SMM+S

jimmcginlay

Statue of J.M. Barrie's creation Peter Pan at Mearnskirk. This was formerly the grounds of a large hospital and I believe the statue may have originally stood among children's wards.

Location: In front of sheltered accomodation in car park, Muirmont Court, Old Mearns Road, G77 5RZ.

Sculptor: Alexander Proudfoot R.S.A. Cast by George Mancini in Edinburgh, 1948.

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:53 am Post subject:

I came across this vey interesting webpage

http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/heritage/heritage_places/heritage_mearns/heritage-mearnskirk-hospital-2.htm

Unfortunately it shows that there were four bronze relief panels around the base of the statue which were all stolen. It mut have been between the site beng a hospital and being redeveloped in the 1990s.

Amazingly one of the panels has been found recently.

Mearnskirk Hospital

In 1913, Glasgow Corporation bought Southfield Estate along with four of its neighbouring farms (Hazelden Head, Westfield, Eastfield and Langrig) with the intention of using it as a country home for children who were not thriving and at risk from tuberculosis. The mansion house was to be kept as an administrative building and there were to be 300 beds for children and 160 sanatorium beds for adults. However, these plans were delayed by World War 1.

By 1919, when the plans were revised, the mansion house was in such poor repair that the decision was made to demolish it.

On 9th May 1930, the new Mearnskirk Hospital for children opened as a tuberculosis hospital for children under the age of 15. The first patients were a group of children transferred from Robroyston Hospital in Glasgow. Ironically, one of the group, 6 year old George McEwan presented,on behalf of the staff of Robroyston Hospital, a gift of a large box of cigarettes to the new superintendent, Dr. John Wilson.

The hospital was officially opened on 12th October 1932 by HRH the Duchess of York, the late Queen Mother, who planted a tree to commemorate the event. Sadly this was removed in error when the site was developed.

The hospital was known for its beautiful appearance. In 1930, much of the housing in the area had not yet been built and it would have been surrounded by farmland and greenery. The hospital grounds were beautifully landscaped and well tended and the red brick buildings designed by J. A. Houston were very attractively designed.

Dr. John Wilson & Peter Pan

The first superintendent of Mearnskirk Hospital was Dr. John A. Wilson, OBE. Dr. Wilson had served in World War 1 and had also done research work in bacteriology. He joined the tuberculosis service of Glasgow Corporation in the 1920s and took up his post at Mearnskirk in 1929 when it was still being built. He was highly respected and while he worked at Mearnskirk was also senior lecturer in clinical Tuberculosis at Glasgow University. He held both posts until his death in 1946.

Dr. Wilson, had arranged for several small cement statues of children’s figures to be erected in the hospital ground for the amusement of the young patients. Dr. Wilson had always hoped to erect a bronze statue of Peter Pan but died before this dream could come to fruition.

In his memory, his friend and hospital benefactor Alfred Ellsworth, launched a fund for this purpose and on Sunday 5th July 1949, the finished statue by sculptor Alex Proudfoot RSA, Principal of Glasgow School of Art, was unveiled. It was a happy event with music from the Kirkintilloch Junior Choir and Springburn Military Band and over 300 people attended.

The pedestal of the statue was originally decorated by 4 bronze panels depicting scenes from Peter Pan. No longer there, these panels were thought to have been stolen. Happily one of the panels was recovered recently and has now been placed on the wall of Hazeldene Nursery school. The unveiling ceremony took place on the 3rd July 2007 amid much celebration. Children from the nursery school performed to assembled guests and a display on the history of the hospital was on show courtesy of Mearns Local History Group. The statue was unveiled by Fred Ellsworth, the grandson of Alfred Ellsworth.

The statue itself stills stands in the former hospital grounds.

Work of the Hospital

Mearnskirk was originally opened as a hospital for children under the age of 15 suffering from tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis or TB as it is commonly known, is an infection caused by a germ called the tubercle bacillus or Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Up until about 50 years ago when anti-tuberculosis drugs were developed it was a very common cause of death and flourished in large overcrowded cities like Glasgow.

Mearnskirk was seen as an ideal place for such a hospital. At the time, Mearns was mainly agricultural and not as built up as it is today and offered its patients a healthy environment in which to recover. As stated in the hospital’s Golden Jubilee booklet, early treatment consisted mainly of ‘rest, fresh air and good wholesome food’.

Later, adults began to be admitted and in 1946 a thoracic unit was added to deal with pulmonary tuberculosis.

In 1940s Britain, another terrible childhood disease reared its head to epidemic proportions. 123 patients, mostly children were admitted to Mearnskirk suffering from poliomyelitis. This disease was treated with corrective surgery and physiotherapy including hydrotherapy and an innovative ‘underwater exercise bath’ was installed in the hospital for this purpose.

As time progressed and TB began to be less prevalent and the polio vaccine was introduced. The cardio-thoracic department was now able to turn its attention to heart surgery and became recognised as the principal cardio-thoracic referral centre for the south-west of Scotland.

The hospital also began to accommodate elderly patients, providing long-stay care with physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

In 1948 control of the hospital moved from Glasgow Corporation to the National Health Service (Board of Management for the Glasgow Victoria Hospitals) In order to assist the Education Health Service with the large numbers of children suffering from ear, nose and throat problems, two ENT units were opened in the hospital.

By 1959, it became a general hospital and in 1971, two state of the art operating theatres for cardiac surgery were opened.

In the 1990s, a policy of centralisation brought about its closure and the site was sold for residential development.

Life for the Patients

Patients suffering from TB often had to spend a long time in hospital, perhaps years. To ensure that the children did not fall behind in their education the hospital employed a teacher and ran its own school. Other activities such as Guides, Scouts and Sunday School took place to amuse the children and the hospital staff believed that this was important to their recovery. A further facility was added when the Princess Elizabeth playground was opened on the 9th August 1952.

