The History of the Hospital

The History of Rotherham Doncaster Gate Hospital & the Contribution of a Local Hero

During 2007 I was conducting extensive research while preparing a book which I eventually entitled ‘Civic Lives (The Story of a Town Clerk and his Family)’. The central ‘hero’ of this book was a Rotherham based solicitor Frederick Lee Harrop whose practice offices were in Regent House, Moorgate Road, Rotherham. The building still stands today; Harrop & Harrop solicitors merged with Oxley & Coward, also of Moorgate, in the 1930’s.

Along with his brother Edwin Thomas Harrop, Frederick went on to build this solicitor’s business into one of the largest and most successful practices in northern England, with a very impressive client base. Other members of this influential family are also covered in my book. The contribution made through their legal and civic activities during the remarkable growth and development period of the South Yorkshire district during the Victorian and early 20th century eras inevitably means that the family’s story is intertwined with the history of the locality and indeed the wider world. Doncaster Gate Hospital was part of the development of civic and social progress and it was inevitable that Frederick would be at the centre of the hospital’s creation.

Lawyer Frederick Lee Harrop served various communities as their Town Clerk, especially his home town of Swinton, for many years. His business and philanthropic activities ran in tandem with his civic life. During the 1860’s Frederick played a leading role fundraising, providing legal expertise and seeking a suitable site for the hospital.

Victorian Rotherham

This was the height of the industrial revolution; a time which can be viewed by modern eyes as ‘dark satanic mills’ & hideous social deprivation. Many at the time however welcomed the advances of science, rapid technological progress and industry.

These were times of great invention; undoubtedly many workers were deskilled by new technologies and lost their livelihoods due to the move from domestic manufacturing to industrial production. Many were made homeless as a massive railway building programme criss-crossed the nation. Yet countless people benefited; the smoke from hundreds of factory chimneys was regarded as a sign of prosperity not atmospheric pollution. Those who could afford it could move away from the smoke to the leafy suburbs of our growing towns & cities.

Inventors were held in high esteem and miraculous mechanical developments continued to enthral the Victorian mind. Industrialisation demanded new skills especially in engineering and metal working trades. Machines needed building and maintaining; boilers needed operators; railways needed small armies of staff and coal fuelled just about everything requiring thousands of men to work underground to produce it.

This period witness massive population movement from rural Britain to the industrial urban centres on a scale never seen before. The farm worker became a coal miner, mechanic, locomotive driver, power-loom operator, steel worker…. Such men could command high wages: collectively form trade unions and demand political representation.

Despite a growing middle class, millions of Victorian Britons lived in dire poverty; their lives were short and brutish. Most working class housing was unbearably squalid; mainly back to back houses or tenements close to industrial units. Often single family dwellings were broken up into apartments sometimes with only one room per family. Whether housing was old or new, it was generally poorly built. Old buildings were allowed by landlords to fall into disrepair. New workers houses, jerry-built cheaply were insanitary and decayed quickly. Water often came from an outside tap close to a privy which would serve several overcrowded houses. Rivers were open sewers ecologically dead from industrial pollution and human effluent. Sheffield for example, continued to discharge untreated sewage into the River Don until very late in the 19th century: Rotherham is of course downstream; the consequences are obvious.

The life of a working class wife and mother was hard. Lack of cheap contraceptive devices and belief that to use these contraceptives was immoral helped to keep women pregnant through most of their childbearing years. Infant and child mortality rates were obscenely high; very few families were untouched by the deaths of children. Typhoid and other epidemics fell upon communities and victims of disease were confined to their overcrowded hovels unable to meet the costs of any treatment.

To these grim social conditions were at times scandalous working conditions taking a heavy toll of workers suffering horrific mutilation or death and debilitating industrial diseases. The demand for a hospital in the industrial town of Rotherham became irresistible.

The credit for first proposing a hospital for the town rests with the ironmaster, Mr Yates who lived at Oakwood house on the edge of the town. The project had to be funded locally and a committee was formed to progress the matter. Mr Yates pledged £500, a considerable sum in 1863; he also became Chairman of the committee.

For a few years the matter stalled but the need certainly never abated. In 1867 the hospital movement was revived and this time the incredibly wealthy William Thomas Spencer Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 6th Earl Fitzwilliam, became personally involved. A former West Riding MP, the Earl was closely associated politically with Frederick Lee Harrop; Frederick acted as a legal advisor to the Earl and was also one of his favoured tenants.

he involvement of one of Yorkshires’ wealthiest aristocrats; a major employer, landowner and respected benefactor helped to ensure the hospital proposal maintained momentum.

Following the leadership of Mr Yates and the Earl Fitzwilliam a range of generous subscriptions were made by Rotherham industrialists and prominent citizens. The organisers began to consider suitable sites to build the hospital. Possibly as a result of Frederick Lee Harrop’s knowledge of the local property market a piece of land was brought to the organisers notice. The plot was four acres in size known as Babb’s Croft and located just to the side of the Doncaster Road about opposite to the newly built Congregational Church. The land was jointly owned by the Earl of Effingham and Lord Howard and the value was substantially higher than the hospital committee had within its budget. As their contribution to the hospital building fund however the generous land owners agreed to reduce the land price and the site was duly acquired.

The Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony

In recognition of his services Frederick Lee Harrop was asked to play a leading role in the proceedings at the laying of the foundation stone on 19th January 1870. The foundation stone was laid with Masonic honours by the Earl de Gray & Ripon, Knight of the Garter. The Earl was, in addition to being a senior British Freemason, a government cabinet minister. The elaborate ceremony, speeches, military parade and celebratory banquet deserves its own essay and space only permits the briefest of descriptions here.

Lord Milton, of the Fitzwilliam dynasty, was the local Member of Parliament and was given a prominent role. He gave a speech at the stone laying ceremony and proposed a toast at the dinner which followed. It is also interesting to note the contribution of the Lord Mayor of Sheffield in the proceedings. Rotherham at this time was still a few years away from gaining County Borough status and the right to have its own Mayoralty.

In his speech the Lord Mayor made a very powerful point regarding the many injured and sick inhabitants of Rotherham who had to endure a painful and often fatal journey to Sheffield hospitals. Everyone in the town; rich and poor; master and servant; agreed the new Rotherham Hospital was a noble enterprise which would bring untold benefits to the town.

Later Years

I have told the story of just one person’s contribution to the founding of Doncaster Gate Hospital; albeit a considerable contribution. Frederick Lee Harrop’s service did not end with the opening. From 1888 until his death in 1927 Frederick acted as Honorary Secretary to the Rotherham Hospital and Dispensary. His commitment to the hospital and interest in its development never failed. In the days before the foundation of the National Health Service access to hospital care for those without sufficient means was highly problematic. Local authorities had some powers to fund treatment of the very needy as legacies from Poor Law oversight, but much funding came from charitable institutions, fundraising projects, hospital clubs and philanthropists.

In 1926, the Princess Mary visited Rotherham to open new extensions to the hospital. Frederick was given the honour of expressing the vote of thanks to the Princess on behalf of the governors and wider community.

When this outstanding individual died the following year the Hospital Board nominated their Vice Chairman, Mr A. Blenkinsop and manager Mr G. Roberts to attend his funeral.

Frederick Lee Harrop’s grave is in Swinton St Margaret’s churchyard.

A range of publications (including Civic Lives), films, information and latest news is available on the Swinton Heritage website – www.swintonheritage.org.uk

- Cnllr Ken Wyatt -

- Author / Filmaker & Local History Enthusiast -

• Development Progress
• Explosion at Midland Iron Works
• Introduction to the Wards
• Founding