Early history , subsequently the
Eastman Dental Hospital|upright=0.8 What became the Royal Free Hospital was founded in 1828 by the surgeon
William Marsden to provide free care to those of little means. It is said that one evening, Marsden found a young girl lying on the steps of
St. Andrew Church, Holborn, dying from disease and hunger and sought help for her from one of the nearby hospitals. However, none would take the girl in and she died two days later. After this experience Marsden set up a small dispensary at 16 Greville Street,
Holborn, called the London General Institution for the Gratuitous Care of Malignant Diseases. The hospital became the London Free Hospital in 1833, and the Free Hospital in 1835. and had cared for many victims. The north wing of the former barracks, which was rebuilt and renamed the Sussex Wing after
Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, a benefactor of the hospital, re-opened in 1856 and the south wing, which was rebuilt and renamed the Victoria Wing after Queen Victoria, re-opened in 1879. The outbreak was later found to have been a notable case in the UK of
myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and resulted in the coining of the disease's name.
Move to Hampstead By the late 1960s the site on Gray's Inn Road had become too cramped, and a modern 12-storey cruciform tower block was built in
Pond Street,
Hampstead on the site of the former
Hampstead General Hospital founded by
William Heath Strange. It opened in 1974, and was officially opened by
the Queen in 1978 on the Royal Free's 150th anniversary.
Education For a long time, the Royal Free was the only London hospital allowing women to study medicine, forming an association with the
London School of Medicine for Women, under which women from the school completed their clinical studies at the hospital, from 1877. Under the Deanship of
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, one of the school's founders, it became part of the
University of London and in 1896 became known as the London Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine for Women. In 1998 it merged with the
University College Hospital's medical school to form the Royal Free and University College Medical School, renamed the
UCL Medical School in 2008. == Controversies ==