A.O.F.B.
Cot Plaque
Some of the A.O.F.B. funds were used to provide hospital cots for Wee Waifs
and each cot bore an bronze A.O.F.B. plaque. There was no UK National Health
Service in the days of the A.O.F.B. - the provision and annual
running costs of a single cot was around £500 per annum.
The cot plaque shown is one of two that were
originally invested to Bradford Childrens Hospital. Bradford Childrens
hospital closed 18th July 1987. Peter Ellison e-mailed the FOFB to advise
that the cot plaques were to be auctioned in 2007. Peter further wrote
'I was present on the day it closed. The senior sister found the
plaques in the cellars of the hospital and at a later date gave them
to me. I was then custodian, I cleaned them and on one of them I
engraved on the back, all the staff names that were working on the
last day, this will only be seen the next time this one is taken
apart.' Peter had forgotten about the plaques for several years, then
decided to sell them off to raise funds to aid sick children - how
fitting.
Newspaper article from the Sporting Times of 24th December 1927
relating
to the cot plaque investiture.
Rear of the cot plaque showing the engraving by Peter Ellison on the
closure of the hospital. Peter's wife Shirley was one of the Sisters in
Charge.
E
Over 54 cots were endowed in total in the U.K. but founder Bert
Temple was keen to provide more and issued A.O.F.B.
stamps ; to be used for sealing correspondence, and he hoped that all
members on the Order would buy a booklet of stamps, if they did it would
have raised enough funds to provide another 130 cots.
Overseas cots were also endowed although these were locally funded; cots
being provided in India, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania and seven cots in
Durban, Natal.
Here is a list of UK
hospitals known to have had A.O.F.B. a cot ( or several ).
Kings College Hospital, London
Queen Mary's Hospital, London - two cots
Birmingham Childrens Hospital , two cots
Rugby Hospital , this was believed to have been raised and endowed locally
Royal Orthopedic Hospitals and Cripples Union - 'Woodlands Birmingham'
Royal Orthopedic, London
General Lying-in Hospital, Waterloo, London
Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester
Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children, Brighton
Kings Lynn Hospital, three cots, two of these were endowed locally
Stamford Hospital, see below - bottom of this page
Royal Hospital, Sheffield
Winchester Hospital
Northampton Hospital
Leicester Royal Infirmary ,
Bradford Childrens Hospital , two cots - the pictures above are of one
of the plaques from here
Heartease, West Wickham, seventeen cots
Peterborough Hospital
Southend on Sea Hospital
Rochester Hospital
Manchester Royal Infirmary, two cots
Royal South Hants and Southampton Hospital
Overseas Hospitals known to have had an
A.O.F.B. cot
Childrens home of Recovery, Isipingo, Durban, South africa
Hospital of Port Elisabeth, Mussleburgh and Capetown, South
Africa
One UK hospital still proudly displays a cot plaque. It has
been moved from it's original location on a cot and is now on show in the
entrance to Stamford Hospital along with other plaques on investitures.
Pictures courtesy of David Woodhead
In August 2017, news of a Cot Plaque reached the FOFB.
Leila and Marven Starbuck wrote to tell of a cot plaque that belonged to
Leila's late father Robert Mason, and had been in storage since his passing
in 1995. Robert was born and raised in Birmingham and went to France as a
member of the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Second World War. Robert
was involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk and later joined the 14th Army in
Burma with the Chindits as a medic.
After the War Robert worked at Farnborough Hospital in Kent until his
retirement some 40 years later. He took a keen interest in the history of
the hospital and the old workhouse that was in the hospital grounds.
When the workhouse was due to be demolished he saved many times that had
been stored there such as iron lungs, electric shock treatment machines,
straight jackets, wicker wheelchairs and antique medical equipment. He
squirrelled the items away in the basement, unbeknownst to the hospital,
where they lay until his retirement. When he retired he asked that the items
be given to a London Medical museum who were highly delighted that he had
saved so many rare things, and more than happy to receive them.
It is thought that the cot plaque may have come from either the old
Farnborough Hospital or even the old workhouse, but never went to the London
Medical museum with the other medical curiosities.
During A.O.F.B. times, Farnborough Hospital and Workhouse (although
technically a hospital) only became recognised as such around 1927, which
was the peak of A.O.F.B. activity and when the majority of the cots (and
plaques) were being invested. Extensive research has been conducted,
and as of yet, no documented evidence of Farnborough Hospital being the
recipient of a cot and plaque has been found. Documentation linking the
A.O.F.B. to Bromley Childrens Welfare has been found, Farnborough Hospital
and Workhouse came under the care of Bromley Health Authority many years
later.
An enquiry was made to see if the cot plaque was acquirable. The Starbuck's
very generously donated the plaque declining to 'profit' from it, and a
charitable donation was made In Memoriam of Robert Mason to Acorns Hospice;
very fitting that a children's charity could benefit.
A little on Farnborough Hospital and Workhouse can be found here : Farnborough
Hospital and Workhouse
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