Building    From 1775 

Cleveland Street Workhouse

Categories: Medicine, Social Welfare

Created with an Act of Parliament in 1775, initially for the parish of St Paul in Covent Garden, this is the most intact example of an 18th century workhouse institution left standing in London. Joseph Rogers was appointed to the post of Medical Officer in 1856 and remained for thirty years. The name changes of the building over the years briefly summarise its history: St Paul Covent Garden Workhouse or simply Covent Garden Workhouse; Strand Union Workhouse; Central London Sick Asylum; Cleveland Street Infirmary; Middlesex Hospital Annexe; Middlesex Hospital Outpatient Department. At this point, 2008, it was scheduled for demolition but a spirited campaign, with some help from Charles Dickens, got it it listed in 2011 and it was saved. The picture source website is an invaluable resource.

2017: Now the Nightingale wards at the back and the burial ground, used for the paupers, are at risk from the developers. Read about one burial there, of an "Italian boy" who was murdered by "body-snatchers" so they could sell his body: An East End Murder & A West End Grave. And Florence Nightingale's connection is detailed here. We hope Camden does the right thing and protects this historic fabric.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Cleveland Street Workhouse

Commemorated ati

Charles Dickens - W1

Unveiled by Lucinda Dickens Hawksley. Behind this plaque is an interesting d...

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Other Subjects

Hermann Michael Biggs

Hermann Michael Biggs

Born USA. Worked with cholera, tuberculosis and typhus, particularly in New York.

Person, Medicine, USA

1 memorial
Sir Henry Dale

Sir Henry Dale

Physiologist. Born London.

Person, Medicine

1 memorial
City Pest House

City Pest House

From Islington:The Pest House was built in 1594, in the fields where Bath Street is now situated. It served to isolate those suffering from such incurable or infectious diseases as leprosy and the ...

Building, Medicine

1 memorial
Sir Edward Muir

Sir Edward Muir

President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1971 - 1973. He died suddenly while in the post. Also, strangely, was Master of the Worshipful Company of Fanmakers, 1958.

Person, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Lewisham Hospital

Lewisham Hospital

The origins of this hospital go back to a workhouse established in 1612. During WW1 it became the Lewisham Military Hospital, and after further extensions it became the University Hospital Lewisham...

Building, Medicine

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Royal Free Hospital - Sussex wing

Royal Free Hospital - Sussex wing

WC1, Gray's Inn Road, Royal Free Hospital

The Duke of Sussex had died just 3 years before this plaque was erected. We have competing information about the architect of this wing....

3 subjects commemorated
Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke

Economist, philosopher, author and statesman. Born in Dublin. MP 1766-94 with the Whig Party.

Person, Philosophy, Politics & Administration, Ireland

3 memorials
Anna Morris

Anna Morris

She was born as Anna Jacob-Furmansky in Hamburg, Germany in 1872, the daughter of Israel Jacob-Furmansky. She married Samuel Morris (1872-1950) on 4 January 1895 in Prestwich, Manchester, Lancashi...

Person, Friend / family, Germany

1 memorial
Lady Anne Agnes Erskine

Lady Anne Agnes Erskine

Born Edinbugh, eldest daughter of the Earl of Buchan. There is a story about her coming across an outdoor gathering at Moorfields at which Rowland Hill (see Surrey Chapel) was preaching and him pic...

Person, Religion, Scotland

1 memorial
Mary Seacole Trust

Mary Seacole Trust

From the Trust's website: "We want British society to become fairer, more inclusive and more harmonious. We believe that overcoming exclusion and increasing participation by promoting equality of b...

Group, Gender Issues, History, Medicine, Race Issues

1 memorial