LHB8/8A  Bruntsfield Hospital and Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital

Collection Summary

Reference Code: GB239 LHB8, LHB8A
Title: Bruntsfield Hospital and Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital
Dates of Creation of Material: 1879-1989
Level of Description: Fonds
Extent and Medium of the Unit of Description: 15.4 shelf metres: bound volumes, papers, photographic material


Name of creator(s): Bruntsfield Hospital; Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital
Administrative History: Developed from the Edinburgh Provident Dispensary for Women and Children and opened by Sophia Jex-Blake (1840-1912) in 1878 at 73 Grove Street. In 1885 it began to offer a limited number of hospital beds and changed its name to the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children. In 1899 the Executive Committee of the Hospital acquired the home of Jex-Blake after she retired, which became known as Bruntsfield Hospital. In 1910, the Hospital amalgamated with the Hospice founded by Elsie Inglis (1864-1917). In 1925 the surplus funds of the Scottish Women's Hospitals set up by Inglis was used to provide a memorial to her work. The Elsie Inglis opened in 1925. With the coming of the NHS, the hospitals became part of the Edinburgh Southern Hospitals under the South Eastern Regional Hospital Board. Bruntsfield Hospital closed in 1989. Elsie Inglis became part of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Associated Hospitals Unit in 1984 and closed in 1988.
Archival History: Records held within the National Health Service prior to transfer
Immediate Source of Acquisition or Transfer: Miss Baxter, Nursing Officer, Bruntsfield Hospital November 1982, Miss Harrison, Senior Nursing Officer, Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital November 1982, and Bruntsfield Hospital, 1989


Scope and Content: LHB8 (Bruntsfield and Elsie Inglis): Management 1883-1966; administration 1879-1989; history, press and publications 1909-1988; photographs and plans 1885-1987; Bruntsfield patients (bound records) 1885-1987; LHB8A (Elsie Inglis: management 1948-1988; administration 1919-1988; patients (bound records) 1903-1988
Accruals: No further accessions are expected
System of Arrangement: Chronological within record class


Conditions Governing Access: Public access to these records is governed by UK data protection legislation, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and the current Scottish Government Records Management: NHS Code of Practice (Scotland).
Conditions Governing Reproduction: Reproduction is subject to closure periods and physical condition
Language/Scripts of Material: English

Related Units of Description:
Edinburgh Southern Hospitals Board of Management (LHB9)
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Associated Hospitals Unit (LHB42)
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Samaritan Society (GD2)
South Lothian District, Lothian Health Board (LHB28)
Publication Note:
Allen, Maggie and Elder, Michael. The walls of Jericho: a novel based on the life of Sophia Jex-Blake London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1981
Balfour, F. Dr Elsie Inglis London: Hodder and Stoughton, [1918]
Bell, E. Moberly. Storming the citadel London: Constable and Co., 1953
Leneman, Leah. Elsie Inglis; founder of battlefield hospitals run entirely by women Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland, 1998
Leneman, Leah. In the service of life: the story of Elsie Inglis and the Scottish women’s hospitals Edinburgh: Mercat Press, 1994
McLaren, E Shaw. A history of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1919
Roberts, Shirley. Sophia Jex-Blake: a women pioneer in nineteenth-century medical reform London: Routledge, 1993
Tait, H P. Dr Elsie Maud Inglis (1864-1917): a great lady doctor Edinburgh: Bridgend Press, 1964
Todd, Margaret Georgina. The life of Sophia Jex-Blake London: Macmillan, 1918


Archivists' Notes: Compiled by Mike Barfoot and Jenny McDermott using existing handlists
Rules or Conventions: Description based on ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description International Council on Archives (2nd edition), 2000
Date(s) of Description: May 2000; updated August 2009, January 2011