After the disaster at the Midland Iron Works in December 1862 it was felt that real effort had to be put into the building of a hospital in the district of Rotherham to deal with these awful tragedies. Mr James Yates of Oakwood House proposed in February 1863 to offer land near to Masbrough and £500 towards the establishing of a hospital on the condition that a further £2000 be raised in public donation. As a result a committee was formed. However, the matter fell from public notice and was left unattended to.
The matter of a hospital for Rotherham was revived at a public meeting in December 1867 which took place at the Mechanic’s Hall. Out of this meeting grew another committee; which met on January 2nd 1868, at which a resolution was past that a new hospital be developed at a cost of £6000. There then developed subcommittees who were charged with finding a suitable site and setting up public subscription to the hospital’s cost.
The hospital in Rotherham was being built for the relief of the people; it is very significant then that when the committee met on 5th March 1868 a letter was read out by Mr G, Haywood Esq. which was undersigned by the people of Rotherham calling for a hospital. The importance of the hospital was felt through out society and efforts were made by many different people to acquire the hospital.
Progress was made quickly on both of these aspects. Donations through subscription were the main way that funding for the hospital was raised. The donations were started by Miss Elizabeth Nightingale who donated £1000 to the hospital. This very generous donation began the subscription list to the hospital which was then enthusiastically followed many more of Rotherham’s residents.
Similarly, progress was made by the subcommittee charged with locating a site for the hospital. There was much progress towards buying a piece of land at St Ann’s Hill. However, the Earl of Effingham then made available a piece of land called Babb’s Croft, a former cricket ground, located on the Doncaster Road opposite the congressional church. The committee recognised the benefits afforded by Babb’s Croft, however, the price was £700 which was more than the committee where able to spend. Therefore, the Earl of Effingham and his son Lord Howard donated the land as their contribution toward the hospital.
Having achieved their aims the committee met again to deal with the next decision which had to be made. The actual design and specification of the hospital had to be decided upon. It was decided that in order to achieve the greatest interest for the building project a competition was held to design the hospital in ‘The Builder’ magazine. 93 sets of drawings were submitted in total and after being displayed to the public, the committee voted 17 to 3 in favour of the design baring the motto “Æsculapius” [God of Healing and Medicine] by Messer Mallinson and Bakewell, architects of Leeds and Dewsbury. By January 1870 the hospital’s development had progressed to a point where the founding celebrations could take place.
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