The history of the General Hospital, Belfast, and the other medical institutions of the town : with chronological notes and biographical reminiscenses connected with its rise and progress / [Andrew G. Malcolm].

  • Malcolm, Andrew G., 1818-1856.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The history of the General Hospital, Belfast, and the other medical institutions of the town : with chronological notes and biographical reminiscenses connected with its rise and progress / [Andrew G. Malcolm]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    indefinitely postponed. We observe, that on January 12th, 1812, she was publicly reivarded by the Committee for her services and good conduct, and became regularly installed as assistant nurse. Some years after she reached the position of full nurse, and eventually attained her present situation of chief in this department of the Hospital. For many years past she regularly paid her annual subscription of one guinea; and in the year 1849, a period of con- siderable depression in the Hospital funds, she voluntarily came forward and paid m to the Treasurer the munificent donation of £61 ! which was really, in her case, the accumulation of a lifetime. The reader can now understand the significance of this event, which betokened the most devoted attach- ment to the Charity, and the most trusting reliance on the management. This old and respected gentlewoman, after the lapse of 41 years of unre- mitting servitude, still enjoys a wonderful share of health. She may be seen, by the visitor, maldng her daily rounds amongst the wards, and, with anxious solicitude and a homely care, rendering her little offices to comfort the dis- tressed and the forsaken. Yes, the world may deem them little, but in the words of the dramatist, though “ It is a little thing to speak a phrase Of common comfort, which by daily use Has almost lost its sense; yet on the ear Of him who thought to die unmourned will fall Like choicest music : fill the glazing eye With gentle tears; * ♦ * And shed on the departing soul a sense More precious than the benison of friends About the honoured death-bed of the rich, To him who else were lonely, that another Of the great family is near and feels.” In consequence of the very limited accommodation afforded in the houses in West-street, notwithstanding the better financial position of the Charit}-, the amount of intern relief was still very inconsiderable. We find that during the year ending 1st May 1815, only 224 patients received the benefits of the Hospital and 1245 that of extern aid. A change, however, w'as at hand appalling in its magnitude—startling in its contrast, which, when viewed in comparison with the previous history of the Hospital, must be contemplated as a special era in these annals, to this day remembered by many wdth the freshness of yesterday.