BRIEF HISTORY DURING THE SNOW ERA (1813-58)

Charing Cross Hospital and Medical School was founded in 1818 by Dr. Benjamin Golding (1793 -1863) who obtained his medical training at Saint Thomas's Hospital (see picture).  The plan for the new institution was to combine practical medical education with scientific instruction, while considering the welfare of the poor and the good of the community at large.  At the time, the MD degree could only be obtained in England from the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, or at a university in Scotland or Ireland.  

Golding set up his hospital in the Charing Cross neighborhood of London in 1818, then named the West London Infirmary and Dispensary.  The infirmary moved to a larger location, still in the neighborhood, with 12 beds in 1823.  The name was changed to Charing Cross Hospital in 1827, and plans were made to build a much larger hospital.  The Royal Family (and especially Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent) had been pleased with Golding's work, and raised funds for the new building.  Decimus Burton was chosen as the architect. The new Charing Cross Hospital opened in 1834 on Agar street, still in the Charing Cross neighborhood, with 60 beds.  The medical school was situated in the hospital.  

Perhaps the most famous student was Dr. David Livingston (1813-1873), the Scottish-born explorer of Africa (see picture). Livingstone led a colorful life, and contributed greatly to British understanding of the African continent.  He disappeared in Africa 1866 while searching for the source of the Nile River and was found in 1871 by Henry Morton Stanley on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in central Africa.  Stanley accompanied Livingstone for six months in further exploration but returned to England without him.  With great writing and oratory skills, Stanley in London added considerably to Livingstone's saga.  As a young man, Livingstone had started his medical courses in Glasgow, Scotland.  He came to London at age 25 and continued his medical studies at Charing Cross Hospital during 1839 and 1840.  He returned to Glasgow for his medical examination, taken in November 1840, and thereafter became a licensed physician as well as a great explorer.    

Charing Cross Hospital and Medical School is not identified on Reynold's 1859 map.  The location, however, is seen in the bottom left corner of cell L16, on the west side of Agar Street (above "ND" of RAND from Strand).

Sources: 

Barker F, Jackson P. The History of London in Maps, 1990. 

Hunter W. Historical Account of Charing Cross Hospital and Medical School, 1914.

Summeray D. Discovering London Plaques, 1999. 

Weinreb B, Hibbert C (eds). The London Encyclopaedia, 1993