The School moves with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases to Endsleigh Gardens
Hand drawn map of the new School and Hospital at Endsleigh Gardens from LSHTM Archives, c.1920.
The School’s new building was officially opened on 11th November 1920 by HRH The Duke of York. This was a former hotel which had been used as a hospital for officers during the First World War. The building is still standing in Gordon Street and is now the student union for University College London, there is a blue plaque on the wall to commemorate its history.
The new Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Endsleigh Gardens takes its first patient, suffering from bilharzia
The hospital was at first fully occupied by pensioners of the First World War. The first case was one of bilharziasis in an ex-serviceman from Egypt in February 1920, but many soon followed with malaria, amoebic and bacillary dysentery, liver abscess, kala azar, trypanosomiasis and other tropical diseases.
The new School and Hospital at Endsleigh Gardens, 1920. Photo from LSHTM Archives.
"An institute of state medicine should be established by the University of London in which instruction should be given in public health, forensic medicine, industrial medicine and in medical ethics and economics". Great Britain. Ministry of Health. (1921) Report of the Post-graduate Medical Committee . London:HMSO
Expedition from the School led by Professor Leiper to investigate methods of controlling filariasis in British Guiana
The expedition was extended at the request of Sir Patrick Manson who proposed that visits should be made to other West Indian islands, such as Barbados where the rate of attack was high and Grenada where it was low in order to compare and contrast the circumstances of the islands and to throw light on the conditions which favour the filaria.
Sketch of filaria diacantha by Professor Leiper from LSHTM Archives.
National Theatre Committee accepts Rockefeller offer of £52,000 for Bloomsbury site
The Keppel Street site, 1922. Photo from LSHTM Archives.
The National Theatre Committee was formed to set up a memorial to Shakespeare in London. It had purchased the land in 1913 intending to build a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in readiness for the tercentenary of the playwright’s death in 1916. These plans were shelved at the outbreak of the First World War and the Committee granted the vacant site to the YMCA who erected a mock Tudor building for the entertainment and temporary accommodation of soldiers. After the war, the site became a wilderness of huts and rubble surrounded by hoardings until the mid-1920s.
The School is granted a Royal Charter and officially becomes the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Sir Andrew Balfour begins his duties as Director of the new London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Balfour (1873-1931) was appointed director of the Wellcome Tropical Research Laboratories at Khartoum and local Medical Officer of Health from 1902-1913. He returned to London to found and direct the Wellcome Bureau of Scientific Research. He undertook important work for the RAMC in a number of countries including Egypt, Iraq, Tanganyika and Palestine during the First World War. He became the first Director of the new London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 1924.
Sir Andrew Balfour. Photo from LSHTM Archives.
The Institute of Agricultural Parasitology is established in St Albans by Professor Leiper
Winches Farm Field Station, 1990s. Photo credit: LSHTM
The origins of the Institute are in the problems that the government had in maintaining healthy stock and crops to feed the population after the First World War. The Ministry of Agriculture agreed to fund a study of parasites of farm animals and plants. With further funds, Leiper was able to pursue a second strand of interest in comparable parasitology. The Institute later became known as the School's Winches Farm Field Station
Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases opens in Putney Heath, London
The Ross Institue and Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Putney Heath, c. late 1920s. Photo from LSHTM Archives.
The Ross Institute and Hospital for Tropical Diseases was opened in 1926 on Putney Heath by HRH The Prince of Wales as a memorial to and in recognition of Sir Ronald Ross' work. The main focus of the Institute was the study of the nature and treatment, propagation and prevention of tropical disease. The School archives hold records from the Ross Institute, click here for more information.
Construction begins on the new building for the School on Keppel Street
Construction of the Keppel Street building, c.1927. Photo credit: LSHTM Archives.
A competition to design the new School building was held involving five architects, all experienced in laboratory design and construction. This was won by Morley Horder and Verner Rees.
7 July, Foundation stone for the new Keppel Street building laid by Neville Chamberlain
The foundation stone on the front of the Keppel Street building. Photo credit: LSHTM.
The foundation stone was laid by the Minister of Health, Neville Chamberlain, son of the Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain who had been so influential in founding the original School of Tropical Medicine. At the ceremony, an American flag was flown overhead side by side with the Union Jack.
Introduction of courses for the general public to instruct them on life in the tropics
The courses were largely attended by civil servants and business men and women working in countries with tropical climates. The aim of the courses was to give individuals a basic introduction to living in tropical climates. Lectures and practical sessions were held on climatic conditions including altitude, dry and moist tropics, personal hygiene and how to prevent and treat common diseases.
Course handbook from 1939 from the LSHTM Archives. Photo credit: LSHTM.
18 July, The new School building on Keppel Street is officially opened by HRH The Prince of Wales
Invitation to attend the opening ceremony from the LSHTM Archives. Photo credit: LSHTM.
HRH The Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) arrived at 12pm on 18 July 1929 to open the new building. He was received at the main entrance by dignitaries including the vice-chancellor of London University, he was presented with the keys of the building by its architects Horder and Rees. After the speeches, trumpeters from the Coldstream Guards sounded a fanfare and the main doors were formally opened.
