Surrey road names from Caterham's hospital history

Part of the old St Lawrence's Hospital, which closed in 1994, used to be on the site

New streets being built on a former hospital site in Surrey are to be named after patients and staff who were there over its long history.

The roads have been built as part of a development in Coulsdon Road, Caterham.

Part of the old St Lawrence's Hospital was once on the site. It used to be Caterham Asylum which opened in 1870.

Tandridge council wants to find descendants of key historical figures - including the asylum's first matron - to seek permission to use their names.

Councillor Martin Fisher, chairman of the resources committee, said the local authority wanted to keep local history alive.

Battle survivor

He said: "Naming the roads after some of the key people involved in the site means the area keeps a part of the history of the hospital, which was a fixture of Caterham for 124 years."

The council has identified eight people whose names could be used.

• Peter Sylvester, who was the final chairman and medical administrator of St Lawrence's Hospital, which closed in 1994.

• James Adam and George S Elliott were medical superintendents in the 1870s and 1880s.

• Samuel Gibson was one of the last survivors of the Battle of Waterloo and was later a patient at St Lawrence's.

• Doreen Firmin was the hospital's first woman physician superintendent,

• Barry Richards was editor of the medical journal Mental Deficiency Research and he worked at the hospital in the 1970s.

• Emma Mosely was the asylum's first matron in 1870.

• Diana Courtazzi was principal psychologist at St Lawrence's in the 1970s.

Anyone with information about them has been asked to contact the council's street naming and numbering officer.