Toowoomba Asylum Situated on the northwestern outskirts of Toowoomba and known as the Baillie Henderson Hospital Established as a lunatic asylum in 1890, it continues to provide psychiatric care to more than 400 patients and is the most intact nineteenth-century asylum in Queensland. The treatment of lunacy or madness underwent a reformation in the first half of the nineteenth century in America, France, and Britain, shifting from physical restraint and bizarre procedures to management through a pleasant environment and work opportunities. This new approach focused on reforming individuals by placing them in a suitable environment, and by the 1860s, asylums were accepted as the most appropriate place to treat insanity. Before Queensland became a separate colony in 1859, residents who were classified as lunatics or insane and required control were placed in the local gaol or sent south to an asylum in Sydney. Within thirty years of self-government, Queensland operated three asylums. Queensland's first asylum was the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum, opened in 1865. Within a decade, overcrowding became a chronic problem, and a Royal Commission in 1877 recommended establishing asylums in Toowoomba and Rockhampton . An asylum was established at Sandy Gallop (the Challinor Centre at Ipswich ) in 1878 and operated as an annexe of Goodna until 1910, when it became a separate institution. The Rockhampton asylum was not proceeded with, and colonial architect John James Clark prepared plans for the Toowoomba institution in 1885. These plans provided for a large complex with two rows of pavilion wards separated by service buildings. The design and planning of the Toowoomba asylum followed the principles of asylum design articulated by J. Conolly in The Construction and Government of Lunatic Asylums, and the original plan took more than 20 years to complete. The power of symmetry, with its inherent qualities of balance and order, was used to significant effect in the master planning and building design of the Toowoomba Asylum. The site was laid out about an east-west axis on which service and ancillary buildings were centred with identical pairs of pavilion wards, males to the south and females to the north, laid equidistant from the centre and from each other. The wards and service buildings were also symmetrically designed, reinforced and connected by a continuous covered walkway. Each of the ward buildings had an associated outdoor area enclosed by a 3-metre (9.8 ft) high close-boarded timber fence into which shelter sheds and gates were set. Landscaping enhanced the requirements for a pleasant environment, including gardens and perimeter trees that created vistas and more intimate areas for repose. Construction commenced in 1886, and by 189,0 sufficient building had been completed for the asylum to open. In 1891, the Toowoomba Lunatic Asylum comprised a male (Jofre House) and female (Ray House) convalescent ward, a general female ward (Pinel House), and a group of buildings comprising the administration building (now MacDonald Hall), kitchen, bathrooms, washhouse and store and the medical superintendent's residence, which was situated adjacent to Hogg Street away from the main complex. The first patients were transferred from the Goodna asylum, and by the end of 1890, the total number of patients had reached 196. The second male ward (Ward B - Rush House), Pinel House's complement, was completed in 1892. Construction continued throughout the 1890s and 1900s with additional pairs of male and female pavilion wards constructed in 1898 (Male Ward C and Female Ward 3) and 1902 (Male Ward D-Clouston House and Female Ward 4 (now the Museum)), the assistant medical superintendent's residence (1899), nurses' quarters (1909) and administration block (1910). By 1910, the original plan was complete, and the asylum accommodated more than 700 patients. A second primary building phase occurred during 1915-1919. In 1909, Dr Henry Byam Ellerton , an English-trained medical practitioner, was appointed Inspector of Hospitals for the Insane in Queensland. Upon his appointment, Ellerton immediately implemented changes and improvements to the state's asylums and reception houses. In addition to numerous administrative changes, Ellerton oversaw major upgrades and expansions of the infrastructure at the Goodna, Ipswich, and Toowoomba asylums. At Toowoomba, Ellerton's initiatives led to the construction of five new buildings. Ellerton was a strong advocate of the "moral treatment" approach to insanity. This approach emphasised the need to provide patients with a pleasant environment and opportunities for employment and recreation. This philosophy was evident in a pair of new large blocks erected in 1917-1919, Female Ward 5 (Whishaw House) and Male Ward E (Browne House), set within landscaped