Oxford Street, Oxford House
Oxford Street, Oxford House
HER Number
16491
District
N Tyneside
Site Name
Oxford Street, Oxford House
Place
Whitley Bay
Map Sheet
NZ37SE
Class
Domestic
Site Type: Broad
House
Site Type: Specific
House
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Description
Oxford House was used as an auxiliary hospital during the First World War by the Joint War Committee (British Red Cross and the Order of St John of Jerusalem). The committee was ordered to raise and organise Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) trained in First Aid and Nursing. The nurses were a mixture of qualified nurses and volunteers (mostly middle-class women). Many hospitals were set up in large houses on loan to the Red Cross during the war. VAD hospitals received the sum of 3 shillings per day per patient from the War Office. Oxford House was run by the 7th Northumberland VA Hospital Unit. Honours for service to this hospital were received by Mrs Mary Eltringham - Royal Red Cross 2nd Class.
Easting
435560
Northing
572296
Grid Reference
NZ435560572296
Sources
www.donmouth.co.uk/local_history/VAD/VAD_hospitals.html (accessed 2014); British Red Cross, 2014, List of Auxiliary Hospitals in the UK during the First World War