Kingston citizen's consider building a public hospital

In 1831, spurred by epidemics of malaria and cholera in the late 1820s and early 1830s, which saw the Female Benevolent Society run off its feet, a Kingston citizens’ meeting was held to “take into consideration the building of a public hospital.”

At the meeting, local politicians and well-placed citizens started a subscription list for those willing to donate funds and to petition the colonial government for a grant to establish a hospital. At this time, hospitals were institutions for those who could not afford to be cared for in their homes.