Withington Workhouse and Hospital
1849-1969
Archives
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The collection mainly comprises registers of various kinds. When a register was opened, inmates or patients who had not yet been discharged were brought forward from the old register with the effect that many of the registers appear to have been opened earlier than in fact was the case.
Registrar's records: birth registers 1857-1920 (on microfilm); death registers 1857-1949 (on microfilm); death register indexes 1907-1949.
Workhouse and hospital registers: admission and discharge registers 1870-1884 (on microfilm); creed registers 1869-1916 (on microfilm until Sep 1911); registers of inmates 1914-1946; registers of patients 1930-1948; interment registers 1898-1951 (on microfilm until 1922); cemetery reference book 1857-1891; chaplaincy registers, of baptism 1849-1924; Auxiliary Hospital admission and discharge register 1940-1948 and registers of paying patients 1926-1948.
Medical registers [RESTRICTED ACCESS]: operation registers 1899-1940; ward registers 1946-1961; emergency medical services (EMS) register 1939-1952; register of ante-natal private patients 1939-1947.
Nurses' records [RESTRICTED ACCESS]: probationers' registers 1911-1920; probationer nurses' undertakings 1890 -1918; probationer nurses' reports 1914-1924; nurses' register of holidays and sickness 1913-1939; seamstress and maids register 1936-1964; Nursing staff registers 1898-1968 (incomplete)
Many records can be viewed on Findmypast.
Related Material:Lancashire Record Office holds Roman Catholic baptism and confirmation registers, 1857-1973, and chaplains' report books, 1921-1955, for Withington Workhouse and Hospital (ref: RCWI acc 9126).
For a history of the hospital see Gerard Edwards, The Road to Barlow Moor. The Story of Withington Hospital, Manchester (Gerard Edwards, 1975) which is held in the Local Studies Library (ref: Q 362.11 EDI).
See Withington Union Board of Guardians, 1922-1930 (GB127.M327/5/1-2).
Place:/Withington/Manchester/Lancashire/England
Repository:
Manchester Archives and Local Studies
Title:
Withington Workhouse and Hospital
Date of work:
1849-1969
Reference number:
GB127.M327
Level of description:
Fonds
Includes:
Custodial history:
The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 transferred responsibility for the provision of poor relief from the parishes to the newly-created poor law unions which were administered by boards of guardians. One of the tasks of the guardians was to provide workhouse accommodation or 'indoor relief' to those in need; typically the old, the sick, the handicapped, children and unmarried mothers. The workhouses had sick wards or sometimes separate infirmaries and became significant providers of medical care to the poor.At the beginning of the twentieth century there were strong movements towards changing the poor law. In 1913 it was decreed that union workhouses should be referred to as 'poor law institutions', thus attempting to remove the stigma of the workhouse, but it was not until the Local Government Act of 1929 that the administrative structure of the Victorian poor law was dismantled. With effect from 31st March 1930, the boards of guardians were dissolved and their responsibilities transferred to the county and county borough councils. The poor law institutions were now known as 'public assistance institutions', and though some were converted for specialised purposes, most continued to function in much the same way.The surviving remnants of the poor law were brought to an end by the National Assistance Act of 1948, one of the measures which inaugurated the welfare state. Many workhouse buildings were demolished or fell into disuse, but some were converted to serve other purposes, most commonly as hospitals.In Manchester the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 created three unions: Manchester Union, Prestwich Union and Chorlton Union. The Chorlton Union Workhouse, Nell Lane, Withington was opened in 1855. Five hospital blocks or pavilions, designed by Thomas Worthington, were built 1864-1868, making Withington the first institution to adopt the 'pavilion system', which was, in the opinion of the day, a healthier form of hospital architecture. Further blocks were added in 1884, 1890 and 1913. The workhouse site also included the Chorlton Union Cemetery (ref: GB127.M327/2/6/1) which served the Chorlton Union area as well the workhouse and hospital until it reached its capacity in 1920. The cemetery was formally closed in 1970 and the remains were re-interred at Southern Cemetery where some remains had already been re-interred in order to accommodate the building of Princess Road over the old cemetery site. The National Archives holds details of memorials removed from Withington Hospital Ground and re-erected in the non-conformist part of Southern Cemetery (ref: RG37/98).In 1910 all the townships in Chorlton Union were amalgamated to form the Township of South Manchester for poor law purposes. In 1915 the Township of South Manchester was joined to the Township of Manchester and the Prestwich Union to form the Manchester Union. Although the Withington Institution continued to function as a poor law institution down to the 1940's (ref: GB127.M327/2/3/1-20), M327/2/5/20), it was in its capacity as a hospital that it developed the most. During the First World War the hospital section was made over to the military authorities and was temporarily known as Nell Lane Military Hospital. In 1922 the Auxiliary Hospital for private or paying patients was set up and it continued to function until 1948 (ref: GB127.M327/2/8,9). From the outset the hospital had made progress in the training of nurses under the auspices of the Workhouse Nursing Association, but 1922 saw the beginning of organised classroom teaching when the first nurse tutor was appointed (Probationer nurses' records ref: GB127.M327/4/1-3).After the Local Government Act of 1929 Withington Hospital sought to disassociate itself from the poor law image. Now in the hands of the Corporation of the City of Manchester, the hospital was developed and extended. By 1948 it had become one of the largest general hospitals in the country and was established as the focal point for th
Source:
These records were deposited by the Manchester Area Health Authority (South District) in 1979 (GB127.M327/1-3), Miss E Y W Mullen, District Nursing Officer, Withington Hospital in 1979 and 1980 (GB127.M327/4) and by Professor Harnden.in 2001 (Acc 2001/11)
Access restrictions:
Restrictions varyRegisters containing personal medical information about individuals are on restricted access for 100 years. Registers containing personal information about staff are on restricted access for 75 years. This is in accordance with Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act.Hospital records. These records are subject to FOIA and can be accessed through the relevant FOIA/DP procedures.For complex enquiries we contact the trust on behalf of the member of the public.Chief NurseWythenshawe HospitalManchesterM23 9LTMedico Legal Team3rd Floor - Tower BlockWythenshawe HospitalSouthmoor RoadWythenshaweManchesterM23 9LT0161 291 2445/2451foi@uhsm.nhs.uk
Use restrictions:
Restrictions vary
General notes:
Old Accession Number: 2001/18 2016/78
Language:
English
Record number:
7193541