Cot plaque from the Great Ormond Street Hospital

Metal plaque once attached to a cot at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, London, England, marking the sponsorship of the cot by the ‘Lady's Pictorial Children's Diamond Guild’ from 1904.

This plaque is from a cot sponsored by ‘The Lady’s Pictorial Children’s Diamond Guild’ that was once in the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. Sponsoring beds was a common practice at Great Ormond and this plaque records the generosity of The Lady’s Pictorial magazine, which ran from 1881 to 1921.

The Hospital was opened in 1852 and was a voluntary hospital that relied entirely on donations and charity. Women who bought the magazine were of a social class who had spare time to donate to charitable causes, such as the magazine’s Children’s Diamond Guild, as for the most part they were not expected or allowed to work. It is shown here with two other cot plaques (1986-1444 and 1986-1446).