SAINT THOMAS HOSPITAL: SAINT JOHN'S AND SAINT THOMAS'S HOUSE

• <corpname>St Thomas' Hospital, Saint John's House, 1848-1919</corpname>
• <corpname>St Thomas' Hospital, Saint John's and Saint Thomas's House, 1919-1964</corpname>

transferred from the Archive Office at St. Thomas' Hospital to the Greater London Record Office on 11th July 1967.

St. John's House was founded in 1848 as a "Training Institution for Nurses for Hospitals, Families and the Poor". It was an Anglican religious community run by a Chaplain and Lady Superior, although the sisters and nurses took no vows. The records from 1848 to 1919 have been listed separately and this list should be consulted for the early history of the Institution.

In May, 1920 the house at 12, Queen Square, Bloomsbury, was given to St. Thomas' Hospital and two Sisters from the Hospital took charge in April 1919. The institution was renamed "St. John's and St. Thomas's House" and was used as a centre for private nursing, the staff being composed of the remaining St. John's House nurses, and those nurses who had trained at St. Thomas' Hospital and who wished to take up private nursing under the direction of the Hospital. Payments were made according to the fees earned with deductions for the expenses of the house.

The house was close during the Second World War and the building was damaged by bombing. After the war, no residence was maintained for the private nurses but the organisation was continued from Matron's office at St. Thomas' Hospital. The last of the remaining St. John's and St. Thomas's House nurses resigned in April, 1964.

The building itself was reopened in 1947 as a Night Nurses' Home and continued in that role until January, 1967, when it was closed because of staffing difficulties.