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6
who might require medical attendance and professional
nursing; hence the establishment of Sick Asylum
Districts. When, however, the Poor Law Board
attempted to enforce the provisions of the Act relative
to the formation of these Districts, considerable opposition
arose on the question of expense ; and most of the
orders directing their formation were, in deference to
public opinion, revoked, and the Boards of Management
dissolved. It was, nevertheless, felt that an Asylum
for this large Eastern District was a matter of immediate
importance, and on the 10th August, 1868, an order was
issued under the seal of the Poor Law Board authorising
the purchase of a piece of land on which to build, and
sanctioning the borrowing of the money necessary for
the payment of the same.
There are at the present time but two Sick Asylum
Districts in the Metropolis, namely the Central London
Sick Asylum District comprising the Strand and the
Westminster Unions and the Parish of St. Giles and StGeorge,
Bloomsbury, the Asylum for which District
accommodates 264 patients, and is situated in Cleveland
Street, W., and the Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum
District, comprising the Poplar and Stepney Unions.
It should, however, be stated that whilst the Metropolitan
Poor Act, 1867, has been the means of permanently
establishing but two Sick Asylum Districts, the
care of the sick poor of the Metropolis generally has by
no means been overlooked, for, almost without an
exception, since the passing of the Act of Parliament
referred to, the several Unions and Parishes of the
Metropolis have provided separate Infirmaries for the
reception of their sick poor, such establishments being
placed under direct Medical administration.
On the 30th August, 1869, the Managers accepted
the tender of Mr. Robert Mann for the erection of the