Victoria Cottage Hospital, Guernsey

Victoria Cottage Hospital was in Candie Road

Victoria Cottage Hospital Guernsey was a healthcare facility in Guernsey and opened in 1888. ^[1] It closed in 1940 during the German occupation of the Channel Islands. ^[2] The hospital was not reopened after liberation. ^[2]

History

On 1 May 1888 a cottage hospital was opened by the Bailiff, Sir Edgar MacCulloch for the sick needy poor in Cambridge Park, Guernsey. ^[2] The hospital was the idea of Dr Ernest Laurie Robinson, who had also established a local branch of the St John Ambulance and a Voluntary Nursing Corps in the two years previously. ^[3] Donations were made to fund the hospital by the local community. ^[4]

The Victoria Cottage Hospital was intitally staffed by volunteer nurses and a trained superintendent. ^[3] It was smaller than the general hospital, and when it first opened, it had just five beds and a childs cot in two wards. ^[2] Patients paid to have a bed (around 4 shillings in 1888). ^[3] Only a few months after the hospital opened, a patient with bladder stones underwent successful experimental surgery that was written up in The Lancet . ^[5]

The Victoria Cottage Hospital soon expanded and in 1891 it moved to larger premises and had 13 beds. ^[1] During the First World War, it became an auxiliary military hospital. ^[6] During the Second World War, the Victoria Hospital was converted to an emergency hospital to deal with casualties of the conflict. ^[7] It closed in 1940 during the German occupation of the Channel Islands. ^[2] Matron Hall of the hospital went with other staff to the country hospital, where they continued to provide care throughout the occupation. ^[8]

In 1949, the new purpose-built Princess Elizabeth Hospital was opened.

Notable staff

• Mary Christiana Gadsby, Matron 1890-1896, trained at The London Hospital under Eva Luckes; she resigned because of ill health. ^{[9] [10] [11]}
• Captain John Follett Bullar FRCS was ophthalmic surgeon at the hospital and also bred pedigree goats. ^[12]

References

1. Burdett's Hospitals and Charities Annual. London: Scientific Press. 1895. p. 401.
2. "On this day in Guernsey". On This Day in Guernsey. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
3. Crossan, Rose-Marie (2015). Poverty and Welfare in Guernsey, 1560-2015. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN   978-1-78327-040-8.
4. "Donation to the Guernsey Cottage Hospital". Jersey Express and Channel Islands : 2. 5 June 1890 – via www.findmypast.co.uk.
5. Carey (10 November 1888). "Victoria Cottage Hospital, Guernsey: A Case of Suprapubic Lithotomy: Remarks". The Lancet : 913–4.
6. "History". Ambulance and Rescue Guernsey. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
7. Dyson, Sue; McAllister, Margaret (2019-11-26). Routledge International Handbook of Nurse Education. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-351-12165-1.
8. "Sutcliffe, Richard Brook (Oral history)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
9. Rogers, Sarah (2022). "A Maker of Matrons"? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders: 1880–1919 (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022).
10. "Tribute of Esteem to Miss Gadsby". Guernsey Star : 2. 7 March 1896 – via www.findmypast.co.uk.
11. "Presentation to Miss Gadsby". Guernsey Star: 2. 14 March 1896 – via www.findmypast.co.uk.
12. Venn, John; Venn, John Archibald (2011-09-15). Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-108-03611-5.