mr. GEORGE C. 
 Mann for the execution of the mason's, carpenter's 
 and joiner's, plumber's, slater's and plasterer's, 
 smith's, bell-hanger's, glazier's, painter's, paper- 
 hanger's and gas-fitter's works, at the sum of £8,3 54. 
 The warming and ventilation were entrusted to 
 Messrs. Haden AND Son, of Trowbridge* 
 
 Having mentioned the names of those most 
 prominent in advocating the interests, and contri- 
 buting to the first establishment of the Hospital, 
 it is only just to mention by name those who were 
 among the principal contributors to the new build- 
 ing, namely: — H.R.H. the Prince of Wales ; The 
 Most Hon. the Marquis of Westminster ; The 
 Right Hon. the Earl Man VERS ; The Right 
 Hon. the Lord Portman ; James S. Brymer, Esq. ; 
 
 * The names of those who were concerned in the erection of the 
 new building are deserving of mention. J. Elkington Gill, Esq., 
 architect. G. C. Mann was general contractor, and he executed the 
 mason's work. His sub-contractors were: — Morgan and Lovell, 
 carpenters ; John Kerslake, plumber ; Cook and Son, slaters and 
 plasterers ; G. R. Packer, glazier and painter ; Haden and Son put 
 up the warming apparatus ; and H. Ezard, jun., executed the Carving 
 in the pediment and in the chapel.
 
 Chapter II. 77 
 
 John Brymer, Esq. ; John Borthwick, Esq. ; 
 P. B. Duncan, Esq., LL.D. ; T. H. King, Esq.; 
 William Long, Esq. ; J. H. Markland, Esq., 
 D.C.L. ; H. D. SKRINE, Esq.; W. TlTE, Esq., 
 M.P. ; A. E. WAY, Esq., M.P. ; Mrs. JOHN HlLL ; 
 and Mrs. James Brymer. 
 
 The contributions, however, of JAMES SNAITH 
 Brymer, Esq., to the improvement of the Hospital, 
 demands special notice. He gave One Thousand 
 Pounds for a ward in memory of, and to be called 
 " Archdeacon Brymer's Ward," after his late brother, 
 the Venerable William Thomas Parr Brymer, 
 M.A., Archdeacon of Bath. In addition to the 
 above, he gave £290 to the Building fund, and 
 afterwards £500 for the special embellishment of 
 the Chapel. These munificent gifts, as well as the 
 interest which Mr. Brymer manifested in the work, 
 the completion of which he did not live to see — 
 having died suddenly on the 1st of December, 
 1859 — fully merited the following resolution, passed 
 by the Committee shortly after his decease, namely : — 
 " That the Committee, with deep sorrow, desire to 
 record tJieir sense of the great loss sustained by 
 the sudden death of that munificent and much hon- 
 oured member of their body, James Snaith Brymer, 
 Esq. 
 
 " The earnestness with which he entered into 
 every question affecting the welfare and prosperity 
 of this Hospital ; his constant and zealous attendance 
 at the meetings of the Committee ; the frank and 
 cordial kindness of his manner ; the especial interest 
 he took in the erection of the new building ; and 
 the noble liberality by which he so materially 
 promoted that undertaking, are fresh in the re- 
 membrance of every one.
 
 yS Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital 
 
 u The providing a suitable place of Divine 
 Worship was ever an object dear to his heart, 
 and his gift of £500 will enable the Governors to 
 meet his wishes by completing this in a manner 
 befitting in all respects the House of God. This 
 subject continually occupied his later thoughts, and 
 as he had made provision for perpetuating the 
 memory of his brother, the late Archdeacon of Bath, 
 in connexion with one of the new Wards, so will 
 the Chapel, which owes so much to his munificence, 
 be ever associated with the memory of himself. 
 
 " It has pleased the Almighty Disposer of all 
 things to call him home before he could see the 
 termination of the work in which he was so deeply 
 interested ; " but in the words of the Annual Report 
 (1859): — "So long as the new building shall endure, 
 the lively interest which he ever took in its erection, 
 and his large-hearted liberality, will not cease to 
 be remembered in connexion with it." — From the 
 Annual Report for i860. 
 
 In consideration of these beneficent acts, and 
 as an acknowledgment of personal regard and 
 affection, the Governors, at their individual cost, 
 have inserted into the southern wall of the ante- 
 chapel, a window to the memory of Mr. Brvmer, 
 which represents the incidents recorded in the parable 
 of the Good Samaritan. 
 
 It will be remembered that on the 1st of May, 
 1857, WILLIAM Long, Esq., commenced the sub- 
 scription for the enlargement and improvement of 
 the Hospital on being elected President of the 
 Charity, which important office, by the unanimous 
 choice of the Governors, he occupied for three 
 years, during which time, the unwearied attention
 
 Chapter II. 79 
 
 he devoted to the supervision of the progress of 
 the new building, and the personal exertions he 
 made to obtain funds for its successful completion, 
 are deserving of great commendation, and fully 
 justified the Quarterly Court of Governors, held 
 on the 1st of May, i860, when he retired from the 
 office of president, in unanimously agreeing to the 
 following resolution : — 
 
 " A t this meeting the Governors would express 
 the deep sense which they entertain of the eminent 
 services wJiidi have been rendered to this Hospital 
 during the last three years, by their late President, 
 William Long, Esq. To his judicious and un- 
 tiring labours are owing the wise arrangements by 
 which a large amount of funds for the erection of 
 the adjoining buildi?ig has been obtained and the 
 good progress which has been made in that fabric 
 since the foundation-stone was laid. Their thanks 
 must not be limited to one service, however important, 
 as, during the lengthened period that Mr. Long 
 has filled the President's chair, his faithful and 
 punctual discharge of the several dtities of his office* 
 and his care and attention in promoting the best 
 interests of the Hospital in EVERY WAY have been 
 unremitting, and entitle him to the warmest thanks 
 of his brother Governors, of the Subscribers, and 
 the public? 
 
 In 1859, GEORGE KlTSON, Esq., who had for- 
 merly held the office of Surgeon to the Hospital, 
 died ; and the following resolution, dated June 16th, 
 of this year, deservedly commemorates his valuable 
 services to the Hospital, and is worthy to be 
 mentioned here: — 
 
 " The Committee desire to record their sense of
 
 So Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 the loss they have sustained by the death of GEORGE 
 KlTSON, ESQ. He was elected a Governor in 1810, 
 and a Surgeon of the Institution, in 181J. He held 
 this later office, the duties of which lie performed with 
 zeal and close attention, for twenty-five years, during 
 the greater part of which tune he was associated with 
 Dr. Barlow. After his resignation of this office, 
 in 18+2, he continued, as governor, to take a lively 
 interest in all that concerned the welfare of the 
 Hospital, and his last public act in connection with 
 it was to attend the ceremony of laying the first stone of 
 the additional building on the 4th of June. The 
 Committee gratefully recognise Mr. KlTSOX's long 
 and valuable services in connection with this in- 
 stitution!' 
 
 On the 1st November, i860, a special meeting 
 of the Committee was called by the President, " to 
 consider the tenure of this Hospital under the Master 
 and Co-Brethren and Sisters of St. John's Hospital, 
 which would be materially affected by the scheme 
 for the order and management of the charity after 
 the decease of the present master, which it was 
 understood would be submitted for approval to the 
 Court of Chancery, by the Municipal Charity 
 Trustees. It was stated that by this scheme no 
 more renewals of lives would be permitted, but 
 that the existing leases would be allowed to expire 
 with the lives for which they are now held, depriving 
 the Lessees of the right they were supposed to 
 enjoy of perpetuating the holding, by renewing a 
 life for a fine of one year's value, — a custom which 
 had prevailed for a very long period, and on the 
 faith in the continuation of which many improve- 
 ments and bargains had been effected." As this
 
 Chapter II 81 
 
 proposal, if carried out, was considered as " liable 
 to affect very injuriously the interests of the 
 Hospital," a Sub-Committee was appointed " to 
 consider and report to the General Committee, as 
 to the steps it would be thought right to take." 
 The Sub-Committee subsequently held a Conference 
 with a deputation of the Municipal Charity Trustees, 
 who, in consideration of the nature and importance 
 of the Charity, consented to submit and recommend 
 to the Charity Trustees the following proposal : — 
 
 "That a clause should be inserted in St. John's scheme to grant 
 the fee of the site of the Mineral Water Hospital to the President and 
 Governors, at a Ground Rent of Five Pounds, to be paid to S. John's 
 for ever, and secured in the usual way, such ground rent to commence 
 on the immediate surrender of the existing lease for three lives." 
 
 On the 29th of November, it was reported to 
 the General Committee, " That the Bath Charity 
 Trustees had, at their Meeting on the 20th inst., 
 resolved to receive the report, and adopt the recom- 
 mendation of their (the Hospital) Sub-Committee, 
 with the addition ' that if the Hospital under any 
 circumstances shall be removed from its present 
 site, the site should revert to the Trustees of St. 
 John's Hospital,' and that application should be 
 made to the Charity Commissioners when they have 
 power to do so." 
 
 On the 10th November of the same year, " His 
 Royal Highness the Prince of Wales was declared 
 to have become a Governor of the Hospital, by virtue 
 of a donation of One Hundred Pounds to the Build- 
 ing Fund, from the revenues of the Duchy of 
 Cornwall? 
 
 On the 1st day of January, 1861, the following 
 resolution was unanimously passed at a Quarterly
 
 82 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Court of the President and Governors of the Hos- 
 pital, with reference to the decease of three 
 Governors of the Hospital, two of whom, independent 
 of their connection with the Charity, were well-known 
 and esteemed by the citizens of Bath for many 
 years : — 
 
 " That this Meeting desire to record their deep 
 regret at tlie loss of three of the Governors of the 
 Hospital since the last Quarterly Court: — of Mr. 
 Halliday, whose useful services as a member of the 
 Committee will long be thank f idly remembered ; of Mr. 
 NORMAN, who filled the office of Governor for thirty - 
 one years, and who in this, as in all other Institutions 
 with which he was connected, displayed the kindness, the 
 judgment, and ability to which his fellow-citizens have 
 so abundantly testified at his funeral ; and of Mr. 
 Philip George, who for fifty years a Governor, 
 during the greater part of that time legal adviser to 
 the Hospital, and more recently a Vice-President, and 
 who in all these relations, BUT ESPECIALLY AS THE 
 Legal Adviser, in which he evinced great judgment 
 and liberality, obtained from his contemporaries, 
 through various generations, their sincere respect, and 
 will be deeply lamented with more than common 
 sorrow, by all who are now attached to the Hospital!' 
 
 Between this period and the assembling of the 
 General Court on the 1st of May, nothing of more 
 than ordinary interest occurred. By the report then 
 presented, the Governors were informed that the 
 architect stated that the whole of the new building 
 would be ready for occupation about the beginning 
 or middle of July, and the attention of the Court 
 was directed to the arrangement which should be 
 made for opening that building.
 
 Chapter II. 83 
 
 On the 27th of June, the Bishop of Bath and 
 WELLS and LORD PORTMAN, having intimated that 
 it would be convenient to them to attend at Bath for 
 the purpose of assisting at the opening of the new 
 building, the nth of July was fixed upon for the 
 proposed ceremony. A programme of the proceed- 
 ings was arranged, and Sub-Committees for carrying 
 it out were appointed.
 
 Chapter JtH. 
 
 On the nth of July, 1861, a few days more than 
 two years from laying the foundation-stone of the 
 new building, it was opened for the reception of 
 patients. In the morning of that day the President 
 and Governors of the Hospital, with the Clergy 
 of the City and neighbourhood, and several of their 
 friends, met the Mayor and Town Council, and 
 Magistrates, at the Guildhall, on leaving which, the 
 following procession was formed : — 
 
 Hanoverian Band. 
 
 Blue Coat Schools. 
 
 Clergy. 
 
 Aldermen and Town Councillors. 
 
 Mayor's Officers. 
 
 Town Clerk. The Mayor. City Treasurer. 
 
 W. Tite, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Country Gentlemen and Visitors. 
 
 The Architects. 
 The Hospital Building Committee. 
 
 The Lord-Lieut. : The President : The Lord Bishop : 
 LordPORTMAN, J. MURCH, Esq., Lord AUCKLAND, 
 
 The Rev. W. A. Smith & The Rev. J. C. Tasker. 
 The Governors of the Hospital. 
 
 The procession took the route of High Street, 
 Cheap Street, Union Street, to the new building ;
 
 Chapter III. 85 
 
 those officially connected with the Hospital, and 
 their friends, proceeded to the Board Room, where 
 were displayed numerous offerings for the Chapel, 
 the Sacramental vessels given by Mrs. William 
 Long; altar cloths and " fair linen," by Mrs. James 
 BRYMER ; altar books by Mr. MACKARNESS ; the 
 Bible and Prayer Book for the Reading desk by 
 Mr. MONKLAND ; the altar chairs by Mrs. J. 
 ELKINGTON Gill ; seat and kneeling stools for 
 the pulpit and reading desk by Mr. JOHN RAINEY; 
 and an alms box by Mr. THOS. Knight. The 
 cushions at the altar and for the communicants were 
 worked and presented by Mrs. J. BRYMER, Mrs. 
 A. Smith, Mrs. Markland, the Misses Palmer, 
 
 Miss MONKLAND, Miss CROSS, Miss BROWN, of 
 Uley, and Mrs. and the Misses FALCONER. 
 
 The President, having taken the Chair, made a 
 few preliminary remarks. The thanks of the Gover- 
 nors were then given to the donors of the offerings 
 above enumerated, and the meeting proceeded to 
 the Chapel. The prayers and lessons were read by 
 the Hospital Chaplain, the Rev. W. A. Smith, 
 assisted by the Rev. J. C. Tasker ; and the chanting 
 was performed by a choir, directed by Mr. Pond. 
 The Sermon was preached by the LORD Bishop 
 OF BATH AND WELLS. At the termination of 
 the service a collection was made for the Hospital 
 Fund, which amounted to £129. After a brief 
 interval, the public assembled in the men's day ward, 
 known as Archdeacon Brymer's ward, when the 
 President read an address, briefly recapitulating 
 several of the more prominent facts in the history 
 of the Hospital, setting forth its advantages, and 
 indicating its possible effect on other localities where
 
 86 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 healing springs are found. After which the Mayor 
 addressed the meeting in congratulatory terms 
 upon the completion of the work, pointing out the 
 usefulness of the institution, and enumerating the 
 names of those who had aided in so commendable 
 an undertaking, as the improvement and enlargement 
 of so valuable a charity. 
 
 Lord Portman then spoke at some length, 
 referring first to the satisfaction he derived from 
 assisting at the completion of a work, to the com- 
 mencement of which he had contributed. He 
 observed that he could have wished that he had on 
 his right hand the Prince of Wales, " that he might 
 have testified, as it was his wish to have done, 
 his sincere desire to assist in the carrying out this great 
 work of charity, — the first great work of charity that 
 His Royal Highness assisted from his oiun purse" 
 He had every anxiety to come here, but the proposal 
 was made to him at a time when it was impossible 
 for him to set aside other engagements, which he 
 had made for his summer occupation. His Lordship? 
 in continuation, pointed out the benefits of the 
 Hospital to the sick and suffering, and the claims 
 which it has upon the whole community, and con- 
 cluded by offering his congratulations on the suc- 
 cessful efforts which had been made to erect the 
 new building, and expressed a hope that future 
 generations would do their utmost to preserve its 
 efficiency and usefulness. 
 
 The Lord Bishop of the Diocese availed himself 
 of the occasion to address some well-timed and 
 pertinent remarks to the patients and nurses of the 
 Hospital, pointing out their individual and relative 
 duties, and the true motives which should actuate
 
 Chapter III. 87 
 
 the latter in their careful attendance on the sick. 
 
 The National Anthem was then sung, and a 
 collection made for the Hospital Building Fund, 
 from those who had not attended the service in the 
 Chapel. 
 
 At the conclusion of these proceedings, a large 
 number of the Governors and their friends were 
 invited by the President to luncheon in the new 
 Board Room, and brought the proceedings of the 
 day to a close. 
 
 It is now necessary that the improvements added 
 to the Hospital by the new building should be des- 
 cribed. 
 
 The old and new Buildings are connected by a 
 bridge-way on the first floor, supported by pillars, 
 over Parsonage Lane, and below, by means of a 
 tunnel under the same thoroughfare. A spacious 
 hall and wide staircase occupy the centre of the 
 ground floor. In the former is placed a bust of 
 Ralph Allen, the gift to the Hospital of War- 
 burton, having on a shield, attached to the pedestal, 
 the following inscription : — 
 
 RADULPHO ALLEN, O.V., AMICITLE GRATIA, 
 H.M. PUB : POSUIT. GULS. WARBURTON. 
 
