Funding
The War Office paid for the buildings and some of the equipment, and paid an allowance of 3 shillings per day per occupied bed, but all the rest of the funds came from public subscriptions. The Bath Chronicle published lists of donations that, in one particular entry, ranged from £200 from Arthur Stanley Wills (a long time benefactor of the Royal United Hospital) to 6 shillings from ‘two workmen’. In a letter to the Chronicle on the 25th December 1915 W.E. Mallett, the Hon. Treasurer of the hospital, asked clergy of all denominations to hold services in aid of the hospital. All sorts of events, ranging from collections in the parks and fetes to performances at theatres, were staged to raise the necessary funds.
Red Cross Performance Ward No.5, Bath War Hospital
On the 8th April 1916 the Bath Chronicle reported that 250 of the 500 beds were ready for occupation, and that the previous Monday anyone who wished to pay a shilling had been invited to tour the hospital; over 1,100 people attended raising £57 & 2 shillings.