Medical Superintendents 

The medical superintendent is the responsible physician in charge of the patients and the administration of the asylum 

 

 

Kersey Cannan

1860 - 1869

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Kearsey Cannan (1815-1894), a medical practitioner, was born in London, the son of David Cannan, surgeon, and his wife, Catherine.

He was apprenticed to Dr Wildash of Kent and took his M.R.C.S. in 1837. He arrived in Sydney in 1840, visited New Zealand, and returned to Sydney, where, in 1842, he married Mary Elizabeth Siddins. Next year, they went to Brisbane, where their period of residence spanned almost the entire period between the beginning of free settlement in 1842 and Federation. Cannan was not, as often claimed, the first private practitioner in Queensland, but he holds that honour for Brisbane. In his first years there, he and David Ballow, a salaried medical officer, were the only two practitioners. The hospital was then directly supported by the government. After this support ceased early in 1848, Cannan was an active campaigner for the establishment of a 'free' institution. It was established late that year, and he was associated with it as a visiting or consulting surgeon for the rest of his life.  Contrary to legend, he was not the hero who attended typhus patients from the Emigrant after Ballow died in 1850, though he was a member of the board of inquiry which paid brief visits to the ship in quarantine at Dunwich. In the following years, he held several part-time official posts: public vaccinator, medical officer to the gaol, member and later president of the Medical Board and coroner.  In 1864, when a lunatic asylum was established at Woogaroo (Goodna), he was appointed its first full-time medical superintendent. Probably too easygoing to be concerned with the minutiae of office routine, he was a muddling administrator and was replaced in 1868 after one of those unsavoury inquiries which have tended to bedevil mental hospital administration. This setback did not seem to diminish his personal repute as a medical practitioner and citizen, for he was immediately appointed to the asylum staff as a visiting surgeon.  Thereafter, he lived at Hodgson Terrace, on the corner of Margaret and George Streets, and there conducted a successful practice. According to Spencer Browne, A Journalist's Memories (Brisbane, 1927), 'many of his patients were on the free list.  Rather a philanthropist than a money maker. Hard-working and reasonably competent, he handled whatever major surgical emergencies came his way and, with as much success as anyone else of his time, managed them. He had begun practice before the discovery of general anaesthesia and antiseptics, and lived to see significant advances in surgery. Highly respected and well-loved as the doyen of Queensland's doctors, he won a place on the honour roll of the local medical association. Outside his professional affairs, Cannan actively encouraged sports and their organisation, particularly cricket, horse racing, boating, and billiards. He was prominent in the Australian Mutual Provident Society and in other community activities, but was not of the stuff from which evangelizers are made.  Though readily accepted as part of the 'squatter establishment', his small contribution to politics was that of a practical humanist, who by virtue of his tolerant, kindly and attractive personality made an early Australian community a little more civilised and enjoyable.  Aged 79, he died from bronchitis at his home on 20 August 1894 and was buried in the Anglican section of the Toowong cemetery.

He was survived by his wife, two sons and two of their four daughters. His descendants, in a similarly reasonable and unobtrusive manner, continued his substantial contribution to Queensland's development.​​​