 On the right hand of the Hall is the Board-room, 32 
 feet long by 26 broad. This room contains numerous 
 portraits of founders and benefactors to the charity, 
 and some other paintings of interest connected with 
 its object.* On the same floor is a waiting room, 
 
 * The following is a list of the paintings, etc., which are placed in 
 the Board-room of the Hospital : — 
 
 Northern «V/<?.— Portrait of Dr. Frewin (Frewen ?) of Oxford, a 
 benefactor, anno 1743.* Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Roffey, benefactors 
 
 * See Notes and Queries, 3rd Series, Part xxxii., p. 150.
 
 88 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 rooms for the resident Medical Officer, the Registrar 
 and Matron, Porter's Lodge, and the Dispensary. 
 On the left of the landing above, is the entrance 
 
 of ;£iooo, anno 1770. Portrait of John Donne, Esq., a benefactor, 
 1750. Lithographic portrait of P. B. Duncan., Esq., President of 
 the Hospital, 1S49. Tablet recording Mrs. Wignall's legacy to the 
 Hospital. A large painting by \Y. Hoare, Esq., Dr. Oliver and Mr. 
 Peirce, physician and surgeon, examining patients afflicted with 
 paralysis, rheumatism, and leprosy, anno 1742. Engraved portrait of 
 Mr. Allen. Tablet commemorating the centenary of the Hospital. 
 Illuminated copy of Latin verses, by the late Rev. F. Kilvert. 
 
 Western side. — A portrait of Ralph Allen, Esq., formerly in the 
 gallery of Prior Park, presented to the Hospital by James S. Brymer, 
 Esq., 1856. Plan of the Charmy-down estate, the property of the 
 President and Governors of the Hospital, 1858. Portrait, by Mr. 
 Gray, of Mr. W. B. Farnell, forty-four years apothecary to the 
 Hospital, and a benefactor in 1S29. List of Presidents of the 
 Hospital. 
 
 Southern side. — Mrs. Morris, wife of the first apothecary to the 
 Hospital, 1742. Mr. Morris, husband of the last named, anno 1742. 
 Engraved portrait of Lieut.-Gen. Sir William Cockburn, Bart., N.S., 
 formerly one of the vice-presidents of the Hospital. Engraved portrait 
 of Caleb H. Parry, M.D., F.R.S., physician to the Hospital from 1800 
 to 1817. Engraved portrait of Edward Barlow, M.D., physician to 
 the Hospital from 1819 to 1844. 
 
 Eastern side. — Portrait of Ralph Allen, bequeathed to the 
 Hospital by the late Cap. Montagu Montagu, R.N. Portraits of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Morris, father and mother of the first apothecary to the Hospital. 
 Portrait, by Wm. Hoare, Esq., of Henry Wright, Esq., surgeon to the 
 Hospital, 1742. Portrait of Richard Nash, M.C., 1742. Record of 
 a bequest of ^600, by Prince Hoare, Esq. Copy of Van Houe's map 
 of Bath. Painting, by William Hoare, of Hygeia. Photographic 
 portrait of Gen. Jervois, K.H., Colonel of the 76th foot, formerly Vice- 
 President of the Hospital. Engraved portrait of Henry Harington, 
 M.D. Photographic view of the laying of the foundation stone of the 
 new building added to the Hospital. Portrait of W. Hoare, Esq., by 
 himself, 1742. Portrait of Daniel Danvers, Esq., Treasurer of the 
 Hospital 1760, by W. Hoare, Esq. 
 
 Bust of Ralph Allen in the entrance-hall. Busts of Mr. Peirce 
 and Dr. R. W. Falconer on the first landing.
 
 Chapter III. 89 
 
 to the women's day room, which is 78 feet long, by 
 26 feet wide. On the opposite side of the landing, 
 is the entrance to the men's day room, which is 70 
 feet long, by 43 feet wide. Both day rooms are 22 
 feet high ; they are lighted by sun-lights in the 
 evening, are warmed by fire-places and a warm air 
 apparatus ; and care has been taken to render the 
 ventilation as complete as possible. They each have 
 on the southern side, a balcony overlooking the 
 exercise ground, which is laid out with gravel walks, 
 and borders and shrubs. And, on its eastern side, 
 an ample shed for the accommodation of the patients. 
 In the men's day-room, which has been named 
 Archdeacon Brymer's Ward, there is a plate 
 attached to the northern wall, on which is engraved 
 the following inscription : — 
 
 ARCHDEACON BRYMER'S WARD. 
 THE LATE JAMES SNAITH BRYMER, ESQ., GAVE 
 
 ONE THOUSAND POUNDS 
 
 TOWARDS THE ERECTION OF THIS BUILDING, ON CONDITION THAT 
 
 A WARD SHOULD BE NAMED IN MEMORY OF HIS BROTHER, 
 
 THE VENERABLE THOMAS PARR BRYMER, 
 
 LATE ARCHDEACON OF BATH, CANON OF WELLS, 
 
 AND FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THIS HOSPITAL. 
 
 OPENED JULY XI. MDCCCLXI. 
 
 The chapel, which owes so much of its beauty 
 to the late James Brymer, Esq., is highly credi- 
 table to the architect, the late J. ELKINGTON Gill, 
 Esq., and to Mr. H. Ezard, Jun., the carver, 
 working under the architect's direction. On the 
 left hand of the entrance to the Chapel, a circular 
 brazen plate is inserted into the wall, bearing the 
 following inscription : —
 
 90 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 THE LATE 
 
 JAMES S. BRYMER, ESQ., 
 
 PRESENTED FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS 
 
 TO BE SPECIALLY APPLIED 
 
 TO THE HOLY ADORNMENT OF THIS CHAPEL, 
 
 FOR THE PROMOTION OF 
 
 THE REVERENT WORSHIP OF 
 
 ALMIGHTY GOD, 
 
 1859. 
 
 On the opposite side is a stained-glass window, 
 representing a tree, with a label bearing the follow- 
 ing texts : — 
 
 " / was glad when they said unto me, Let us go 
 into the house of the Lord." 
 
 " Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew 
 a rig] it spirit within me. Purify me with hyssop, 
 and I shall be clean : wash me and I shall be whiter 
 than snow." 
 
 On the right hand side of the ante-chapel is the 
 memorial window, erected by the President and 
 Governors of the Hospital, to the memory of the 
 late J. S. BRYMER, Esq., in which are represented the 
 incidents described in the parable of the good 
 Samaritan. In the lower compartment, the good 
 Samaritan is pouring wine and oil into the wounds 
 of the traveller. In the middle he has placed the 
 wounded man on his own beast ; and in the upper, 
 he is providing the host, with the sum for the 
 support of the sufferer, who is reclining on a bed. 
 Above the upper department is the text, " Whatso- 
 ever more thou spendest, I will repay thee." And
 
 Chapter III. 91 
 
 below the lower compartment, the following inscrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 TO THE GLORY OF GOD, 
 
 AND 
 
 IN MEMORY OF JAMES S. BRYMER. 
 
 The whole is encompassed by a vine bearing grapes, 
 beyond which is an ornamental bordure. 
 
 Opposite to this window is an organ made by 
 Sweetland, of Bath, which was purchased by sub- 
 scription, and erected in the chapel, by permission 
 of the President and Governors of the Hospital, on 
 the opening of which, on the 3rd of December, 1862, 
 three special services were held, and collections made, 
 which amounted to .£53 $s. \od. 
 
 The ante-chapel is divided from the Chapel by 
 three arches. The caps of the pilasters are finely 
 carved, each representing a different subject — the 
 water buttercup, the wild poppy, three fish, the fig- 
 tree, two birds drinking from a cup, the pomegranate, 
 the phoenix and the pelican, being here used for 
 decorations. 
 
 The five two-light windows in the southern wall 
 are also of stained glass. In the tracery at the 
 top of each, a coat of arms is inserted, viz., the arms 
 of the Brymer family, the Bath arms, the Royal 
 arms, the Prince of Wales's arms, and the arms of 
 the See of Bath and Wells. The caps of the centre 
 shafts and of the Devonshire marble columns on 
 the sides of these windows, are carved with the 
 serpent and the apple ; thorns and thistles ; the vine 
 and lily ; the passion flower ; palm and crown ; the 
 pomegranate and trefoil. 
 
 The apsis is lighted by seven circular-headed 
 windows, the subjects in these all refer to Scriptural
 
 92 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 incidents connected with water, viz. : the baptism 
 of Jesus by St. John Baptist ; Christ at the pool of 
 Siloam, healing the sick ; Christ washing the feet 
 of His disciples ; the baptism of the Eunuch by St. 
 Philip ; Christ and the woman of Samaria at the 
 well ; Naaman the Syrian in the waters of the 
 Jordan ; and Moses striking the rock. 
 
 The caps of the marble columns of these windows 
 exhibit carved emblems of the Passion — the chalice, 
 the crown of thorns, the cross with the passion flower, 
 wheat and grapes, the spear, hyssop, and scourge, 
 the hammer and pincers, and the nails. The crown 
 of apsis is coloured blue and spangled with stars, 
 with rays of glory, the rays being carved in stone. 
 The arch itself is supported by four columns of 
 marble, on the caps of which are carved symbols of 
 the Four Evangelists. The soffit of the arches is 
 enriched with panels, and the arch in front has the 
 passion flower, finely sculptured in bold relief. 
 
 The pulpit is of white lias from Clandown. 
 The corbel supporting the pulpit is formed of two 
 storks elegantly sculptured, surrounded by bulrushes. 
 The three panels forming the body of the pulpit 
 have the monogram I.H.S., a Maltese cross, and 
 an emblem of the Trinity carved on them. The caps 
 of the columns are carved representations of the 
 rose and lily, the delicate and excellent workmanship 
 of which are deserving of special attention. The 
 reading desk is an eagle, carved in oak. 
 
 The panelled ceiling is enriched with boldly 
 rendered mouldings of the white lily, and the four 
 transverse beams are adorned with olive branches. 
 
 Around the walls of the chapel, immediately 
 underneath the cornice, there are selections from
 
 Chapter III 93 
 
 the Te Deum in red letters on the stone : — 
 
 " We praise Thee, God : we acknowledge Thee 
 to be tJie Lord. 
 
 "All the Earth doth worship Thee : the Father 
 everlasting. 
 
 " To TJiee all A ngels cry alond. 
 
 " To Thee Cherubin and Seraphin : continually 
 do cry, 
 
 " Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth. 
 
 " Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty : of 
 Thy Glory. 
 
 " The Holy Church throicgJwut all the World : 
 doth acknowledge Thee!' 
 
 The corbels which support the four beams of 
 the ceiling, consist of figures of sacred characters : — 
 St. Peter, with an extract from the Te Deum, painted 
 on the ribbon in red letters, " THE APOSTLES 
 Praise Thee;" St. John the Baptist, with "The 
 Prophets Praise Thee" ; St. Stephen, with "The 
 Martyrs Praise Thee ; " David with his Harp, 
 with " Praise the Lord upon the Harp ; " 
 Moses the High Priest, with " Oh ye Priests, 
 Bless the Lord ; " and Three Archangels, with 
 " Oh, ye Angels, bless ye the Lord ; " " Peace 
 on Earth," and " Glory to God in the 
 Highest." 
 
 The floor of the ante-chapel and other parts of 
 the chapel are paved with red and black encaustic 
 tiles. The chapel is twenty-five feet by fifty-five 
 feet ; will accommodate 1 50 worshippers ; and is 
 furnished with substantial open benches made of 
 oak. 
 
 During the excavations for laying the foundation 
 of the new Building many Roman remains were
 
 94 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 discovered, comprising large portions of a tesselated 
 pavement of plain pattern, much earthenware, and 
 coins of the Lower Empire, together with a fragment 
 of an inscription on a marble slab, which possesses 
 considerable interest. An account of the latter, 
 with a list of the coins, earthenware, and bronze 
 and bone implements found in the locality indicated, 
 are given by the Rev. Prebendary SCARTH, in 
 vol. XI. of " The Proceedings of the Somersetshire 
 Archaeological and Natural History Society." These 
 remains were, on the 12th June, 1862, directed to "be 
 handed over to the Corporation of the City, to be 
 kept with other Roman Antiquities in the Literary 
 and Scientific Institution, with the understanding 
 that a separate case be provided for them, and a 
 catalogue made to identify the locality in which they 
 were found." * 
 
 On the 25th of July, the first General Court of 
 Governors was held in the new Board-room, on 
 which occasion the Court, in consideration of the 
 efficiency, long services, and probable increase in 
 the duties of the Registar, Mr. B. Starr, augmented 
 his salary from ,£105 to £125 a-year ; and, in con- 
 sideration of the special services rendered by him 
 in relation to the new Building, presented him with 
 a gratuity of Twenty Pounds. 
 
 * Among these remains is a fragment of an inscription on a marble 
 slab, which is deserving attention on account of its rarity in this country. 
 A tesselated pavement, which was discovered about the same time, has 
 been retained in situ, in the basement of the Hospital, so as to admit 
 of being easily examined. The work, entitled "Aqua? Solis," by 
 by the Rev. Prebendary Scarth, contains a full account of the 
 remains of Roman Temples, Villas, Altars, Coins, &c, discovered in 
 Bath and its neighbourhood, to which reference may be made for a de- 
 scription of the remains disclosed when excavating for the foundations 
 of the Hospital.
 
 Chapter III. 95 
 
 On the 1 2th of December, the Rev. W. A. Smith 
 resigned the office of Chaplain of the Hospital, 
 after having discharged its duties for four years 
 "with" — as expressed in the resolution passed on 
 his retirement — " the greatest credit to himself, satis- 
 faction to the Committee, and benefit to the patients." 
 The Rev. J. C. Tasker was elected to the office 
 of Chaplain thus vacated, on the 27th of the same 
 month. On the same day it was unanimously decided 
 that an address of condolence should be prepared, 
 and forwarded, by the President, through the proper 
 authorities, to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, on 
 the decease of H.R.H. the Prince Consort. 
 The reception of this address was duly acknowledged 
 by Major-General R. Bruce, Private Secretary 
 to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, on the 4th of 
 February, 1862. 
 
 On the 30th of January, 1862, the last portion of 
 a considerable legacy left by Mrs. WlGNALL became 
 the property of the Hospital, the history of which 
 is briefly recorded as follows, in a tablet hung in 
 the Board-room : — " This tablet is placed here by the 
 desire of the Executrix of the late Mrs. Ann 
 Wignall, of this city, for the purpose of recording 
 a legacy bequeathed to this Hospital by that lady, 
 of thirteen thousand three hundred and thirty-three 
 pounds six shillings and eight pence, consolidated 
 three per cent, annuities, contingent on the death of 
 Susannah Tubb, Edith Lyne, Harriet Bennett, and 
 Charlotte Burgess ; one fourth of the above sum 
 being directed by her will, to be transferred on the 
 death of each of the above parties. 
 
 " N.B. — £3000 consolidated 3 per cents, were 
 transferred the 6th of December, 1830, to the Presi-
 
 96 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 dent and Governors of this Hospital, by Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Mackey, the Executrix, on the death of 
 Charlotte Burgess above named, £333 6s. So 7 , stock 
 having been sold to pay the legacy duty thereon. 
 A second £3000, in March 1S50, on the decease of 
 Harriett Bennett. A third £3000, in February, 1854, 
 on the decease of Susannah Tubb. The fourth 
 £3000, in May, 1862, on the decease of Edith 
 Lyne." 
 
 In July, 1845, Mr. WILLIAM SLACK died, and by 
 his will, proved on the 6th August, 1847, he left a 
 sum of £50, to be annually paid to the Hospital ; 
 this sum has been so paid up to the end of the 
 year 1S61, but in 1862, it appeared that though it 
 had been regularly paid by his representatives, the 
 source from which it was derived was unequal to 
 the continuance of the payment, and some legal 
 difficulties arose which necessitated an application 
 to the Court of Chancery, the decision of which has 
 not yet been delivered.* 
 
 In July, the contemplated alterations and improve- 
 ments in the old Building were commenced. In 
 August, the number, of patients were diminished, 
 in order to facilitate the progress of the alterations, 
 which were completed in November, and the usual 
 number of patients was again admitted. 
 
 The alterations here alluded to consisted in the 
 conversion of the old Board-room and officers' rooms 
 into dormitories, the enlargement of one ward, and 
 the admission of a greater amount of light into all 
 the dormitories, by splaying the windows, and sub- 
 stituting plate glass for the ordinary glass ; the 
 
 * Has been decided, as may be seen in chapter IV.
 
 Chapter III. 97 
 
 construction of lavatories, reclining baths, vapour 
 baths, etc. By these and other means, the defects 
 of the old building have been removed and space 
 gained for additional beds. As by the alteration of 
 the old building, there was a new ward made, it 
 was determined that it should be called " Perry's 
 Ward," to commemorate Dr. William Perry's 
 munificent bequest to the Hospital, to which allusion 
 has been already made. 
 
