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UGC225/8/6_33 Group of patients at Erskine Hospital fitted with artificial limbs- from 'The Manufacture of Artificial Limbs for the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers'

Erskine was established as a direct response to the need for specialised medical facilities to deal with the unprecedented number of injured and maimed service personnel returning from the First World War. Sir William Macewen, an eminent Glasgow surgeon was the driving force behind the scheme to establish a hospital for limbless sailors and soldiers. He assembled a provisional committee of Scotland's finest business and medical minds to promote the scheme.

UGC 225/8/5 'The Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers' printed by James Maclehouse and Sons

Sir John Reid bought Erskine House from Thomas Aikman and gifted it to the charity. Within 6 months the House was transformed into a hospital with beds to accomodate 200 patients.

UGC225/3/1 Patient Admissions Register 10th Oct 1916-30th Oct 1936

The hospital opened on 10th October 1916, by the end of that year 144 patients had been admitted. Within a few months of opening demand for beds grew and in November 1917 construction began on the ‘Red Cross Huts’, funded by the Red Cross which would accommodate a further 200 patients.

UGS225/8/6 Workshop on the Clyde where artificial limbs were produced for Erskine

One of the main obstacles facing the new hospital was the shortage of artificial limbs in Britain. However the hospitals founder Sir William Macewen saw this as an opportunity to mobilise ‘Clydeside's creative genius’ and create a new industry in Scotland. Companies such as Yarrow &Co Ltd, lent their workforce to design and manufacture artificial limbs  at cost price for the hospital

UGC225/8/6_23 Limb workshop at Erskine Hospital

The limb workshops were moved to Erskine in 1917 and patients were trained in production as well as contributing to design improvements

UGC225/1/1/2 Pamphlet: 'Erskine House Workshops' from The Princess Louise Scottish Hospital Minutes (20 Feb 1918-10 Dec 1919)

Workshops were also established for curative as well as vocational purposes. Classes were set up in basketry, shoemaking, tailoring, woodwork, hairdressing and commercial training. The idea was to give the men a variety of trades to choose from according to their tastes and ability to work and also to prevent any one trade receiving too great an influx

UGC225/10/1/35 Patients and staff, c1917

By December 1917 the number of patients admitted to the hospital was 1,613 and of those 1,126 had been “discharged with limbs”. More than 2,145 ex-service pensioners also attended Erskine to be fitted with new limbs or limb repairs. Between the opening in October 1916 and December 1919 over 400 major operations were performed.

UGC225/11/17 Autograph book containing poems, messages, cartoons and drawings by patients, staff and visitors.

‘To obtain best results sympathetic care and encouragement are required, besides advice and guidance’- Sir William Macewen 29 March 1916. The staff at Erskine took these words to heart creating a warm friendly atmosphere, in which patients and staff treated each other as family.

UGC225/5/1 Telegram from Princess Louise

At the official opening of the hospital on 7th June 1917, the hospital's patron Princess Louise spoke of her ‘intense pride and pleasure to be asked to join the efforts here at Erskine’. She continued an active interest in the running of the hospital throughout her life and was a regular visitor there.

UGC225/5/5 Patient Rules

After the war the number of patients entering the hospital due to amputation naturally decreased. The Executive Committee shifted focus towards providing a permanent home for ex-servicemen requiring longterm care.

UGC225/10/1/40 Patients and nurses outside in the sunshine.

As well as being a busy functioning hospital Erskine became a permenant home for paraplegic residents unable to live independently. Additionally in 1934, a convalescent holiday scheme was introduced which allowed ex-servicemen who had been ill and could not afford to pay for a holiday to come to Erskine for a break. 

UGC225/8/19 'Erskine Bugle', a magazine produced my residents of Erskine

UGC225/10/1/42 Cottages for independent living

In September 1946 the first of 50 cottages was built in the grounds of Erskine, allowing disabled men and their families to live near their place of work and close to the hospital facilities on which they depended

UGC225/10/4/28 Aerial photograph of Erskine Hospital with Erskine Bridge in the background

The hospital was continually being added to in the second half of the 20th century, with new wings being built in 1950, 1962, 1975 and the 1990s. However it was clear the 19th century manner house was no longer equipped to deal with the demands of the busy convalescence home. In 2000 the new state of the art facility was completed to provide long term residential care for veterans.