The hospital was built by the Diocese of Westminster in 1912 for paying patients chiefly members of the Roman Catholic Church and French Catholics. The site included accommodation for the nursing staff and nuns. In 1914 it became a military hospital, some of its earliest patients being Belgian soldiers. Monsignor M E Carton de Wiart, the hospital administrator, commissioned this photograph. In 1914 he organized one of the first nursing parties to go into France, for which he received the Order of the British Empire.
This is part of the Series: HBL01/01 Series Of Photographic Negatives And Prints; within the Collection: HBL01 The Bedford Lemere Collection
Source: Historic England Archive
Photographer: Boucher, Adolphe Augustus: Bedford Lemere And Company
Client: Carton De Wiart, Maurice E
Early 20th Century Hospital, First World War Convalescent Hospital, Leisure And Recreation, Health And Welfare, First World War