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Henry Challinor 

1869 - 1872

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Henry Challinor (1814-1882), a medical practitioner, was born on 22 June 1814 in England, the son of James Challinor, merchant, and his wife Mary, née Tinsdale. He studied medicine in London (L.S.A., 1842; M.R.C.S., 1842; F.R.C.S., 1864). He arrived in January 1849 as surgeon superintendent in the Fortitude, which brought the first of John Dunmore Lang's migrants to Moreton Bay. By April, he had taken up medical practice in Ipswich, where for much of the rest of his life he was proud to be a citizen. He later lived in Brisbane but did not venture far afield. He never returned to England and probably did not visit even Sydney. He married Mary Bowyer Hawkins at Ipswich on 12 July 1855; they had six daughters and two sons. Challinor contributed to the life of the Moreton Bay District in four main fields: medicine, civic affairs, the Congregational Church and colonial politics.  In the first three, he was eminently successful. Finally, his importance is difficult to assess, yet perhaps it was the most significant of all. In politics, he was the voice of the precursor crying out in the wilderness, making straight the path for what was to come. Highly trusted and competent, he remained a general practitioner until 1869, when he was appointed the second medical superintendent of the asylum to straighten out a scandal. He did so successfully, but by 1872 his health began to deteriorate, and he then took up the less onerous position of health officer for the port of Brisbane (quarantine) and medical officer to various official institutions. From 1876, he was inspector of public institutions, such as the Orphan Schools, and in 1878 was the principal medical officer of the Queensland Volunteer Brigade. Thus, in his professional life, he practised in the three main official branches of clinical medicine, preventive medicine and mental health services. In town and church affairs, he was a member and usually an office bearer of almost all the societies and associations designed to promote the common good. He aligned with the incipient urban commercial interests rather than the prevailing squatter establishment. He campaigned for separation from New South Wales and fought against the renewal of convict transportation. He was a member of the first Legislative Assembly in Queensland, but, through a series of political errors, was not elected until June 1861. He was narrowly defeated in 1868, primarily because of a principled stand. In his short parliamentary career, he made his mark as an ardent if naive Liberal in a legislature dominated by squatters and their allies. He advocated a just land policy that would provide opportunities for small settlers, efficient agriculture, free secular education, political equality, religious tolerance, and railway construction free from the scandal of land grants. He opposed the cotton bonus and the aggregation of pastoral land by wealthy companies.

None of this programme made him popular; instead, he was actively disliked and even feared in parliamentary circles.

For his time, he was an unusual doctor: Nonconformist by religious persuasion, an advocate of temperance, quiet and astonishingly industrious in private life, but constantly and tiresomely loquacious in public. His life was governed by principle, for the defence of which he showed blunt courage and cared not a whit for public opinion. He was the archetype of what is now called a 'do-gooder'. He wore his social conscience like a hair shirt, yet even before his death on 9 September 1882 at Brisbane, his fundamental virtues of tolerance and liberalism had come to be recognised.

At a time when they were unpopular choices, he had backed the political horses that eventually won.

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John Jaap

1872 - 1877

John Jaap was appointed to the role after Charles Prentice filled in for a few months.

Jaap employed patient labour to establish a piggery and farm pursuits, which were a feature of the asylum for many years.

Jaap drew attention to the overcrowded conditions at the asylum, a perennial problem that plagued the institution for most of its existence.  Jaap also established a 'band fund' to provide entertainment for patients and organised a football match between a Brisbane club and the warders and patients of the Asylum.

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Patrick Smith

1877 - 1881

Jaap was succeeded by Patrick Smith as Superintendent, who, in his first report, expressed concern about the fate of inmates upon discharge. Smith recommended that a public organisation be established to assist individuals with no relatives and no work awaiting them. Smith also suggested that new asylums be based in Brisbane and Toowoomba to relieve overcrowding among the 400 patients at Woogaroo. Following a Royal Commission chaired by William Graham, MLA, a commission was established to examine the affairs of Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum and the reception houses and to report on the best ways to improve them. Board of Inquiry [into] certain charges made against Doctor Patrick Smith, Surgeon-Superintendent of Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum by Mr Patrick O'Sullivan, M.L.A. and also into the general management of that institution (1880).

 

Richard Scholes

1881 - 1894, 1896 - 1898

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In 1881, Richard Scholes replaced Patrick Smith as Superintendent at the Goodna Asylum.

Scholes continued the practice of employing patients in farming activities and extended it to the wards, the laundry, and the sewing room in 1885.

 Scholes was also appointed the first inspector of Asylums for the Insane, a role that included the fencing of the recreational grounds in 1870. Sadly, in 1898, he passed away aged 48 years old. In his obituary notes, it was noted that Scholes was, for a short time, Assistant Medical Officer to Henry Manning at Gladesville Hospital for the insane in Sydney.  Scholes was a very popular man within the Goodna, Ipswich, and Brisbane communities, so much so that a special train was operated from Ipswich to Goodna to enable people to attend his funeral in the township. Richard and his daughter Edith, aged 12, were both buried in Asylum's Private Cemetery, approximately two miles from Asylum, where he had worked and were eventually moved to Goodna Cemetery.

The obituaries also recalled his love for cricket.

