Dear Cornwall Rootschatters,
Does anyone please know where the records of the seaman's hospital in Falmouth, founded in 1750, are located?
It was called the Seamen's Hospital, but there was also a Sailor's Home whose dates overlap.
Did one of them became the tropical diseases hospital? It really is hard to find information online.
I really need to go through the British Newspaper Archive at some point to check. But these hospitals were open not that long ago. Where did their records go?
I am interested in this due to the 'sailor's sixpence' pension related muster rolls that survive in Whitby, Yorkshire, from the hospital there:
https://whitbymuseum.org.uk/research-archive/muster-rolls/I therefore wondered if Falmouth had a seamen's hospital and indeed it turns out it did, established in 1750:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Susan_Gay%27s_Falmouth_chronologyI could find nothing online other than this, but then searched in google books and it comes up with a wealth of information.
Some links are here:
A panorama of Falmouth ... Being a complete guide to the ... - Page 52
1827:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_panorama_of_Falmouth_Being_a_complete/P6dfAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&pg=PA52&printsec=frontcoverHistory and Description of the Town and Harbour of Falmouth - Page 89 Richard Thomas (Civil engineer) · 1827:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/History_and_Description_of_the_Town_and/XC5RAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&pg=PA89&printsec=frontcoverJournals of the House of Lords - Volumes 53-64 - Page 301 Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords · 1855:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Journals_of_the_House_of_Lords/4d5XqdXlQ14C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&pg=PA301&printsec=frontcoverBritish Islands Pilot - Volume 1 - Page 111 United States. Hydrographic Office · 1915:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/British_Islands_Pilot_The_south_coast_of/x9QNAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&pg=PA109&printsec=frontcoverLife in Cornwall in the Early Nineteenth Century - Page 85 Rita Margaret Barton · 1997:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Life_in_Cornwall_in_the_Early_Nineteenth/j28KAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&dq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&printsec=frontcoverSecret Flotillas: Clandestine sea operations to Brittany, ... - Page 102 Brooks Richards · 2004:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Secret_Flotillas_Clandestine_sea_operati/3b3qTQh5XOwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&pg=PA102&printsec=frontcoverAs you see it started in 1750 and was still there in 1941.
The articles show that exactly the same process as survives in Whitby was taking place in Falmouth. And presumably all seamen's hospitals across the country.
This 2015 articles quoting something from a hundred year's ago that is called the "Royal Cornwall Sailor’s Home":
https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/13376701.step-back-in-time-shipping-stories-from-100-years-ago/This leaflet states the hospital was at Bank Place:
https://thepoly.org/assets/file/FHA%20A3%20Map%20WW1%20WEB.pdfThere is an 1868 reference to Bank House in this google books page of The Mercantile navy list. 1848 [4 issues], 49 [2 issues], ... - Page 5 Trade Board of · 1868:
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Mercantile_navy_list_1848_4_issues_4/QesNAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=falmouth+seamen%27s+hospital&pg=PA5&printsec=frontcoverThere is a document in Kresen Kernow from 1902-1903, but no idea what it is about:
https://kresenkernow.org/SOAP/detail/8e6c8910-2dc4-4fe5-b9f3-5b861d7b69cf/There is mention of the hospital's foundation stone laying here:
https://chargeofthelightbrigade.com/allmen/allmenT/allmenT_13LD/tremayne_a_13LD.htmlAlso an 1867 article states it was called the "Royal Cornwall Sailor's Home in 1867:
https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/18111968.penryn-museum-contract-awarded-water-treatment-works-construction/As I said though, I am confused about whether these are two hospitals or one that had two different names.
Does anyone please know anything about these hospitals and what happened to their records?
Thank you,
Jon