grounds with views to the surrounding countryside. During this period, a pair of domestic-scale wards (Male Admission Ward - James House and Female Admission Ward - Hill House) and a hospital ward (Tredgold House) were completed. These buildings faced a recreation ground centred on the east-west axis of the original hospital plan. Throughout this period, agriculture was an essential component of the asylum's operations, partly to offset costs and partly to provide employment for patients. Few major building projects were undertaken in the subsequent decades. Improvements were limited to extensions to the nurses' quarters (1934), new bathrooms, staff residences and laundrettes. The institution's name was changed to "Toowoomba Mental Hospital" under the Mental Hygiene Act of 1938. This Act signalled several changes in the administration of mental health and coincided with new treatment approaches, particularly the use of drug therapies. The Mental Health Act 1962 later renamed it "Toowoomba Special Hospital". In August 1968, it was renamed "Baillie Henderson Hospital" in honour of Dr John Hector Baillie Henderson (1902-1981), Assistant Medical Superintendent (1939-1950) and Medical Superintendent (1950-1969). Following decades of only minor building works, a significant program of upgrading and replacing existing facilities commenced in the mid-1960s. New service buildings included a laundry (1968), a canteen (1968), a kitchen (1972), and an artisans' block (1980). New wards and accommodation facilities included Conolly, Tuke and Digby (1974), Penrose and Maudsley (1977), and Gowrie Hall complex (1991). Most of these buildings were erected to the north and west of the existing complex. Male Ward C and Female Ward 3(1898), and the kitchen and laundry were amongst the original buildings demolished c. 1971 as part of this building program. The Recreation Complex, located west of McDonald Hall, was constructed during this latter building program. Since the 1980s, the number of patients has steadily declined, with a greater emphasis on treating and caring for psychiatric patients in either community-based facilities or facilities in general hospitals. T he Nurses' Quarters were demolished in 1997. The complex occupies a 133.4-hectare (330-acre) site about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) northwest of Toowoomba in the suburb of Cranley. It is located on an elevated, picturesque site on an east-facing slope. The complex comprises over forty buildings, ten of which were constructed between 1888 and 1910 according to the master plan of architect JJ Clark and five between 1915 and 1919, influenced by the principles upheld by Dr HB Ellerton. Entry to the site is via Mort Street in the east or Tor Street in the south. The main access road encompasses the pre-1910 site with branches providing access to the staff accommodation at the western end of the grounds and to the later hospital building to the west and north. T he roads are lined with impressive avenues of mature trees, including Bunya Pines. The hospital's symmetrical layout remains evident, although some views are obscured by well-developed landscaping and the large-scale recreation and therapy complex west of McDonald Hall. The buildings, grounds, and walkways connecting the Baillie Henderson Hospital are culturally significant; descriptions of individual elements follow. Jofre House (Ward A – Male) and Ray House (Ward 1 – Female) History Jofre House and Ray House were constructed in 1888 as identical two-storey, face-brick masonry L-shaped convalescent wards, mirror-reversed on opposite sides of the central administration and service area, and forming the eastern corners of the hospital complex's original plan. They were symmetrical in plan about their entries, set at 45 degrees to the buildings' wings. Verandahs surrounded the ground floor. On the elevated site, both wards were afforded views over the valley toward the city and the surrounding area. The buildings housed a central lounge, dormitories, single rooms, and attendants' rooms on both floors, with the dining room, servery, and bathroom facilities on the ground floor. These buildings are largely intact and continue to house patients. Description The convalescent wards are two-storey masonry buildings with hipped corrugated iron roofs. The red-brown English bond face brick walls are relieved by banding at the sill and floor levels, with contrasting lintels and multi-paned sash-and-frame windows. The first floor retains its symmetrical L-shape, but later single-storey masonry wings containing additional bathrooms and recreation areas have been added to the east and south elevations (the north elevation of Ray House), breaking the continuity of the original surrounding ground-level verandahs and restricting views. The interiors, except the bathrooms, are