 During this year, the decease of GENERAL 
 JERVOIS, an old Governor of the Hospital, is thus 
 noticed in the proceedings of the Committee : — " The 
 Committee, in recording the death of GENERAL 
 JERVOIS, K.G., a Vice-President, and one of the 
 oldest members of their body, desire at the same 
 time to place on record their deep sense of the loss 
 the Bath General Hospital has sustained in the 
 death of a Governor, held in such deserved respect 
 and esteem. Connected with the Hospital for a 
 period of twenty-five years, General JERVOIS ever 
 took a strong interest in all that concerned its 
 welfare ; and the remembrance of his warmth of 
 heart, and of his unwearied kindness and courtesy, 
 will ever be cherished here as elsewhere, by those 
 who enjoyed the privilege of his friendship." At a 
 later period a very admirable photographic portrait 
 of General JERVOIS was presented to the Hospital, 
 by his nephew, T. F. W. Walker, Esq., a Governor 
 of the Hospital, and was placed in the Board-room. 
 
 On the 1 2th of February, it was resolved to solicit 
 H.R.H. the Prince of Wales to be nominated 
 President of the Hospital. The application was 
 made in due form, but was unsuccessful, upon which 
 the Bishop of the Diocese, LORD AUCKLAND, was
 
 98 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 elected President for the year, on May ist, 1863. 
 
 On March the 10th, being the wedding day of 
 H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, with H.R.H. 
 Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the Hospital, 
 in common with other public buildings of the city, 
 was illuminated. 
 
 On the election of the Bishop of the Diocese 
 to the office of President, on the ist of May, 1863, 
 the services of the retiring President, who had held 
 that office for three successive years, during which 
 time the new Building had been finished, and opened 
 for the reception of patients, and the alterations and 
 improvement in the old Building brought to a 
 successful completion, were thus acknowledged by 
 the unanimous approval of the Court : — " That the 
 best thanks of the Governors be presented to 
 JEROM MURCH, ESQ., for the courtesy and constant 
 attention which he has devoted to the wants and 
 necessities of the Institution, during the important 
 period of its history, in which he has held the 
 office of President."
 
 Cbapter ill 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May ist, 1864. 
 
 /. Murch, Esq., President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that the increased accom- 
 modation provided by the enlargement and altera- 
 tion of the Building, had enabled the Governors to 
 admit a greater number of patients than had ever 
 before passed into the Hospital in one year. The 
 statistical tables show that 35 per cent, of these have 
 been perfectly cured and upwards of 30 per cent, 
 much relieved, which bears a very fair comparison 
 with the returns of previous years, while the average 
 stay of the patients in the Hospital has been short- 
 ened, thus realising the hopes entertained of the 
 beneficial results arising from the introduction of 
 day rooms and exercising ground, by means of which 
 a more perfect ventilation of the sleeping wards 
 during the day had been obtained, and thereby 
 justifying the very large expenditure which has been 
 incurred in the late improvements. The accommoda- 
 tion provided is for 85 males and 57 females. 
 
 The expenditure which has been incurred in the 
 erection of the new buildings has obliged the 
 Governors to draw rather largely on their capital, 
 thus causing to some extent a diminution of their 
 permanent income. The Committee have therefore 
 directed their attention to the probable necessity of
 
 ioo Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 seeking some more profitable mode of investment 
 for the funded property of the Hospital, and a special 
 meeting was convened on the 3rd -March, for the 
 purpose of taking this important subject into con- 
 sideration ; at the meeting it was deemed advisable 
 to take the opinion of counsel as to the power of 
 the Governors to change the mode of investment; 
 and they instructed Messrs. FALKNER, solicitors to 
 the Hospital, to prepare a case to be laid before the 
 Attorney-General, from whose opinion it appears 
 that the Governors have the power of varying the 
 investment in any manner they may deem advisable ; 
 it will therefore rest with the General Court to decide 
 what mode or modes of investment will best combine 
 increased profit with safety. 
 
 The income of the past year amounted to 
 ,£4,031 3s. 8d. ; the expenditure to £4,086 6s. lid., 
 showing an excess of expenditure of £55 3s. 3d., 
 but this includes a sum of ,£133 19s. 8d. paid from 
 the capital to the Building Fund. £343 14s. 8d. 
 have been received from Donations and £45 by a 
 Legacy from the late Sir Claude Wade. 
 
 The house at the end of Old Bond Street has 
 at last been removed, admitting a considerable 
 amount of light and air to the old part of the 
 Hospital, to the great benefit and comfort of the 
 patients. The Committee have to lament the deaths 
 of several of the oldest Governors of the Hospital — 
 Philip Bury Duncan, Esq., and Lord Midleton, 
 both of whom had been many years on the Com- 
 mittee and had both served the office of President ; 
 of Dr. JOHN Ford Davis, who was formerly a 
 V ice-President and had been a Governor since 1809, 
 and who had also been Physician to the Hospital 
 for 17 years; and the Rev. F. Kilvert, who had
 
 Chapter IV. 101 
 
 been a Governor for nearly 40 years ; also G. F. 
 Bush, Esq., and the Hon. P. S. Pierrepont. 
 
 The Report of the Committee with the Financial 
 Statement for the year was read and approved. 
 
 The following resolution was then passed : — " That 
 the Committee be authorised with the sanction of 
 of a genera] Court previously obtained, to vary the 
 Investments from time to time as they may 
 deem advisable, in accordance with the opinion 
 of Counsel, but subject to certain restrictions re- 
 commended by the Committee." 
 
 The thanks of the Governors were voted to the 
 Physicians and Surgeons for their valuable services 
 during the year, and to the Rev. J. C. W. Tasker 
 for the zealous and satisfactory discharge of the duties 
 of his sacred office of Chaplain. 
 
 J. H. Markland, Esq., proposed and G. Monk- 
 land, Esq., seconded the nomination of Major 
 Baker as President for the ensuing year. Carried 
 unanimously. — J. Murch, Esq., proposed that the 
 best thanks of the Governors be given to the 
 Lord Bishop of the Diocese for acting as President 
 during the past year. Mr. Markland seconded the 
 resolution, which was carried unanimously. Major 
 Baker returned thanks for the honour conferred upon 
 him in electing him President for the ensuing year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 May 1st, 1865. 
 Major Baker, President, in the chair. 
 The Committee reported that many advantages had
 
 102 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 arisen from the enlargement of the Building, 
 and the construction of an exercise ground, as 
 shown by the increased number of Patients that 
 have derived benefit from the Hospital. In 1858, 
 previous to the alteration, the number discharged 
 were 512, whereas in 1865 the numbers were 632, a 
 strong proof that increased space and means of 
 obtaining air and exercise, had tended greatly to a 
 more speedy cure of the Patients. The income of 
 the past year did not cover the expenditure. The 
 President had sent appeals to 14 parishes and unions 
 in London and its vicinity, selecting those that had 
 been in the habit of sending the largest number of 
 Patients, and setting forth the very strong claim 
 which the Hospital had on them for support, but 
 the Committee regret that only 3 unions have 
 recognized those claims. The income of last year 
 amounted to £4,047 14s. 3d. and the expenditure 
 £4,124 14s. 1 id. Of the income £345 16s. was 
 derived from private subscriptions; £504 7s. from 
 parochial unions ; £193 is. 3d. from collections in 
 churches in Bath; £422 15s. 4d. from donations; 
 and £go from legacies. 
 
 The Committee have to lament the loss of some 
 very valuable friends of this Institution, viz. : — 
 James Heywood Markland, Esq., who had been 
 22 years a Governor, 12 years one of the Treasurers, 
 and had filled the office of President during three 
 successive years ; Thomas Harper King, Esq., 
 who had been twice elected President, and had been 
 for many years an active member of the Committee ; 
 Sir JOHN Fraser, a Governor of four years' stand- 
 ing, and a constant attendant at the Meetings of 
 the Committee ; Dr. Edward Hodges, formerly a
 
 Chapter IV. 103 
 
 Physician to the Hospital, and the Rev. E. W. 
 Grinfield, all elected Governors ; also John 
 Frankham, Esq., Robert Norris, Esq., and 
 Robert HlTCHENS, Esq., Governors by donation. 
 
 The Committee have also to regret the loss of 
 MALMOTH WALTERS, Esq., who has resigned the 
 office of Governor on account of ill-health. 
 
 The Report of the Committee, with the Annual 
 Insurance Statement, was read and adopted. The 
 best thanks of the Governors were voted to the 
 Physicians and Surgeons, for their valuable services 
 during the year, and to the Rev. J. C. VV. Tasker, 
 for the jealous discharge of his duties as Chaplain. 
 The Governors also expressed their approbation of 
 the way in which the several officers of the establish- 
 ment had discharged their respective duties. On the 
 motion of Col. Blathwayte, seconded by the 
 Mayor of Bath, David Johnstone, Esq., was 
 unanimously elected President for the ensuing year. 
 A vote of thanks by acclamation was given to the 
 retiring President, Major Baker, for his great 
 courtesy and attention to the interests of the Hospital 
 during the past year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1866. 
 
 David Johnstone, Esq., President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that there was a 
 
 diminution in the number of Patients admitted 
 
 during the past year, which was accounted for by 
 
 the alterations, at present in progress, necessitating 
 
 the temporary closing of some of the wards, and also
 
 104 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 by the prevalence of small pox, requiring the 
 appropriation of two wards to a possible emergency 
 which the new sick wards will entirely obviate for 
 the future. 
 
 At the period when the new Building was in 
 course of erection, the intention of the Committee 
 had been to erect sick wards ; the great expense 
 which would be incurred and the proposed erection 
 implying the removal of the roof of the old Building 
 caused this project to be deferred. The want of 
 sick wards, however, was so much felt that the 
 Committee decided on carrying out their original 
 intention, having however obtained the sanction of 
 the Governors at a special Court. They gave 
 necessary instructions, and the improvements were 
 carried out under contracts amounting to somewhat 
 more than ^"iooo. 
 
 Donations amounting to ^286 14s. 6d. had been 
 received during the year. The Committee also 
 reported that they had directed their particular 
 attention to their position in conection with St. 
 John's Hospital, consequent on a decision of the 
 Lords Justices, that the Attorney-General was at 
 present engaged in preparing a scheme for the future 
 management of that Charity, and the Committee 
 have reason to believe that the claims of the Hos- 
 pital would be attended to. 
 
 During the year the following Governors were 
 removed by death : — Rev. Jas. Phillott, Rev. G. 
 A. Baker, Rev. Harvey Marriott, and Miss 
 Abraham.
 
 Chapter IV. 105 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1867. 
 
 David Johnston, Esq., President, in the chair. 
 
 The number of patients admitted during the 
 past year was considerably below the average number, 
 the causes of this diminution having been entirely 
 exceptional. On the recommendation of the Medical 
 Staff, the admission of patients last summer was 
 suspended until such time as the epidemic of small 
 pox should have disappeared. Also during the 
 whole summer and greater part of the autumn several 
 of the wards were of necessity closed, on account of 
 the alterations which were being carried out in the 
 old house. 
 
 The whole cost of the new roofing, the new sick 
 wards, and other improvements, has been £1,164. 
 The Men's Bath, from which there had been a 
 considerable leakage, was completely renovated : 
 the lining of slate removed and replaced with lead, 
 like the Women's Bath, which had been in use 
 20 years without requiring repairs. The Committee 
 were glad to state that these great extra expenses 
 have been nearly covered by a legacy of £1,068, 
 left to the Hospital by the late Captain MONTAGU 
 Montagu, R.N. The income of the last year amounted 
 to £5,236 18s. 7d., the expenditure to £5,113 10s. nd. 
 The donations amounted to £470 4s. 4d., and legacies 
 were left to the Hospital to the amount of £1,168 17s. 
 The Committee have to lament the death, during 
 the past year, of F. H. FALKNER, Esq., one of 
 their Vice-Presidents and a Governor for 42 years, 
 
 7
 
 106 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 the Marquis CAMDEN, K.G., and the Rev. Dr. Stamer. 
 The following Governors, by donation, have also died : 
 Col. Thornton, G. P. Manners, Esq., W. C. 
 TOWERS, Esq. Dr. Burne, having resigned, has 
 ceased to be a Governor. Moved by Sir Thomas 
 Pratt, seconded by Mr. MONKLAND, and carried 
 by acclamation, that the Governors, in accepting the 
 resignations of Thomas Sandon Watson, M.D., 
 senior physician, and GEORGE LEIGHTON WOOD, 
 Esq., senior surgeon, desire to place upon record their 
 grateful sense of the services rendered by those 
 gentlemen to the Hospital, the former for the space 
 of 33, the latter of 31 years. In parting with them 
 in their professional capacity, the Governors rejoice 
 that they shall still continue to have their counsel 
 and advice in all matters that affect the interests of 
 an institution, to the high character of which they 
 have so largely contributed. With every wish for 
 their happiness and welfare, the Governors accept 
 their resignation, and now place this minute on record 
 as an evidence of their esteem. 
 
 The vacancy on the Medical Staff, caused by the 
 resignation of Dr. WATSON, was filled up by the 
 election of Dr. JAMES TUNSTALL, and that in the 
 Surgical Staff by the election of Mr. J. K. Spender. 
 On the motion of Col. Blathwayt, seconded by 
 Capt. Breton, R.N., the Right Hon. the Earl of 
 CORK was unanimously elected President for the 
 ensuing year. The Mayor having taken the chair, 
 Col. Blathwayt moved a vote of thanks to the 
 late President, David Johnston, Esq., and also 
 begged leave to give way as senior Vice-President, 
 and recommended the newly-elected President to 
 place Mr. Johnston at the head of the list, so
 
 Chapter IV. 107 
 
 that the Institution might have the benefit of his 
 services as Chairman in the absence of the President. 
 Carried by acclamation. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1868. 
 David Johnston, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that the expenditure 
 had somewhat exceeded the income for the past year. 
 The Committee acknowledged gratefully the follow- 
 ing donations :— Marquis of WESTMINSTER, £100; 
 C. H. Walker Heneage, Esq., £\o ; Mrs. E. W. 
 BROWN, £10. The following legacy was received : 
 £99 19s. There was no diminution in subscriptions ; 
 these for the first time exceeded £900. The 
 Committee regretfully reported the death of three 
 elected Governors— Major PICKWICK, H. Snowden, 
 Esq., G. C. TuGWELL Esq. ; by resignation, H. 
 Walters, Esq. The Resident Medical Officer, Mr. 
 J. COOKE, having resigned, Mr. H. CLOTHIER was 
 elected to fill that important office. 
 
 The Rev. J. C. W. TASKER having resigned the 
 Chaplaincy, the Rev. E. Lane was elected in his 
 stead ; and on the motion of Major BAKER, seconded 
 by Dr. James Watson, the Rev. Prebendary 
 SCARTH was unanimously elected President for the 
 ensuing year. 
 
 William Long, Esq., proposed a vote of thanks 
 to David Johnston, Esq., for the able, courteous, 
 and efficient manner in which he had performed the 
 duties of senior Vice-President, in the unavoidable
 
 io8 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 absence of the Noble President, the Earl of CORK, 
 which was carried unanimously. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING. 
 
 May ist, 1869. 
 
 Rev. Prebendary S earth, President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that a larger number of 
 patients had passed into the house than in any 
 previous year since the house had been opened. 
 Donations amounting to ^240 10s., including £200 
 from the Marquis of WESTMINSTER, were gratefully 
 acknowledged. Several reversionary legacies had been 
 received, as well as bequests, also the sum of £438 
 from the Economic Life Assurance Society, payable 
 on decease of the late Thomas Falkner, Esq. 
 These extraordinary receipts not only covered the 
 deficiencies of several years, but enabled the Treas- 
 urers to add ;£ 1,400 stock to the invested capital, 
 besides leaving a larger balance in hand than at the 
 commencement of the year. The Charmy Down 
 Estate, held by Mr. G. MATTHEWS, as yearly tenant 
 for 24 years, had been let to his son at an advanced 
 rent of £36. The rent in future to be £450. 
 
 In October the Governors were sorry to receive 
 the resignation of Dr. Tunstall, one of the 
 Physicians to the Hospital, in consequence of failing 
 health. Dr. Hensley was elected to fill the vacancy. 
 During the year death had removed from the list of 
 Governors Admiral WALCOT, M.P., and FRANCIS 
 FALKNER, Esq., the able and much respected Solicitor 
 to the Hospital, also Thomas Harvey, Esq. At 
 this meeting Mr. John Falkner was appointed Soli-
 
 Chapter IV. 109 
 
 citor to the Hospital, in the room of his late brother, 
 Mr. Francis Falkner. On the motion of Col. 
 BLATHWAYT, seconded by the Rev. J. F. MOOR, 
 Henry Duncan Skrine, Esq., was unanimously 
 elected President for the ensuing year. A vote of 
 thanks, moved by Jerom Murch, Esq., and seconded 
 by W. C. Keating, Esq., to the late President, was 
 carried by acclamation. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 2nd, 1870. 
 
