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“. here is an Asylum open . .” Constructing a Culture of Government Care in Australia 1801 – 2014 Ann Varelle Hardy, B Social Work (Charles Sturt), Grad Dip Applied Heritage Studies (Curtin) Doctor of Philosophy University of Newcastle February 2014 1 This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I hereby certify that the work embodied in this thesis is the result of original research, the greater part of which was completed subsequent to admission to candidature for the degree. (Signed):…………………………………………. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank all the people who helped me during my candidature; to my Supervisor Dr Nancy Cushing for her kind support and guidance, and for sharing her remarkable knowledge with me; to my second Supervisor Prof Hilary Carey; to University of Newcastle’s Archivist, Chair of Coal River Working Party, friend and colleague Gionni di Gravio for his unwavering enthusiasm, encouragement and inspiration; former Supervisor Prof Erik Eklund for supporting me gain entry to research higher degree studies; to Russell Rigby my colleague for his assistance in producing overlays from historic maps and other interpretation material; to Douglas Lithgow, Newcastle’s heritage warrior who has been my mentor and supporter, providing local knowledge about the region’s history and passing on valuable information about government legislation. Also much thanks and appreciation to Jane Ison, local historian who kindly sharedher knowedge and insights of ‘her girls’ who were at the Newcastle Industrial Girls’ School and Reformatory. Thanks to Charles Martin for his creative and effective digital interpretations of early Newcastle. Also thanks to Carol Duncan and ABC1233 Newcastle for their support of regional history. I would like to thank colleagues at the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party, and other history and heritage colleagues, Sarah Cameron, Prof Howard Dick, Margaret Henry and Keith Parsons; and most importantly I would like to thank my family who have supported me throughout my candidature; to my wonderful husband Steven for his understanding and warmth in supporting me during my studies and participation in many heritage campaigns; my sons Beaumont and Charles, stepson Alexander and stepdaughter Catherine, all great kids who mean the world to me; to my parents Varelle and Warren who have given me one of the best gifts of all, a love of history and art, something that has taken me on this wonderful journey. Editorial Notes This thesis has been written and formatted to meet the requirements of the History Discipline in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Newcastle. The Discipline requires candidates to use the ‘Chicago’ bibliographic conventions as outlined by Kate L Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 6th edition, 1996). The ‘Chicago’ style does not use ibid., op.cit. and similar notations. For non-bibliographical conventions such as capitalisation and hyphenation, the thesis has been guided by the Commonwealth of Australia’s Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers (Canberra: John Wiley & Sons, 6th edition, 2002). Name of Professional Editor Michael Darley 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 3 Editorial Notes 3 Synopsis 5 PART ONE Government ‘Works’ at the Newcastle Government Domain 1804 to 1871 Chapter 1. Introduction 6 Chapter 2. Government Care and Convict Culture 1801 to 1841 24 Chapter 3. Military Barracks and Public Service 1841 to 1867 60 Chapter 4. Care of Girls “...the little volcano slumbered” 1867 to 1871 81 PART TWO Australian Government Asylum Culture 1871 to 1900 Chapter 5. A ‘Moral’ Culture of Asylum Care at the Newcastle Government Domain 111 Chapter 6. ‘Picturing’ the asylum 130 Chapter 7. Visitors to the asylum 144 Chapter 8. Frontier Reality: A Government Asylum for Imbecile and Idiots 158 PART THREE Cultural Heritage and Australian Government Historic Places Chapter 9. Newcastle Government Domain a ‘Government Heritage Place’ 193 Chapter 10. Afterword – Caring for Country 234 Appendices 237 1. Nationality of those admitted to the Newcastle Asylum for Imbecile and Idiots 1871-1890 2. Chronology of establishment of Australian Lunatic Asylums, location and current status Bibliography 239 4 Synopsis This thesis explores the history and heritage of the Newcastle Government Domain from its origins in the first European settlement at Newcastle in 1801 to its uncertain present as a largely vacated site of mental health care. The Domain is a significant holding of land at the centre of a growing urban area which has remained unalienated from the imperial, colonial and now state government because it has been seen as an asset to be applied to solving a series of contemporary challenges. Drawing upon public records, works of art and newspaper reports, the shifting uses of the Domain from centre of local administration, to military base, girls’ reformatory and asylum are traced demonstrating how the site contributed to meeting the responsibility for caring for the residents of New South Wales which fell to its governments. It is argued that rather than careful planning, decisions about the use of the Domain were largely the result of outside pressures. This is followed through in detail with regard to the establishment on the site in 1871 of an Asylum for Idiots and Imbeciles. A close reading of the extant records of this institution reveal that for several years, it served mainly as a repository for long term residents of older asylums. Only in the 1890s did it become populated by the intellectually disabled. Although it was an “accidental asylum”, the site was well suited to its purpose and has successfully hosted mental health services through to the present day. Its fraught transition from active health care campus to heritage site is traced to explore contemporary issues in heritage, in particular the rising interest in cultural landscapes, the role of interdisciplinary non-governmental organisations in heritage advocacy and the possibility of overtly recognising the positive benefits of heritage conservation for mental wellbeing at this and other sites. The Newcastle Asylum represented a new form of care in the colony of NSW and as such needs to form part of the cultural heritage of Newcastle because it contributed significantly to the social welfare of people in New South Wales. Abbreviations AA Company Australian Agricultural Company HRNSW Historical Records of New South Wales NGD Newcastle Government Domain NSW New South Wales SHR State Heritage Register RNE Register of the National Estate NHL National Heritage List CRWP Coal River Working Party 5 Chapter 1 : Introduction An essential role of the imperial government in New South Wales (NSW) and of the colonial government in NSW as it developed was to care for the people of the colony. Because of the dependent status of the majority of the first settlers, as well as the social structures of extended family and organised philanthropy, this public caring role was developed earlier and more extensively in NSW Australia than in the United Kingdom. The significant needs of people of NSW in the first decades of colonisation, required urgent interventions by colonial and imperial governments. Thus a culture of Government responsibility and intervention developed and was strengthened by opening institutions for them. The theme constructing a culture of government care in Australia explores how the land reserved for government use in central Newcastle, known as the Newcastle Government Domain (NGD) was a space that authorities would lay the groundwork setting up a place where care would develop and contribute to welfare history from 1801 to 2014. This research is a case study that demonstrates how this space was applied to a series of uses in the colonial period, all of which were components of this caring role. Although the form varied widely, care and caring have been constants in the European use of the NGD to the current day. Care can be interpreted several ways. In this thesis ‘care’ is not limited to a contemporary usage related to the general meaning of care but used in a more limited sense. Specifically, it relates to the responsibility of government authorities to provide genuine consideration and provision for the needs of the people of NSW. This extends to the intentions of the governments to provide care and implement interventions that were thought to have social benefits. This broad interpretation of care is applied to the three main phases of use at the Newcastle Domain. The first phase is the early colonial period 1801 to the 1860s when the Domain was a place of administration of the penal settlement and then an Imperial military site. During this time it was used for public administration and defence. These public functions and the physical structures built to facilitate them helped to set up the Domain as a space where care would be later directly implemented. This was the second phase whereby in 1867 the Reformatory for Girls and the Girls’ Industrial School were established followed in 1871 by the establishment of a mental asylum. The asylum offered a new form of care in the colony, one which opened up the site to the wider community, allowing inmates to become socialised with the wider world. This function of psychiatric care continues up until 2014. The third phase of caring at the Domain focuses on the site as part of Newcastle's cultural heritage landscape.

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