With his two brothers, William (who became a member in 1891) and Arthur, Frank Linsly James roamed the world in Lancashire Witch, but met a tragic end while hunting in 1890.
With a party of friends he had taken his yacht out to the west coast of Africa where he eventually anchored in the Gulf of Guinea. On 21 April he went ashore with four of his guests to celebrate his birthday with an elephant hunt. They shot and wounded a large bull but, on tracking it down, the animal turned on them and charged. James was mortally wounded by one of its tusks and died later that day.
His two brothers built a refuge for yacht hands at Cowes as a memorial to him. It later became a cottage hospital for the local community.
The Frank James Hospital is a closed hospital in East Cowes. It was built in a Dutch Style in 1893, originally as a Home for Retired Seamen, before becoming a hospital in 1903. The wind vane on top of the hospital is a model of the Lancashire Witch.
It has a central block with two projecting wings, with a verandah to the ground floor on all sides, and built of red brick with tiled roof. It is a Grade II listed building.
The hospital was sold by the NHS Trust in 2002, and since then has had ownership issues which has led to vandalism and despair. The building is currently on the endangered buildings list for the United Kingdom.
During March 2012, an action group was formed called "Friends of The Frank James" to save and preserve the Frank James Hospital for future generations. They have had support from the Isle of Wight MP. The group plans to push for action to be sorted before the building is lost forever.