 H. D. Skrine, Esq., President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that the amount of sub- 
 scriptions, which 20 years ago averaged £540, 
 had now reached £920 per annum. 
 
 Donations altogether amounted to £315 19s. 6d. 
 Legacies (free of duty) had been received as follows : 
 Executors of the late Mr. JOHN VAUGHAN, Raby 
 Villa, £100; Miss Mary Hulbert, Queen Square, 
 £50; and Mrs. Frances Down, £100. The 
 Committee regretted that by the decision of the 
 Court of Chancery, this, as well as many other 
 Charitable Institutions in the city, would no longer 
 derive benefit from the will of the late Mr. William 
 Slack. The personal property, which the court 
 decided was alone liable, amounted only to about 
 £7,000, and was nearly exhausted by payments made 
 to annuitants for 15 years ; the Hospital is now only 
 entitled to one-eighth of the remainder, or £gg 9s. id. 
 The income of the year exceeded the expenditure 
 by upwards of ^"100, notwithstanding an extraordinary 
 expenditure of about £170 on the Charmy Down
 
 I io Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Estate. Intermixed with the Charmy Down Estate 
 are 32 acres of land belonging to the adjoining 
 Hartley Estate, which the Governors had, at different 
 times, sought to purchase. At present there appeared 
 to be an opportunity of purchasing, and the Committee 
 reported that they had entered into negotiation about it. 
 The Committee reminded the Governors that in 
 1865, when the Corporation of Bath endeavoured to 
 obtain an Act for the better supply of water to the 
 city, which Act would enable them to take surplus 
 water from certain springs, and some small quantity 
 of land for the construction of reservoirs on the 
 Charmy Down Estate, the Governors did not oppose 
 the measure, taking care to protect and provide for 
 the interests of the Hospital. That bill was not passed, 
 but another was now before Parliament to which 
 the Governors gave their assent under the same 
 conditions. The subject of tenure of the old Hos- 
 pital had also occupied the attention of the Committee. 
 Being held on lease under St. John's Hospital for 
 two lives, it was thought highly desirable, considering 
 its proximity to the source of the Mineral Waters, 
 that the Institution should have a more certain and 
 independent foundation. Various attempts had been 
 made with the view of obtaining from the Court of 
 Chancery a conveyance of the fee-simple from St. 
 John's Hospital, but hitherto without effect, and a 
 Sub-committee had been appointed to consider 
 whether a further offer should not be made and to 
 what amount. 
 
 The Committee have to regret the loss of 
 W. M. Pinder, Esq., John Mackarness, Esq. 
 and the Rev. Fountain ELWIN, causing three 
 vacancies in the list of Governors. The Hospital had
 
 Chapter IV. Ill 
 
 also sustained a great loss in the death of the late 
 Marquis of WESTMINSTER, who had for many years 
 aided the Hospital by liberal and frequent donations ; 
 also more recently in the death of Lord Auckland, 
 late Bishop of Bath and Wells, who had always taken 
 a kindly interest in the Hospital and its affairs. The 
 Governors, at their last Quarterly Court, had, by a 
 resolution entered on the Minutes, expressed then 
 their sense of his kind and valuable services and 
 their sympathy with his Lordship and his family 
 under the afflicting circumstances of his ill-health 
 and sufferings, which had compelled him to resign 
 his see. This resolution had been communicated to 
 his Lordship by the President, and warmly and 
 gratefully acknowledged by his daughter. JOHN 
 Stone, Esq., and Edwin Skeate, Esq., have 
 become Governors by donation. The Committee 
 wished to express their grateful acknowledgement 
 to Mr. JOHN RAINEY for his continued liberality 
 in providing a choir for the Sunday musical services 
 in the chapel, and also for his having generously 
 contributed to the relief and amusement of the 
 patients, by providing several evening entertain- 
 ments for them during the past winter. 
 
 The report having been read, it was moved by 
 the Mayor of Bath, seconded by Rev. J. Wood, 
 that it be accepted, printed, and circulated ; that 
 copies be sent to every Governor and Subscriber, 
 and to the officiating clergy in Bath. Moved by 
 Major Baker, seconded by G. BURNINGHAM, 
 Esq., "That this Court entirely concurs with the 
 Committee in their expression of sorrow for the 
 loss of those Governors whom death has removed 
 during the past year, particularly of the late Lord
 
 112 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 AUCKLAND, whose warm and personal exertions in 
 the welfare of this Institution are fresh in the memory 
 of all." On the motion of D. JOHNSTON, Esq., 
 seconded by J. MURCH, Esq., the Lord Bishop of 
 Bath and Wells, LORD ARTHUR HERVEY, was unani- 
 mously elected President for the ensuing year. A 
 vote of thanks to H. D. SKRINE, Esq., for his efficient 
 discharge of the duties of President during the'past 
 year was carried by acclamation. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May ist, 1871. 
 Col. BlatJnuayt in the chair. 
 
 The Committee had to report a falling off in 
 Subscriptions, as also in Collections in Churches and 
 Chapels. This diminution might be attributed to 
 the pressure on behalf of newer Institutions and also 
 to the generous aid afforded to the sick and 
 wounded during the late disastrous war. 
 
 The Committee had to thankfully acknowledge 
 donations amounting to ^962 10s. 6d., including 12 
 Foreign Bonds from an anonymous donor, estimated 
 at the price of the day at £687, also legacies 
 amounting to £125. The Committee had received 
 as the result of the Chancery suit in " re Slack's 
 annuity," £99 9s. id. as the share due to the Hospital, 
 and £66 16s. 3d. returned legacy duty. 
 
 The Committee had availed themselves "of an 
 opportunity of improving the Charmy Down Estate, 
 by the addition of some land greatly needed for the 
 purposes of the farm. On this object was expended 
 altogether £1,700. The annual rent of the estate at 
 this time was about £500.
 
 Chapter IV. 113 
 
 Six elected Governors have died during the 
 year : — John Brymer, Esq., W. C. Keating, Esq. ? 
 Rev. Prebendary Crawley, John Soden, Esq., Col. J. 
 W. Watson, and Rev. Sydney Widdrington. The 
 following Governors by donation have also died : — 
 G. Monkland, Esq., T. Brassey, Esq., Rev. W. 
 Anderson Smith, and Arthur Edwin Way, Esq. 
 This obituary list contains names long known and 
 highly esteemed. Moved by J. Murch, Esq., seconded 
 by D. Johnston, Esq., that the Committee be 
 authorized to renew the negotiations for the purchase 
 of the fee-simple of the old building, and if they 
 deem it advisable, they be empowered to make an 
 advance on the price already offered and refused as 
 insufficient. This resolution was carried. 
 
 In regard to future Election of Governors it was 
 ordered " That in the notices of the Quarterly Court, 
 to be holden in January, it be stated how many 
 vacancies have occurred in the list of Elected 
 Governors, and that a book be kept for the entry 
 of names of Governors proposed to fill such 
 vacancies." 
 
 On the motion of the Rev. C. R Davy, seconded 
 by General Hall, His Grace the Duke of Beaufort 
 was unanimously elected President for the ensuing 
 year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1872. 
 
 /. Murch, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that owing to some falling 
 
 off in casual benefactions, expenditure had exceeded 
 
 income by £314. The Committee also reported that
 
 U4 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 with respect to the important point mentioned in 
 former reports, of obtaining the freehold of that 
 part of the Building held on lease under St. John's 
 Hospital for two lives, it was arranged that two 
 of the Governors, Mr. MURCH and Mr. STONE, 
 should proceed to London for the purpose of obtaining 
 an interview with the Attorney-General, and explaining 
 the exceptional nature of the case. Their interview 
 with Sir ROBERT COLLIER was most satisfactory. He 
 soon after gave orders that the application should be 
 granted on the payment of ;£ 1,200, being ^300 within 
 the sum allowed by the General Court at their last 
 Annual Meeting. The transaction would be concluded 
 in a few days, and the Committee congratulated the 
 friends of this great National Charity on the circum- 
 stances that this whole range of Buildings will then 
 be entirely free. 
 
 On the motion of Mr. Burningham, seconded by 
 Mr. Skrine, Rev. Chas. Kemble was unanimously 
 elected President for the ensuing year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING. 
 May 1st, 1873. 
 
 Rev. Pveb. Kemble, M.A., President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee of Governors, in their report to 
 the General Court, announced with great satisfaction, 
 the completion of the negotiations, which had been 
 carried on for several years, for the fee-simple of 
 the old Building of the Hospital, previously held on 
 lives under St. John's Hospital. 
 
 For this purchase and attendant expenses ^1,312 
 8s. iod. was realized by the sale of Stock, and the 
 Governors will in future have the satisfaction and
 
 Chapter IV. 115 
 
 gratification of feeling that they now occupy their 
 own freehold. 
 
 The Chaplain, Dr. Lane, resigned in August, 1872, 
 and the Rev. Thos. Tyers was elected in his room. 
 On October 31st some difficulty having arisen as to 
 the distribution of the Offertory Alms collected in 
 the Hospital, the following arrangement has been made 
 by the Chaplain with the approval of the Bishop : — 
 " That the offertory and alms collected at the Chapel 
 be applied, at the discretion of the Chaplain, to the 
 relief of poor patients on leaving the Hospital, and that 
 there be placed before the Governors at the Quarterly 
 Meetings, an account of sums received and cases 
 relieved." There was also an account opened at 
 the Savings Bank under the designation of the 
 " Samaritan Fund," the purpose of which was no- 
 where defined. In order to prevent doubt as to the 
 proper application of the Fund, a Resolution had 
 been adopted, almost identical with that relating to 
 the offertory and alms, excepting that the Chaplain 
 should place his statement of application of these 
 funds before the Governors once a year instead of 
 quarterly. 
 
 The Committee reported with great regret the death 
 of Sir Wm. Tite, through which this Hospital, as well as 
 many other Philanthropic Institutions, have suffered 
 a sad loss. Sir Wm. Tite became a Governor by 
 donation in 1858. For 15' years his unvarying 
 courtesy and liberality deservedly won the respect 
 of all members of the board. 
 
 Two vacancies had occurred on the Board, by 
 the deaths of Robert Aylwyn, Esq., and Lieut.-General 
 Hale. A legacy of ,£500 has been left to the Gen- 
 eral Hospital by the late Miss Waldron,of Trowbridge,
 
 n6 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 a name by which this Institution is generally known. 
 The Committee and Trustees, however, of the Royal 
 United Hospital have made a claim to the legacy, on 
 the ground that the title given in the will was a clerical 
 error. Under these circumstances the executors have 
 decided to pay the legacy into the County Court, 
 for a resolution of the doubt thus raised. 
 
 Resolved, that in order to prevent litigation in 
 the matter of Miss Waldron's legacy, the following 
 gentlemen be requested to place themselves in com- 
 munication with the Trustees and Committee of the 
 Royal United Hospital, in order if possible to attain 
 that object : — Mr. Skrine, Mr. J. Johnston, and Mr. 
 James Rainey. On the motion of Mr. Skrine, 
 seconded by Major Baker, Major Ralph Shuttleworth 
 Allen was unanimously elected President for the 
 ensuing year. A vote of thanks was moved to the 
 Rev. Prebendary Kemble, for his valuable services 
 during the past year, and carried by acclamation. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 May ist, 1874. 
 Major Allen, M.P., President, in the chair. 
 The Committee reported that the income of the Hos- 
 pital had been again inadequate to meet the increased 
 expenditure caused by the higher priceof provisions and 
 other circumstances, and at the last Annual Meeting 
 it was referred to the Committee to consider the desir- 
 ableness of altering the investments, so as to obtain a 
 larger amount of interest thereon. In June it was 
 considered necessary to sell out ,£700 to meet current 
 expenses, and since then the Committee, with the sane-
 
 Chaptei' IV. 117 
 
 tion of the General Court, have sold the whole of the 
 remaining ^40,400 Consols, and re-invested proceeds 
 in the most approved Indian and English Railways, 
 and Russian and Dutch Bonds, thereby increasing 
 the income to ^463, which it was hoped would prevent 
 a further diminution of Capital. The Committee 
 reported with regret that the settlement of the rival 
 claims of the two Hospitals, to the legacy of the late 
 Miss Waldron, could not be settled without litigation. 
 This Hospital has been so long known as the General 
 Hospital, and has received and continues to receive so 
 many legacies and contributions under that desig- 
 nation, that the Governors could not forgoe their claim 
 to this bequest, but under the circumstances would be 
 willing to divide it. A legal decision, however, was 
 found to be unavoidable, and after a careful hearing 
 the Judge of the Bath County Court pronounced in 
 favour of this Hospital, the cost of both parties to be 
 paid out of the legacy, at the suggestion on behalf 
 of the Governors. 
 
 As suggested at the last Annual Meeting, during 
 the visits of the Royal Horticultural Society and the 
 Church Congress, circulars were largely distributed 
 with the view of making the Hospital and its objects 
 more widely known, and to add to its funds. The 
 Committee believe that the former object has probably 
 been attained, but that very little has been added to 
 the finances. During the past year vacancies 
 occurred in the list of elected Governors, by the 
 lamented decease of Wm. Carey Hope, Esq., W. H. P. 
 Gore-Langton, Esq., M.P., and Rev. R. M. Boultbee, 
 all of whom were liberal subscribers. The Committee 
 have also to deplore the loss of Thomas A. Poynder, 
 Esq., and W. M. Canning, Esq., both generous
 
 n8 Bath Royal Mitieral Water Hospital. 
 
 benefactors, and of John Elkington Gill, Esq., the 
 esteemed Architect under whose plans and superinten- 
 dence the new building was erected. 
 
 The Marquis of Bath was unanimously elected 
 President for the ensuing year. On the motion of the 
 Marquis of Bath, a vote of thanks was passed by 
 acclamation to the President for his valuable services 
 during the past year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May ist, 1875. 
 Jerom Murch, Esq., in the chair. 
 The Committee reported that they were thank- 
 ful to be able to report various favourable cir- 
 cumstances during the past year. The income 
 of the year, in consequence of the large amount of 
 legacies, exceeded the expenditure by £606 ; on the 
 other hand, the larger number of patients admitted, the 
 high price of fuel and provisions, and some unavoid- 
 able repairs, made the expenditure ^213 more than 
 that of last year. The Committee received the 
 following legacies : — Miss Waldron, deducting ex- 
 penses of litigation, ,£344 12s. 8d. ; Mr. Walter 
 Tucker, ^450 ; Sir W. Holburn, Bart, ^"ioo ; 
 The Marchioness of Thomond, ^"ioo ; \V. Stuckey, 
 Esq., ^19 19s. od. ; Mrs. Henney, £$. The favour- 
 able state of the income is also due to the re-invest- 
 ment, as noticed in former reports, and sanctioned 
 by General Courts, of the property of the Hospital 
 formerly invested in Consols. From time to time the 
 securities now held are looked into by the Treasurers, 
 who now report that they are satisfactory. The 
 Committee regretted the very great diminution in
 
 Chapter IV. 119 
 
 the amounts, once so large, raised by collections in 
 the different Churches and Chapels in Bath. In 
 common with all the charities of Bath, this Hos- 
 pital has met with a great bereavement since the last 
 Annual Report, by the death of the Rev. Prebend- 
 ary Kemble, Rector of Bath, who filled the office of 
 President not long since, and whose valuable services, 
 as Vice-President, will long be remembered by those 
 who acted with him. Great also was the loss of Col. 
 W. Baker, who lately took an active part as Trea- 
 surer. The Committee also regretted the death of 
 the following Governors : — Admiral Gawen Roberts 
 Gawen ; Rev. H. Calverley ; Chas. Hoare, Esq. ; 
 Mrs. E. W. Browne; and Mrs. Jones Bateman. Mr. 
 Kemble was an ex-officio Governor, and would be 
 succeeded by the Rector of Bath. The following 
 have become Governors by donation : — G. D. Wing- 
 field Digby, Esq., of Sherborne Castle, who has 
 kindly consented to fill the office of President for 
 the ensuing year ; Andrew Durham, Esq., and Mrs. 
 James S. Brymer. The Committee could not con- 
 clude without expressing their sincere regret at the 
 resignation of Dr. Coates and Mr. J. S. Bartrum, 
 who have rendered most efficient services through 
 many years, and whose places the Governors would 
 now have to fill. 
 
