| Administrative History | Chalmers Hospital, Banff, Aberdesnshire was founded by Mr Alexander Chalmers of Cluny, a merchant in Banff, who died on 11 August 1835. Under his Will the liferent of his estate went to his wife and on her death the entire estate was to be applied towards the "founding, erection and endowment of a Hospital and Free Dispensary of Medicine in the Burgh of Banff". Mrs Chalmers died in 1848 and the estate was taken over by her late husband's Trustees, but it was not until 1861 that the foundation stone was laid because the Will was fiercely contested by the heirs-at-law. On 19 July 1864, however, Chalmers Hospital was finally opened with accommodation for 50 patients.
The demand for the hospital facilities proved great, and in 1866 two fever wards were added. By 1895 the hospital consisted of a central administration block, two wings and a detached fever hospital. With 58 beds in the main building and 8 in the fever wards, the accommodation had, by that time, risen to 66. From the early days, the hospital was a training school, and between 1880 and 1895 twenty-six nurses in all were taught there. In 1911 Lady Seafield bequeathed £1,000 for the provision of a new operating theatre, and a legacy from Sir Richard Nicholson of Eden in 1914 bought the hospital X-ray equipment.
By the end of the First World War, Chalmers Hospital, in common with most estate owners, was suffering from rising costs and poor returns. By this time it was under the provisions of the Banffshire Hospital Board of Management. This latter amalgamated with the Upper Banffshire Board in 1964, and then, from 1974, Chalmers Hospital was part of the North District of Grampian Health Board. In 1994 the medical ward was converted and renamed Findlater Ward, to accommodate twelve psychogeriatric patients from the Banff area. The equipment for this ward was donated by Friends of Chalmers and the Women's Royal Voluntary Service. |
| Description | Minutes, 1848 - 1948; cash books, ledgers, patients accounts, etc., 1864 - 1950; registers: admissions and discharges, operations, etc. (some indexes), 1869 - 1979; miscellaneous pamphlets, deeds, regulations, annual reports, etc., 1830 - 1964; letter books, 1851 - 1860; Builder magazine, 1862; photographs, 1910. |