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​James Hogg

1898- 1908

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 James Hogg was appointed in 1898.

His residence, known as Manor House, was built on high ground, with its main elevation facing south-east, away from the asylum complex, while most of the other staff resided off-site.  For many decades, the hospital was serviced by employees who lived in the local area. At that time, several staff members had family members who had worked at the asylum for generations.

During Hogg's tenure, the complex was renamed the Goodna Hospital for the Insane.

The superintendent's residence, built in 1898, remains on site in the high-security section.​

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Henry Byam Ellerton

1909 - 1937

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Following the sudden death of James Hogg in 1908, Henry Byam Ellerton was appointed to replace him as superintendent of Goodna and Chief Inspector of Hospitals for the Insane.  Conscious of the need to find the very best possible candidate, the Queensland Government had advertised widely for the position, including in Britain.  Ellerton was chosen from a list of twenty-six applicants and had fourteen years of experience in English asylums.  He was an ardent advocate of "moral treatment" or moral therapy.  Moral treatment marked a significant turning point in the understanding of madness and insanity.

Formerly regarded as the total absence or distortion of reason and incapable of cure, insanity came to be seen as a product of an immoral or defective social environment; thus, mentally ill people could be improved in an appropriate and elevating environment. A critical aspect of moral treatment was the provision of a pleasant climate, emphasising well-lit, well-ventilated buildings with adequate bathing facilities and reasonably sized rooms with sufficient openings and views of the landscape.  Recreation and employment were also considered a vital part of the therapeutic process. Ellerton was superintendent of the hospital for 28 years, retiring in 1936. During this period, Wolston Park assumed its modern form through the construction of its core buildings and the consolidation of its institutional environment. Ellerton's vision was to create an integrated and self-sufficient community; the grounds were converted into gardens, and wooden fences were replaced with less claustrophobic wire fences. A large bush house, 100 yards long and 20 yards wide, was established in 1911 to maintain a steady supply of pot plants for the wards and recreation hall and to provide seedlings and young plants for the gardens throughout the asylum (no longer extant). The institution was opened up to visits from relatives and friends, and recreational activities became integral to the asylum's operations. While aesthetically pleasing gardens and views were considered integral to the therapeutic process, the grounds were also crucial to the institution's public image.

A pleasant, landscaped environment with gardens, scrubland, and open space suggested that the asylum was a benign institution and belied its true character as a place where overcrowding was chronic, and patients were strictly controlled and managed. In 1916, the hospital was again improved with the addition of a ward for those suffering from physical diseases as well as mental disorders. In 1914, a motor launch was purchased to provide outings for a select group of patients, mainly working patients; however, there was more evidence that the boat was used more as a 'private pleasure cruise', earning him the title 'Caesar of Lunacy'. During Ellerton's reign, existing male wards were demolished, and Lewis House, Noble House and McDonnell House were completed in 1915. A new bridge over Woogaroo Creek was completed in 1916.

The female admission ward, Anderson House, the hospital, the administration block, the powerhouse, the water reservoirs, and the pumping stations were completed in 1917. The laundry was completed in 1918. Osler House, a ward for complex female patients, was completed in 1929, and Pearce House, for complex male patients, was completed in 1934. The male wards Gladstone House, Jenner House and Kelsey House were completed in 1936. Upon Ellerton's retirement, the male section comprised 13 blocks, all constructed of brick and designed to accommodate 20-120 patients. Despite facility upgrades, overcrowding remained a chronic problem.

The increase in beds from 1910 to 1936 did not correspond to the rise in patient numbers. Compared with the extensive building program in the male section between 1910 and 1936, improvements in the female section were extremely modest.

