Hospital
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In 1751 a public subscription was raised to fund an Infirmary for Newcastle. The foundation stone was laid on 5 September 1751 on a site at Forth Banks given by Newcastle Coporation. As an interim measure until the hospital could be completed, a house was let in Gallowgate in May 1751 for the reception of patients. This contained 23 beds which soon had maximum occupancy and so rooms in adjoining houses had to be hired to meet the demand for admission. The Infirmary was ready for the reception of patients in October 1753. By 1896 it was generally agreed that the Infirmary was too overcrowded and instead of extending the building at Forth Banks, it was decided to build a new hospital on the Leazes to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Money for this was raised again by public subscription. John Hall, who died in June 1899, bequeathed £100,000 on the understanding that the public subscription should raise another £100,000 which it soon did. Designs by Messrs WL Newcomb and Percy Adams were accepted and a contract for building the hospital for a sum of £203,527 was entered into. In 1901 Mr Watson Armstrong and his wife donated a further £100,000 in memory of Lord Armstrong. The foundation stone was laid by the Prince of Wales on 20 June 1900 and he, as King Edward VII, also opened the Royal Victoria Infirmary on 11 July 1906.