Lady Cooper’s Own Hospital

Functioning at the same time as the US. Hospital was Lady Cooper’s own Hospital/ Nursing Home for Officers. This used many rooms on the first floor and most of the second floor of Hursley House. The photograph on the following page was taken outside the main entrance of the House and shows some of the staff and patients with the patron, Lady Cooper seated in the centre, with her daughter Mrs Wilkie on her left. Sister Boughey who had the responsibility of matron is on her right. The other seated lady is the housekeeper, who could have stepped from the cast of a television series on stately home life. The nurse standing fourth from the left is remembered as ‘Rust’. The two men in mufti (military plain clothes) seated on the ground to Lady Cooper’s left are thought to be George and Alexander Cooper, her sons. George, later Captain Sir George Cooper, was also a patient in the hospital for a time. This photograph came from Captain FVL Redman of the Royal Artillery, who is seated in the electric Bath chair, having had his right leg amputated below the knee.

Some of the staff and patients of Lady Cooper’s Hospital. Lady Cooper is seated in the middle of the front row, to the right of Sister Boughey

Lady Cooper gave her house and paid all the expenses and salaries etc. for her wartime hospital. The X-ray machine that Lady Cooper bought for her hospital was the first one in this area, and after the war it was given to Winchester’s Royal County Hospital. It is believed that about 40 patients could be nursed at a time, but the total number of patients who passed through this Hospital has not come to light, nor the total staff who served them. From another collection of photographs (rescued from a dustbin) we can identify seven more nurses and two doctors (see photograph opposite). They are nurses Smith, Miller, Telfer, Brazier, Aldridge; Nurse Ramage, Dr Clarke, Nurse Rees, Dr Goodwin and Sister Boughey.

X-ray and electric room

The medical staff