What kind of institution was Western Hospital in 1901 London England?.
The address was Seagrove  road, Fulham Street.  How can I obtain
records of a patient at that time?

Hello knellar,

The Western Hospital belonged to the Metropolitan Asylums Board, which
was set up in 1867  to provide a centrally planned service of fever
and smallpox isolation hospitals. In 1871, it acquired part of the
Lillie Bridge racing ground in Fulham, on which it constructed the
Western Hospital. The hospital was opened on 10 March 1877, and was
able to take 240 patients with smallpox or fever.
Information from the NHS History web site
http://www.nhshistory.net/smallpox_&_fevers.htm
The fact that it was a fever hospital is also documented at
http://www.institutions.org.uk/hospitals/england/lon/london_infirmaries.htm

In the 1901 Census, the Western Hospital, Fulham was still mentioned
as a hospital for infectious diseases.  ,
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jeffery.knaggs/Instuts.html  This is a
web site of a private individual who is documenting institutions that
were enumerated separately from ordinary households in the Census. The
address here is given as Sedgmares Road, Fulham, although the web site
mentioned previously gave it as Seagrave Road,  Fulham

It later served as a general hospital, and was noted by the fact that
one of its consultants, Dr W Howlett Kelleher, to design a new type of
iron lung in 1961. http://www.geocities.com/ironlungmuseum/ironlung.htm

Surviving archival material from the hospital, including the casebook
of the hospital for the years 1877-1968 are held in the Hammersmith
and Fulham Archives and Local History Centre (Reference : A2000/32)

Hammersmith and Fulham Archives and Local History Centre 
The Lilla Huset
191 Talgarth Road
London W6 8BJ
England
Tel 020 8741 5159
Fax 020 8741 4882
Email lbhfarchives@hotmail.com 

Information from the Historical Manuscripts Commission
http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=2618&inst_id=3&term1=Western%20Hospital

Some archival material from the hospital is also available at LONDON
METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES 40 Northampton Road LONDON EC1R OHB
Web site http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/lma/
Information from the Wellcome Trust
http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/collections/pdf/LMA.pdf

---

Clarification of Answer by tehuti-ga on 08 Dec 2002 20:02 PST

Correction, my fingers ran away with me in advance of my brain.  The
fact that in 1961 Western Hospital was associated with a new design
for an iron lung, does not mean it had become a general hospital. Iron
lungs were used mainly in the treatment of polio cases in those days,
which would fit in with it still being a hospital for infectious
diseases.  Apologies.