Ellerton believed that the expansion of the female section at the Goodna site was constrained by the site's topography and advocated additional female wards at other institutions, such as Ipswich Mental Hospital.  During 1910–1920, the number of female inmates decreased by 20%, from 491 to 389, and the 1910 level of female population was not regained until 1929. The number of male patients increased by 30% during this period, rising from 779 to 1010. During Ellerton's tenure, the asylum underwent considerable material improvements, and several essential services, including electricity, water, and a hospital, were established.  Many of the buildings were well-designed and excellent examples of the Queensland Department of Works' output during this period. Some of the buildings demonstrated refinement in approaches to patient care, such as the small, domestic-scale Anderson House, designed to accommodate female patients upon admission, so they could be kept under observation and receive more individualised treatment than was possible in a large ward.  Recreational facilities had vastly improved, and the complex now had three tennis courts, a viewing pavilion, terraces and an oval considered one of the best cricket grounds in the state. A golf course was constructed by patient labour in the 1920s and became the well-regarded Gailes Golf Club, which continued to employ patients in the upkeep and maintenance of the greens.

Patients were also employed in farming activities that aided the hospital's self-sufficiency. Farm activities included a piggery, a dairy, a small cattle herd, and the cultivation of vegetables and crops, including oats, maize, and lucerne. However, no new techniques or treatment methods had been introduced.  Even the later male wards, Gladstone, Jenner, and Kelsey, remained firmly based on the moral therapy model despite their new designs featuring unusual, crab-like plan forms.  The institutionalisation of people with mental illness in Queensland had become an efficient system of control and regulation with an emphasis on confinement rather than treatment or care.

More patients than ever were admitted to Goodna, and no other solution to the treatment of mental illness was even considered possible.

Ellerton was succeeded as Medical Superintendent by Dr Basil Stafford, the former Superintendent of Ipswich Mental Hospital.

Story - Visit to the biggest asylum in Australia 

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​​Basil Stafford

1937 - 1950

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Dr Basil Stafford began his career as a General Practitioner in Melbourne.

He then moved to Queensland to take up a position in mental health services, where he spent the whole of his professional career, becoming Director of State Psychiatric Services from 1938. Dr Stafford was responsible for the first cardiazol treatment and insulin coma in Queensland and, at the same time, introduced an “honour system” in Goodna, the precursor to the open hospital policy.

He set up the first community service of a psychiatric clinic in the Brisbane metropolitan area. Throughout his career, Dr Stafford stimulated the teaching and study of psychiatry as a branch of medicine and actively promoted the acceptance of psychiatrists and medical practitioners of mental hospitals by the rest of the medical profession and the community as a whole. The Queensland government sent him to attend the 2nd International Congress on Mental Hygiene in Paris and to undertake a study tour of hospitals, psychiatric clinics, and universities in the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom. Serving on the Nurses’ Board for over 16 years, Dr Stafford helped raise the standards of training of mental health nurses.

In 1952, he was elected President of the Australian Association of Psychiatrists and a Foundation Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.  Upon his return, Stafford recommended various changes to the mental health system, which prompted legislative developments.  Not only were the Mental Hygiene Act of 1938 and the Mental Health Act of 1962 mainly due to his guidance, but he also greatly influenced the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1945; this piece of legislation today exemplifies how offenders can be directed toward rehabilitative punishment or treatment. The first building at Wolston Park to reflect Stafford's modern ideas was Dawson House, a new female building completed in 1944. It accommodated 60 patients and was located on a sloping site near the existing female wards. It was recognised that a building with a basement could be built on such topography, with the basement accommodating treatment rooms for cardiazol therapy, insulin therapy, malaria therapy, somnifaine or continuous narcosis therapy and other medical treatments. The most striking difference was the minimal attention paid to the external environment; this building was inward-looking, signalling the decline in the significance placed on the environment in 'moral treatment' and the increasing medicalisation of mental health treatment. Another important building project for female patients at this time was the construction of a special female recreation facility, which commenced in 1951 on an area of approximately 2.5 hectares on the western edge of the reserve, adjacent to the Brisbane River. The principal building within the area was the cafeteria with facilities to serve 500 patients [now Wolston Park Golf Club house]. Patients could spend the entire day in the recreation area without returning to the wards for midday meals.

Other facilities in the area included a sewing room, a tennis court, a bowling green, a large playing field, viewing shelters, and storage sheds.

