By Kathy Taylor
The Sir Henry Tate (in Memoriam) Nurses’ Home is situated at Silvertown (East). It is the gift of Lady Tate to the district, being one of the many public gifts which she has recently made.
The building, which has just been completed from the design of Mr Sidney R. J. Smith, F.R.I.B.A., gives accomodation for five nurses, who visit the poorer parts of Silvertown. A special feature of the home is that, besides the main and kitchen entrances, there is also provided a seperate entrance to the changing and district room, to which adjoins the linen-room. The district room is fitted with special fittings, such as medicine cupboard, sink, with hot and cold draw-off, sheet rack and scrubbing-table. The changing-room has a locker for each nurse, and stands for bicycles. There are also sitting and dining-rooms, with kitchen, scullery, larder, &c., on the ground floor, and five bedrooms, with bath bath, store, and box-rooms on the first floor. The building is is faced with red-brick and Bradford stone. The builder was Mr. W. J. Maddison of Canning Town. The garden has been laid out and planted with trees. Close by is the Tate Institute, which is used by the employees of the sugar-refining company.  From: The Building News, 16th June, 1905.
The Sir Henry Tate Memorial Investment was founded in 1902 by his widow, who gave £3,330 stock to pay the salary of a nurse employed by the Silvertown and North Woolwich district nursing association. In the 1910 directory it is listed as Silvertown and North Woolwich Nursing Association (Lady Tate, President; Miss Edith Redmile, Matron), Saville Road. The 1949 Kelly’s Directory shows it as Silvertown & North Woolwich District Nursing Association.
The Association was dissolved in 1955, and a scheme of 1958 provided that the charity should be applied to the sick poor of Silvertown and North Woolwich by trustees appointed by the boroughs of East Ham, West Ham and Woolwich. In 1966 £73 was spent on gifts in kind to 20 persons. The building still exists but has been extended and modernised, it is now used as a dental surgery.
From the private collection of Kathy Taylor