St Andrew's

         The Police Treatment Centres
   The Northern Police Convalescent & Treatment Centres.                                  

The Police Treatment Centres. St Andrew's
For information about The Police Treatment Centres, view the official website:  www.thepolicetreatmentcentres.org

                                                                               

The many links that join St George's, Northern Police Orphanage and St Andrew's were forged through a common history.
Both originated through the foresight of Catherine Gurney, with the purchase of St George's House and land in 1897. The construction of St Andrew's building commenced shortly after, in 1902, on part of the St George's 12 acre estate. The two organisations were formed with the aim of providing help for policemen and policewomen and their families, both financed through subscriptions from Police Forces and donations from the general public.

A brief History of St Andrew's.
Contributors: Gemma Pettman,  Publicity Officer, The Police Treatment Centres.
                  G. C. East. Author: The Constables of Claro, A History of Policing in Harrogate.

The police service owes a great debt of gratitude to Catherine Gurney – the founder of several police charities including:                                                                                     

 A Police Institute in London.
 Bible Class at Wandsworth Prison.
 International Christian Police Association. 
 Police Convalescent Seaside Home, West Brighton.
 Southern Police Convalescent Home & Orphanage, Redhill.
 Northern Police Orphanage (later called St George's House) Harrogate.
 Northern Police Convalescent & Treatment Centre (The Police Treatment Centres) Harrogate.
 

The youngest daughter of Joseph Gurney, a shorthand writer to the Houses of Parliament, Catherine Gurney was a deeply religious woman who worked with the poor communities of Wandsworth, London. This is where her interest in the police service grew; it is said Miss Gurney was grateful for the protection of the police officers working in the area where she held her men’s bible classes and wanted to repay their kindness.
Then, like now, police officers worked long hours and faced many dangers. It was an officer who Catherine Gurney visited in hospital that told her he longed for somewhere to recuperate that prompted her to open a police convalescent home.

Catherine Gurney wasn’t the only philanthropist in her family and in fact the Gurney family as a whole was instrumental in starting the International Christian Police Association, an organisation which still exists today. 

The first police convalescent home was opened in 1893 in Hove on the south coast. It was funded initially by supporters of the police from within the local community and was maintained through the endowment of beds by police forces. The Police Seaside Home allowed officers to convalesce after injury or illness. Pneumonia and other such illnesses were prevalent at the time due to officers spending many hours pounding the beat in all weathers. 

Not content with looking after police officers Catherine Gurney turned her attention to their families and founded an orphanage for police children in Redhill. The same members of the community funded the orphanage as had funded the convalescent home. The Southern Provincial Police School catered for children of officers who had been killed or had died. What prompted her to make this move was the discovery of five police children in a county workhouse. Their father had died and their mother could no longer look after them; a story typical of the era.

After a few years there were calls for the homes in the south to be replicated in the North. Catherine Gurney already had connections in the North of England through the Southern Orphanage which received children from the Manchester and Salford Orphanage and Benevolent Fund. Story has it that Miss Gurney was crossing The Stray in Harrogate when she met a policeman and asked him if he knew of a suitable place for an orphanage. He directed her to St George's, a Boys’ School on Otley Road that was for sale and so she settled on Harrogate as the location for her next projects. 

St George’s House, the Northern Police Orphanage, was purchased for £10,000. Money was raised by Catherine Gurney’s personal visits made in neighbouring towns and districts to people whose names were given to her by the police as being supportive of the police force. Miss Gurney also raised loans and paid the interest privately.  

Originally half the building was used by children and the other half by convalescing police officers until 1899 when the demand by police officers became so high that it was decided a new home should be built on the same plot. The orphanage was similar in        structure to the current Police Treatment Centre building and used to occupy the land which is now known as Swinton Court, on the corner of Harlow Moor Road and Otley Road.

                                                        
                                                         The plot of land occupied by St George's House showing
                                              where the Police Convalescent Home was sited.  
    
Once a building fund had been started and after much fundraising, an open competition was held for the design of the new home. This was won by Messrs Chorley, Connor & Chorley, of Leeds.

                       
                       The concept drawing and floor plan of the proposed Northern Police Convalescent Home.
 

At the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone in 1902, a newspaper quotes that "a platform was arranged and decorated with flags and bunting in order to accommodate the guests. The children of the Orphanage were looking remarkably smart as they led the singing of the hymns in a praiseworthy manner, accompanied by the City of Sheffield Police Band".
The service was conducted by the Lord Bishop of Wakefield, assisted by the Rev. Cohen, Vicar of St Mary's Church, Harrogate.

In April 1903 the official opening of the new building was conducted by Viscountess Mountgarret and Miss V. Donkin, who had been appointed Lady Superintendent. At the opening it was stated that the new premises would be fitted with electricity and telephones and would be efficiently heated with hot water. The structure of the building also being described as "handsome" stone
erection, the front to be faced with Dacre stone dressing.
The sanitory wing contained lavatories, bathrooms etc and was lined throughout with glazed bricks;  the floor of the hall consisted of tesselated mosaic pavement.  Drainage & ventilation were of the "most up to date principles" and a special feature of the new home was the open air gallery for the "treatment of patients now largely recommended by the medical profession".
 