By 1957, more than 200 patients were regularly using the facilities, highlighting the institution's rigorous gender-based separation across all facets. By January 1942, 110 returned soldiers were inmates at Goodna Mental Hospital, and the Commonwealth government expressed concern about the increasing number of admissions. War veterans had become a significant minority of the hospital population since the final years of the First World War, and Ellerton had decided, upon consideration, that using existing institutions was preferable to building new facilities. During the Second World War, however, the Commonwealth agreed to fund the construction of three special wards, with the State government taking responsibility for the maintenance of the buildings and staffing. The Works Department prepared plans for a complete repatriation unit in consultation with Basil Stafford.

Their design essentially resurrected the principles of 'moral treatment '. The buildings were designed to minimise the sense of confinement associated with mental hospitals, and freedom was emphasised by wide verandahs and dining areas opening onto grassed courtyards and lawns. Construction of the wards began in 1946, and Governor John Lavarack opened the Wacol Repatriation Pavilion on 26 January 1948. It comprised three wards, each accommodating 88 patients, and a kitchen/canteen block. A recreation hall was erected in 195,0 and a cricket oval in 1954. In the late 1940s, planning began for a new farm ward complex.

Farm wards at the hospital had traditionally operated as semi-independent units, in which patients enjoyed greater freedom and autonomy, unlike the main wards, where people were confined to cells or wards. A new site on the summit of a hill adjacent to the existing farm wards was chosen, and two large wards with accommodation for 175 patients and a dining/recreation block were erected between 1953 and 1957. Patients included both 'backward persons' and people who had responded well to treatment and had the potential for recovery and discharge. In 1958, part of the farmward complex was set aside for patients regarded as 'subnormal', and in 1964, a five-teacher school was established to teach the 160 children who lived there. Gradually, all of this block became occupied by intellectually disabled children and was renamed the Basil Stafford Centre. In 1965, a new alcohol rehabilitation centre was also established, using the old farm ward buildings at the northern end of the site. Alcoholics had been patients at Wolston Park since the Inebriates Act of 1892 had allowed for their admission to designated institutions; however, there had been no specific facilities for them. New buildings were erected adjacent to the former farm ward, including four wards, offices and an occupational therapy area. The new centre was known as the Wacol Rehabilitation Centre. Initially, it served both male and female patients; later, a separate complex was built for female patients requiring treatment for alcoholism (Melaleuca House and Poinciana House). The hospital population peaked in the mid-1950s, with an average of approximately 2500 residents per day (excluding Wacol Repatriation Pavilion patients) and 700 staff. By the late 1950s, the efficacy of large-scale, all-purpose institutions for the treatment of mental illness began to be questioned. It was recognised that patients became institutionalised to the extent that living in large institutions perpetuated their mental disorders and did not assist them in recovering. The Division of Mental Hygiene embarked on a program of expanding acute psychiatric beds in general hospitals and transferring elderly senile patients from mental hospitals to nursing homes. This resulted in a decline in patient numbers at Goodna, and in 1960, Director Basil Stafford reported that, for the first time, the hospital had an excess of beds.

The complex began to develop a different role.

No longer did it cater for every type of patient from every part of the State; instead, the majority of inmates were long-term chronic patients. The new Mental Health Act of 1962 placed greater emphasis on voluntary admission, and the complex was renamed the Brisbane Special Hospital.

In 1969, it was renamed again to Wolston Park Hospital.

In 1976, the Minister for Health released a paper on the Care of the Intellectually Handicapped, which proved to be the catalyst for significant changes in the delivery of mental health services.  A special Branch of Intellectually Handicapped Services was established within the Health Department in 1977 and assumed responsibility for the Basil Stafford Centre. Research into the long-term effects of institutionalisation and the lack of success in the treatment and care provided in institutional settings led to critical questioning of the institutional model for both mentally ill and intellectually and physically disabled people. In addition, the increasing criticism of conditions within mental hospitals and the abuse of patients' rights gave impetus to the development of alternative models, in particular, community-based mental health services.

The community care model was adopted slowly in Queensland. Institutions were reformed; however, an emphasis on institutional care remained. Short-term care with intensive treatment was the preferred model.

Several major building projects, reflecting these changing ideas, were undertaken at Wolston Park during the 1970s, as were extensive remodelling of existing structures. In 1978, the Barrett Psychiatry Unit was established to provide acute care.

