The Three Counties Hospital, Arlesey, Bedfordshire, England.

[Silent Night]

A relation, born 1902, had a letter addressed to him as follows.....

'The Three Counties Emergency Hospital, A5 Ward, Arlesey, Bedfordshire, England'.

Unfortunately, the letter is undated but there are weak indications suggesting it may have been written around/between 1920 and 1935, sadly a very wide time range.

I found information on the internet relating to the Three Counties Hospital, but the word Emergency didn't appear anywhere in the hospital's name.

Does anyone have knowledge of this hospital ever having the word 'Emergency' in its title?  I can only assume my relative was there as a patient or employee but perhaps he was there for another reason presently unknown to me.

[janan]

Hi

The Three Counties Asylum became the Three Counties Hospital after the 1930 Mental Treatment Act which narrows down the date a bit. I've never heard of the Emergency bit appearing in the title  but it appears that the hospital was affected by emergency regulations during WW2 and huts were erected in the grounds for patients evacuated from London hospitals. So maybe the card is from that period?

Jan

[dawnsh]

Hi

Just had a look at Access 2 Archives via the National Archives web site and Emergency hospitals were set up during WW2 as part of the Emergency Hospital Scheme.

Google gives more results.

Bedfordshire Archives may have more info

http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/ArchivesAndRecordOffice.aspx

Dawn

[janan]

Thanks for your PM silent night, glad the information is helpful to you

Jan

[bedfordshire boy]

My aged mother, who lived near Three Counties Hospital, has confirmed to me that the Emergency hospital side of it was opened during the war, in huts erected on the site separate from the asylum, and treated mainly injured troops. My aunt was in there for three months during the war with a lung infection (obviously treated successfully as I saw her last week whilst in England!), but after the war it continued as an emergency hospital - my mother was operated on there in 1950

David