| Admin History | Nottingham General Hospital was founded as a charitable institution by public subscription in 1782. At the formation of the National Health Service in 1948 and the take over of the hospital by the Sheffield Regional Board, the hospital comprised 423 beds and 114 at the Cedars. Following the opening of the University Hospital, the Queen's Medical Centre, in 1977, many services were transferred there from the General. The reduction of services continued throughout the 1980s and in 1992 the General Hospital finally, closed, with its functions moving either to the University Hospital or to the City Hospital.
Mabel Player Ward was a children's ward, opened in 1929 in a new storey added to the Jubilee Wing of the General Hospital. |
| Custodial History | The photographs were donated to the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections in 1992 by a private individual. |
| Description | The collection comprises three small snapshot photographs (8.5 x 6 cm). According to the donor they were taken at Christmas 1938, and show the 'Snow White' theme chosen for the children's ward Christmas decorations:
Group photograph showing three child patients sitting on a sofa, with six uniformed nurses standing behind; beds are visible at the sides of the ward behind the group of people; and toy versions of the Seven Dwarfs at the feet of the children (MS 342/1);
Photograph showing the same three child patients next to a construction described on the back of the photograph as 'the Wishing Well in Snow White', an arrangement of plants, flowers and wood, with the toy Seven Dwarfs on a blanket; beds are visible at the back of the photograph (MS 342/2);
Photograph showing the same three child patients behind a wooden gate decorated with garlands, and in front of a large Christmas tree; the endorsement states 'This is the main doors to the Ward. Had them trimed up like a garden with fairy lights' (MS 342/3). |