Clayton Hospital, Wakefield

Clayton Hospital (ref: C235) is named after Thomas Clayton, a mayor of Wakefield and was founded in 1854. It was an amalgamation of Wakefield General Dispensary, founded in 1787, and the Wakefield House of Recovery, founded in 1826. Wakefield General Dispensary was for out-patients and the Wakefield House of Recovery was for poor in-patients suffering from infectious diseases.

In 1852 the Wakefield Union Workhouse was completed and its hospital wards accomodated pauper invalids and fever cases, so that the House of Recovery was closed in 1854. In 1863 Mayor Clayton financed an expansion and the institution was re-named 'The Clayton Hospital and Wakefield General Dispensary'. The site moved from Dispensary Yard to the present site in 1876 and the new building was opened in 1879.By 1948 the name was changed to Clayton Hospital and it had a capacity of 200 beds.

The records include registers of patients 1826-1950 (not a complete series), staff records 1881-1968, administration records 1791- 1948. There are also subscriptions for portraits of benefactors of the Hospital and miscellaneous photographs/press cuttings.

Access to some records may be restricted.