A REFORMER OF HOSPITALS

Taranaki Daily News, 1 August 1931, Page 5

A REFORMER OF HOSPITALS

VISCOUNT KNUTSFORD’S CAREER. ' Viscount Knutsford, -whose death was reported from London recently, was described as “Prince of Beggars” by reason of his skill in raising funds for London Hospital. /: . ' . . Sydney Holland, later second Viscount Knutsford, was born in March, 1855, the eldest twin-son of Viscount Knutsford, and educated at Wellington and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, w ; here he was captain of the boat',club in. 1876. He-won, the half-mile swimming race open to .the university in 1874 and 1576, swam fifth for the 5J miles long-distance championship of England in 1877, and was formerly acting-president of the Life-saving Society. An LL.B, of Cambridge, he took honours in law and was called to the Bar in 1879 .He was also a director of the Underground Electric and City and South London Railway Companies, an insurance company and a hank. ' His wonderful work for the hospitals hj of London arose through his hearing when he was a director off the London Docks that.one of the employees was lying badly injured at Poplar Hospital. He found the man in an. insect-infested ■bed in a dirty ward. He; complained of' improper Pood and lack of warmth. The drains were wrong, the ventilation bad and the nurses inefficient. Within a fortnight Mr. Holland got the nurses changed and ; the place entirely reformed. . Tl® first matron under the new regime, Miss Vacher, was once so ill that she was given up by the doctors,.and.Mr. Holland, who- was about to go on holiday, bought a grave for her and had circulars printed informing the district 'that “our dear Miss Vacher has passed away.” But the matron recovered; and he found himself left with a piece of freehold land Bft by 3ft and ‘2OOO circulars. . ■ In 1891, at his "own request, he waeput on the committee of the London Hospital, the largest in the metropolis. There was only one operating theatre and one operating table for 650 patients. Since he took charge of the hospital' as. chairman in T 896 he raised over £6,000,000, the hospital has been rebuilt as a cost of £750,000, and it has to-day more than 900 beds, IS operating theatres, 14 special departments, ,4 convalescent homes and surgical annexes, 4 nurses’ homes, a medical college and' a host of other services. It was,Lord Knutsford who at the request, of Queen Alexandria drew up the scheme for her.lmperial Nursing Service. An expert conjurer, he ‘was once offered £lO by a professional to go as his deputy to Lord Rothschild’s, but though he would have enjoyed the escapade he was afraid of meeting someone he knew. An accident in 1888 caused by a runaway pony deprived him. of taste .and smell. They came back partly in 10 years, but were lost again in another accident in . 1916. His slight deafness which dated from 1888 gradually grew worse and by 1926 had become serious. . , ' Lord Knutsford married in 1883 Lady Mary Ashburnham, a daughter of the fourth Earl of Ashburnham, and had two , daughters.