The origins of the Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley, 1856-1864

Abstract

In the 1850s, the quiet Hampshire hamlet of Netley became the centre of a seven year controversy. At issue was the construction of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital, planned following public outcry over suffering of soldiers in the Crimean War. On completion, it incorporated the Army Medical School, and a group of female military nurses, neither of which was in the original concept. Existing accounts of the hospital's origins concentrate on its links with the Crimean conflict, and opposition to the building from nursing legend, Florence Nightingale, who considered its traditional corridor style and waterside location were major health hazards. This thesis aims to challenge the simplicity of such accounts, and develop a context to events. It starts with the Crimean war, where medical deficiencies allegedly led to the need for the hospital, whose building commenced amidst public celebrations in 1856, but which opened without ceremony in 1863. The intervening dispute was far more complex than generally recognized. It is revealed through press campaigns, political debate, parliamentary enquiries and personal correspondence of Nightingale and others. It involved many sectors of society, for whom army medical reform was not necessarily at the centre of their agenda. Of these, not least would be the citizens of Southampton, who strove to reject allegations by a group of largely amateur but influential sanitary reformers who could harm a growing port, and were a thorn in the side of central government.

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