Old soldiers' home Old soldiers' home An old soldiers' home is a military veteran's retirement home, nursing home, or hospital, or sometimes even an institution for the care of the widows and orphans of a nation's soldiers, sailors, and marines, etc. In the United Kingdom the Royal Hospital Chelsea was established by King Charles II in 1682 as a retreat for veterans. The provision of a hostel rather than the payment of pensions was inspired by Les Invalides in Paris. The Royal Hospital Chelsea, often called simply Chelsea Hospital, is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British
British Hospital for Mothers and Babies British Hospital for Mothers and Babies The British Hospital for Mothers and Babies (1905–1984) was a maternity hospital in south London. The Home for Mothers and Babies and Training School for District Midwives opened in May 1905, with the stated objectives of professionalising midwifery. The people behind it were Charles Escreet, an Anglican priest; Alice Gregory, midwife; Leila Parnell and Maud Cashmere. Its first location was in Wood Street, Woolwich, London. The facility opened with six beds but soon expanded to twelve, and in 1915 amalgamated with the British Lying-In Hospital, Holborn, central London. ("Lying-in" is a term for childbirth,