| 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. |
| Custodial History | The photographs were donated to the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections in 1992. |
| Description | The collection comprises one bundle of black and white photographs:
Head and shoulders studio portrait photograph of Mrs G.K. Martin in housekeeping uniform (MS 366/1);
Series of black and white snapshot group photographs of assistant cooks, maids and sisters, in uniform, posed in the grounds of the General Hospital (MS 366/2-18). One photograph is labelled 'Cooks', but no other identifying endorsements appear on any of the photographs. The donor of the material identified some of the photographs as follows:
Assistant cooks named Margery, Maud and Ann, with Mrs Martin (MS 366/2); Mrs Milburn (Housekeeping Sister, left) and Miss Malpas (Assistant Housekeeping Sister, right) (MS 366/10); Miss Milburn with nursing sisters, working for a housekeeping certificate in order to be eligible for a matron's position (MS 366/11); sisters participating in housekeeping course (MS 366/13); Mrs Martin with Mr Attwell (Storekeeper), one of the orderlies, and another woman (MS 366/14-15); Mrs Martin with Mr Oram, who brought supplies such as milk (MS 366/16); view of Mount Street, taken from Mrs Martin's sitting room on Postern Street (MS 366/17); view of hospital buildings taken from the lawn, with a list on the reverse side of the names of people appearing in the photograph (MS 366/18).
Series of larger black and white prints, produced by the Nottingham Guardian and Nottingham Journal newspapers, showing housekeeping staff preparing Christmas puddings in the kitchens on Postern Street, and standing behind tables full of Christmas cakes (MS 366/19-22);
Two black and white group photographs of male and female medical staff, in suits and cocktail dresses, at two different Sisters and Doctors Dinner Dances held at Pearson House (MS 366/23-24);
A General Hospital Christmas card, with a black and white photograph of the interior of the Hospital chapel on the front, sent 'from Gladys with love' (MS 366/25). |