Our recent posts have highlighted some famous figures in the history of the Royal Free Hospital and their links to the library – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sheila Sherlock. This month we’re focusing on the founding father of the Hospital, William Marsden.

Marsden was born in 1796 in Yorkshire, probably to humble beginnings.

Following an early career as an assistant apothecary, in 1824 Marsden studied surgery under John Abernathy at St Bartholomew’s, qualifying as MCRS in 1827. Late that year, an event occurred that had a profound influence on the direction his life would take.

Walking home shortly before Christmas, Marsden found a young girl almost dead from disease and starvation on the steps of St Andrew’s Church in Holborn.

He tried to find treatment for her at several hospitals but was refused; at the time admission to hospitals required a letter from a hospital governor, and therefore the power of admission was held exclusively in the hands of the rich who supported the hospital.

The girl died two days later.

Distressed at this state of affairs, Marsden called a meeting of city businessmen, and proposed the founding of a free hospital; the ‘London General Institution for the Gratuitous Care of Malignant Diseases’ opened its doors on April 17^th 1828. The dispensary treated all diseases and conditions, including venereal disease, which most other institutions were reluctant to treat. In 1832, when cholera reached London, the free hospital opened its doors to cholera patients. As a result Marsden became a leading authority on the treatment of the disease, saving many patients.

In 1835, King William IV became a patron of the hospital, and the institution became known as the ‘Free Hospital.’ In 1837, Queen Victoria granted the title of ‘Royal’ to the Free Hospital, bringing much publicity. The Royal Free Hospital relocated to Gray’s Inn Road in 1843, reaching a capacity to admit hundreds of patients. In 1853 Marsden and two colleagues proposed that the Royal Free Hospital was now in the position to start a medical school.

Alongside the Royal Free Hospital, William Marsden also founded the first hospital exclusively for cancer patients, now known as the Royal Marsden Hospital. According to his obituary in the British Medical Journal, Marsden was:

“…like all men of his mark, self-contained, and did not ever give up the object he had set his heart upon because he was opposed by great and authoritative personages; neither was he ever greatly elated by the accession to his views if important people.” (BMJ, 1867, p. 97)

Visitors to the library may notice the impressive portrait of Marsden on the ground floor, painted by Thomas Illidge in 1850. The library is proud to provide a home for this representation of the founder of the Royal Free Hospital and pioneer in social medicine. We hope that our users will also find inspiration in the wonderful history of the Royal Free Hospital that can be found within the Library’s walls.

Sources:

1867. William Marsden. Br Med J, 1, 96.

MAGEE, R. 2009. William Marsden, a pioneer in social medicine. ANZ journal of surgery, 79, 918-921.

MCINTYRE, N. 2004. William Marsden’s Yorkshire family, 1749-1922. Journal of Medical Biography, 12, 154-160.

Last month on the Royal Free Library blog we provided inspiration for our visitors with the fascinating piece of tangible history that is Elizabeth Garrett Anderson’s desk. If you have found yourself sitting here in contemplation, you may have noticed the striking bust that shares this space on the first floor of the Library (pictured). This bust represents the image of Dame Shelia Sherlock (1918-2001), another hugely monumental figure in the history of medicine.

Sheila Sherlock was born in Dublin in 1918 and brought up in Folkestown in the United Kingdom. In 1930s Britain it was still quite difficult for women students to enter into medicine, and Sheila applied to and was rejected by several medical schools. She ultimately received an offer from the University of Edinburgh in 1936, graduating five years later at the top of her class. Sheila’s specialist subject was in liver disease, and her immense talent was quickly reflected in her career path.

In 1948, at the age of thirty, she was appointed lecturer and honorary consultant physician at Hammersmith, setting up a new liver unit which attracted research fellows from many countries. In 1959, at the age of forty-one, she became Britain’s first female Professor of Medicine, when she was appointed to the chair at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School. At this stage in her career she had gained an international reputation as a pioneer in the new field of hepatology. She remained Chair of Medicine at the Royal Free until 1983. In March 2008, the liver treatment service at the Royal Free Hospital was re-named the Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre in her honour. The staff education centre in the hospital is also named after her.

So, on your next visit to the Library, take a moment to pause on the first floor and give a nod to one of the most instrumental and inspiring figures in Royal Free history.

Sources:

MCINTYRE, N. 2014. How British women became doctors: the story of the Royal Free Hospital and its Medical School, United Kingdom: Wenrowave Press.

ROYAL FREE LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST. The Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre [Online]. Available: https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/services/services-a-z/liver-services/the-sheila-sherlock-liver-centre/ [Accessed 20th February 2017].

Visitors to the Royal Free Library may have noticed our display on the ground floor, full of historical tit-bits on Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. She is a hugely influential figure in the history of medicine in Britain, and has a special connection to the Library here in the Royal Free Hospital.

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain, being enrolled on the Medical Register in 1866. Born in 1836 at a time when it was considered highly improper for a young lady to desire to work at all (never mind in the controversial field of medicine) each step of the way in her pursuit of a career was a battle fought against prejudice and established tradition.

In July 1866 Elizabeth opened the St Mary’s Dispensary for Poor Women and Children in Seymour Place. Six years later she founded the New Hospital for Women, where women came from all over London for the opportunity to be seen by one of the all-women staff.

In 1877, the Royal Free board of governors agreed that the Hospital would be the first to allow women students access to the wards and out-patient department, opening its doors to students from the London School of Medicine for Women, founded by Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was appointed dean of the London School of Medicine for Women in 1883, becoming the first woman dean of a recognised medical school in the U.K.  In 1898, a permanent association between the two institutions was agreed, becoming the London Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine.

Here in the Royal Free Library you may have noticed a beautiful antique desk on the first floor next the quiet study area (pictured). This desk is a popular spot for students to study at – imbued with an eventful history, perhaps they feel inspired without quite knowing why! This desk belonged to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson herself, and was donated to the Royal Free Hospital by her. The strong sense of purpose she must have felt as she worked at this desk lives on with our medical students today, forging paths of their own in the dynamic world of medicine.

Sources: AMIDON, L. A. 1996. An illustrated history of the Royal Free Hospital, London, Special Trustees for the Royal Free Hospital.