Isleworth, Middlesex, Percy House Auxiliary Hospital

Isleworth, Middlesex, Percy House Auxiliary Hospital, before and during the Great War. Percy House was a school that stood where part of the present West Middlesex Hospital now stands. From the Wikipedia article on Isleworth - 'Percy House Military Hospital - Within the old union workhouse complex stood a school, facing Twickenham Road, called Percy House - Percy being the surname of the Duke of Northumberland. Owing to its gradual disuse as a school it was adapted to function as a military hospital during World War I of 1914-18. From 1915 onwards it treated some 5,000 war-wounded soldiers, and then ceased operation some time after the war's end. The building was demolished in 1978'.
The first postcard, by Young & Co of Teddington, shows it as it originally was, a school in about 1911. When it became a military hospital during the war Young simply removed his previous caption from the glass negative and replaced it with its new title as in the second postcard. The Google Street View, though unimpressive, shows approximately the same view today.
The third postcard shows a patient (or possibly medical orderly) of the hospital, Edgar Bleasdale, originally a cotton weaver from Padiham in Lancashire. The postcard is marked on the front 'To Lilian' and is dated January 5th, 1917. Edgar married a Lilian Stanworth in 1924, likely to be the same woman. Next we see a group of nurses from the hospital. These two postcards were by Isleworth photographer Stanley Nixon. Finally, an interior shot of one the the wards. The patients look pretty cheerful, but their wounds are horrific.
As always, click the pictures to enlarge.
For more excellent old images please visit Sepia Saturday.

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