 " Resolved, that this Court, being the first which 
 has been held since the death of Col. Wyndham 
 Baker, desires to record its sense of the loss sus- 
 tained by the Hospital through his death, and 
 during recent financial arrangements his assistance is 
 especially to be remembered ; and that this resolu- 
 tion be sent to Mrs. Wyndham Baker, with an as- 
 surance of the sincere sympathy of the Governors
 
 120 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 in her bereavement." Dr. A. Beaufort Brabazon was 
 duly elected Physician, in the room of Dr. Coates, 
 resigned ; Dr. Richard Carter was duly elected 
 Surgeon in the room of John S. Bartrum, resigned ; 
 G. D. Wingfield Digby, Esq., was unanimously elec- 
 ted President for the ensuing year. A vote of thanks 
 to the retiring President was carried by acclamation. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May ist, 1876. 
 Jerom JHurdi, Esq., in the chair. 
 The Committee reported that the number of 
 patients admitted during the past year was Jj6, 
 somewhat less than that for the previous two years, 
 but considerably larger than in former years. The 
 income had been insufficient to meet the expenses 
 by ^158 10s. 2d., although ,£462 17s. 5d. had been 
 received in legacies. It should be mentioned that 
 the expenditure exceeded that of last year by .£195 
 8s. od., chiefly in consequence of two cottages having 
 been built on the Charmy Down Estate at a cost 
 of ^150. The legacies were: — from Mrs. F. Heywood, 
 ^200 ; Miss Eleanor P. Garrett, ^"50 ; Rev. YVm. 
 Wills, ^50 ; Mr. George Cottle, one-fourth of the 
 residue of his estate, £162 17s. 3d. From the last 
 legacy the Hospital would not derive full benefit. 
 It was represented that on Mr. Cottle's death-bed, 
 he had expressed his desire that his widow should 
 receive a larger annuity than that provided by his 
 will, which would have absorbed the whole of the 
 residue. The Committee therefore resolved that £>% per 
 annum should be granted to her out of the interest of
 
 Chapter IV. 121 
 
 the share falling to the Hospital. As stated in last 
 year's report, the Church and Chapel collections in 
 Bath had so fallen off, that it was resolved not to 
 pray for their continuance where there was a reluct- 
 ance to grant them. It was, however, gratifying to 
 find, that some clergymen considered that so valuable 
 a charity should not be altogether deprived of an 
 important and much needed source of income, and 
 kindly pleaded its cause as heretofore. The amount 
 collected was, in the City Churches ^94 8s. 3d., col- 
 lections made in the Country Churches amounted to 
 £47 6s. iod. 
 
 During the past year the Institution had been 
 deprived by death of the following elected Gover- 
 nors, whose places would have to be filled at the 
 General Court : — S. Snead Brown, Esq. ; R. Perfect, 
 Esq. ; Geo. Vivian, Esq. ; Admiral Dickson ; and H. 
 W. Rideout, Esq. ; also of G. H. W. Heneage, Esq., 
 and the Rev. H. E. Howse, who became Governors 
 by donation. The latter was the oldest Governor on 
 the list, having filled the office 56 years. It was to 
 be earnestly hoped that the loss of such men, both to 
 the finances and management of the Hospital, would 
 be made up from time to time by the accession of 
 new friends. James Watson, Esq., M.D., was unani- 
 mously elected President for the ensuing year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1877. 
 
 Dr. James Watson, President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee, in making their usual Annual Report, 
 
 had the satisfaction of stating that, during the past
 
 122 Bath Royal Aimer al Water Hospital. 
 
 year, the Hospital had continued to carry out 
 the benevolent intention of its founders and sup- 
 porters. The Financial statement was not unsatis- 
 factory, although the receipts from ordinary sources 
 had not been sufficient to meet the expenditure 
 by £146 3s. iod. This was to be attributed chiefly 
 to heavy bills for necessary internal and external 
 painting, to the last portion of the expense of building 
 cottages on the Charmy Down Estate, and to an 
 abatement of £2$ made to the tenant of the farm 
 on his rent. As, however, ^"150 of the Patients' 
 Caution Money has been placed in the hands of the 
 Treasurers in trust, the balance at the Bankers is 
 £3 6s. 2d. more than at the commencement of the 
 year. 
 
 The amount of annual subscriptions exceeded 
 that of any former year, being ;£ 1,001 4s. od. The 
 Church collections realised only ^"ioo 16s. nd. The 
 collections at 28 Country Churches amounted to 
 £&5 5 s - 9d. Among the donations received were 
 the following : — Miss Hicks and Miss Frances Hicks, 
 in memory of their mother, Mrs. Anne Theresa Hicks, 
 ^£100 ; The Earl of Jersey, £$0 ; Honourable Julia 
 Dutton, £40. These benefactions being severally to 
 the amount of, or exceeding ^40, the donors 
 became Governors of the Hospital. 
 
 On the motion of Colonel Cockell, seconded by 
 Major Baker, a vote of thanks was unanimously 
 passed to the President, Dr. James Watson, for his 
 kind and valuable services in the past year, and he 
 was then re-elected President for the ensuing year. 
 
 Assent was given to a suggestion of Mr. Rainey, 
 to allow the Committee of the Fine Arts Exhibi- 
 tion to have the loan of any of the Pictures belong-
 
 Chapter IV. 123 
 
 ing to the Hospital they may desire, at the coming 
 Agricultural Meeting. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May ist, 1878. 
 
 Dr. James Watson, President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee again reported that the Institution 
 continued steadily to perform its useful work and 
 extend its benefits to distant parts of the kingdom. 
 The Annual Subscriptions had been ^978 8s., less 
 than last year by ^22 16s. The casual benefactions 
 had also decreased, having only amounted to 
 ;£i2o, 2s. 4d. The collections at Bath Churches 
 amounted to ^"104 12s. 4d., and at ten Country 
 Churches to £27 3s. 6d. Fortunately, no extra- 
 ordinary expenditure had been incurred during the 
 year. The following legacies had been received : 
 Mrs. Hinton, £1,000 (less duty) ; Mrs. Landon, £200; 
 Mr. Henry Knight, £25 ; Miss Jackson, £25. The 
 Committee pointed out that, without these legacies, 
 expenditure would have exceeded receipts by ;£8oo, 
 showing how much this noble institution depends on 
 that very uncertain source of income. Donations 
 amounted to ^128. Death had during the year 
 removed from the lists of Governors Chas J. Vigne, 
 Esq., and T. F. W. Walker. Esq., both of whom had 
 long been active and useful members of the Committee, 
 and also Charles T. Maud, Esq. The Committee had 
 to deplore also the death of Mrs. Hinton, who had 
 long been a subscriber. She became a Governor by 
 virtue of her frequent donations, and by her will 
 bequeathed the munificent legacy already mentioned.
 
 124 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 Also of the late Marquis of Ailesbury, who had been 
 a subscriber since 1858, and who had lately become a 
 Governor by donation. On the motion of Major 
 Baker, seconded by General Eden, a vote of thanks 
 was unanimously passed to the President, Dr. James 
 Watson, for his kind and valuable services during the 
 past year, and he was then re-elected President for 
 the ensuing year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1879. 
 Major Baker, Vice-President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that the number of 
 patients admitted had been 783, 20 less than last 
 year. Daily average in the house had been 126, and 
 their stay 59 days. The cost of each occupied bed, 
 £40 us. /d. During the summer of the past year, 
 Bath was visited by the British Medical Associa- 
 tion. The Committee were desirous that the Mem- 
 bers should judge for themselves, so far as the 
 Hospital would enable them to do so, of the nature 
 and effects of the far-famed Springs. A considerable 
 number of gentlemen availed themselves of the invi- 
 tation, and were very much interested. 
 
 The Annual Subscriptions amounted to ,£1,058 
 17s. od., but the legacies and collections in Churches 
 and Chapels at Bath have been considerably less. 
 The legacies have been left by Mrs. Maxwell Hinds, 
 £200 ; T. F. W.Walker, Esq., £100; Mrs. Clarke, £$. 
 The Committee regard with great concern the inade- 
 quacy of the regular sources of income to meet the 
 demands on the Hospital, and are doing all in their 
 power, by appeals, both to individuals and Boards of
 
 Chapter IV. 125 
 
 Guardians, to obtain increased Annual Subscriptions, 
 and to prevent the necessity of the sale of Govern- 
 ment Stock to meet deficiencies. It should also be 
 known that the income of the Hospital had been 
 reduced by an unavoidable reduction in the rent of the 
 Charmy Down Estate. Foremost among the losses 
 by death had been that of the venerable President, 
 Dr. James Watson, in the third year of his Presidency 
 and 86th year of his age. How efficiently he per- 
 formed the duties of his office until within a few 
 weeks of his death, will long be remembered by those 
 who had the pleasure of being associated with him 
 in the work which he loved. At the first General 
 Court after his death, the Governors elected Mr. 
 Murch, the senior Vice-President, to fill the vacancy 
 for the remainder of the year. The other Governors 
 by election who have died during the year were : — F. 
 Falkner, Esq. ; Colonel Inigo Jones ; Captain H. A. 
 Kennedy ; Sir W. Miles, Bart. ; and General Sir T. 
 S. Pratt, K.C.B., who was also a Vice-President. Mrs. 
 Duncan, a Governor by donation, also died. Dr. 
 Spender resigned his appointment as Surgeon to the 
 Hospital ; his valuable services during 12 years have 
 been thankfully acknowledged by the Committee. 
 
 Moved by Mr. D. Johnstone, seconded by Mr. F. 
 B. Gill, that the Treasurers be instructed to sell out 
 the following securities held by the Hospital : — The 
 Russian Stock, the Indian Railway Stock, and the 
 Dutch Government Bonds, and invest the proceeds in 
 the best English Home Securities. 
 
 Moved as an amendment by Mr. J. Stone, second- 
 ed by Major Allen, that it is not expedient to sell the 
 securities recently purchased except the Russian secu- 
 rities, and as regards them it be left to the Committee
 
 126 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 to do so at such time as they may think desirable. The 
 amendment on being put to the vote was lost, 14 for 
 and 24 against. The original motion was then 
 carried, 19 for and 16 against. On the motion of 
 Admiral Conolly, seconded by Captain Breton, R.X., 
 Major Allen was unanimously elected President for 
 the ensuing year. A vote of thanks was passed to 
 the late acting President, Alderman Murch. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING. 
 
 May 1st, 1880. 
 
 Major Allen, President, in the chair. 
 
 The Committee congratulated the Governors, that 
 notwithstanding the general depression which had 
 existed during the year, this Institution had main- 
 tained its reputation for usefulness and had received 
 its usual support. The number of patients had been 
 $54, or 71 more than the previous year. Daily average 
 in Hospital, 124; the cost of each occupied bed, £40 os. 
 yd., including all the expenses of the Hospital ; 
 Annual Subscriptions amounted to ^1,061 7s. 7d. ; 
 Donations amounted to £2^6 7s. 7d., including the 
 Right Honourable Stephen Cave, M.P., ^50 ; Henry 
 Chas. Stone, Esq., ,£40. The legacies, besides the long- 
 pending reversionary bequest of the late Mr. Thomas 
 Blann of ^7,933 19s. id. Consols, which has been 
 paid through the Court of Chancer}-, were : — Miss 
 Mary Jeans, £200 ; Miss Ann Bolt, £go ; Sir 
 Thos. Chas. Style, Bart., £24 8s. ; Miss Mary 
 Cross Close, £15 ; General Hind, £50. The 
 resolution of the Governors, at the last Annual Court, 
 to dispose of the whole of the Foreign and Indian
 
 Chapter IV. 127 
 
 Railway Stock, and to re-invest that part of the capital 
 in Home Securities, had been carried into effect. The 
 amount thus realised was ,£16,597 8s. id., of which 
 ;£i 6,500 was re-invested in the purchase of Debenture 
 and Preferential Stock of British Railways. In conse- 
 quence of the occurrence of a case of small-pox, it 
 was considered necessary to close the largest ward for 
 five weeks. This one case was removed to the Statutory 
 Hospital, and no other case occurred. In consequence 
 of extensive alterations at the King's Bath, which 
 interfered with the supply of the mineral waters for 
 bathing patients in the Hospital, the Committee had 
 been obliged to make an arrangement which may con- 
 tinue for some time for sending them to the public 
 baths. Applications for the office of Registrar, vacant 
 by the resignation of Mr. Benjamin Starr, were 
 received, and on a ballot being taken, Mr. Frederick 
 W. Dingle was duly elected. The following letter 
 from Mr. Starr to the President was read, and ordered 
 to be entered on the minutes : — 
 
 " Bath Mineral Water Hospital ; 
 
 April 30th, 1880. 
 Sir,— 
 
 In relinquishing the office of Registrar, it is a pleasing duty 
 to present, through you, my most sincere and respectful thanks for the 
 uniform kindness I have experienced from the Governors of the Hos- 
 pital, — a kindness which has rendered the performance of the duties a 
 pleasure ; and it is most gratifying to me, in this my eightieth year, to 
 reflect that I have spent so long a portion of a long life in the service of 
 so excellent a Charity. 
 
 I trust it will not be considered inopportune if I briefly allude to the 
 progress the Institution has made during the time I have held office, by 
 comparing the year 1840 with the present year. 
 
 In 1840 the number of patients which passed through the Hospital 
 was 524. It is now 854. The amount of annual subscriptions was then 
 £526. This year it was £1,061. The total income in 1840 was .£3,871. 
 Now it is nearly £5,000. Upwards of £20,000 have also been invested
 
 128 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 in the site and erection of the new building, and in the purchase of the 
 fee simple of the old building and its improvement. 
 
 With an ardent desire that the Institution may still advance in pros- 
 perity and usefulness, and continue to be the best advertisement of the 
 efficacy of the Bath Mineral Waters, and thus promote the interest of 
 my native City, 
 
 I beg to remain, with great respect, Sir, 
 
 And many thanks for your courtesy, 
 Your very obedient Servant, 
 BENJ. STARR. 
 Major Allen, President." 
 
 The usual routine business having been disposed of, 
 on the motion of Major Baker, Major Allen was unani- 
 mously re-elected President for the ensuing year, with 
 the best thanks of the Governors for his past 
 services. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May ist, 1881. 
 
 Major Allen, President, in tlie chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that full evidence was 
 afforded that the Hospital continued steadily to fulfil 
 the benevolent desires of its founders. Last year it 
 was reported that, owing to alterations at the King's 
 Bath, patients would be unable to bathe in the 
 Hospital, and that arrangements were made for their 
 bathing in the Public Baths, for many reasons, and 
 from the fact that it was found that the patients did 
 not derive the benefit which they would have derived, 
 had they bathed in the Hospital, and considering 
 also the expense of conveying the patients to and from 
 the Hospital, it was deemed a good opportunity to 
 have the inside of the Hospital thoroughly painted, 
 which had not been done for many years, and it was
 
 Chapter IV. 129 
 
 therefore decided (July 15th) not to admit any more 
 patients, but gradually discharge those in the house. 
 Five weeks afterwards (Aug. 23) the buildings were 
 given into the contractors' hands, and in six weeks 
 the work was completed and the Hospital re-opened 
 Oct. 2nd. As a matter of course, the number of 
 patients admitted has been less than last year, 
 being 765. The Annual Subscriptions amounted 
 to ,£1,070 9s. 6d. The Donations have been 
 £215 2s. 4d., including that of Lady Victoria Howard, 
 £40, and Wm. Stone, Esq., £40. During the past 
 year one legacy of £2,000 has been received from 
 the executors of Miss Mary Wasey, though, from the 
 language of the will, it was at one time a question 
 whether the claim of the Hospital might not have to 
 be asserted by appealing to a Court of Law. The 
 generosity of Messrs. Cotterell Brothers, of 
 Bridge Street, in decorating the ceiling of the 
 Entrance Hall of the Hospital, should also be 
 mentioned. During the year the following Governors 
 have been removed by death : Edwin T. Caulfeild, 
 Esq., Right Hon. Stephen Cave, M.P., R. T. Combe, 
 Esq., and F. L. Popham, Esq., all liberal contributors 
 to the funds of the Hospital, and Governors by virtue 
 of their benefactions ; also of Rev. Preb. Pearson, 
 for many years a Subscriber, and Governor by 
 election. 
 
 On the motion of Mr. Burningham, Major Allen 
 was again re-elected President for the ensuing year, and 
 the best thanks of the Governors presented to him for 
 his past services. The following notice was appended 
 to the Annual Report : — 
 
 " Whilst this Report was being prepared 
 for the press, the Hospital has had the misfortune
 
 130 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 of losing its Senior Physician, Dr. Randle Wil- 
 braham Falconer, and at a meeting of the Com- 
 mittee it was unanimously resolved : — ' That the 
 President be requested to convey to Mrs. Fal- 
 coner the deep sympathy of the Committee in 
 the great bereavement she has sustained.' For 25 
 years Dr. Falconer has assisted in the management 
 of this Institution, and for the whole of that period 
 he has given his talent and energies ungrudgingly 
 and without stint. As one of the Honorary Physicians, 
 the kind and sympathetic feeling which he showed 
 for the poor and suffering must, it is felt, meet with its 
 due reward, and the tribute from the Female Patients 
 in sending a wreath to be placed on the coffin bears 
 testimony in a gratifying and consoling manner of 
 their estimate of his tender care for them." 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1882. 
 
 Major Allen, President, i?i the chair. 
 
