Gents’ of Leicester Correspondence to ‘The Hospital for Sick Children’. 1933
With many thanks to Archive Service, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Below is correspondence from Gents’ of Leicester in 1933, to what was then known as ‘The Hospital for Sick Children’, and today known as ‘Great Ormond Street Hospital’. The detailed events and correspondence provided by Nick is both fascinating and informative; it really provides insights into how the Gents’ business was conducted nearly 90 years ago! Thanks again for Nick for taking to the time to investigate.
I have found a small amount of correspondence with the company dating from the 1930’s.
They approached the Hospital in March 1933 having seen details of its proposed rebuilding plans, which were subsequently curtailed but resulted in the 1934 Nurses’ Home and 1938 clinical block (today’s Southwood Building). The letter describes their ‘Pul-syn-etic’ clocks and notes that they had already supplied clocks to our former ‘Country Branch’ at Tadworth Court in Surrey, managed by GOSH from 1927-83.
A further letter dated May 25, 1933, expresses surprise that the company had been excluded from the invitation to tender for the clocks in the new Nurses’ Home building, despite the existing electric clock system at Tadworth giving satisfaction. The Hospital Secretary Herbert Rutherford forwarded this to the architects, Stanley Hall Easton & Robertson. The contract was for a Master Clock and other dial clocks for the Staff Home and Outpatients Department. Stanley Hall replied that Gent offered the lowest quote of the four, but that he preferred the appearance of Gillett & Johnson’s product and would provide an example of each for inspection. The General Electric Co. also submitted a bid to supply Gents’ system, but at a higher price than the company’s own offer. The Nurses’ Home would require 9 clocks and the Out-Patient Wing 6. Rutherford wrote to Hall again on 21 July 1933 to state that it had been agreed to accept Gents’ bid, with a request that they “supply clock faces with their name in smaller print and a finish to the dial that is less bright”.
The Master Clock was fitted in the Out-Patient Wing, which was demolished in 1939. The former Nurses’ Home building is still in use, but has been refurbished several times and is now used for other purposes (including my own office), so I doubt that any of the original clocks will have survived. You can see one of them in the attached photograph of the former Nurses’ Home lounge.
Correspondence 28th, March 1933
Correspondence 25th, May 1933
Former Nurses’ Home lounge 1939
