The Louise Margaret Hospital

By Paul H. Vickers, Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum

The opening of the Louise Margaret Hospital in 1898 marked a transformation in the medical care and treatment of soldiers’ wives and children in the Camp at Aldershot.

Before this time, soldiers’ wives and children were treated in the Soldiers’ Women’s Hospital, a wooden hut in Z Lines, South Camp (within the area that would later be Buller Barracks). It was run by the Sisters of Mercy and maintained by the Women’s Compassionate Fund, a charity funded by voluntary contributions from officers and soldiers. The Government allowed some financial aid for bedding.

This hospital came to the attention of Florence Nightingale, and in 1860 she produced a memorandum on her findings. During the three years and nine months since the hospital opened there had been 1,609 admissions, of which 453 were children and 734 were midwifery cases. There were 26 beds, 14 for general cases and 12 for midwifery. “No existing civil institutions deal with this necessity,” reported Miss Nightingale. She called for “More permanent accommodation … a brick hut being the cheapest, the healthiest and best of all”, but unfortunately her appeal was not heeded.

The Women’s Hospital did the best it could with its limited accommodation and funds. In November 1880 Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught and his wife Princess Louise Margaret, Duchess of Connaught, visited the hospital and were reported to have been “much pleased with the internal arrangements which were made for the comfort and welfare of the patients, and congratulated Sister Faith [the matron] for the neatness in which the various wards were kept.” In February 1881 the Duke sent Sister Faith “six brace of pheasants [from his Bagshot Park estate] for the use of the patients in the hospital”.

There was an improvement to facilities in 1889 with the opening of a new brick-built wing, funded largely by voluntary contributions with some government aid. At the same time the existing accommodation was refurbished. The work was overseen by Surgeon-Major Finlay, who “brought his knowledge of modern sanitary science to bear with excellent results”. Wards in the new wing were named after the Duchess of Connaught and Lady Stanhope, wife of Edward Stanhope the Secretary of State for War, in recognition of their support for the hospital. Eglantine Ward was named after a lady who had made a significant contribution to the funds, and Dorothy Ward after the child of another donor. With the extension the hospital provided beds for 33 patients.

Although the expanded accommodation was an improvement it was still unsatisfactory, especially with the enlargement of the garrison in the 1890s. Fortunately, funding allocated under the 1890 Barracks Act for re-building the garrison allowed a purpose-built women’s hospital to be constructed. In 1897 the foundation stone was laid by the Duchess of Connaught, whose husband was then General Officer Commanding in Aldershot. On 26 July 1898 the Duchess formally opened the new hospital which was named after her. The cost was £12,504.

Sited directly east of the Cambridge Military Hospital, the Louise Margaret contained 53 beds, divided between the General Division of 25 beds and the Maternity Division with 28 beds. The wards were named Connaught Ward and Eglantine Ward, carried over from the old Z Lines hospital; Queen Victoria Ward; and Mackworth Ward, after Colonel Sir Arthur William Mackworth, the Commanding Royal Engineer in Aldershot who had been involved with the construction of the building.

Aldershot Command Standing Orders ruled that the hospital was “primarily for the treatment of the families on the married establishment”, which meant the families of men who had married with official permission and so were “on the strength”. The Louise Margaret could admit these wives and children up to the age of ten. If a man had married without permission his family was “off the strength” and could only be treated with the permission of the Principal Medical Officer. The same rule applied for officers’ female servants.

In 1909 the Duchess of Connaught returned to open a new operating theatre built on the north east front of the hospital. The Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps praised this as “a really fine building” with state-of-the-art fittings. The article noted that since its opening the Louise Margaret had treated 5,490 women and children, of whom 2,836 were maternity cases and 2,654 general cases. The nursing staff consisted of a Lady Superintendent and 14 nurses, of whom seven were permanent and seven, although qualified in general surgical and medical nursing, were undertaking maternity training. The Louise Margaret trained around 20 nurses each year for the Central Midwives Board examinations.

New extensions were added in 1926, designed for wives of officers and funded by voluntary donations. There were two wings, one at the eastern end with additional maternity beds, and another on the north west front of the hospital containing three wards, Patricia, Mary and May Wards, named after Lady Patricia Ramsay, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught; Princess Mary, daughter of King George V and Queen Mary; and Lady May Cambridge, niece of Queen Mary. The new wings were opened by Queen Mary, who had made a large personal contribution to the fund, and they were collectively named after her. Queen Mary had first visited the hospital when she was Princess of Wales and had continued to take a keen interest in its work.

In the 1930s between 500 and 600 babies were delivered annually. Midwifery training continued, but lapsed before the Second World War. During the war years the number of babies born at the hospital fell, but by 1947 the maternity department was again working at full capacity. Owing to the increasing number of married regular officers and soldiers, the maternity commitment rose to such an extent that by 1958 the Louise Margaret became a dedicated maternity hospital, with all other cases transferred to the Cambridge. Reciprocal arrangements with the National Health Service allowed civilian maternity patients to be admitted when accommodation was available. By the 1980s the Louise Margaret had 73 maternity beds and around 1,500 babies were delivered annually, around 400 from civilian mothers. The Midwifery Training School was re-established in 1961 and obstetric training provided for nurses preparing for State Registration.

Under the 1960s masterplan for rebuilding Aldershot Garrison, both the Cambridge and Louise Margaret hospitals were to be demolished and a new combined hospital complex built in North Camp. There was much delay and argument over the roles of the hospitals, which services should be offered and the conflicting costs of refurbishment against rebuilding. By 1983 the momentum behind a new build was gone and the Cambridge and Louise Margaret were refurbished and continued their work.

However, the reprieve was short lived, for a government report into the hospitals in 1993 concluded that the buildings were no longer up to modern requirements, the costs of bringing them up to standard would be too great and patients could be treated in local NHS facilities. Despite local protests from the civilian population, the Louise Margaret closed in January 1995.

The Louise Margaret Hospital, a Statutorily Listed historic building, was handed over to civilian use as part of the Wellesley development and has been converted into residential apartments. It stands as a testament to nearly 100 years of care of military families.

Credits

Article originally published in the The Garrison, Spring 2025

Copyright © Paul H. Vickers. This article, including the accompanying pictures, may not be reproduced or republished, in whole or in part, either in print or electronically, including on any websites or social media sites, without the prior permission of the author.