ABSTRACT
Raising the profile of the Charity, as well as increasing the ‘index of awareness’ to a far wider circle of individuals was under constant review. The 1829 and 1830 reports had highlighted also, presumably for fund-raising purposes, the fact that ‘numerous accidents’ occurred on the River and the victims were ‘immediately taken on board the Grampus’. A clause had been inserted in the Merchant Seamen’s Fund Act, allowing the Seamen’s Hospital Society 5 per cent on any money collected from ships belonging to the Port of London. The tenuous financial position of the Society in the early days of the Charity was summarised in the 1861 Annual Report: The constant aim of the successive Committees of this Institution has been to invest, all the Legacies that may be received during their term in office, in order to create therewith a fund for the permanent endowment of the Hospital.