generally intact and contain original joinery, including staircases and doors with observation windows. Rush House (Male Ward B) and Pinel House (Female Ward 2), Clouston House (Ward D) and Female Ward 4 (Museum) History The original plan for the Toowoomba asylum included six general pavilion wards of identical design: two-storey, face-brick masonry I-shaped buildings with hipped corrugated-iron roofs, symmetrical in plan about a north-south axis, with verandahs at ground level on three sides and a covered way along the inside elevation. The ward buildings contained lavatories, stairs, a store and attendants' rooms with a fireplace in the wing adjacent to the covered way. The outside wing contained the dining room, which had two fireplaces, and the wing in between, along the north-south axis of the building, housed an 18-bed dormitory with 10 single 8 ft × 9 ft (2.4 m × 2.7 m) cells, plus a stair and scullery adjacent to the dining room. The layout on the upper floors was similar, except for dormitories over the lavatories and dining room and an attendant's room above the scullery. Female Ward 2, Pinel House, was the first general ward constructed in 1888, and Male Ward B, Rush House, was completed in 1892. Male Ward C and Female Ward 3 were constructed in 1898, and Clouston House and Female Ward 4 were completed in 1902. Later wings containing bathroom facilities were added to the eastern elevations of each ward building, and semi-detached wings for recreation areas were added to the eastern elevations of Rush House and Pinel House. Male Ward C and Female Ward 3 were demolished in 1971, and Rush House was refurbished more recently and still houses patients. Female Ward 4 houses the hospital's museum, and Clouston House is vacant. Shelter sheds and fencing that formed part of the original plan no longer survive. Description The general ward buildings are two-storey I-shaped masonry buildings with hipped corrugated iron roofs. The red-brown English-bond face brick walls are relieved by banding at sill and floor levels, with contrasting lintels and multi-paned sash-and-frame windows. Subtle differences between the construction periods of the pairs of wards are evident in the joinery treatment, window shutter details and ventilation grilles. Pinel House is vacant and largely intact, except for a painting of the external brickwork that was applied some time ago. Female Ward 4 now houses the hospital's museum and remains remarkably intact. Clouston House is also intact, vacant, and used for storage. Rush House has recently been refurbished, including removing roof ventilator flues and chimneys, replacing the roof sheeting with Colorbond sheeting, and painting the brickwork. Interior changes include adding partitions to dormitory areas, replacing joinery, lining floors, and adding suspended ceilings and air conditioning. MacDonald Hall History MacDonald Hall was first constructed in 1888 as a T-shaped, single-storey masonry building with a double-gabled roof over its central volume and hipped roofs over the outer wings, all surrounded by timber-framed verandahs and connected to the kitchen, bathhouse, and store behind, and to the wards, by a continuous covered walkway. Although designed as a recreation hall, the building also served as hospital administration offices until the new administration building was completed in 1910. In 1913, the recreation hall was modified: the walls of the main entrance were raised to increase volume, and high-level sash windows were added to all elevations, with a hipped roof. Description The Administration building is a single-storey T-shaped structure with verandahs along its east, north, and south elevations. The walkway connected to its west elevation has been removed. It has reddish-brown English bond face brick walls, relieved with banding at sill levels, and contrasting lintels and six-pane sash-and-frame windows. Four-pane centre-pivoting sash windows are set in the auditorium walls above the surrounding verandah roof, with contrasting lintels and sills. The main hall's hipped roof is supported by impressive timber trusses, and the raked ceiling is lined with panels of V-jointed tongue-and-groove boards laid diagonally to the walls. The sewing room in the northern wing has had a roof light added, and a small semi-detached wing containing toilets has been added to the south elevation. The main hall houses a large pipe organ and features a stage with a decorative pressed-metal proscenium supported on V-jointed tongue-and-groove walls. The single volume of the northern wing (the former sewing room) has been partitioned off into two rooms, and only the north-western room was accessible from the stage. The southern wing was also not accessible. Fireplaces between the main hall and the wings have been bricked in. The later toilet addition is of stretcher-bond