The Westminster Hospital Medical School began in 1834 and, by 1837, each surgeon was allowed three 'cubs', as the students were known. Formal development for training and provision of a building in Dean Street were made in 1841. After financial difficulties in 1847-1848, the School was re-launched in 1849 and a museum of anatomy established.
The lecturers effectively subsidised the students as they financed the School by paying into the School fund an amount equal to the value of their Chair. A purpose built School behind the hospital was opened in 1852, but as the School expanded, a new building was required and opened in Caxton Street in 1885.
The School's 19th Century famous alumni include John Snow, anesthetist and epidemiologist who administered chloroform to Queen Victoria during childbirth in 1853 and 1857. He identified the source of the 1854 Golden Square outbreak of cholera as being the water supply in Broad Street. The water pumps were shut down and the epidemic subsided.
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