Brentwood, Queen's Road 1896

Fond memories

I remember St Faith's hospital very well. I was the Head Porter there for a number of years until it was closed down. I met my wife there. She was a catering assistant. We were engaged with two other couples in the social club.That was thirty years ago. I didnt think of the patients as patients. They became more like friends. I have only fond memories of the time I worked there. To me it felt a friendly building, although as a workhouse it must have been very bleak. I remember that most of it was brown and green paintwork. One of the wards was used as a unit for women in service that were pregnant. As I understand it, if they agreed to have the baby adopted then they could go back to their job. If not.. well who knows what happened to them. I was contacted by an elderly gentleman whose mother was in there and agreed to have him adopted. He asked if I might be able to help him. It took a while but by pure luck she was on an list I found in a mass of old records. Her name was Mary. A few phone calls to the registrar and I managed to find where she was. He was over 80 and she had of course died. She was buried in the London Road cemetary. Next to the hospital. It did however give him the chance to find his mother. Very sad, but it did end his search of many years. I have moved from Brentwood, but seeing that horrible building there now, to me that's very sad. If you look at the front of the building over the entrance to the left at the top. was my office. The remaining patients were transfered to Highwood Hospital. I spent a while at Highwood then transfered to Brentwood District hospital, yet another old, warm building. I was shocked when I saw the wooden greehouse that has replaced it.

Auntie DID have TB

I have recently been doing some research into our family history. I was always told by my mother that her elder sister, Bessie Dubora, died from complications following a tonsilectomy but, having now obtained a copy of the Death Certificate, I have discovered that she died at High Wood Hospital in 1925 from TB at the age of 12 years.

My family originally came from the East End of London, so I was at a lost to understand why the Death Certificate originated in Billericay. Having studied some of the entries on this site, I can now see that High Wood must have been what used to be known as a "sanitorium" for children with TB.

Obviously I never got to meet my aunt Bessie but, if there is anyone out there who survived this terrible disease and remembers her, I would be delighted to hear from them.

I didn't have TB!

Just before Christmas in 1953 I was admitted to St Giles' Hospital in Camberwell, south London. It was thought that I had TB. I was allowed home for Christmas, although confined to bed. After Christmas I was taken by ambulance to Highwood Hospital in Brentwood, which my parents told me was a 'convalescent home'. One of the boys on my Ward quickly disillusioned me, as of course all of the patients had varying degrees of TB. The "older" boys, myself included, had beds on the outer part of the building, which had a glass roof and long glass windows, which were left open at night. It was quite cold, and I quickly learned to sleep on my back, to keep out any draughts. During the first week of my stay, still confined to bed, I underwent a number of chest X-rays and tests. On the second Monday the Ward Sister came to my bedside and told me that I did not in fact have TB and that I could go home. Yippee! Unfortunately, patients could apparently only be discharged on Sundays, which was also visiting day. Given that TB is contagious, I guess that I was lucky not to become infected. While relieved to be leaving, I well recall the sad and perhaps envious faces of the boys who had to remain in the hospital, as I said goodbye to everyone. Ken Cook