St Joseph’s Hospital

After the First Word War, Arthur Wardlaw Ramsay was unable to maintain Whitehill. He was not a fit man, and could not work. Furthermore, the electricity supply for the village passed through the house, which meant he was paying for everyone’s usage. Agricultural rents were negligible and he couldn’t even afford the trip to his club in Edinburgh.

He sold the land and farms to the Lothian Coal Company in 1921, and moved to Somerset with his family.

For its part, the house had been used as a Red Cross hospital during the War. In 1924, it was sold to the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul, to run as a hospital. When four sisters arrived to take it on, there was no electricity (it had been cut off), no gas and only fireplaces for heating. The house’s finest hour had arrived, as it was gradually transformed into a wonderful hospital and orphanage, notably for thalidomide babies.  The hospital was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1982. In his address, the Pope referred to the Gaelic phrase, corramaich fo chùram Dhè, which speaks of the handicapped as living under God’s protection – “God’s handicapped”. The nuns moved out in 1999, but their mission lives on in Rosewell. This modest eatablishment continues to provide a much needed service.