Medical dates:

Medical character:

At the beginning of 1918 Mr Charles Burge, a successful local builder, converted Shaftesbury House (previously known as Riverside Lodge), a large mansion at the corner of Manor and Ferry Roads, into an auxiliary military hospital.  Mr and Mrs Burge had obtained funds for the project from many local subscribers, as well as donations of £50 each from several well-known Teddingtonians.

The Teddington Red Cross Hospital (also known as the Teddington Auxiliary Military Hospital) was officially opened by Princess Christian in April 1918.  It had 49 beds.  It was run by a Committee, with Mr Burge as its Secretary, while Mrs Burge acted as the Commandant of the local Voluntary Aid Detachment, which took care of nursing and domestic duties.

Sometimes convalescent patients would disappear during the day, only to phone up later to say they were safe at Chertsey or Sunbury, etc, having been taken up the river by admiring steam-trippers.

After the Armistice the Hospital had £1,144 1s 5d (£1,144.07) remaining in its funds.  Of this, £100 was donated towards a War Memorial.  The remainder was given to the Teddington Cottage Hospital with the proviso that a ward should be named the Red Cross Ward.

Present status (September 2013)

After the war the building became the Mall School, a private school for girls.

In 1965 it became Colombo House, a residential school for severely mentally handicapped children, run by The Sons of Divine Providence, a Roman Catholic charity, until May 1998 when government policy dictated that such children should be cared for in the community.

Today the ground floor of Colombo House is St John's, a residential care home for 6 adults with learning difficulties.  It is run by Orione Care, the working name of The Sons of Divine Providence.