masonry, red-brown brick, with a skillion roof. Administration block History The construction of the Administration Building in 1910 completed the first stage of the plan for the Toowoomba Lunatic Asylum. The two-storey masonry building with a hipped roof, clock tower, and detached toilets differs from the original building illustrated in an 1888 perspective of the proposed hospital. Nevertheless, it remains in the same position along the site's central axis, overlooking the circular drive and surrounding gardens. The main entry to the building was via a central hall that opened onto the front arcade, and a stair hall intersected by a passage connecting the north- and south-side entrances. Offices for the Medical Superintendent, the Assistant Medical Superintendent, the Steward, the Matron, the Chief Attendant, the Dispensary, and the Hall Porter were located on the ground floor, with male and female visitors' rooms at the south and north ends of the arcade, respectively. The first floor housed the Matrons' bedroom, sitting room, servants' room and kitchen, as well as a library and a room for photography and pathology. The matron's bathroom was located on the northern end of the rear verandah, and a dark room was on the southern end. A stair from the western verandah led to the verandah at ground level. Description The Administration block is a two-storey brick masonry building with a hipped corrugated-iron roof and a central clock tower. Whilst its general architectural expression, materials, and detailing complement the hospital complex, it clearly expresses stylistic differences from the period in which it was built. It has a symmetrical layout about its east-west axis. It sits centrally between Ray House and Jofre House, along the same axis as McDonald Hall, and connects to these buildings via a covered timber-framed walkway with a gabled roof. The front elevation of the Administration building presents a formal public face, raised on a plinth of quarry-faced stone, above which an arcade of semicircular and flat arches of red-brown face brick is relieved by quarry-faced stone banding, voussoirs, and keystones . The corners of the arcade have parapets of ashlar stonework with curved copings that rise to form the solid corner balustrading of the verandah above. Timber verandah posts support curved verandah beams and eaves brackets, and their scale and detail suggest the domestic function of the first floor. Three first-floor verandah bays have been enclosed with a half-high wall and aluminium windows above, replacing the original timber balustrading. The verandahs to the north and south have been enclosed with weatherboards and casement sash windows. The two-storey timber verandah at the rear has been enclosed on the first floor with weatherboards and aluminium windows. A single-storey, one-room masonry addition with a hipped roof has been added to the south-west and north-west corners of the building. Detached lavatory buildings for males and females are located at the south and north entrances, respectively. These are identical single-storey red-brown English bond face brick structures with hipped corrugated-iron roofs, louvred windows, and contrasting sills. Browne House (Male Ward E) and Whishaw House (Female Ward 5) History Browne House and Whishaw House were erected between 1917 and 1919 to the west of Wards 4 and D as a pair of male and female ward buildings, providing additional accommodation for patients requiring less supervision. The buildings were part of the second stage of development of the hospital complex during Ellerton's period in office and were sited east-west, facing the grounds and views. They were constructed as two-storey masonry buildings with projecting gabled wings at each end and a larger central projecting gabled wing with bay windows to both levels. The ground floor comprised a large central dining room, sitting room, dormitory, scullery, lavatories, bathroom, and stores, built in a one-storey annexe at the rear of the dining room, centred between two semi-detached masonry stairwells. The first floor comprised three large open dormitories. Description The substantial two-storey buildings with corrugated-iron roofs have reddish-brown face brickwork to the first-floor level and rough-cast render above, relieved by contrasting lintels and multi-paned sash-and-frame windows. The projecting central wing on the front elevations was finished on both levels with roughcast render relieved with contrasting quoining, banding, copings and lintels. Two-storey timber verandahs provided the infill between the projecting wings of the front elevation. The single-storey annexe at the rear of Browne House has been replaced by a significant two-storey masonry addition constructed c. 1970, and another single-storey semi-detached masonry wing with a skillion roof