Royal Southern Hospital
toxteth.net > places >  institutions > royal southern hospital
The Original Southern and Toxteth Hospital was opened on 17 January 1842 in Greenland Street with 30 beds. Gores 1843 entry is here. Demand was great and the number of beds was increased to 65.  It was decided to add another storey to the building. Much of the money needed for this work was raised by a concert given by Jenny Lind at the Royal Amphitheatre in January 1849. The enlarged hospital re-opened with accommodation for 70 additional patients. At first, however, a total of 86 beds only were in use. Not until after the Crimean War were the 100 beds, deemed necessary to qualify as a medical school, in use.  Despite numerous innovations the hospital remained overcrowded so it was decided to build a new hospital in Caryl Street.

The new hospital was designed by architects Culshaw and Sumners.  The foundation stone was laid by the Earl of Derby on 23 October 1867. The hospital was opened by H.R.H. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, on 21 May 1872. By Permission of Queen Victoria the title of "Royal" was given (its name having already been changed from the "Southern and Toxteth Hospital" to the "Southern Hospital" in 1857).

In July 1937 the Liverpool United Hospitals Act amalgamated four Liverpool voluntary hospitals (the Royal Infirmary, the David Lewis Northern, the Royal Southern and the Stanley Hospitals) into a single body. In 1948 the governing body - The United Liverpool Hospitals - was established.

The Southern Hospital was evacuated to the Fazakerley Hospital for Infectious Diseases in 1939, presumably on the outbreak of WW2 and it did not return to Caryl Street until 1950. During the war the Caryl Street site was used by the Admiralty as a training school for merchant navy gunners and named H.M.S. Wellesley. The Royal Southern Hospital was closed on the opening of the new Royal Liverpool Hospital in 1979 and later demolished.  Part of the building can also be seen on the Mann Street page.

 

The card (from the Liverpool Record Office) is dated1867

 Royal Southern Hospital, Liverpool - waiting room, 1908

Records and History courtesy of Liverpool Record Office, Liverpool Libraries. Visit Liverpool Libraries online catalogues at http://archive.liverpool.gov.uk