Mary Wardell
Mary Wardell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 August 1832 |
| Died | 20 January 1917 (aged 84) |
| Occupation | Philanthropist |
| Known for | Establishing a scarlet fever hospital in London |
Mary Wardell (18 August 1832 – 20 January 1917) was a British philanthropist whose establishment for the treatment of Scarlet Fever reduced the prevalence of the infection in London.[1]
Hospital work
[edit]The daughter of a wine merchant, and educated at Queen's College, London,[2] her idea for establishing a Scarlet Fever convalescent home was reported to have arisen from her work "among the poor of London"[3] through Ellen Henrietta Ranyard's London Bible and Domestic Female Mission.[4][5] Wardell's Convalescent Home for Scarlet Fever opened on the summit of Brockley Hill, Stanmore in 1884 after five years of fundraising and was still regarded as unique thirty years later.[6][7]
Mary Wardell presented her initial idea to the physician Alexander Patrick Stewart whose introductions to other doctors, led her to secure in just six weeks the backing of many eminent medical men in the capital for the "project she had herself devised".[8] Wardell later secured political support from the Prime Minister and his wife Catherine Gladstone[9] and a meeting was held at Downing Street to advance the cause in March 1882.[10] The Ladies' Sanitary Association, of which Catherine Gladstone was a patron, reported itself not only to have contributed a donation, but to have "worked assiduously to assist Miss Wardell".[11] Royal patronage came from the Prince and Princess of Wales who opened the home in 1884.[12][13][14]
Presiding at the first annual meeting was James Risdon Bennett, and Edward Henry Sieveking moved the meeting to accept the first annual report.[15] Mary Wardell was not just the Secretary of the home but at times undertook the roles of matron and domestic as required[16] and in due course she moved to premises next door named Sullonicae, after the Romano-British settlement of that name. One convalescent compared her to Father Damien.[17] One patient was the composer Frederic Hymen Cowen in 1887,[18] only months after having conducted benefit concerts for the home.[19]
One early concession she made to her original plan was to extend her mission to patients of different social classes, resulting in the provision of somewhat segregated facilities.[20][6] Despite differential charges for those more able to pay, fundraising continued to be required with all outstanding debts cleared in 1911 following a grant by the executors of Lady Goldsmid.[21]
To counteract local suspicion, the nurses wore distinctive Turkey red uniforms, so that those fearful of infection could keep away from them.[22] The Home also collected patients from their homes by a dedicated omnibus to reduce the likelihood of transmission.[23][6]
At the time of her death in 1917, the home had been repurposed as an auxiliary military hospital for the treatment of Belgian and French soldiers.[24] After the war, the site was acquired as the Country Branch of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.[25][26]
Mary Wardell is buried in the churchyard of S Lawrence, Little Stanmore, Middlesex the parish in which the Home was situated.
References
[edit]- ^ "Medical News". The British Medical Journal. 1 (2318): 1244. 1905. JSTOR 20285385.
- ^ "Behind the footlights by Ethel Brilliana Harley Tweedie". Toronto Musson Book Co.
- ^ "Medical News". The British Medical Journal. 1 (2259): 904. 1904. ISSN 0007-1447. JSTOR 20280359.
- ^ "The Churchman Advertiser, July 1898" (PDF).
- ^ "A Convalescent Home for Scarlet Fever Patients". The Quiver. 24: 635. 1889.
- ^ a b c Ostheimer, Alfred James (July 28, 1900). "Convalescent Homes". Philadelphia Medical Journal: 137.
- ^ "Medical News". The British Medical Journal. 1 (2259): 904. 16 April 1904. JSTOR 20280359.
- ^ Stewart, A. P. (1882). "Are Homes For Convalescents From Scarlatina Desirable? And, If So, At What Period Can The Patients Be Safely Removed To Them?". The British Medical Journal. 1 (1107): 374–375. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.1107.374. ISSN 0007-1447. JSTOR 25259190. PMC 2371537. PMID 20750140.
- ^ Drysdale, George (1885). State Measures for the Direct Prevention of Poverty, War, and Pestilence Containing Three Articles (the two last reprinted from the "National Reformer"): State Remedies for Poverty; Can war be Suppressed; and The Extinction of Infectious Diseases. E. Truelove. p. 57.
- ^ "DOWNING-STREET AND SCARLET FEVER". The Lancet: 491. March 25, 1882.
- ^ The twenty-fourth annual report of the Ladies' Sanitary Association: April, 1882, The Ladies' Sanitary Association, 1882, JSTOR 60202057
- ^ "Royal Visit to Stanmore". British Medical Journal. 2 (1228): 75. 1884. JSTOR 25267009.
- ^ Burdett, Henry Charles (1889). Prince, Princess, and People: An Account of the Social Progress and Development of Our Own Times. pp. 205–206.
- ^ "Scarlet Fever Convalescent Home". The British Medical Journal. 2 (1229): 130. 1884. ISSN 0007-1447. JSTOR 25267070.
- ^ "Public Health And Poor-Law Medical Services". The British Medical Journal. 1 (1330): 1233–1236. 1886. ISSN 0007-1447. JSTOR 25268411.
- ^ "The Mary Wardell Convalescent Home". The Lancet: 30. January 3, 1885.
- ^ Bulstrode, Herbert Timbrell (1891-10-01). "The Mary Wardell convalescent home for scarlet fever" (PDF). Public Health. 4: 10–11. doi:10.1016/S0033-3506(05)81258-2. ISSN 0033-3506.
- ^ "Notes and News: London". The Musical World. 65 (39): 760. 1887.
- ^ "Miscellaneous Concerts". The Musical World. 65 (26): 499. 1887.
- ^ Beale, Anne. "The Girl's Own Paper" (PDF).
- ^ "Hospitals And Asylums". The British Medical Journal. 1 (2632): 424. 1911. ISSN 0007-1447. JSTOR 25286763.
- ^ Beale, Anne. "The Girl's Own Paper" (PDF).
- ^ Beale, Anne. "The Girl's Own Paper" (PDF).
- ^ "pegleg productions". peglegproductions.org. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
- ^ "Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital: New Treatment Block At Stanmore". The British Medical Journal. 2 (4099): 243. 1939. ISSN 0007-1447. JSTOR 20304306.
- ^ "Naval Medical War Memorials". The British Medical Journal. 2 (3221): 573. 1922. JSTOR 20421165.