It comprised eight separate buildings: a reception and admission block; three wards with 32 beds; two wards with 16 beds; a cafeteria; and a medical officer's flat. In 1984, it expanded to include inpatients and specialised services for young people. A new medical centre opened in 197,9, and in 1980 Nyunda Park was set up as an outdoor recreation area. The John Oxley Centre, a forensic psychiatric unit, was built on the eastern side of the site, adjacent to the Brisbane River, in 1990. Several 19th-century buildings were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s, with renovation and rehabilitation of other remaining 19th-century buildings occurring in the late 1990s. As part of the 1996 Ten-Year Mental Health Plan for Queensland, the main hospital became known as The Park - Centre for Mental Health and has decentralised its extended care services, placing greater emphasis on rehabilitation and recovery.

The Park now provides clinical treatment and rehabilitation programs to patients from central and southern Queensland, including care for people with a chronic mental disorder and for people with a mental disorder who are also intellectually disabled, forensic care services and an extended treatment service for adolescents. From 1999 to 2002, many new buildings were erected, including a large new maximum-security facility at the eastern edge of the site.  Most of the latest buildings are of domestic scale and character and include accommodation for patients, as well as medical and administrative facilities.

Some buildings erected in the 1970s have been replaced, such as parts of the Barrett Psychiatric Centre.

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​​​​J.E. F McDonald

1943 - 1944

 

Clive Boyce

1950 - 1965

 

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Dr Boyce became superintendent in 1950 and oversaw changes such as drug therapy, especially Cardiazol and insulin and Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Boyce claimed in 1955 that "very little" had been accomplished in mental health treatment.

He also had an enlightened attitude to treatment, referred to as his ‘open-house concept.

He insisted that patients be treated humanely, even during episodes of violence.

The model of care at this time was still based on activity and custodial care.

He retired in 1965, and today Boyce Rd is named in his honour.

 

Gailes Golf Club

Dr C. R. Boyce O.B.E., together with his father, Mr W.F.R. Boyce, who died in 1965 at the age of ninety-five, began working for Gailes before the club existed. As a golfer of championship stature, Dr Boyce consistently maintained his interest in Gailes, and his knowledge and experience have found expression throughout the course. He was a Medical Officer at the Hospital for six months in 1928 and for the two years preceding his enlistment. From 1942 to 1945, he was a prisoner of war, and on his return in 1946, he went to Toowoomba as Superintendent of the Willowburn Hospital. In 1950, he succeeded Dr Stafford as Medical Superintendent at Goodna. He retired on 30th June 1965, and in that year Her Majesty honoured him for his services to Queensland by awarding him the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. A life member, Dr Boyce, was still a regular visitor to the club in 1974. In 1963, "The Clive Boyce Cup" was established and immediately accorded honour board status. It is an Open Four Ball Best Ball Stableford played as a pipe opener on the Saturday preceding Opening Day. Harmony has always existed between the hospital and the club, and each of the three Medical Superintendents to follow Dr Ellerton has been a golfer and each has been President of Gailes. At the hospital, Dr Stafford succeeded Dr Ellerton, and he handed over to Dr Boyce in 1950. In 1965, Dr Ormonde Orford succeeded Dr Boyce as President of the club, serving from 1970 to 1972.

He also won the Queensland Golf Championship in 1920 and again in 1921.

Military Service

Captain Clive Rodney Boyce, a medical practitioner and psychiatrist, enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force on 29 August 1941.

He embarked for service in Malaya in November 1941 and was subsequently posted to the 2 Australian Convalescent Depot. Captain Boyce was captured as a prisoner of war by the Japanese in early 1942 and interned in Changi Prisoner of War Camp, Singapore.

In May-June 1943, he was appointed as the medical officer of 'J Force' and transferred to Kobe Camp in Japan.

During his imprisonment, Captain Boyce continued his medical practice, diagnosing and treating his fellow prisoners.

After the war, Captain Boyce returned to Australia and was discharged on 11 December 1945.

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Orme Orford

1965 - 1976

Dr Orme Orford was the first medical superintendent with psychiatry qualifications

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Harry (Don) Eastwell

1976 - 1978

 

Victor Matchett 

1976 (Acting), 1978 (Acting), 1981 -1982

 

James Wood

1982 -83 (Acting), 1983 - 1990