Guy's Hospital

Guy's Hospital was founded by Thomas Guy (q.v.), who leased from the governors of St Thomas's Hospital a large piece of ground, for a term of 999 years, at a ground-rent of £30 a year. The space being cleared, the first stone of the building was laid in 1722, and the hospital admitted its first patient in 1725, a few days after the death of its founder. The whole expense was £18,796, 16s., great part of which Guy expended in his lifetime, and he bequeathed £219,499 to endow it. Soon after his death an act of parliament was obtained, regulating the management of the institution. In 1829 Mr Hunt bequeathed to the hospital £190,000, and additional bequests to the amount of £10,000 have since been received. There was at first room for about 400 patients; now 700 can be accommodated. The yearly average of patients is over 5000; the out-patients relieved may amount to above 80,000. The annual income is about £40,000, chiefly from estates in the counties of Essex, Hereford, and Lincoln. The usual number of governors is sixty, who are self-elective. Students enter the hospital for study, attending clinical practice, lectures, &c., and paying annual fees. The building consists of two quadrangles, united by a cross structure or arcade, besides two wings extending from the front to the street—west wing built with elegance and uniformity, and whole edifice handsome and regular. A library and valuable museums are attached to the hospital. New wards, with tall towers for ventilation, were built in 1852, and a chemical laboratory in 1872. In the chapel is a fine marble statue of Guy, by Bacon, which cost £1000. Sir Astley Cooper is buried in the chapel. See the History of Guy's Hospital by Wilks and Bellamy (1893).