The first meeting of the Hospital Saturday
Fund was held on 6 January 1873. John
Skirrow Wright was in the chair, Sampson
Gamgee became Honorary Secretary and
Robert McRae the paid assistant. Ambrose
Biggs, as Mayor, accepted the office of
President. Of the Committee that was
assembled at that first meeting, two members,
Councillor William Cook (later to become Sir
William Cook) and Lawley Parker (Gamgee's
brother-in-law) were destined to be for many
years not only a part of the Hospital Saturday
Fund but also extremely active in the public
life of Birmingham.
At that first meeting, Gamgee suggested that,
in addition to street collections, the workpeople
of Birmingham be invited to work overtime
on one Saturday afternoon in the year,
especially to donate their earnings to the
Hospital Saturday Fund for distribution to the
voluntary hospitals. Meetings were held in all
the large factories and the campaign was
received with great enthusiasm.
Saturday 15 March 1873 became the first
Hospital Saturday. The collection amounted
to £4,215 2s 5d. Expenses totalled £470 but a
prominent Birmingham citizen, G F Muntz,
gave a cheque for £500 which more than
covered the expenses, doing so "as a mark of
esteem for the noble effort and independent
spirit shown by the working men". This
meant that the whole of the £4,215 could be
distributed to the medical charities of
Birmingham. In an age when wages ranged
from 15s to 20s per week, this result was truly
remarkable and surpassed all expectations.
