The following is a quotation of a quotation from a book published by Fraser in 1908 for the Royal United Services Institute.
The contemporary account is from the 1830s, during the time when Sir Thomas Hardy was the Governor of Greenwich Hospital:
"The scale upon which things are conduded here may be judged of vaguely when we state that the number of pensioners who can be accommodated at all times (though there are generally some vacancies) is 2710. It is nearly dinner-time. Behold, what a general outpouring from all quarters of the compass of men in blue great-coats, some with cocked hats, some with caps, men of all sizes and outlies, including some who almost assume the appearance of four-footed animals, from their bending so low. They are carrying in their hands all sorts of utensils, tin cans, jugs, basins, knives and forks, and spoons. We follow one of the streams into one of the dining halls. It is laid out with parallel rows of long benches, each bench containing four messes, placed. at equal and respectful distances from each other. Note now a bit of the exquisite management that prevails here. Each mess is for four men. How shall it be divided without quarrels or jealousies? The four men take the business of division in turns, and he who divides to-day takes the last of the four shares; In other words, his three companions help themselves first and leave him the fourth share. Could any human invention secure more perfectly than this an absolute desire on the part of the divider for the most perfect possible division? Though the pensioners must all come and sit down here to receive their messes, they are allowed, when they please, to take their food away to their Own little cabins, hence the various arrays of jugs, &c., of which we have spoken. Another good rule is in operation here. Should any of the single men not come for their mess, it is handed over to the married men, to be divided among them ; and so, indirectly, there is a slight aid afforded to the families of the latter. The food consists of half a pound of bread and a pint of cocoa for breakfast; three-quarters of a pound of meat, half a pound of vegetables, and a pint of soup for dinner; and half a pound of bread, half an ounce of butter, and a pint of tea for their last meal. Three pints of table ale are also allowed daily. The provisions are all of the very best quality.
In the wards the old seamen's chief amusement seems to be playing at shopping, for the glass windows of their little cabins are in many instances filled with small prints, looking exactly as though they were for sale. Of course there are no sergeants and corporals here, but boatswains and boatswains' mates. Some of us may have noticed a curious diamond-shaped design on the clothing of Greenwich pensioners, containing in each of the four quarters of which it is composed a number or some initial letters. Thus one part refers to the quadrangle, another to the ward, a third to the cabin of the pensioner in question; we forget the object of the fourth,but it helps in the same way to identify each man, by means of his clothing, and his particular domicile from among the 2710 domiciles around it. In case of accidents, for instance, this arrangement proves extremely convenient. And accidents are to be expected frequently among a community of such a size and constitution, and where a man dies on the average daily.
The most infirm of the pensioners are collected together in a building called popularly by the only too expressive name - the' New Helpless'! Here the poor fellows have extra attention paid to them. They can smoke and eat and join in social worship together, without ever quitting their homes, and when there is bright sunshine, they can go forth and bask on the benches in front of their little buildings, and make the most of it before the great luminary sets to their eyes for the last time. The infirmary is, of course, on a comprehensive scale. Besides a considerable staff of medical officers and assistants (the last coming here as a preparatory step to their obtaining Government appointments to ships), no less than ninety out-pensioners are employed as men-nurses to wait on the sick and infirm. All the other arrangements of the Hospital are equally large. It has, for instance, its own brewery and bakery for material wants, and a library for mental comfort.
"The duties of the pensioners are very light, and are confined, we believe, to each man's mounting guard once a fortnight, and for that only the ablebodied men are called upon. Leave of absence is readily granted when a pensioner wishes to go out of the Hospital whether it be for a day or more, even, on occasions of necessity, up to three months."