 The Committee reported that the applications for 
 
 admission had been above the annual average, the 
 
 largest number of patients on record having been 
 
 received into the Hospital, viz., 879. Donations, 
 
 with smaller sums, amounting to £102 17s. 2d., 
 
 including £40 from John F. M. H. Stone, Esq., 
 
 and £/\o from E. S. Fletcher, Esq., were thankfully 
 
 acknowledged. Five legacies had been received, 
 
 amounting to ^274 12s. 4d. This was the smallest 
 
 amount received in legacies for the past nine years. 
 
 This year the expenditure had exceeded the income 
 
 by £237 1 8s. 5d. A portrait of the late James
 
 Chapter IV. 131 
 
 Snaith Brymer, Esq., a Governor and liberal con- 
 tributor to the funds of the Hospital, had also been 
 bequeathed by Mr. John Rainey. It has been found 
 desirable to increase the temperature of the Hospital, 
 and the Committee, in consequence, had erected a hot- 
 water apparatus, which has greatly contributed to the 
 comfort of the patients. The Committee have to 
 thank Dr. Brabazon, the Avon Rowing Club, and the 
 Bloomfield Cricket Club, for kindly giving Musical 
 Entertainments to the patients. 
 
 The thanks of the Governors are also due to Mr. 
 James Tuck Rainey, for the handsome altar rails 
 erected in the Hospital Chapel, in memory of his 
 brother, the late Mr. John Rainey, who, until his 
 health failed, took so warm an interest in the welfare 
 of the institution. At a General Court, held on May 
 30th last, Dr. J. K. Spender was elected Physician in 
 the room of the late Dr. Randle Wilbraham Falconer, 
 and Mr. Alexander Busby to the post of Resident 
 Medical Officer. 
 
 Mr. Jerom Murch having taken the chair, it was 
 proposed by Mr. Burningham and seconded by Mr. 
 John Johnston, and unanimously resolved, that the best 
 thanks of the Governors be awarded to Major Allen 
 for his past valuable services, as President of the 
 Hospital, and that he be requested to assume that 
 office for the ensuing year. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 May 1st, 1883. 
 Major A lien , President, in the chair. 
 The Committee, in presenting their report, have
 
 132 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 much pleasure in stating that, during the past year, 
 more patients had been admitted than in any previous 
 year. The great increase in the number of applicants 
 shows that the Hospital, and the efficacy of the Bath 
 Mineral Waters, are more known and more widely 
 appreciated than formerly. The number of applicants 
 for admission had increased from 961 during the year 
 ending May, 18S1, to 1,280 in the past year. The grand 
 total admitted within the walls of the Hospital since 
 its opening in 1742 has been 56,131. 
 
 "The daily average in the Hospital has been 130, 
 and the average duration of residence a little less than 
 that of previous years, being 48 j days. Many of the 
 cases always have required, and always will require, 
 considerable time, but it is interesting to observe that 
 (as was anticipated when contemplating the erection 
 of the new building) a larger number of patients pass 
 through the Hospital annually since the time they 
 have been enabled to remove into fresh, airy, and cheer- 
 ful day rooms, and at night return into well-ventilated 
 bedrooms ; and, as the applications for admission 
 greatly exceed the accommodation, it is now thought 
 that if a room for recreation is added to the Hospital 
 and the patients not allowed out of the precincts during 
 their stay, thus obviating the temptation to visit 
 public-houses (and thereby retarding their recovery), a 
 still larger number will be benefited. 
 
 11 The Committee have therefore made an offer to 
 purchase of the Trustees of St. John's Hospital the 
 premises known as 'The Sedan Chair Inn/ immediately 
 abutting upon the Exercising Ground, and the contract 
 is now in the hands of the Charity Commissioners 
 for their approval." 
 
 The income arising from vested capital, and from
 
 Chapter IV. 133 
 
 the uncertain sources of subscriptions and benefactions, 
 amounted to .£4,625 19s. 4d., insufficient to cover the 
 year's expenses by ^"407 9s. 8d., increased as they have 
 been by the high price of provisions and the large num- 
 ber of patients treated in Hospital. The Committee 
 had therefore been reluctantly obliged to sell out stock 
 to meet the deficiency. The annual subscriptions from 
 private persons amounted to £428 19s., and from 
 Union and parishes £726 16s. Donations amounted to 
 £304 19s. 4d., including the following: — Rev. J. But- 
 tanshaw, £2$ ; Earl of Jersey, £10 ; Mrs. C. A. T. 
 Luttrell, £50. The collections at churches and chapels 
 in Bathagain decreased thisyear, producing £68 1 3s. 3d. 
 The clergy in the country parishes responded to an 
 appeal made to them, and collected £92 15s. 5d. 
 Under the head of legacies only £9 has been received. 
 Owing to the large number of fires which have occurred 
 in various parts of England, the Committee have pur- 
 chased additional hose and appliances to insure the 
 greater safety of the patients in case of need. 
 
 The Committee at this anniversary have to record 
 with deepest sorrow the losses which this charity has 
 sustained during the past year by the deaths of several 
 Governors, but principally by the decease of General 
 W. Eden and John Johnston, Esq., the former a Vice- 
 President and for upwards of 18 years a member of the 
 Committee, and the latter also a Vice - President, 
 Treasurer, and for nearly eighteen years a member of 
 the Committee. 
 
 Three other vacancies in the list of elected Governors 
 are caused by the deaths of the Hon. Howe Browne, 
 R. Hudleston, Esq., and by the resignation of Colonel 
 T. A. Rawlins. 
 
 The Committee have also to deplore the loss by
 
 134 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 death of Mrs. Browne and R. W. Carpenter, Esq., both 
 liberal contributors, and who became Governors by 
 virtue of their benefactions. 
 
 The following gentlemen were elected Governors 
 of the Hospital : — W. E. Brymer, Esq., General 
 Gordon Jervois, Col. Reginald Quinten Mainwaring, 
 E. J. Morres, Esq., and the Rev. E. T. Stubbs. The 
 General Committee, Sub-Committees, and Treasurers, 
 were appointed for the ensuing year. 
 
 Major Allen returned thanks for the assistance he 
 had received during his presidency from the Governors 
 and Officers of the Hospital. The chair was then 
 taken by Major Baker, Vice-President. It was moved 
 by Mr. Burningham, seconded by Mr. Duckworth, — 
 That the warmest thanks of the Governors be tendered 
 to Major Allen for his constant attention to, and the 
 constant interest he has taken in this National Charity ; 
 also for the able manner in which he has performed 
 the duties of President during the past four years, and 
 that he be requested to accept the office for the ensuing 
 year. — This resolution was carried unanimously,and the 
 President on taking the chair briefly returned thanks. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 May ist, 1884. 
 Major Allen, President, in the chair. 
 The Committee were again able to report most 
 thankfully that the Hospital has maintained its 
 character for usefulness and efficiency during the past 
 year. The pressure of applications has been very 
 great, as many as a hundred persons sometimes waiting 
 for admission. The number of applications for admis- 
 sion from May ist, 1883, to April 30th, 1884, were 
 1340. That for the preceding year was 1280. 984
 
 Chapter IV. 135 
 
 patients have been admitted, and 784 have been dis- 
 charged, leaving 143 in the Hospital at the present 
 date. The Donations amounted to ^724 6s. nd., 
 including — Earl of Portsmouth, ^"21 ; Thomas Scott, 
 Esq., £^2 ; a Friend, per E. Skeate, Esq., ^"ioo ; R. 
 Formby, Esq., £100 ; E. H. Wiggett, Esq., £40 ; 
 Montagu Williams, Esq., £100 ; Great Western Rail- 
 way Company, £20. The Collections at churches in 
 Bath increased from ,£68 13s. 3d. last year to 
 £106 12s. 9d. The thanks of the Committee are 
 gratefully tendered to those clergymen who have 
 allowed sermons to be preached and collections made 
 in their churches, and also to the clergymen who have 
 preached the sermons. At churches in the country 
 the collections amounted to ^114 14s. 9d. During 
 the year the amount received from Legacies has been 
 unusually large, including ^"iooo from the late Wm # 
 Smith, Esq., and the balance of the long-pending 
 reversionary bequest of the late Mr. Thomas Blann. 
 The following amounts have also been received : — 
 Miss Holburn, ,£100 ; Mrs. Bush, ^100 ; Miss F. 
 
 Vicary, £ l 9 19s. 
 
 During the year a change has taken place in the 
 staff of the Hospital. Mr. Alexander R. Busby, in 
 consequence of ill-health, tendered his resignation as 
 Resident Medical Officer, and in accepting it with 
 great regret at losing his services, the best thanks of 
 the Committee were voted to him for the faithful, 
 zealous, and highly satisfactory manner in which he 
 had discharged the duties during the two years he had 
 held the appointment. The vacancy was filled up by 
 the election of Mr. James Merces, who came into 
 residence in January last. Miss Brooke, who has been 
 matron at the Hospital for nearly 32 years, has also
 
 136 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 through failing health resigned, and the Committee 
 desire to record their appreciation of her valuable 
 services during such a long period of years. Miss 
 Hellings, of St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, was 
 elected in her stead. 
 
 There are five vacancies in the list of elected 
 Governors, caused by the resignation of Sir Henry 
 Freeling, Bart., and General Wylde, and by the decease 
 of the following gentlemen : J. Todd, Esq., Dr. Thos. 
 Sandon Watson (who was elected in 1835, and was one 
 of the physicians to the Hospital for 33 years), and of 
 F. B. Gill, Esq., who until failing health was an active 
 member of the Committee. 
 
 The Committee have also to record the loss the 
 Institution has sustained by the deaths of Sir E. B. 
 Baker, Bart, Miss Birch, G. D. Wingfield Digby, Esq. 
 (in 1875 President of the Hospital), and Sir A. H. 
 Elton, Bart., who became Governors by virtue of their 
 benefactions to the Hospital. 
 
 The General Committee, Sub- Committee, and 
 Treasurers were appointed for the ensuing year. 
 
 Major Allen, after returning thanks to the Gover- 
 nors and Officials for the assistance rendered him 
 during the five years he has been President, 
 retired from the chair, which was taken by Mr. Murch, 
 senior Vice-President, who, after speaking of the ad- 
 mirable manner in which the duties had been carried 
 out by Major Allen, proposed that Lord Brooke, M.P., 
 be elected President for the ensuing year. — This was 
 seconded by Mr. R. S. Blaine, and carried unanimously. 
 
 Lord Brooke, having taken the chair, returned 
 thanks for the honour conferred upon him. 
 
 The Mayor of Bath, in eulogistic terms, proposed, — 
 That at this Court the Governors desire to present 
 their best thanks to Major Ralph S. Allen for the
 
 Chapter IV. 137 
 
 faithful and zealous discharge of the duties of Presi- 
 dent, and for the care and attention he has shown to 
 the interests of the Hospital during the five years he 
 has held the office ; and would wish to express to him 
 the deep sense which they entertain of his valuable 
 services. — This was seconded by Mr. John Stone, and 
 carried by acclamation. — Major Allen briefly replied. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1885. 
 
 Major Allen, Senior Vice-President, in the chair. 
 
 The number of applications for admission has been 
 1420. At present 133 patients are awaiting admission. 
 The daily average in the Hospital has been 128, and 
 the average duration of residence 45^ days. Al- 
 though the institution, by death and other circum- 
 stances, lost some of its supporters, the Committee 
 have pleasure in stating that the Annual Subscriptions 
 have not diminished. The collections in Churches and 
 Chapels in Bath, amounting to £jj 12s. yd., are rather 
 less than last year, but the contributions from Country 
 Parishes, amounting to £147 6s., have increased by 
 ;£35 us. 3d. The donations, £468 14s. 6d., though 
 less than last year, are above the average. The 
 following legacies have been received : — Dr. T. Sandon 
 Watson, ;£ioo; Mrs. M. Chappell, ^20 ; Miss S. A. 
 Beak, J of Residue, ^£404 4s. 6d. The Hospital 
 expenses for repairs have been heavier than usual, 
 owing to the painting of the two large Day Wards 
 and of the lower part of the walls of the Night 
 Wards. Mr. C. T. Griffiths has been elected as 
 Resident Medical Officer, vice Mr. J. Merces resigned. 
 
 During the past year this Institution, in common 
 
 9
 
 138 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 with other Local Charities, has sustained a loss by the 
 death of Major T. R. Baker, who was elected a 
 Governor in 1853, and served the office of President 
 in 1864. He was also, until lately, an active member of 
 the Committee. Capt. Bradshaw, who was a liberal 
 contributor to the funds of the Hospital, and formerly 
 a member of the Committee, has also died. There 
 are, therefore, two vacancies in the list of Elected 
 Governors to be filled up. — After some discussion on 
 the manner of electing the Committee, the General 
 Committee, Sub-Committee, and Treasurers were 
 appointed for the ensuing year. Major Allen, having 
 vacated the chair, it was taken by Mr. Burningham. 
 
 Col. Cockell proposed — That the best thanks of 
 the Governors be presented to Major Allen, for the 
 efficient manner in which, as Senior Vice-President, 
 he has performed the duties of Chairman during the 
 past year, in the unavoidable absence of the President, 
 Lord Brooke, and that he be requested to undertake 
 the Office of President for the ensuing year. Mr. 
 Blaine seconded, and the resolution was unanimously 
 carried. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING, 
 
 May 1st, 1886. 
 Major Allen in the chair. 
 During the year just closed, 1426 applications 
 have been received, 1063 patients have been admitted, 
 making, with 134 patients remaining in the house at 
 commencement of year, a total of 1 197 ; of these 1056 
 have been discharged and 141 are in the Hospital. 
 Of those discharged 130 were cured, 868 greatly 
 benefited, 23 no better, 17 unfit, 6 discharged at
 
 Chapter IV. 139 
 
 their own request, 9 for misconduct, and 3 have died. 
 Daily average in Hospital had been 133, and the 
 average duration of residence 46 days. Annual sub- 
 scriptions amounted to ,£1,327 4s. 6d., being a slight 
 increase. The donations were ^407 4s. 5d., which 
 was £6 1 10s. id. less than last year. The following 
 legacies have been received : Miss Birch (and interest), 
 ^31 6s.; Miss Dobson (less duty), ^90; Miss 
 Domager, ^200. 
 
 With reference to the remarks made by the Presi- 
 dent at the Quarterly Court in October last respecting 
 the large number of persons waiting for vacancies, a 
 Sub-Committee was appointed to consider what means, 
 if any, could be devised to reduce the constant 
 pressure, and after holding several meetings and 
 thoroughly discussing the matter, made a Report 
 which was unanimously adopted by your Committee. 
 
 That Report recommended that in the Wards, 
 originally built for infectious cases, the partitions should 
 be removed and other minor alterations effected, by 
 which ten extra Beds would be obtained for Male 
 Patients. Five additional Beds for Females would be 
 placed in the existing Wards ; this increased accom- 
 modation of fifteen Beds being as large as present 
 circumstances admitted. 
 
 Amongst the Governors whom the Hospital has 
 lost by death during the year, there is one especially 
 deserving honourable mention. Mr. William Long 
 had filled the office for 42 years, devoting to it in 
 the earlier part of this long period much time and 
 attention. During three successive years, 1857-58-59, 
 he occupied the chair of President, having twice been 
 re-elected in consequence of his valuable aid in all the 
 discussions as to an enlargement of the Hospital.
 
 140 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital 
 
 The ceremony of laving the foundation stone of the 
 new building took place during the third year of his 
 Presidency ; and Dr. Falconer being Mayor, in his 
 speech on the occasion, paid a just tribute to the zeal, 
 energy, and ability with which the President had pro- 
 moted the undertaking. Mr. Long had been for 
 many years one of the Vice-Presidents of the Hospital, 
 and though, in consequence of removal from Bath 
 and long continued ill-health, he had been unable to 
 attend the meetings, he retained a warm interest in 
 its welfare, and his name will always be gratefully 
 and affectionately remembered. 
 
 In addition to Mr. Long, the deceased Governors 
 are Captain Sainsbury, the Rev. C. R. Davy, and 
 the Rev. A. G. How, making four vacancies to be filled 
 up. 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Starr, who resigned the appointment 
 of Registrar in 1880, after holding the office for 40 
 years, has also died during the past year. 
 
 The Committee gratefully acknowledge the con- 
 tributions given during the past two or three years 
 by some of the Livery Companies of London, viz., 
 the " Skinners," " Grocers," " Armourers and Braziers," 
 " Mercers' Company," and " Trustees of Prison 
 Charities." 
 
