Glasgow Lock Hospital Explained

Glasgow Lock Hospital
Coordinates:	55.8617°N -4.2384°W
Location:	Glasgow
Country:	Scotland
Opened:	1805

The Lock Hospital for Women was a hospital in Glasgow for women suffering from venereal disease.

Background

The Glasgow lock hospital was established in 1805^{[1] [2]} at Rottenrow Lane. It moved to 41 Rottenrow in 1845.^[3]

The origin of the term 'lock' may be in the French word 'loques', meaning rags and bandages, or from 'loke' a house for lepers.^[4] Originally, the patients included women, usually those working as Prostitutes,^[5] and even children who had been infected with syphilis.^[6] The hospital depended on funding from subscribers in cash or in kind,^[7] which in 1829 included stationery, vinegar and coal. The annual report from 1814 listed a remarkable 450 subscribers.

People associated with Glasgow Lock Hospital

• Alice McLaren^[8]

James McCune Smith 1930s

See also

• London Lock Hospital
• Lock hospital
• Westmoreland Lock Hospital

External links

• Image of Glasgow Lock Hospital

Notes and References

1. Web site: Glasgow Lock Hospital. Voluntary Hospitals Database.
2. Paterson . Alexander . Statistics of Glasgow Lock Hospital Since its Foundation in 1805—with Remarks on the Contagious Diseases Acts, and on Syphilis . December 1882.
3. Book: Glasgow Post Office Directory. 1845. 459.
4. Book: Mahood . Linda . The Magdalenes: Prostitution in the Nineteenth Century . 2013 . Taylor and Fancis . 9780203104057.
5. Web site: Annual Report on Glasgow Lock Hospital, 1814. 1814. SCRAN.
6. News: They called it the Lock, and it was a fate worse than death. 2002. The Scotsman.
7. Web site: Subscription Reminder for Glasgow's Lock Hospital, 1829. SCRAN. 15 February 2020.
8. 19 Jan 1946. Dr Alice McLaren, obituary. British Medical Journal. 1. 4437. 110–111. 10.1136/bmj.1.4437.110-a. 220004214.