Medical dates:

Medical character:

In 1915 Lady Inchcape opened a Hospital for Officers in her home at Seamore Place.  It had 10 beds and was affiliated to Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital in Millbank.

Early in 1917 one of the patients, Captain Dennis Wyndham, a South African suffering from the effects of gas poisoning and shell shock, was nursed by the Inchcape's daughter, Lady Elsie Mackay.  The pair fell in love but, because of the Captain's involvement with the stage in civilian life, Lord Inchcape objected to their marriage.  Despite this, they secretly became engaged and decided to elope to Gretna Green.  In the event, they were married in St Aloysius Church, Glasgow, in May 1917, with the verger and an old lady who had come in to pray as their witnesses.  (After the war Elsie became an actress with the stage name of Poppy Wyndham.  However, because they had not been resident in Scotland for the required 15 days, the marriage was annulled in 1922.  Elsie returned to the parental home and became an interior designer.)

The Hospital closed at the end of 1917.


Present status (July 2010)

Seamore Place was a row of old-fashioned mansions occupying a cul-de-sac at the western end of Curzon Street.  The buildings have been demolished and their site is now occupied by Curzon Square.