 Moved by Mr. Murch, seconded by Mr. H. D. 
 Skrine, and resolved : — That this meeting wishes to 
 record its deep sense of the loss by death of four 
 Governors of the Hospital during the past year — the 
 Rev. C. R. Davy, Captain Sainsbury, the Rev. A. G. 
 How, and Mr. William Long, all much respected. It 
 cannot be forgotten that Mr. Long filled the office of 
 President three successive years, in which he gave 
 unremitting attention to the erection of the new wing,
 
 Chapter IV. 141 
 
 in addition to his generous pecuniary contribution. 
 As Governor for the long period of 42 years, and 
 Vice-President nearly 31, he always took a warm 
 interest in the welfare of the institution, and for this 
 and other eminent services to the city of Bath his 
 memory deserves to be long and gratefully remem- 
 bered. That a copy of this resolution be sent to 
 Colonel Long, assuring him that the Governors desire 
 to express their deepest sympathy with the family in 
 their bereavement. 
 
 Major Allen having thanked the Governors for the 
 kind support afforded him during his Presidency, 
 vacated the Chair, which was taken by Mr. Jerom 
 Murch, Senior Vice-President, who moved : — That the 
 very constant attendance and other eminent services 
 of Major Allen during six years in which he has been 
 President of the Hospital, demand the grateful 
 acknowledgment of the Governors ; that they regret 
 his retirement sincerely, but hope still to have the 
 benefit of his valuable co-operation. 
 
 This was seconded by His Honour, Judge Caillard, 
 and carried by acclamation. 
 
 Major Allen having briefly replied, Mr. Murch 
 proposed that General Jervois be elected President for 
 the ensuing year, which being seconded, was unani- 
 mously agreed to. 
 
 General Jervois having taken the Chair, thanked 
 the Governors for the honour conferred upon him. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING. 
 
 May 2nd, 1887. 
 General Jervois, President, in the cliair. 
 In making their Annual Report to the Governors,
 
 142 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 the Committee of the Bath Mineral Water Hospital 
 are glad to be able to state that during the year 
 ending 30th April, 1887, the Hospital has fully 
 maintained its character for usefulness and efficiency. 
 
 The increased accommodation of 15 beds referred 
 to in the last Annual Report, has been a great 
 boon, but in consequence of the patients having 
 remained longer, the total number passed through the 
 Hospital is less than was anticipated. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1886, 141 patients were in the 
 House, and during the year just closed, 1,433 applica- 
 tions for admission have been made, from the 
 number of which 1,115 Patients have been admitted, 
 making the total number in the Hospital 1,256. Of 
 these 1,096 have been discharged, leaving in the 
 Hospital this day 160. 
 
 Of those discharged 137 were cured, 900 were 
 greatly benefited, 33 no better, 12 partially, 4 were 
 discharged at their own request, 6 for misbehaviour, 
 and 4 have died. 
 
 The daily average in the Hospital has been 146, 
 and the average duration of residence 48J days. 
 Last year the daily average was 133, and average 
 stay 46 days. Nearly 100 persons are now waiting 
 for vacancies. 
 
 The gratitude constantly expressed by patients on 
 their discharge convinces the Committee that the 
 benefits of the Charity are highly appreciated. 
 
 The financial position of all institutions dependent 
 to a great extent upon the support of the public for 
 their maintenance, must necessarily be a source of 
 some anxiety to their Managers, but the Committee 
 have pleasure in reporting that notwithstanding the 
 much regretted loss of several old subscribers, and the
 
 Chapter IV. 143 
 
 continued Agricultural and Commercial depression, 
 the Annual Subscriptions have slightly increased, 
 amounting this year to ,£1,34.1 6s. 6d. 
 
 The Donations (including the handsome sum of 
 ^500 given by G. Stuckey Lean, Esq., " In Memo- 
 riam") have amounted to ^946 15s. 3d. 
 
 Application has again been made to the London 
 Livery Companies, and the following contributions 
 received : — The Worshipful Company of Saddlers, £$ 
 5s. ; The Trustees of Prison Charities (3rd donation), 
 £\0 10s. 
 
 In September last a large number of the Colonial 
 and Indian Commissioners visited the Hospital, with 
 which they were greatly pleased. 
 
 Prominent among the losses experienced during 
 the past year, has been that caused by the sudden 
 death of Major Ralph Shuttleworth Allen, which 
 occasions a vacancy in the list of elected Governors. 
 With reference to this sad event, the following resolu_ 
 tion was entered on the minutes : — 
 
 "That the Committee desire to record their feeling 
 of deep sorrow at the loss which this Hospital (in 
 common with other Institutions in the City of Bath) 
 has sustained by the sudden death of their late 
 President, Major Ralph Shuttleworth Allen, who by 
 his kindness and courtesy, gained the respect and 
 esteem of those who enjoyed the privilege of his 
 friendship. 
 
 "He was elected a Governor in 1862, and since 
 1864 has been annually elected a Member of the 
 Committee. In 1873 he was appointed President, the 
 office of which he also served during the years 1879 
 to 1883 inclusive, and again during the year 1885-6, a 
 greater number of times than any previous President.
 
 144 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 He was most regular in his attendance and took the 
 greatest interest in the welfare of the Institution, with 
 which his family has been associated from its founda- 
 tion ; and his firm judgment and tact enabled him to 
 overcome many difficulties which arose. 
 
 "It was his suggestion, during the last year of his 
 Presidency, which led to the increased accommodation 
 which has been provided for 1 5 additional Patients. 
 
 "At the time of his decease he was a Vice-President 
 and one of the Treasurers, and as recently as the 
 Thursday before his death, was present at the weekly 
 meeting of the Committee." 
 
 It may be interesting to note that this year the 
 Hospital celebrates its 3rd Jubilee, the movement 
 which led to its establishment having been commenced 
 in 1737, and shortly afterwards the Plans were 
 submitted to His Majesty King George II., and the 
 Royal Family. 
 
 The Minutes of the last General Court and subse- 
 quent proceedings of the Committee were read and 
 confirmed. The foregoing Report of the Committee 
 and the Financial Statement of the year read. The 
 usual routine business was then gone through, and 
 the ordinary Resolution regarding the Report was 
 adopted. 
 
 General Jervois having thanked the Governors for 
 the kind support received from them during the year, 
 vacated the chair, which was taken by His Worship 
 the Mayor of Bath (Mr. Jerom Murch, Senior Vice- 
 President). 
 
 It was moved by Mr. Burningham, seconded by 
 Mr. Hammond : — " That the best thanks of the 
 Governors be awarded to General Jervois for his 
 past valuable services as President of the Hospital,
 
 Chapter IV. 145 
 
 and that he be requested to assume that office for the 
 coming year. 
 
 The Resolution was carried unanimously, and the 
 President on taking the chair, briefly returned thanks. 
 
 Since the Annual Meeting a letter has been 
 received from the Secretary of State, Home Depart- 
 ment, Whitehall, London, stating that " Her Majesty 
 has been graciously pleased to command that this 
 Hospital shall be called ' The Royal Mineral Water 
 Hospital, Bath,' " to which reference is further made 
 on pages 146 and 147. 
 
 ANNUAL MEETING. 
 
 May 1st, 1888. 
 General Jervois, President, in the Chair. 
 
 The Committee are most thankful to be again 
 able to report that the Hospital has maintained its 
 character for usefulness and efficiency during the past 
 year. The number of applications for admisson has 
 been 1405. The previous year the number was 1433. 
 1070 patients have been admitted, making the total 
 number (including those in the house on the 1st of 
 May last) 1230. 1070 patients have been discharged, 
 leaving in the Hospital this day 160. Of those dis- 
 charged, 122 were cured ; 897 were greatly benefited ; 
 25 were no better ; 10 were unfit ; 8 were dis- 
 charged at their own request ; 5 were discharged for 
 misbehaviour, and 3 have died. The daily average in 
 the house has been 145, and the average stay of each
 
 146 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 patient 49 h days. Upwards of 100 persons are now 
 waiting for vacancies. 
 
 The Annual Subscriptions from private persons 
 have amounted to £597 is. 6d., and from Poor Law 
 Unions and Parishes to £777 18s. The Donations, 
 amounting to £297 10s. 3d., are about ^"650 less than 
 last year. The following Legacies have been re- 
 ceived : Miss H. M. Coney, ^48 ; Mr. W. Lucas, £go ; 
 Mr. C. J. Thornley, ^45. 
 
 The thanks of the Committee are hereby given to 
 the clergymen who have allowed Collections to be 
 made in their churches on behalf of the Hospital, and 
 also to the clergymen who have preached the sermons. 
 
 The Collections at churches in Bath have amounted 
 to ^92 2s. 2d., being £12 10s. 4d. more than last year. 
 At churches in the country the Collections realised 
 ^116 6s. 3d., being ^"14 5s. 9d. less than last year. 
 
 The expenditure of the Hospital during the year, 
 including the cost of fitting up the new blanket and 
 drying room, is about ^190 less than in the previous 
 year. 
 
 Assent has been given, so far as the interests of 
 this Institution are involved, to the scheme of the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer for the conversion of the 
 Three per Cent. Stocks. This will entail a loss of 
 income to the extent of £66 15s. od. per annum until 
 1903, and of ^133 1 os. od. afterwards, unless the 
 investments are altered in the meantime. 
 
 Shortly after the last Annual Meeting a letter was 
 received from the Secretary of State for the Home 
 Department, stating that Her Majesty had been 
 pleased to command that this Hospital shall hence- 
 forth be called the " Royal Mineral Water Hospital." 
 The Committee consider that a great honour has been
 
 Chapter IV. 147 
 
 conferred on this national charity, which since its 
 foundation has received donations from the following 
 members of the Royal Family, viz. : — 
 
 In 1737, His Majesty King George II. ... ^200 
 
 „ „ H.R.H. The Prince of Wales ... 300 
 
 ,, „ H.R.H. The Princess of Wales ... 100 
 
 „ „ H.R.H. The Princess Amelia ... 100 
 
 „ 1746, H.R.H. The Princess Caroline . . 100 
 
 „ 1752, H.R.H. The Duke of Cumberland 100 
 
 „ „ H.R.H. The Princess Amelia ... 100 
 
 „ 1761, H.R.H. The Duke of York ... 50 
 
 „ 1796, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales ... 105 
 
 „ 1817, H.R.H. The Princess Elizabeth 50 
 
 „ 1859, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales .. 100 
 
 Special thanks are given to Col. Laurie, C.B., one 
 
 of the members for Bath, for his kind assistance in the 
 
 matter, as well as for the contribution given by the 
 
 Saddlers' Company, of which he is the Master. 
 
 The Royal Arms, carved in Portland stone, have 
 been placed on the pediment of the Hospital facing 
 Milsom Street. 
 
 On the occasion of Her Majesty's Jubilee, the 
 Hospital was illuminated, and the patients provided 
 with a dinner suitable to the occasion. A musical 
 entertainment was also given during the day. 
 
 As mentioned in previous reports, a large number 
 of the poor are sent from many populous and wealthy 
 Unions and parishes, and especially from London, but 
 in some cases the Boards of Guardians decline to make 
 the pecuniary contributions in aid of the funds which 
 the Act of Parliament allows, and which are required 
 for the support of the Hospital. If the poor rates of 
 such Unions and parishes are lightened by the main- 
 tenance of their cripples, and if by the timely cure or 
 alleviation of ailments future pauperism is prevented,
 
 148 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 it seems only just that this Institution should receive 
 some pecuniary acknowledgment. 
 
 The Committee regret the loss by death during the 
 year of several very useful and esteemed Governors, 
 viz.: — The Rev. Thomas Woodward, elected in 1851, 
 but who had left Bath many years ; also Capt. Breton, 
 R.N., elected in 1859, and who, until his health failed, 
 was an active member of the Committee, and one of the 
 Vice-Presidents. The loss of Major Manley, who was 
 elected in 1879, will also be greatly felt. He was a 
 very regular attendant at the weekly meetings of the 
 Committee, and was most useful in the House Sub- 
 Committee. The Rev. T. P. Rogers, who was elected 
 at the last Annual Meeting, died suddenly a short 
 time since. Robt. Cook, Esq., who became a Governor 
 in 1845 by virtue of his donation, has also died. The 
 vacancies caused by the four first-named will have to 
 be filled up at the Annual Meeting. 
 
 In conclusion, the Committee confidently entertain 
 the hope that an Institution, which extensively relieves 
 the sufferings of humanity, and enables many of the 
 working classes to recover the means of maintaining 
 their families, will continue to receive the support it 
 so well deserves. 
 
 The Minutes of the last General Court and the 
 subsequent proceedings of the Committee, were read 
 and confirmed. 
 
 The foregoing report of the Committee, and the 
 financial statement of the year, were read. 
 
 Mr. A. P. Falconer moved, Dr. Cardew seconded, 
 and it was resolved, — That the report, together with 
 the accounts for the year, be received and adopted, 
 and that copies thereof be printed and sent to every 
 Governor, Subscriber, and Donor, as well as the
 
 Chapter IV. 149 
 
 officiating clergy and Nonconformist ministers in Bath 
 and its vicinity. 
 
 The Committe, Sub-Committees, and Treasurers 
 were appointed for the coming year. 
 
 General Jervois, having thanked the Governors for 
 the kind support received from them during the two 
 years he had been President, vacated the chair, which 
 was taken by Mr. Burningham, Vice-President, who 
 moved that General Mainwaring be elected President 
 of the Hospital for the ensuing year. 
 
 This was seconded by Colonel Vaughton, and 
 carried unanimously. The President, on taking the 
 chair, briefly returned thanks. 
 
 A vote of thanks to the retiring President was 
 carried by acclamation, on the proposition of Mr. J. 
 T. Rainey, seconded by Colonel Fanshawe. 
 
 STATEMENT OF PATIENTS ADMITTED 
 AND DISCHARGED. 
 
 Remaining in the House, April 30, 1887 ... 160 
 Admitted from May 1, 1887, to April 30, 1888 1070 
 
 1230 
 
 Discharged from May 1, 1887, to May 1, 1888 1070 
 Remaining in the House 160 
 
 1230 
 
 The daily average number in the House, 145 ; average 
 stay, 49J days. 
 
 PATIENTS DISCHARGED FROM MAY, 1742, 
 TO MAY, 1888. 
 
 ... 16,151 
 
 Recovered 
 Relieved 
 No better 
 Unfit 
 
 34,5°6 
 4,172 
 
 4,772
 
 150 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 At their own desire or for Misbehaviour ... 853 
 Died ... ... ... ... ... 762 
 
 Total 61,216 
 
 As I think it would be impossible to describe more 
 eloquently and appropriately the great blessings which 
 are placed within the reach of the suffering poor of 
 the United Kingdom, through the instrumentality of 
 the " Royal Mineral Water Hospital, Bath," I shall 
 in conclusion, repeat Dr. R. W. Falconer's remarks, 
 at the end of his edition. The hand which wrote 
 them is still, but the words are as applicable now 
 as when they were written nearly 25 years ago. 
 In fact, owing to improvements of various kinds which 
 have been carried out during that period, patients now 
 admitted to the Hospital are placed under conditions 
 more favourable to rapid and complete recovery than 
 when Dr. Falconer wrote. 
 
 The durable effects of these improvements are 
 made manifest in two ways — First, in the shortened 
 period of detention necessary in the Hospital ; and, 
 secondly, in the greater number of patients which 
 are treated annually in the Institution. 
 
 It is to be earnestly hoped that the time may never 
 arrive when funds, sufficient, to meet the necessary 
 expenditure of this noble Institution, should be found 
 wanting, and that nothing may occur to oblige the 
 Governors to draw on capital, or to decrease the num- 
 ber of admissions. It will be seen that the numbers 
 of applicants for admission are increasing year by year, 
 and it is to be hoped that a generous public will nobly 
 support this Institution and enable it to continue to 
 diffuse its widely-extended benefits in the future, as it 
 has done during the past 146 years.
 
 Chapter IV. 151 
 
 " Few chanties have numbered among their warm 
 supporters so many eminent persons as the Bath 
 General Hospital. The enumeration of some, only out 
 of many, who have held the office of President of the 
 Corporation will indicate the estimation in which it 
 was held. In the list of Presidents, we find the fol- 
 lowing :— H.R.H. the Prince of Wales ; H.R.H. the 
 Duke of York ; the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. 
 Seeker) ; the Earl of Northington (Lord High Chan- 
 cellor of England) ; the Dukes of Beaufort, Bedford, 
 Devonshire, Marlborough, Montague, Kingston, Leeds, 
 and Northumberland ; the Marquises of Rockingham, 
 Stafford, Carnarvon, Bath, and Thomond ; the Earls 
 of Chesterfield, Lincoln, Kerry, Guildford, Spencer, 
 Ailesbury, Camden, Mansfield, Nugent, Manvers, 
 Bridgewater, Brecknock, Liverpool, and Pembroke ; 
 besides many Commoners of distinction. 
 
