Small and special

Welcome to Small and Special

Small and Special is a collection of resources relating to the early years of The Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street, England’s first in-patient children’s hospital. Here you can trace a patient, learn about childhood diseases, or investigate a member of the medical staff.

Small and Special includes a database of patient admission records - from the Hospital’s first in-patient in 1852 to the last admission in 1914; a collection of articles on the early history of the Hospital and pen-portraits of the Hospital’s personalities; and a gallery of images.

Browse around the site to discover its treasures. Better still, register now. It costs nothing, and registered users get access to more detailed information and the ability to print and download results of searches.

Click here for NEW CONTENT added in July 2008

Clara Richardson: Patient from August 1873 to October 1874

Clara Richardson was admitted to the Hospital on 8 August 1873 suffering from a tubercular infection of her knee joint. She was nine years old. Clara’s knee was operated on and her subsequent recovery was very slow. It was not until almost a year later that she was deemed fit enough to be transferred to the convalescent home at Highgate. To learn more about Clara click here.