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Chambray Hospital and the Cemetery
 

The Hospital

Chambray Hospital served the Gozo barracks. After the Maltese Islands fell under British dominion, the Chambray Fort built in 1749 was taken over by the British garrison. By 1830, the barracks also incorporated a small hospital of four wards capable of accommodating 20 men with a kitchen, surgery, etc. Dr. John Hennen, the Inspector of Military Hospitals made a visit and recorded : “The barracks are contained in one building three storeys high. The whole forms an establishment in which 250 men can be well accommodated. Within the walls of the Fort is a very comfortable and compact little hospital of four wards capable of accommodating 20 men extremely well, with kitchen, surgery, etc. but it has very rarely more than two or three inhabitants.” It rarely however was occupied with more than two or three individuals.

Fort Chambray Hospital played a major role during the Crimean War when it was adapted for the admission of Crimean wounded and invalid soldiers. The modifications included the setting up of 30 very large wooden huts capable of accommodating 50 men each. There were a number of bathrooms and two mortuaries. The supplied equipment was of a superior quality. The staff was augmented to include a superintendent, officer-in-charge of supplies, a pharmacist and dispenser, four surgeons and 16 assistant surgeons. With the end of the war in 1856, it resumed normal duties, and over the course of the next twenty five years it was used by Maltese civilians as well as British soldiers and sailors, when various fever epidemics occurred throughout the islands.

Intense activity resumed in 1882, when it was fitted out a base hospital for the anticipated casualties from the conflict in Egypt. A detachment comprising of one Officer and 50 men of the Durham Light Infantry, together with Brigade Surgeon Tippetts, Surgeon Major Fitzgerald, Surgeons Freeman, Truman and Bevis arrived together with Army Hospital Corps staff. They were joined by five nursing sisters under the supervision of Sister J. King. Everything was ready when the wounded men started to arrive, especially after the battles of Kassassin and Tel-el-Kebir.   During this conflict, the hospital proper consisted of a large building previously used as a barracks accommodating 150-200 patients. Various illustrations and a description of the Fort Hospital during this period were given in the Illustrated London News.

The Fort again featured in the Military Medical History of Malta during the First World War since it served as an excellent Convalescent Depot, thus relieving the crowded camps in Malta. During October 1915 to March 1916, no less than 1579 men recovering from illness or injuries passed through the fort and were returned to active services. Casualties from the Gallipoli landings and Salonika Expedition were brought here in large numbers. October and November 1915 recorded an average of 2,000 men per week from Gallipoli,  and during one week, from the 2nd to 9th December a record 6,341 wounded from Salonika arrived. Thankfully the numbers fell quickly, so much so that by the end of March 1916 the convalescent depot was closed down.

The medical staff at the time issued a record of their experiences in a journal entitled "The Fort Chambray Gazette". The military later gave up Fort Chambray and the fort closed down as a Convalescent Depot in March 1916. In 1934 it was used as a mental hospital for Gozo, a function retained until 1983. This accommodated up to 200 chronic patients. The old married quarters at Fort Chambray, which stood at some distance from the Mental disease block were adapted and the necessary repairs and renovations carried out. This section of the fort named Sacred Heart Hospital was (1937-1956) used as a leprosarium with 15 Gozitan patients being transferred from Malta on the 9th December 1937.

The Cemetery

There were three cemeteries associated with Fort Chambray, all starting from around 1800. A Protestant burial ground within the Fort itself near the doctor’s quarters, and two in the ditches outside - one for Roman Catholics on the left and one for Protestants on the right of the main entrance.

Unfortunately the Garrison Cemetery which was dedicated for the troops who maintained and guarded Fort Chambray during the British colony was ruthlessly demolished in the mid-1980s to make way for a tourist complex. Although this complex was never developed as originally planned, the reckless desecration and permanent damage was already done. The garrison cemetery was full of impressive monuments, including free-standing sarcophagi in neo-classical style so flavoured by the British. These memorials of the colonial period commemorate important personalities like John David who came to our shores with the British blockading force in 1799 and then spend the rest of his life in Gozo where he was held in high esteem.

 
The Garrison Cemetery which has now disappeared
and totally demolished to make way for a tourist complex
Photo courtesy of Joseph M. Falzon

The cemetery was cleared of graves and human remains on 1st July 1991. The Times of Malta, 18th January 1993, printed a letter from the Managing Director of Fort Chambray Ltd., regarding the cemetery.

Sadly many tombstones with their sorrowful epitaphs commemorated the death of soldiers and their families whose young lives were terminated by disease in a remote corner of the British empire.  From the artistic point of view, the decorative elements and carvings in the tombstones revealed the delicate skills of Gozitan craftsmen, particularly Vincenzo Chircop of Ghajnsielem. The different tomb stones have now been set aside for permanent retention and are now lying in a secluded part of the Fort for future identification and a more permanent location. A pet-cemetery which lies within the the fort's ditch has been planned to be protected.

