1828 - Greville St, Hatton Garden, London, founded by William Marsden, originally called the "London General Institution for the Gratuitous Cure of Malignant Diseases." Initially just a dispensary, with no in-patient beds; 1832 - only London hospital to treat victims of the cholera epidemic. 1832/3 - name changed to the London Free Hospital. 1837 - given royal title; for many years the only hospital to give medical training to women; 1844 - moved to larger premises in Grays' Inn Road.

Founded to give care to those who could not afford it; close association with the London School of Medicine for Women, later renamed the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine; 1970s - Royal Free moved to Hampstead, bringing together the old Royal Free Hospital in Gray's Inn Road with the Lawn Road, New End and Hampstead General hospitals. April 1991 - Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust established under the NHS and Community Care Act 1990.