From 'A History of Aylesbury' by Robert Gibbs

The Buckinghamshire Infirmary

"The first movement for the establishment of an Infirmary emanated from the Newport Pagnell district. This was in the year 1827. The distance of Newport from the centre of the country was an objection to the erection of a General Infirmary in that district, and the subject passed into obeyance ; but it was not altogether overlooked. Efforts in the meantime were made to obtain a list of subscribers, which for a while lengthened but slowly. Exiting but troublous times followed ; there was a general election in 1830, consequent upon the death of George IV. In the same year there was an alarming discontent amongst the agricultural labourers, with riots, machine breaking, and incendiary fires. In the next year another general election took place; still progress in the establishment of an Infirmary had been steadily made. At a meeting called for furthering the project it was announced that £5,176 capital had been raised for purchase for building purposes, and an annual subscription of £255 was also promised. Subsequently, Dr. Lee of Hartwell, added a present of £500 to the capital fund. Subscribers increased ; the Rev. John Dell, of Walton , the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Carrington, Lord Chesterfield, Lord Grenville, Sir H. Verney, Bart., and others had already given a heartily adherence to the movement. In January, 1832, Dr.Lee was in treaty for purchase of an eligible property, situated at the junction of the Buckingham and Bicester Roads, at Aylesbury, and known as “Dawney’s Nursery.” This site was eventually secured, upon which occasion Dr. Lee made a second donation of £500, expressly to aid in the completion of the purchase.

There was already standing on the spot a neat substantial villa ; to this building two wings were added, and the internal arrangements were altered and adapted to the purposes for which the building was being intended ; for the time being this was all that was requisite.

On the 7th August, 1833, a meeting of the governors was held, when Messrs. Robert and James Henry Ceely and Messrs.Young and Haywood offered their gratuities services as visiting surgeons. Dr. Lee was at this meeting elected the first president, and the principal wards were named the “Lee” ward and the “Verney” ward; Mr Rickford was also appointed treasurer, so that the establishment was now in working order. Concerts, balls, and sermons were brought into requisition to aid the funds; all were highly successful, and the proceeds greatly increased the funds. A bazaar in aid realised nearly £1,000 profit.

At the second annual meeting Dr. Lee was re-elected president, and in the following year he was succeeded by Sir Harry Verney, Bart., as the second president. Sir Harry had shared energetically in the work of establishing the Infirmary, in conjunction with Dr. Lee and others. In 1838 the financial state of the Institution was not satisfactory, but remained only temporarily so. At the general annual meeting, in August of that year, it was resolved to make great effort to improve the funds, and a ball, concert and bazaar were again resorted to, and were held under the patronage of the governors; these were spiritedly supported by the public, and the result was a profit of £1,142 to the funds. In October, 1841, a meeting of the subscribers was held for the purpose of considering the appointment of a chaplain, a strong feeling was evinced against the proposition, and it was thought best to defer it. Two months later the subject was re-opened, with the proposition to devote a sum of money, subscribed by the Radcliffe Trustees to the general fund, to form a chaplaincy fund. On this occasion a vote was taken; the majority was against the proposition, and a voluntary Chaplaincy fund was resolved on by those who had pressed the question.

There could not be a greater proof of the usefulness of this institution or of the benefits it had conferred on the poorer classes than the fact that the building was found to be too small for its requirements. Not being originally built for the purposes of an Infirmary there were defects in the construction of it which could not well be remedied. After several meetings had been held, and the whole subject thoroughly considered, the Committee came to the conclusion to rebuild entirely. Arrangements for the temporary removal of the patients and the continuance of the affairs of the Infirmary having been made, the place was vacated, the materials sold by auction, and the erection of a new building commenced forthwith.

