The Cottage Hospital

Posted on 17 November 202328 November 2023 by Vernon Museum

A black-and-white image of a house-like building with a covered verandah. — The Cottage Hospital circa 1897.

The Vernon Jubilee Hospital Committee

Did you know that Vernon’s first hospital was no more than a cottage?

Vernon was incorporated in 1892, but for the first five years of its official existence, the community did not have a hospital, with doctors instead making house calls as needed, and more severe cases being sent to the hospital in Kamloops.

However, with Vernon’s population growing, it was obvious that the City would soon need a facility of its own, and a Hospital Committee was formed, including such big-wigs as Price Ellison, Luc Girouard, and Cornelius O’Keefe. In 1897, it was decided that the future hospital would be named the “Vernon Jubilee,” to honour Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Now all that was needed was the selection of a site.

The first hospital is erected

Largely thanks to the tireless fundraising of Clara Cameron, Vice-President of the National Council of Women and wife of Vernon’s first major, William Cameron, Vernon’s first hospital finally opened later that year. It was erected in a vacant building owned by builder T. E. Crowell, and purchased for a cost of $2,000. It stood on 28^th Avenue.

The building was actually bigger than the hospital needed at the time, but had a broad verandah around the outside for patients to get some fresh air and exercise. The Women’s Council took on the task of visiting the hospital twice a week to ensure that “the Rules for the Hospital [were] being strictly carried out and that all internal arrangements are being conducted in a satisfactory manner.”

Patients began arriving at the Cottage Hospital, as it became fondly known, in November of 1897, under the care of Matron Pratt. It had approximately 16 beds. By Spring of 1899, a contingent of new staff had been on boarded, and a few years later a maternity extension was added thanks to the securing of government grants.

Expansions and constraints

By 1905, the Cottage Hospital staff consisted of five nurses, four probationers, and two cooks. A nurse’s home was added to accommodate the group, and improvements to the buildings were made from time to time.

Shortly thereafter, the Hospital Committee initiated conversations regarding the necessity of an expanded facility, recognizing the requirement for an isolation wing to address diseases like tuberculosis; with Vernon’s expanding population, the Cottage Hospital was no longer big enough.

Samuel Polson donated property north of 21st Avenue for a new building, and in September of 1909, a hospital building with 100 beds was opened on the site still used today. As for the Cottage Hospital, the site was put up for sale in 1910, and it was later reopened as a “temperance” hotel.

To explore more of Vernon’s history, check out our other blog posts!

Gwyneth Evans, Head of Archives

Bride Ships

Posted on 21 May 2021 by Vernon Museum

ship of brides

May 21, 2021

In September of 1862, the S.S. Tynemouth arrived in Victoria to the great excitement of the city’s mostly-male population; 60 young women between the ages of 14 and 20 were on board, having been brought over from England to a new life in Canada.

The Tynemouth was the largest of the “Bride Ships,” a series of vessels that transported British women overseas to help populate the North American colonies.

Little More Than Cargo

Of the 60 individuals onboard the Tynemouth, most were orphaned or came from impoverished families, and were promised a brighter future in Canada.

The sea voyage was a rough one: the women were treated as little more than cargo, stuffed into the bottom of the ship with inadequate food and poor sanitation. Many became ill during this journey of nearly 100 days.

Dr. John Chipp’s house in Vernon circa 1891. Chipp arrived in B.C. via a “Bride Ship” from England in 1862.

“mostly cleanly, well-built, pretty-looking young women”

Even so, when the ship finally arrived in Victoria, the women were deemed “satisfactory”: the Colonist newspaper reported that they were “mostly cleanly, well-built, pretty-looking young women … Taken altogether, we are highly pleased with the appearance of the ‘invoice,’ and believe that they will give a good account of themselves in whatever station of life they may be called to fill.”

The stories of approximated half the women who traveled overseas in the Tynemouth have been traced. Some married and started families, while others worked as governesses, midwives, and teachers. Sadly, many also faced lives of destitution and depravity in B.C.’s mining towns.

A Local Connection

This interesting story also has a local connection. Alongside the 60 female passengers who traveled on the Tynemouth in 1862 was a man named John Chipp, who served as the vessel’s chief doctor.

When the ship arrived in B.C., Chipp set up a business in Barkerville before moving to Vernon in 1891. Here he became one of the city’s first doctors. Chipp’s daughter, Clara Cameron, was instrumental in the establishment of the Vernon Jubilee Hospital and his son-in-law, W.F. Cameron, served as Vernon’s first mayor.

John Chipp passed away in August of 1893. The contributions of Chipp, as well as W.F. and Clara Cameron are relatively well-documented and honoured.

We can also take a moment to think about those whose names and faces we don’t know, or remember, the young women who were integral to early settler life in Canada.

Gwyn Evans

Women’s History Month: Clara Cameron

Posted on 13 October 2020 by Vernon Museum

vernon hospital’s founding mother

October 9. 2020

October is Women’s History Month, a celebration of the outstanding achievements of women throughout Canada’s history. Since its incorporation in 1892, Vernon has been home to a number of fascinating women, and this is therefore the perfect opportunity to explore how their legacies have shaped our city.

For any of us who have visited the Vernon Jubilee Hospital, we owe this woman our health; she was the driving force behind the establishment of Vernon’s first hospital, fondly known as the Cottage Hospital.

Clara Chipp came to Vernon circa 1888 after marrying the town’s first government official, Walter Dewdney. Walter had recently lost his wife, and Clara stepped up to act as a surrogate mother to his three young children. The young stepmom quickly became active in Vernon’s social scene, hosting picnics for local children and playing the organ at church services.

Clara & Walter Dewdney, 1889

Unfortunately, Walter was under a significant amount of stress from his job. He had little time for anything other than work, and spent long hours confined his desk. He began to suffer from bouts of depression, on top of chronic pain due to a kidney disorder. Just four years after marrying Clara, he took his own life.

Following Walter’s tragic death, Clara found herself alone with her three stepchildren. She moved in to a new house closer to that of her father, John Chipp, a local doctor, so he could help with their care. From this vantage point, Clara was also afforded a clear view of the handsome young shopkeeper, William Cameron, who worked across the street. In 1894, Clara and William were married.

In 1894, diphtheria broke out in Vernon, and underlined the urgent need for a local health care facility. At this time, Clara was Vice-President of the National Council of Women and used her position to canvas the district for financial support towards the construction of a hospital. In 1897, Vernon’s first Jubilee “Cottage” Hospital was opened in a boarding house on 28^th Avenue—a temporary facility until the new building opened on Hospital Hill in 1909.

Tragically, Clara would never live to see this day. In 1898, she was diagnosed with cancer, and instead of suffering through her deteriorating health, she took her own life by drinking carbolic acid in 1900. A tribute to her in the Vernon News stated that “the establishment of the Vernon Jubilee Hospital was due almost entirely to the untiring efforts of the late Mrs. W.F. Cameron … It is eminently fitting that her memory should be honored in this connection.”

So next time you pass by or through the Vernon Jubilee Hospital, spare a thought for the woman who fought tirelessly for the health of Vernon’s citizens.