                     
                 The Northern Police Convalescent Home building, on completion. Note the cart and Tommy the pony.

                     

By 1905 the number of patients had reached 164. Miss Gurney continued to have a special interest in the home and was in constant attendance until 1927. On Sunday evenings she invariably spoke to the people in the home on the beginnings of her work and they were constantly amazed by her enthusiasm. It was always her intention that the atmosphere of the home should be happy and whatever the rank of the patient, all were encouraged to join in the companionship, intoxicants were never allowed in the home.  

                      
              The original main entrance foyer of St Andrew's home.                            Stained glass window in the home.            

Many speeches were made over the years, one worthy of note contained in the Annual Report of 1908 - 09 included the following summary as described by an unnamed member of the Committee:

"A great deal is expected even of the youngest Constable. He should be a walking encyclopedia, be able to answer all questions, be a peacemaker between husband and wife, legal advisor to anyone in difficulty, find all lost children, find all lost dogs, stop runaway horses, be ready at any moment to face an armed burglar though himself unarmed, struggle with a madman, leap into the river to rescue a suicide and what is probably more difficult be perfectly calm and patient in the midst of insult and abuse. The general view of the public of the policeman's life and duties is that they are well paid, well clothed and stroll about. He is a sort of privileged person, hated by the crowd and feared by the evil doer. Few people think of the long hours during the night in fog and rain, the long daylight hours in the burning heat or the icy blast. The 14 days of night duty without a break, the continuous calls to extra duties caused by various agitators of our day have a strain on their health and few people recognise the strain on health".

Quite an oration - and one that could be brought up-to-date with but few alterations.

In the very early years a pony was used to draw a small cart (see photo above) in order to take patients for treatment to the Royal Baths, but when not required for this duty Miss Gurney made use of it for rides in the country. On one occasion, whilst returning from one of her outings, the pony stopped outside a public house in Otley Road for no apparent reason, and refused to go further, much to the surprise and amusement of Miss Gurney.

In 1914 it was suggested that the home should be offered as a hospital for the sick & wounded returning from the war, but it was felt that there was an equally pressing need for providing treatment for Police Officers. The Committee did decide, however, to provide fifteen beds free of charge, to be at the disposal of the War Office.

Various expenditure was incurred in the next few years, including a billiard room in 1924, provided at a cost of £1,409.6s.7d., and in 1926 the first car was purchased for the transport of patients (the cost of which was borne by the Leeds City and Liverpool Police). In 1928 the Home was visited by Her Royal Highness the Princess Mary, when she performed the official opening of a new wing at the Orphanage.
The Annual Report of 1928-29 notes that the "wireless" had made great strides and because of this the Durham Police provided the home with an "All Mains Pye Radio with a Celestial Speaker" - the absolute last word in perfect sound reproduction !

Some old photographs of St Andrew's facilities circa 1927

        
   St Andrew's Billiards Room                                                   St Andrew's Dining Room  

        
   St Andrew's Dormitory                                                       St Andrew's Study

       
  The children, stirring the Christmas pudding at St George's,       August, 1954. Sir Henry Studdy and Commander Willis, with
  watched by some of the St Andrew's patients.                        some of the patients, outside the front entrance of St Andrew's
                                                                                        Convalescent Home. The lady is PW Sergeant Gauden of
                                                                                        Durham County.

It was officially recorded that at the time of the death of Miss Gurney in 1930, a total of 12,644 patients had been admitted and treated at the home - surely a most creditable performance.
Both the convalescent home and the orphanage became increasingly busy and in particular, demands for the services of the convalescent home grew during and after the first and second world war. Many police officers were diverted from their duties to the war effort and either lost their lives (leaving children behind) or suffered injuries. Shortly before her death, Catherine Gurney was awarded the OBE in recognition of her efforts during the war years.

                            
                       Catherine Gurney's original headstone now relocated                Catherine Gurney's new headstone
                  to St Andrew's, Rose Garden.                                               located at her gravesite in All Saints
                                                                                                        Church, Harrogate. 

                         Superintendents and CEO's of The Police Treatment Centres.

                                                                              
                                                  The Police Treatment Centres. 2009 

                                     
                       St Andrew's, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.                       Castlebrae, Auchterarder, Perthshire.

                                               The Police Treatment Centre, Harrogate, 2011

                                                                                                      
                                                                                         St. George's Police Trust          

The St George's Police Trust, a charity registered in England, was founded in the 1950's with the proceeds derived from the sale and closure of St George's House, Northern Police Orphanage. The Trust is supported by voluntary donations from serving police officers primarily in the northern forces of England, Wales, Scotland and from the general public.

The Trust provides financial support to the children of police officers who have died or who have been incapacitated and therefore unable to earn a living.                        

Patron: the Patron of the Police Treatment Centres is HRH The Duke of York and the President is the Hon. Simon Howard of Castle Howard in York. The charity has a Board of Trustees providing strategic guidance, while the management of operations is overseen by the Chief Executive of the Police Treatment Centres, Michael Baxter, QPM.

                       
        Visit  www.thepolicetreatmentcentres.org  for information about the Police Treatment Centres.                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Deus vult

                                         Email contact: stgeorgesharrogate@gmail.com