On the 30th of April 1861, the foundation stone of the new Infirmary was laid by Lady Verney and in June 1862, it was formally opened. The building, which is of the order technically known as Roman Doric, consists of a central portion and two wings- the centre comprising four stories, and the wings two. On the ground floor, after passing through the hall, the visitor finds the matron’s sitting-room on his right hand and the house-surgeon’s on the left; the corresponding bedrooms being placed opposite, in the rear of the building. In the west wing are the matron’s and other storerooms, porter’s room, pupil’s room, board room and chapel, and secretary’s office. In the east wing, the physician’s room, surgeon’s consulting room and patient’s waiting room, with dispensary, laboratory etc. The basement story, which occupies only the central portion of the building, comprises the kitchen, scullery, larder, beer-cellar, coal-cellar, etc. Ascending the easy and well-lighted staircase, we reach the principal floor, containing the patients’ wards. These are spacious rooms, 81 feet by 25, and 16 feet high, the female ward being named after the venerable Dr. Lee, and the male ward after the late Lady Verney. Each ward contains 22 beds. The ventilation is secured partly by the windows, which range along both sides of the wards, but more especially by a shaft which admits the external air through brass gratings in the floor, the exit of heated air being provided for by a simple escape placed over each window. Cheerful, open fire-grates are placed in each ward. The floors are of oak, the walls of polished cement, and special care has been taken to use no material which in course of time would absorb the noxious exhalations of the sick room. On this floor are placed two “bye wards” for special cases which it may be necessary to isolate; the sculleries, nurses’ rooms, &c. On the second floor (which, like the basement, occupies the centre only of the building) is situated the operating room to which the patients are conveyed by a “lift”, and which is thus entirely out of sight and hearing of the patients in the wards. Here also are the servants’ bedrooms and other offices. Lifts are fitted in the centre of the building, one for the conveyance of food from the kitchen, the other for raising coals, &c. to the upper portion of the building. The ground belonging to the Institution, including that occupied by the building itself, is about two acres, and is enclosed by a boundary wall. The total sum expended amounted to £11,179. To meet this expenditure, the committee received subscriptions to the general fund, amounting to £6,705 3s 11d., and special subscriptions of £16.12s. The amount raised by the sale of the old building and trees was £549. 9s; the total profit of the bazaar, £1,736 13s 7d. The money withdrawn from the capital of the Institution for building purposes amounted to £2,055 1s. 

The latest addition to the establishment I is the Sanatorium, for the use of the convalescent patients; it is built at the rear of the Infirmary. This originated with the late Rev. C. Erle, who bequeathed £300 for its erection. It has recently been enlarged and greatly improved; it is very neatly furnished, supplied with books and periodicals, and is a very agreeable retreat to those patients whose recovery is advanced sufficiently to enable them to visit it, and it is a valuable feature in the institution. It is through the exertions and liberal subscription of Mr. Cazenove, the Lilies, that the late improvements to the Sanatorium has been completed. The architect both of the Infirmary and the Sanatorium was Mr D. Brandon, of Berkeley Square, London.


With the Infirmary must ever be associated the name of John Lee, Esq., LL.D., of Hartwell, who was so instrumental in its original formation and a munificent donor to its treasury. Dr. Lee was born in 1783, and was the eldest son of John Fiott, Esq., of London, who married Harriet, daughter of William Lee, Esq., of Totteridge, Herts; he took the name of Lee by Royal mandate, in 1815. The family of the Lees have owned the Hartwell estate since the junction of the houses of Hampden and Lee, A.D. 1570, and the Hampden family trace back their possession to the year 1268. The Rev. Sir George Lee, the sixth baronet, dying unmarried in 1827, bequeathed the mansion and estates to Dr. Lee, who was the representative of both branches of the family, and was seized of the estates of Hartwell; Totteridge, in Herts; and Colworth, in Bedfordshire. He was entered at St. John’s College, Cambridge, of which he became a Fellow. He was fifth wrangler in 1808. As a travelling bachelor of the University he visited Egypt, Arabia, and Asia Minor. It was at this time that he formed that taste for the collection of antiquities to which the collections at Hartwell bore testimony. A year of two before his death he was made a Q.C. by Lord Chancellor Westbury, an honour which, it is said, afforded him great satisfaction; he was a fellow of the Royal Society, and also a Fellow, and for two years the President, of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was a member of the Geological, the Geographical, the British Meteorological, the British Archaeological, the Syro-Eqyptian, the Asiatic, the Chronological, the Numismatic, and other learned Societies. Of Dr. Lee’s benevolence as a landlord and a master it is unnecessary to speak. He married, in 1833, Miss Cecilia Rutter, and in 1855 Miss Louisa C. Heath, step-daughter of Mr Robert Wilkinson, of Totteridge Park, Herts. He died in 1866, and was succeeded in the estates by his nephew, Mr. E. Dyke Lee.

