314 pages
253mm x 195mm
ISBN-10: 1 897898 47 9
ISBN-13: 978 1 897898 47 5
January 2001

It started as a philanthropic gesture with two small houses on opposite sides of foregate Street, Stafford. It soon became a significant landmark in the County of Staffordshire, and remained so for over two hundred and twenty years.

The book concentrates on selected records of the weekly board meetings and where appropriate compares some of the entries with present day practices. Unfolding the pages of the minute books also unfolded the evolving changes of an organisation and the lives of people who worked there. The names of some famous historical figures are associated with the Infirmary, e.g. the grandfather of Charles Darwin, Dr Erasmus Darwin, William Withering; the physician who discovered the drug digoxin and Thomas Gainsborough - who was commisioned to paint a portrait of John Eld; one of the founders of the Infirmary.

The book begins with a personal view of history as a discipline and the reason for a chronicle rather than an academic analysis of the Infirmary's past. It is followed by a survey of advances and developments made in science - serving as a backdrop against which the chronicle is but one aspect.

The main part of the chronicle is divided into four periods: 1765 - 1799, 1800 - 1849, 1850 - 1899, 1900 - 1948. 1948 not only marked the end of an era in the history of voluntary hospitals in the United Kingdom but also marked the beginning of the National Health Service.
In conclusion the book throws up some issues in terrms of managing people in it and the lessons we can learn from past practices.

Dr Tereenlall Ramgopal is Associate Dean, School of Health at Staffordshire University.
Dr Ramgopal trained as a nurse at the Infirmary and worked there from 1971 - 1980 and then moved into the School of Nursing; the David Hollin Building until 1989.