The unwarranted destruction of the Chambray cemetery was another serious loss to the heritage of our islands - and act of cultural vandalism unnecessarily perpetrated.

The tomb of John David, the highly esteemed personage in the early British period
who died on the 9th October 1849, aged 67 years
Photo courtesy of Joseph M. Falzon

Names on some of the Chambray Tomb Stones

The names which follow have been collected from several sources, each yielding one or just a few names. One of the names is that of John David who came to our shores with the British blockading force in 1799 and then spend the rest of his life in Gozo where he was held in high esteem. At the present time, no records or books have been found which give anything like a comprehensive list. Many of the surviving stones are badly worn therefore errors in deciphering the letters and figures may have occurred.

Died November….., Ann ASHBROOK, wife of Gunner George Ashbrook, RoyalArtillery

Died 20th November 1850, W.T. BAILEY, aged one year, son of Bombardier Bailey, Royal Artillery

Died 13th July 1856, ……..….. BALL, aged 27 years, Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died 21st October 1856, Josiah BARKER, aged 24 years, Sergeant, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment, of cholera

Died……………..., No.2258, Private David BARTON

Died 13th August 1852, Charles Andrews BAYLEY, aged 70 years,

Lieut-Colonel commanding troops on the island of Gozo

Died….. 1883, William James BLACK, Colour Sergeant, 54th Regiment

Died September 1882, T. BOND, Private, Army Hospital Corps

Died 20th December 1898, No.4756, John BRADSHAW, aged 24 years 11months, Private, D Company, 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers

Died 1st March 1850, George CLARKE MD, aged 70 years

Died 20th March 1892, Frank CLAYDON, aged 23 years, Private, Pompadours

Died 30th June 1896, Walter COLL, aged 24 years, Private, 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment

Died 27th September 1897, No.8322, Arthur DAINES, aged 22 years, Private

Died 9th October 1849, John DAVID, aged 67 years, Deputy Assistant Commissary General, Purveyor to the Government Charitable Institutions in Gozo

Died 189*, Gwendolyn Grane DAVIDSON, daughter of Captain T.S.C.

Davidson, Leinster Regiment. Born May 18**

Died 6th November 1856, Anna Maria DEACON, aged 10 months, daughter of

Sarah and Sergeant-Major Deacon, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died……………. Henry EASTWOOD, ………..….

Died 20th April 1851, Edmund FRANCIS, Royal Artillery. Stationed at Fort

Chambray, he went bathing and had a heart attack from which he never recovered. Buried by Lieut-Colonel Bayley, due to the absence of a Clergyman

Died 17th July 1856, Jas. GARRARD, aged 25 years, Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died 28th July 18**, Ann GRIFFITT, wife of John Griffitt, aged 67 years

Died…………..., James HUNT, Gunner, 2nd Battalion, Royal Artillery

Died 10th September 1898, Kate KNEE, aged 28 years, wife of Sergeant W. Knee, 2nd Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment

Died 30th July 1895, E.C. LAWN, aged 21 years 3 months, Private, Company, 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment

Died 3rd August 1856, Jas. LEAN, aged 23 years, Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died 30th August 1856, H.E. LOYDE, aged 23 years. Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died 21st July 1856, William MANN, aged 24 years, Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died 30th August 1841, George MILLAR, aged 15 years

Died 10th April 1888, Eugen NARR, aged 42 years. (Inscription is written in German)

Died 22nd July 1856, Edward OWENS, aged 24 years, Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died September 1882, J. PARR, Private, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry 

Died 14th August 1856, Samuel ROBINSON, aged 23 years, Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died 15th November 1849, William SAXTON, aged 24 years, Bombardier, Captain Tylee's Company, 3rd Batt., Royal Artillery.

Died 15th January 1886, James SCOTT, aged 24 years 3 months, Corporal,1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders  

Died 13th January 1857, Jos. SELFIELD, aged 21 years, Private, 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment

Died 7th May 1895, Emma Mary SHORT, aged 25 years, the wife of Corporal Michael J. Short, 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment

Died 3rd December 1870, Jane SMITH, aged 1 year * months, the daughter of W. Smith, Royal Artillery

Died 15th September 1893, Louisa Jane Merdon TREAYS, aged 31 years, the wife of Edward Treays, of H.M. Dockyard, Malta

Died 24th September 18**, Thomas WILLIAMS, aged 25 years, Private, 2nd Battalion, King’s Own Light Infantr