Another worthy patron of the Infirmary was the Rev. Christopher Erle, M.A., F.G.S., J.P., &c., the rector of Hardwick, who died in 1870, at the age of 83 years. The rev. gentleman was the elder brother of the Right Hon. Sir William Erle, late Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and, like him, was educated at New College, Oxford. He was inducted into the living Hardwick, which falls, in succession, to the senior bachelor of the College, in the year 1834. Mr Erle was one of the most liberal supporters of the Infirmary, his contributions to which were far greater in proportion than those of many of much larger means. His last public act was one which showed his great love for the Institution- his kind donation of three hundred guineas for the erection of the Sanatorium before-mentioned:

A third name closely connected with the general management of the Bucks Infirmary must not be passed over-that of the late Mr. Robert Ceely, of Aylesbury. No one connected with this district had formed wider associations, associations which included all classes, nor could anyone be more generally beloved. His manner was so genial, kind and affectionate that a friendship, having been once formed with him, was assiduously cultivated. Mr. Ceely’s choice of the profession was made early in life. His first practice of it was intended for the service of the East India Company, but this was overruled by medical advice, and his career opened in March 1821, at Aylesbury. The commencement of his practice was in conjunction with Mr Henry Hickman, jun., a representative of a very ancient and highly respected Aylesbury family. Mr. Hickman died soon after Mr. Ceely joined him. Mr. Ceely’s heart and soul were in his profession. He gave attention to the subject of vaccination, in which he felt great interest. He became a champion of cleanliness, and sanitary matters under his interference and recommendations improved. Those who are old enough will not fail to recollect the invaluable services rendered by him when Aylesbury was afflicted with a severe visitation of that dire disease, cholera, in 1832. In 1840 he published, in the Transactions of the Provincial, Medical, and Surgical Associations, “Observations on the Variolae Vaccine as they occasionally appear in the Vale of Aylesbury, with an account of some recent experiments on vaccination”. This publication having met with much approval and encouragement, in 1842 he published further observations on the same subject. In his profession he was no respector of persons; the occupier of the lowliest cottage or the most miserable hut received from him the same degree of care and attention as the resident in the most stately mansion. Mr Ceely, in conjunction with his brother, Mr. J.H. Ceely, gave his gratuitous services to the Bucks Infirmary from the date of it original foundation; he regularly kept his appointments there, his name as receiving medical surgeon appearing up to the time of his death. He held the appointment of surgeon to Her Majesty’s prison; he was medical officer to the Aylesbury Union and the Aylesbury Board of Health; he was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Licentiate of the College of Apothecaries; and was also a member of several medical and other scientific societies. Mr. Ceely’s death took place in 1880; he had been ill from the effects of a severe cold but little more than a week. The subscribers and friends of the Bucks Infirmary presented him with his portrait. It is a three-quarter length, and was executed by Mr. Storey. It hangs in the board room of the Institution, in which are also placed the portraits of Sir Harry Verney, Dr. Lee, and other distinguished benefactors to the hospital.

Notice only has been taken of those patrons of the Infirmary who have passed from us, but in a history of the establishment which may be handed down to future generations it would be exceedingly ungenerous not to record with his compeers the name of Sir Harry Verney, Bart. Sir Harry was one of the earliest promoters of the Institution, and a liberal donor to the first fund; he followed Dr. Lee as president, and for more than half a century has been untiring in his efforts to maintain the efficiency of the establishment, devoting much labour to both its general and detailed management."