| The Mothers' Hospital back to 'Family History'
The Salvation Army's first, tiny maternity home opened in 1886 in Chelsea - an alternative to the workhouse for unmarried mothers. Other homes followed, and in 1891 a nurses' training scheme was launched at Ivy House, Hackney.
In 1894 this became a hospital, surviving financial crises in the period of transition from the requirements of the London Obstetrical Society to those of the Central Midwives Board.
The urgent call for extension led to the opening of The Mothers' Hospital in Clapton, on 18th October 1913, by Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise, Duches of Argyll. Its services were available to all mothers although it served in particular the unmarried and the poor. District posts were opened in Bermondsey, Canning Town, Shoreditch and Clapton Park and, as east end mothers moved to new housing estates, in Dagenham, Becontree and Downham.
The midwifery training school drew nurses from the five continents, as well as sending them to mission hospitals and clinics all over the world.
During the Second World War the Mothers' Hospital continued to operate despite being partly destroyed in the London blitz - thankfully without loss of life.
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Mothers and babies take shelter during an air raid
It was never closed and sections of staff were evacuated for the duration of the war to Bragborough in Northamptonshire and to the beautiful Willersley Castle near Matlock in Derbyshire, where between the years 1940 - 1946, over 4000 babies were born.
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With the inauguration of the National Health Service it was integrated into the Hackney and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Group, but retained its distinctive Salvation Army identity.
Records show that 123,909 live births were registered at The Mothers', and these include 1,476 pairs of twins and 16 sets of triplets.
Possibly the most well known person to have begun life there is the broadcaster, Rabbi Lionel Blue.
The Midwifery School trained 3,119 nurses, including 278 full-time Salvation Army officers and 330 salvationists who later became officers. Specialists of high standing and qualifications served as consultants and the Mothers' Hospital was regarded as one of the country's significant maternity hospitals.
Upon its closure, the work of the 84-bed hospital was transferred to a new unit at the Homerton Hospital, including the midwifery training school which retained the title of The Mothers' Midwifery Training School.
Part of the former hospital's premises on the Lower Clapton Road were used for housing development and part to provide facilities for day-care of the elderly.
 Matrons of the Mothers' Hospital
| 1913 | Colonel Miriam Castle (first Matron) |
| 1914 - 1918 | Colonel Miriam Castle and Brigadier Ada Martin (joint Matrons) |
| 1918 - 1930 | Colonel Miriam Castle |
| 1930 - 1951 | Colonel Christiana Knott |
| 1951 - 1962 | Colonel Frances Foxton |
| 1962 - 1969 | Colonel Gladys Smith |
| 1969 - 1977 | Lieut-Colonel Muriel Malcolm (latterly Divisional Nursing Officer [Midwifery], The Mothers' Hospital) |
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Secretaries of the Mothers' Hospital
| 1913 | Lieut- Colonel Edith Gorton |
| 1913 - 1918 | Brigadier Ada Martin |
| 1918 | Mrs Colonel Barker |
| 1918 - 1920 | Mrs Commissioner Stugess |
| 1920 - 1937 | Commissioner Edgar Dibden |
| 1938 - 1946 | Lieut - Commissioner Frederick Hammond |
| 1946 - 1960 | Colonel Reginald Bovan |
| 1960 | Lieut - Colonel Ernest Livermore |
| 1970 | Captain Bramwell Baird |
For further information about the records of The Mothers' Hospital, click the following link:
http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=5161&inst_id=51
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