History Group - Sheffield Hospitals
We are a small group of volunteers who make up the Sheffield Hospitals History Group (SHHG) with its Heritage Centre based at the Northern General Hospital.
We have all worked in the hospitals and healthcare in Sheffield, and we bring that wealth of experience and our knowledge of history into the running of the Centre for the benefit of the hospitals and the public. We attend the Centre every Tuesday; email us if you’d like to visit.
As a group, we restore and maintain a collection of interesting and important historical medical items from the timeline of our hospitals which includes medical equipment, documents, photographs and archives of people’s stories over many years. We have for sale three books written by Lyn Howsam about life in, and stories from the workhouse, and about the children’s homes.
We have made many varied posters around the Northern General and Royal Hallamshire sites, as well as display cabinets. On the B floor entrance at the RHH there are two cabinets of museum standard. One contains a permanent display relating to the early days of the Sheffield Royal Infirmary and Sheffield Royal Hospital. The other has displays of specific aspects of the work in a hospital which are changed at regular intervals.
The Collection started with Dr Harold Swan (1922 – 2011) who was a distinguished Haematologist and also Dean of the Medical School. He had training and interest in History, and thanks to David Baldwin, General Manager of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, he was given space to start, store and catalogue a collection of interesting medical equipment and papers, assisted by Sue Coulson (PA to David Baldwin).
We share our items and knowledge with Weston Park Museum.
We contribute articles and texts for Sheffield University School of Medicine and Population Health, and the Aesculapian Society, and the Good Health Magazine and also have links with the British Society for the History of Medicine, the Historical Medical Equipment Society and Royal Society of Apothecaries of London
We continue to curate the items in the collection and the catalogues and archives, so that reference can be made to them when needed for the purposes of research or to produce information for the public.
From time to time, we are asked by STHFT to help with providing information and items for various anniversaries and events relating to the Trust.
Each year we have a stand at Sheffield Heritage Fair weekend in January, and open the centre for the Heritage Open Days in September. We always appreciate if one or two hospital Volunteers can help us during these fairly busy periods of the Open Days, and enjoy themselves too!
We are available to assist and inform hospital staff as well as public in matters of our collection and of history: please email us as below.
We are also happy to consider receiving any items from Hospital Departments and members of the public which they feel are of historical interest to Sheffield Hospitals and Medicine in general. We do have limited space, but are always interested to be shown these fascinating finds.
We do not, however, have access to any patient records, or contact with any previous staff.
Donation of interesting old records and instruments.
Registered STHFT volunteers: help in the Centre during Heritage Open Days in September would be welcome.
We are grateful to Picture Sheffield who hold many of our photographs, and with whom we work closely. The photographs can be accessed by the public.
We are also very grateful for the support we receive from Emma Scott, Volunteers Services Manager, and from the Foundation Trust Board.
Please use the contact emails if you are interested in arranging a visit to the Heritage Centre or have any questions. Please note that any visits will need to be booked in advance, so that we can offer the best service.
CONTACT: sheffhhg@gmail.com and sue.coulson1@nhs.net
