The Generous Gidlows

by Nicola Gray

From The 7th Earl of Balcarres to Margaret Park to GH Bankes to Martin Ainscough, Wigan has been blessed with its fair share of philanthropists over the years. Pre-empting that worthy quartet though were two sisters, born over 200 years ago, whose philanthropy made, and continues to make, a huge difference in improving the health of Wigan people. Margaret Eleanor and Amelia Gidlow were born at Derbyshire House, Amberswood, Ince. Their father, William, was descended from Robert Gidlow of Gidlow Hall in Aspull. It seems there was always wealth within the family, but William also owned several collieries in the town, including a three-storey cotton mill, he also invested extensively in railway shares. As a family they were understandably wealthy, the sisters lived a life of education and refinery befitting of the era. On his death in January 1851, William passed down his portfolio of railway shares to the sisters, inevitably securing them for life. The shares provided large sums of annual income and gave Margaret and Amelia the opportunity to donate to charitable institutions. They later moved to Arley Hall, known today as the home of Wigan Golf Club, with their brother William in 1856. The focus, it seems, for Margaret and Amelia was always their hometown. They ploughed money into various institutions and services to better the lives of those who lived around them.

Wigan Infirmary - 1873

Their first recorded charitable act came in February 1856, when the sisters gave a £10,000 loan to Wigan Council for the improvement of the water and sewerage works in the town. And later in February 1860 gifted more than £6,000 to the building work and redecoration of Christ Church on Ince Green Lane, with Margaret laying the foundation stone herself on Easter Monday. Margaret and Amelia eventually moved out of the Wigan area and the 1861 census shows them living together at an address in Newton Abbot in Devon. Wigan evidently meant a lot to the sisters, and the church opened in 1864 with a full house listening to the sermon of Rev Canon Fergie. Other gifts to the church included a silver communion plate, further funds to renovate the vicarage and contributions to an Easter fund for the curates and assistants.

Their biggest and most influential donations amounted to more than £43,000 given to Wigan Infirmary, worth several million pounds in today’s money. Access to medical care isn’t something that we think too much about, if we need help, we can walk into a hospital or be straight on the phone to our doctor. This hasn’t always been the case and life had the potential to be very grim, especially if you were poor and sick. When all this is considered, the sisters concern for the health and welfare of the people of Wigan must have impacted many lives for the better. Margaret and Amelia made regular donations to The Wigan Dispensary, the predecessor to the Infirmary, on King Street. It was a place where the poor could get free medicines but only if they were referred there by a priest or other official person. There had been talk of opening a hospital in Wigan as far back as the 1830’s and finally in 1866 after substantial backing by Margaret and Amelia things started to happen. The idea gained momentum and a committee was formed, chaired by Wigan MP John Lancaster, alongside millowner and Conservative Party politician, Nathaniel Eckersley. During one of the initial meetings a letter from the sisters was read aloud, in that letter they had pledged an initial donation of £1,000, further donations from various individuals amounted to £15,000, half of the projected total cost of building the hospital. The letter and promise of funds kickstarted the initiative and Margaret and Amelia turned out to be the main facilitators in the building of the Infirmary. Plans were put into place; the foundation stone was laid by the Earl of Crawford in 1870 and the hospital was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1873.

There were many more additions to the hospital over the years, including a children’s ward in 1877 and the hospital also retained the name of The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and Dispensary until the creation of the NHS in 1948, when dispensary was dropped. Little is known about the movements of the sisters during the following years; Margaret died on 20th December 1877, aged 64 at her home in Eastbourne. Margaret was brought home to Wigan in a saloon, she was then taken by horse-drawn hearse to Ince Cemetery, where her coffin was interred into a vault belonging to the sisters. Amelia, who was living in Southport at the time, was named as sole executor of her estate. Obviously not one to rest on her laurels, Amelia went on to help add more facilities to the Infirmary in the shape of the Gidlow Wing extension in memory of Margaret. In July 1883, Amelia was identified as the anonymous donor of £6,000 that had been pledged to help build the extension. The extension was officially opened on the

20th August 1885, marked by an opening ceremony and a garden party in the grounds of the hospital. Lord Crawford presented Amelia with a silver key inscribed with the date of the opening, telling her that this day, “would be long remembered, not only in the history of the Royal Infirmary but in the history of Wigan. The new building would be a most useful addition and would add very much to the comfort of the patients and the nurses.” Newspaper reports of the day mention that Amelia accepted the address and gracefully bowed her head before replying, “It is with great pleasure that I give the Gidlow Wing as an addition to the main institution, and I hope that all sufferers who are brought here will always find relief, comfort and kindness within these walls.”

A large marquee was erected on one of the lawns and guests enjoyed music from The Lancashire Hussars and The Old Borough Band. Tours were given of the new wing and other wards within the Infirmary, later that evening the public were given tickets to be able to go in and view it for themselves.

In the years to come Amelia, again at her own cost, would renovate and refurbish the Gidlow Wing, with the local press reporting that she, “beautified, the whole of the fabric, externally and internally giving great evidence of a generous and sympathetic interest in the great institution.”

On 29th July 1893 Amelia died at her home, Ince House in Milverton, near Leamington at the age of 70. As her last act of compassion, she left in her will, £3,000 to Ince Parish Church and all her shares in the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway companies to the Infirmary, amounting to £32,135. Amelia was laid to rest in the same vault as her sister Margaret. Wigan Infirmary donation board

Wigan Local History & Heritage Society

Due to the enduring kindness of the sisters, there were various tributes bestowed upon them in the places that they donated to. The Wigan Local History and Heritage Society have been trying to locate these historical pieces. The Infirmary In gratitude to Margaret and Amelia, a stained-glass window was commissioned, and installed at the eastern end of the inner corridor of the Gidlow Wing. The window was accompanied by an inscription in memory of Margaret from Amelia. In addition, oil paintings of the sisters were acquired by the hospital board and hung in the Infirmary board room. Peter Fleetwood, from the Heritage Society, told Local Life, “Initial enquires with Wigan, Wrightington & Leigh NHS to locate the above proved fruitless and the current map of the Infirmary shows no reference to the name of Gidlow. “Over the past few months, we have been in contact with Infirmary officials to somehow get the airbrushed Gidlow name back into the Infirmary. And we are delighted that the Gidlow name has been resurrected by the naming of the Gidlow Lounge. “We would also appreciate any help from the public in locating the missing paintings and the stained-glass window.” Ince Church In 1888, Margaret’s servant, William Clayton donated a bell to Ince Church while Amelia paid for the renovations of the church and the vicarage, two brass plaques commemorate the date.

In January 1892, a beautiful stained-glass window was installed at Ince Church, portraying ‘The Two Sisters of Bethany’. Canon Fergie commissioned the window, paid for by the church in recognition of the sisters and their “substantial aid to the churches and schools in the village”.

Christ Church Stained Glass Window

Brass plaques Christ Church

For more details about the Local History & Heritage Society or to help with their enquiries please go online at www.wiganlocalhistory.org/ With thanks to Wigan Archives and Wigan Local History & Heritage Society

Windows | | | |

T: 01772 601200T: 01772 601200

E: info@select-windows.com W: www.select-windows.com Towngate Works, Dark Lane, Mawdesley L40 2QU E: info@select-windows.com W: www.select-windows.com Towngate Works, Dark Lane, Mawdesley L40 2QU