On the 8th of July, 1872, the Prince of Wales, as President of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, formally opened a new Convalescent Home, in connection with that Hospital. This was an institution much needed at the time, and its advantages had long been urged on the Governors by Mr. Foster White, the Treasurer. At several existing Homes, such as at Walton-on-Thames, and Bognor, patients from St. Bartholomew's had been received, but it was desirable to have an establishment of its own, and conducted by its own officers. The carrying out of this scheme would require large expenditure, and a suitable building could not be provided for a considerable time. A temporary home was obtained at Highgate, through the generous munificence of Sir Sydney Waterlow, one of the Governors of the Hospital. He presented as a free gift the lease, for several years, of Lauderdale House, a mansion with many historical associations, somewhat old, but with every convenience for use as a temporary home for convalescent patients, and so it continued for thirteen years. On the 13th of July, 1885, the Prince, accompanied by the Princess of Wales, and the Princesses Louise, Victoria, and Maude, visited Swanley, in Kent, to open the permanent Home, erected through the generosity of Mr. Charles T. Kettlewell, one of the Governors of the Hospital. It is a spacious building, with accommodation for forty-five male and twenty-five female patients, standing in the middle of beautiful grounds, comprising an area of fifteen acres. Their Royal Highnesses having taken their places on the daïs at the end of a tent, Sir Sydney Waterlow, who had for several years given the use of Lauderdale House at Highgate, read an address, which gave a summary of the facts relating to the new institution. Besides the gift of £15,000 by Mr. Kettlewell for the building, an anonymous donor, a governor of the Hospital, contributed £500 for the site; Mr. Homan, another governor, and Mrs. Homan had built a chapel and provided its furniture and communion plate; and Sir James Tyler had given an organ to the chapel, and built the lodge at the entrance of the grounds. Sir Sydney having finished his address, the Prince of Wales said:--