200 Years Ago in Norwich : Great Hospital Expanded

In my latest occasional series of newspaper articles from 200 years ago this week, this was published in the Norwich Mercury in May 1825.

“A special assembly of the Corporation was held on Wednesday last, to consider of making an increase to the Great Hospital. In the Commons, the following proposition was made by Mr. Goodwin, and seconded by Mr. Bennett—“That a new ward should be erected capable of containing twelve beds.”

Mr. Skipper moved, as an amendment, “That an addition be immediately made to the Great Hospital, by the erection of forty cottages.” This was seconded by Mr. Edw. Taylor. On a division the numbers were,

For Mr. Skipper’s amendment 27
Against it 9

—Majority 18″

I took my exams in the Great Hospital, so I feel some sort of connection with the place. The institution dates back to 1249, when Bishop Walter de Suffield set it up to care for “twenty poor folk” – a mix of aged, infirm and needy townspeople. Over the centuries it grew into a complex of almshouses, a chapel, a schoolroom and a small infirmary. The beginning of the nineteenth century was a challenging time for Norwich in terms of the number of people struggling, the clothing industry was becoming less financially lucrative and the population of the city grew from 37,256 in 1811 to just under 50,000 a decade later.

But back to the expansion of the hospital, as during a special assembly of the Corporation, held on a Wednesday in early May, the matter of increasing the hospital’s capacity was brought forward. Mr. Goodwin proposed the erection of a new ward capable of housing twelve beds, a proposition that was seconded by Mr. Bennett. However, an amendment was swiftly introduced by Mr. Skipper, suggesting a more substantial addition in the form of forty cottages. With regard to “the Commons”, the city of Norwich possessed a civic structure where freemen, individuals who had either inherited the status, completed an apprenticeship, or purchased the right, could participate in civic matters within a common assembly. By 1790, the electorate in Norwich included both freeholders and freemen who held the right to vote for key municipal officers, including the mayor, sheriff and members of the common council. They had some more money to spend from the rental income that they were generating and this was an early form of the social care that slowly evolved.

Matters seem to have changed a little in the planning, as there were twenty cottages erected in 1826. They’re still there today, known as the White Cottages, although they’re mostly used as offices today.