Local History Notes: Q & R
01 Sep, 2021
The word “Queen” features in four places in the town, Queens Road, Queens Walk, Queens Hall and, of course, the Queen Victoria Hospital. The first name for Queens Road was Cemetery Road, which the residents living there, did not appreciate. They took advantage of the euphoria surrounding Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, to unofficially call it Queens Road. This name was eventually agreed to by the authorities, and it became official. Thirteen years later, in the month that the Queen died, January 1901, the, then, cottage hospital was moving into its new premises in Queens Road. The hospital board decided to include Queen Victoria into its name. During WWII, the “cottage” was dropped as it was felt that it was no longer appropriate for, what had become a centre of excellence in the whole country.