A souvenir brochure celebrating the hospital's silver anniversary comments on the importance of this aspect of hospital life:

The majority of the children in its wards suffer from physical disabilities and the treatment they require is often prolonged. It follows that, in addition to the modern methods of treatment applied, much has to be done to cater for the educational, psychological, spiritual and recreational requirements of the patients.

The presence of so many children in the wards, the nature of their disabilities and the length of their stay, create in the hospital a special atmosphere and provide an appeal which accounts for the extensive welfare activities undertaken voluntarily by a host of friends. There is thereby added to the work-a-day life of the hospital something which can be best described as “The Spirit of Mearnskirk”

(Extract from 'Mearnskirk Hospital, 1930-1955: A Pictorial Album, 1955, pp5)

Philanthropist, Alfred Ellsworth MBE was a great supporter of the hospital and arranged for many celebrities such as Judy Garland, Danny Kaye, Dorothy Lamour, Mae West and Roy Rogers (with his horse) to visit the hospital.
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Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 2:59 am Post subject:

And I found this as well.

http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/tbdale.html

Wilson's assistants's wife's father was from Kirriemuir and a friend of J.M. Barrie.

Alexander Dale was born in Glasgow on 27th September 1901, the son of an assistant minister in the city. After time spent in Stirling and Northern Ireland, the family finally settled in New Stevenston near Motherwell where his father was Minister of Holytown United Free Church. Alexander Dale was educated at Bellshill Academy and the University of Glasgow, graduating M.B., Ch.B. in 1925. He was House Surgeon at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow from 1925-26 then Resident Medical Officer at the County Hospital, Motherwell. He returned to the Western Infirmary in 1927 as Extra Dispensary Surgeon and worked closely with Professor Archibald Young, Regius Professor of Surgery at Glasgow University. During his time at the Western he was also Hall Fellow in Surgery. Dr Dale left both positions in 1929 for a new post at Mearnskirk Hospital as Orthopaedic Surgeon and Asst. Superintendent to Dr J.A Wilson. In 1936 he took on the additional role as Assistant Lecturer in Clinical Tuberculosis at the University of Glasgow, which he continued until 1949. During the Second World War he acted as a general as well as an orthopaedic surgeon to civilian and service patients at Mearnskirk. Dr Dale became Superintendent of Mearnskirk on the death of Dr Wilson in 1946, retiring in 1961.

Alexander Dale's wife, Elizabeth Robb was born in Kirriemuir, Angus on 16th September 1906. She attended a local 'Dame School' run by her father's sister and then the local secondary school. She gained her medical qualifications at the University of Glasgow, graduating M.B. Ch.B. in 1929. Her first post on qualification was at Redlands Hospital for Women, Glasgow. Following this she did locum work on the Isle of Arran. She stopped working on her marriage in 1932, returning to work later in the decade as a G.P. in Newton Mearns. She continued thus until Alexander Dale became Medical Superintendent at Mearnskirk in 1946 when she devoted her time to supporting her husband and various charitable organisations connected with the hospital. She did not practice medicine again until her husband died in 1964. She then became Medical Officer for Cytology for Ayrshire and Arran Health Board, gaining the Family Planning Association Certificate in 1965. Her father was a school friend of J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. The Barrie connection may have had a bearing on the Peter Pan statue which was erected at Mearnskirk.

Mearnskirk Hospital opened in May 1930 primarily for children with surgical tuberculosis. To meet the needs of the Education Health Service, children with long-term orthopaedic conditions were later admitted and beds made available for any outbreak of infantile paralysis.

During the Second World War children were evacuated to the Garrison Hospital Millport and Mearnskirk assumed a new role as an Emergency Service Hospital. The hospital never subsequently regained its role as a hospital primarily for children and in 1946 the Surgical Thoracic Unit was opened. From 1955 onwards, Mearnskirk gradually saw the number of children treated drop to below the number of adults. Improvements in child health and advances in the practice of medicine brought about this turn-around, which also led to the hospital's change of status from Sanatorium to General Hospital in 1960.

By the late 1980's Mearnskirk had become a solely geriatric unit. When the Victoria Infirmary NHS Trust was created in 1992 Mearnskirk was placed within its jurisdiction.
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Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project

Adam Brown · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:02 am Post subject:

And a bit more from 2nd July 2007 about the stolen plaque which was found.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1511533.0.peter_pan_plaque_returns_to_its_home.php/

Peter Pan plaque returns to its home

A HISTORICAL plaque showing fairytale characters will be unveiled tomorrow after being lost for 15 years.

Peter Pan and Wendy feature on the bronze panel which once graced the plinth of a statue of the boy who never grew up at the former Mearnskirk Hospital in Newton Mearns.

The site is now home to Hazeldene Nursery School, where it will be mounted on a wall.

The panel, which shows characters from the JM Barrie book flying to The Neverland, was first unveiled in 1949 as a tribute to Dr John Wilson, first superintendent of Mearnskirk Hospital for Children.

It will be welcomed to its new home by Fred Ellsworth, son of the late philanthropist Alfred Ellsworth. He took many stars, including Roy Rogers and Trigger, to entertain the young patients.

Part of the hospital buildings are now an old people's home and the original Peter Pan statue stands at the entrance.

There were originally four plaques depicting the characters made by Alexander Proudfoot former Principal of Glasgow School of Art, and only this one has been found.

Anne Robertson, of Mearns Local History Group, said: "The plaque will be a reminder of the history and heritage of the former Mearnskirk Hospital and it is right that it should be remembered, as the hospital touched the lives of many children over the years."
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Scottish War Memorials Project
Scottish War Graves Project