 " Of the benefits which the Bath General Hospital 
 has directly conferred upon the sick and suffering poor 
 of Great Britain and Ireland, and indirectly upon the 
 parishes in former times, and upon the Unions at the 
 present time, some idea may be formed, when it is 
 stated, that between May, 1742, and May, 1863, 41,227 
 patients have been admitted into the Hospital, of 
 which number, 12,142 have been recovered, and 20,446 
 have been relieved by its means.* 
 
 " It should be remembered that the benefits of this 
 charity are not confined to its immediate locality, but 
 are freely open to the whole Kingdom ; that the act 
 of its incorporation constituted it a National Charity, 
 and provided for the admission of all cases from the 
 United Kingdom of poor persons suffering from sick- 
 
 * The total number of patients discharged between 1742 and May 
 1st, 1888, was 61,216.
 
 152 Bath Royal Mineral Water Hospital. 
 
 ness which may be relieved by the Bath Mineral 
 Waters, without the necessity of any other recom- 
 mendation or interest being exercised on their behalf. 
 " As a National Charity, as a charity which has 
 during its existence been the means of relieving a vast 
 amount of suffering, it commends itself to the benevo- 
 lent and charitable of the United Kingdom, and may 
 therefore expect from them that aid and assistance, 
 which is always required to meet the expenditure 
 necessary for the full and satisfactory management of 
 a large and important Hospital." 
 
 A. Beaufort Brabazon, M.D.
 
 THE 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF THE BATH HOSPITAL 
 
 FROM ITS FOUNDATION. 
 
 1739) 
 1740 ( 
 1741 
 1742 
 1743 
 
 1744 
 1745 
 
 1746 
 
 1747 
 1748 
 
 1749 
 1750 
 1751 
 1752 
 1753 
 1754 
 1755 
 1756 
 1757 
 1758 
 
 1759 
 1760 
 
 1761 
 
 1762 
 1763 
 
 1764 
 
 1765 
 1766 
 1767 
 
 1768 
 
 Thomas Carew, Esq., First 
 
 President 
 Hon. Marshal Wade, M.P. 
 Ralph Allen, Esq. 
 The Bishop of Bath & Wells 
 
 (Dr. Ed. Willes) 
 The Earl of Chesterfield 
 Francis Colston, Es'q. 
 H.R.H. Prince of Wales 
 H.R.H. Prince of Wales 
 H.R.H. Prince of Wales 
 The Duke of Beaufort 
 The Duke of Bedford 
 The Lord Vis. Palmerston 
 The Lord Vis. Dupplin 
 The Duke of Devonshire 
 Nathaniel Curzon, Esq. 
 The Marquis of Rockingham 
 Sir John Ligonier, M.P. 
 The Lord Ilchester 
 The Duke of Kingston 
 The Right Hon. Wm. Pitt, 
 
 M.P. 
 The Marquis of Carnarvon 
 The Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury (Dr. Seeker) 
 The Lord Henley, Lord Kee- 
 per, afterwards Earl of 
 Northington and Lord 
 Chancellor 
 The Duke of Marlborough 
 Sir John Sebright, Bart., 
 
 M.P. 
 Walter Long, Esq. 
 The Earl of Lincoln 
 The Duke of Beaufort 
 H.R.H. Duke of York 
 (Lord Clive) 
 The Duke of Montagu 
 
 1769 
 1770 
 1771 
 1772 
 1773 
 1774 
 1775 
 1776 
 1777 
 1778 
 
 1779 
 1780 
 1781 
 1782 
 
 1783 
 
 1784 
 1785 
 
 1786 
 
 1787 
 1788 
 1789 
 
 1790 
 1791 
 1792 
 1793 
 
 1794 
 
 1795 
 1796 
 1797 
 1798 
 1799 
 1800 
 
 Sir Lawrence Dundas, Bart. 
 
 The Earl of Kerry 
 
 John Smith, Esq., M.P. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Hethrington 
 
 Rev. Dr. Domville 
 
 The Duke of Devonshire 
 
 The Duke of Leeds 
 
 Henry Hoare, Esq. 
 
 The Lord Clifford 
 
 The Bishop of Bath & Wells 
 (Dr. Chas. Moss) 
 
 The Earl of Guildford 
 
 The Earl Spencer 
 
 The Earl of Ailesbury 
 
 The Earl Camden, afterwards 
 Marquis Camden 
 
 The Lord Rodney 
 
 Abel Moysey, Esq. 
 
 The Hon. J. Jefferys Pratt, 
 M.P. 
 
 The Lord Vernon 
 The Earl of Mansfield 
 The Earl Nugent 
 The Lord Primate of Ireland 
 (Dr. Richard Robinson, 
 Lord Rokeby) 
 The Marquis of Bath 
 The Earl of Harewood 
 The Earl of Chesterfield 
 The Bishop of Durham (Dr. 
 
 Shute Barrington) 
 The Lord Viscount Wey- 
 mouth 
 Sir R. P. Arden, Knt. 
 The Duke of Northumberland 
 H.R.H. Prince of Wales 
 U.K. II. Duke of York 
 The Lord Gwydir 
 The Marquis of Stafford
 
 154 
 
 List of. Presidents. 
 
 1801 
 
 William Gore Langton, Esq.. 
 
 1839 
 
 The Lord Tames O'Bryen 
 
 
 M.P. 
 
 1840 
 
 Joseph Neeld, Esq., M.P. 
 
 1802 
 
 William Dickinson, Esq., j 
 
 1841 
 
 Sir Or ford Gordon, Bart. 
 
 
 M.P. 
 
 1S42 
 
 Sir William S. R. Cockburn, 
 
 1803 
 
 The Lord Bishop of Bath and 
 
 
 Bart. 
 
 
 Wells (Dr. R. Beadon) 
 
 1843 
 
 The Venerable W. T. P. 
 
 1804 
 
 The Lord John Thynne, 
 
 
 Brymer, Archdeacon of 
 
 
 M.P. 
 
 
 Bath 
 
 1805 
 
 John Palmer, Esq., M.P. 
 
 1844 
 
 The Duke of Beaufort 
 
 1806 
 
 The Earl Manvers 
 
 1845 
 
 The Lord William Powlett, 
 
 1807 
 
 The Earl of Pembroke 
 
 
 M.P., afterwards Duke of 
 
 1808 
 
 Thos. Buckler Lethbridge, 
 
 
 Cleveland 
 
 
 Esq., M.P. 
 
 1846 
 
 The Lord Bishop of Bath and 
 
 1809 
 
 William Dickinson, Esq., 
 
 
 Wells (the Hon. Richard 
 
 
 M.P. 
 
 
 Bagot, D.D.) 
 
 1810 
 
 The Earl of Bridgwater 
 
 1847 
 
 The Marquis of Thomond 
 
 1S11 
 
 The Duke of Leeds 
 
 1848 
 
 G. Wm. Blathwayt, Esq. 
 
 1812 
 
 The Earl of Guildford 
 
 1849 
 
 Philip Bury Duncan, Esq. 
 
 1813 
 
 Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, 
 
 1850 
 
 The Lord Viscount Midleton 
 
 
 Bart. 
 
 1851 
 
 Major-General Daubeny 
 
 1814 
 
 Sir Tames Mansfield, Bart. 
 
 1852 
 
 William Sutcliffe, Esq. 
 
 1815 
 
 Lieut. -Col. Palmer, M.P. 
 
 
 T. H. Markland, Esq., 
 
 1816 
 
 The Lord Bishop of Glouces- 
 
 
 D.C.L., F.R.S. 
 
 
 ter (Hon. H. Ryder) 
 
 1853 
 
 The same 
 
 1817 
 
 John Parish, Esq. 
 
 1854 
 
 The same 
 
 1818 
 
 Sir T. Shelley, Bart., M.P. 
 
 1855 
 
 Thomas H. King, Esq. 
 
 1819 
 
 Lieut. -Gen. Popham 
 
 1856 
 
 The same 
 
 1820 
 
 Charles Knatchbull, Esq. 
 
 1857 
 
 William Long, Esq. 
 
 1821 
 
 Sir Walter Tames, Bart. 
 
 1858 
 
 The same 
 
 IS22 
 
 Charles Phillott, Esq. 
 
 1859 
 
 The same 
 
 1823 
 
 The Earl of Brecknock, M. P. 
 
 1S60 
 
 Jerom Murch, Esq. 
 
 
 afterwards Marquis Cam- 
 
 1861 
 
 The same 
 
 
 den 
 
 1862 
 
 The same 
 
 1824 
 
 The Earl of Liverpool 
 
 1863 
 
 The Lord Bishop of Bath 
 
 1825 
 
 The Lord Bishop of Bath and 
 
 
 and Wells (the Right Hon. 
 
 
 Wells (Dr. G. H. Law) 
 
 
 and Right Rev. Lord 
 
 1826 
 
 Edward Berkeley Portman, 
 
 
 Auckland) 
 
 
 Esq. 
 
 1864 
 
 Major Thomas R. Baker 
 
 1827 
 
 Sir William Draper Best, 
 
 1865 
 
 David Johnston, Esq. 
 
 
 M.P. 
 
 1866 
 
 The same 
 
 1828 
 
 John H. Smyth Pigott, Esq. 
 
 1867 
 
 The Earl of Cork 
 
 1829 
 
 The Marquis of Lansdowne 
 
 1 868 
 
 The Rev. H. M. Scarth, 
 
 1830 
 
 The Lord Bexley 
 
 
 Prebendary of Wells 
 
 1831 
 
 E. A. Sanford, Esq., M.P. 
 
 1869 
 
 Henry Duncan Skrine, Esq. 
 
 1832 
 
 John Wiltshire, Esq. 
 
 1870 
 
 The Lord Bishop of Bath 
 
 1833 
 
 George E. Allen, Esq. 
 
 
 and Wells (the Hon. and 
 
 1834 
 
 W. Miles, Esq., M.P. 
 
 
 Right Rev. Lord Arthur 
 
 1835 
 
 The Earl Manvers 
 
 
 C. Hervey) 
 
 1836 
 
 The Lord Carrington 
 
 1871 
 
 The Duke of Beaufort 
 
 1837 
 
 The Lord James O'Bryen* 
 
 1872 
 
 The Rev. C. Kemble (Rector 
 
 1838 
 
 The same 
 
 
 of Bath and Prebendary of 
 Wells) 
 Major Ralph S. Allen, M.P. 
 
 * 
 
 Marquis of Thomond, 1846. 
 
 1873
 
 List of Presidents. 
 
 55 
 
 1874 The Marquis of Bath 
 
 1875 G. D. Wingfield Digby, Esq. 
 
 1876 James Watson, Esq., M.D. 
 
 1877 The same 
 
 1878 The same 
 
 Jerom Murch, Esq. 
 
 1879 Major Ralph S. Allen 
 
 1880 The same 
 
 1 88 1 The same 
 
 1882 Major Ralph S. Allen 
 
 1883 The same 
 
 1884 The Lord Brooke, M.P. 
 
 1885 Major Ralph S. Allen 
 
 1886 Major-General J. Gordon 
 
 Jervois 
 
 1887 The same 
 
 1888 Major-General R. Q. Main- 
 
 waring
 
 PHYSICIANS and SURGEONS of the HOSPITAL 
 
 FROM ITS FOUNDATION. 
 
 pijgsi'riang — 
 
 Dr. William Oliver Elected May I, 1740, resigned May I, 1761 
 
 Dr. Edward Harington ,, May I, 1740, resigned May I, 1750 
 
 Dr. Alexander Rayner ,, May I, 1740, resigned May I, 1750 
 
 Dr. David Hartley ,, May 15, 1744, resigned Nov. 2, 174S 
 
 Dr. David Bostock ,, May 15, 1744, resigned Feb., 1745 
 
 Dr. David Brewster ,, May 15. 1744, resigned Jan. 26, 1757 
 
 Dr. David Woodford ,, May 1, 1747, resigned May I, 1757 
 
 Dr. David Movsey ,, May I, 1747, died 17S0. 
 
 Dr. John Summers ,, Nov. 2, 174S, resigned Feb. 4, 1752 
 
 Dr. Rice Charlton ,, June 2, 1757, resigned May 1, 17S1 
 
 Dr. Robert Gusthart ,, May 20, 1761, died December, 1780 
 
 Dr. Henry Harington ,, Sept. 6, 1780, resigned Oct. 9, 1799 
 
 Dr. Daniel Lysons ,, Jan. 10, 1781, died 1800 
 
 Dr. J. Staker ,, May 16, 17S1, died April 2S, 1784 
 
 Dr. William Falconer ,, May 12, 17S4, resigned Feb. 10, 1S19 
 
 Dr. Caleb H. Parry ,, Oct. 30, 1799, resigned April 2, 1817 
 
 Dr. James Holman ,, Apl. 9, 1800, resigned Dec. 12, 1804 
 
 Dr. George S. Gibbes* ,, Dec. 28, 1S04, resigned Jan. 14, 1S1S 
 
 Dr. John Ford Davis ,, Apl. 23, 1S17, resigned Jan. 30, 1S34 
 
 Dr. Charles H. Parry ,, Feb. 4, 1818, resigned July 3, 1822 
 
 Dr. Charles Barlow ,, Mar. 3, 1819, died 1844 
 
 Dr. Muttlebury ,, July 17, 1S22, resigned July 7, 1830 
 
 Dr. J- B. Daniel ,, July 28, 1S30, resigned April n, 1844 
 
 Dr. Thomas S. Watson ,, Mar. 6, 1S34, resigned April 11, 1867 
 
 Dr. J. Cardew ,, May 1, 1844, resigned May 21, 1846 
 
 Dr. John Hearly Pring ,, May 1, 1844, resigned May 22, 1845 
 
 Dr. Edward Hodges ,, June 17, 1845, resigned April 9, 1857 
 
 Dr. E. D. Tarleton ., June 9, 1846, died 1849 
 
 Dr. R. F. Lindoe ,, Oct. 9, 1849, resigned July 17, 1851 
 
 Dr. John Burne ,, Aug. 12, 1S51, resigned Feb. 7, 1S56 
 
 Dr. R. W. Falconer ,, Feb. 28, 1856, died May 6, 18S1 
 
 Dr. Charles Coates ,, May 1, 1S57, resigned April 15, 1875 
 
 Dr. Tunstall ,, May 1, 1S67, resigned Oct. 8, 1S6S 
 
 Dr. Hensleyf ,, Oct. 29. 1868 
 
 Dr. A. B. Brabazon t ,, May 1, 1875 
 
 Dr. J. K. Spender + ,, May 30, 1881 
 
 * Afterwards Sir G- S. Gibbes. 
 
 t The present Physicians, 1888.
 
 Physicians and Surgeons. 
 
 157 
 
 J. Peirce, Esq. 
 A. Cleland, Esq. 
 
 F. Palmer, Esq. 
 H. Wright, Esq. 
 J. Downe, Esq. 
 
 G. Jones, Esq. 
 P. Ditcher, Esq. 
 J. Phillott, Esq. 
 H. Attwood, Esq. 
 M. Nicholls, Esq. 
 W. Tudor, Esq. 
 G. Kitson, Esq. 
 
 J. G- Elkington, Esq. 
 W. Terry, Esq. 
 R. F. George, Esq. 
 G. L. Wood, Esq. 
 J. Soden, Esq. 
 J. S. Bartrum, Esq. 
 T. G. Stockwell, Esq.* 
 J. K. Spender, M.D. 
 R. Carter, M.D.* 
 F. K. Green, Esq.* 
 
 Surgeons — 
 
 Elected May 1. 1740, resigned May 1, 176 1 
 May 1, 1742, dismissed May 1, 1743 
 May 1, 1742, resigned May 1, 1762 
 May 1, 1742, died May 1, 1794 
 May 1, 1742, resigned May 20, 1797 
 May 1, 1744, 1755 
 
 Aug. 15, 1744, resigned May 20, 1781 
 June 3, 1797, resigned May 1, 1820 
 June 3, 1781, resigned May 1, 1807 
 Feb. 12, 1794, died March 12, 18 17 
 Feb. 12, 1807, resigned May 2, 1836 
 April 2, 1817, resigned July 14, 1842 
 May 17, 1820, resigned Aug. 1, 1821 
 Aug. 15, 1821, resigned Apl. 18, 1827 
 May 9, 1827, resigned Sept. 27, i860 
 May 17, 1836, resigned Apl. 4, 1867 
 July 28, 1842, resigned Dec. 28, 1854 
 Jan. 25, 1855, resigned Jan. 28, 1875 
 Jan. 25, i860 
 
 May I, 1867, resigned April 10, 1879 
 May 1, 1875 
 May I, 1879 
 
 * The present Surgeons, 1888.
 
 Is8 
 
 Cjjaplam — 
 
 1872— The Rev. Thomas Tyers, M.A. 
 
 Ersttjcnt JKebtcal Officer— 
 
 1S85— C. T. Griffiths, Esq. 
 
 Registrar— 
 
 18S0— Mr. Frederick W. Dingle. 
 
 fHatron — 
 
 1884— Miss E. Hellings- 
 
 bankers — 
 
 Messrs. Hoare and Co., $7 Fleet Street, London. 
 Messrs. Tugwell, Bryraer, Clutterbuck, and Co., Bath-
 
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