has been added to the western end of the north elevation. Whishaw House remains relatively intact, including early bathroom and linen areas on the ground floor. The dining room is currently used for patient recreation and therapeutic groups, and is operated by Darling Downs Health Service Rehab and Recovery, which also occupies the first floor. James House and Hill House History James House and Hill House (also known as Tuke Annexe) were constructed between 1915 and 1917 as complementary admission wards and formed part of Ellerton's building program. These buildings continued the site's symmetrical layout but sit farther from the central axis, on the outskirts of the recreation ground, which they overlook. They resulted from Ellerton's desire to provide more suitable accommodation for patients, with greater privacy and views. The buildings housed 10 patients in single rooms, with a bathroom in the western wing; a dormitory of 12 beds with bathrooms in the eastern wing; central sitting and dining rooms with bay windows opening onto a verandah overlooking the recreation ground; and a semi-detached kitchen and store. Description The James and Hill Houses are a pair of single-storey U-shaped buildings with hipped corrugated-iron roofs, reddish-brown face brick walls relieved by contrasting sills and lintels, and multi-paned sash-and-frame windows. The verandah connecting the kitchen wing to the main structure has been enclosed on both buildings. James House remains intact and is currently used as a site office by the redevelopment team. Hill House appears to be in an undamaged condition *access was not available. Tredgold - Hospital Ward History Tredgold House was built in 1917 as a hospital ward for treating patients with physical problems. It was one of three asylum hospitals built at the time, all based on the same plan. The smallest of these hospitals was built at Challinor and the other at Wolston Park, which had a tile roof. Both of these are extant. Tredgold House continues to house patients. Description Tredgold House is a single-storey, red-brown face-brick building in stretcher bond construction with a large, galvanised-iron, hipped roof. The building has a symmetrical plan form, with a front entrance given prominence by a battened gabled end projecting above adjacent verandahs, a rough-cast finish, and a roof fleche. The symmetrical floor plan contains a central entrance hall and office areas, with a wing opposite containing a kitchen and scullery. A pentagonal activity room opens into two adjoining rooms beyond the kitchen area. The two wings that open off the corridor at an angle to the central portion provide dormitory accommodation and a large activity room; later additions at the ends of these wings offer further accommodation. Assistant Medical Superintendent's Quarters History The Assistant Medical Superintendent's quarters were built in 1898 as a single-storey masonry residence with a large hipped roof, situated at the top of the slope on the western limit of the hospital complex site. Description The house is constructed of red-brown face brickwork with a hipped corrugated iron roof and projecting gables . It has an asymmetrical layout and comprises an entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a servants' bedroom. The pantry, kitchen, and washhouse are contained in a wing at the northwest corner of the building, with a masonry northern wall and timber-framed and clad south and west walls. The house has five fireplaces and verandahs to the east and west. The house is the oldest of five occupying the western end of the site and overlooking the hospital complex. The other houses, built from the 1930s to 1960s for staff, form a residential streetscape along the west edge of the complex. The building is currently unoccupied, but the Trust is seeking a tenant. Medical Superintendent's Residence History The Medical Superintendent's quarters were built in 1888 as a single-storey masonry residence with a large, hipped roof, situated away from the complex to the southeast. In its original form, the main portion of the house had a T-shaped symmetrical layout with verandahs to the north, south and east, with a dining room, drawing room and two large bedrooms, all with bay windows. Two small bedrooms were located at the rear of the house, and a semi-detached kitchen and pantry on the southeastern corner were accessible from a verandah. A later timber wing was added to the northwest corner, and a servant's bedroom and scullery were added to the kitchen in 1940. Description The house is constructed of red-brown face brickwork on a rendered base, with a hipped corrugated-iron roof, timber verandahs to the east, and a timber verandah and a bedroom wing to the west. The house was not inspected during the site visit. Recreation Ground & Landscaping History The landscape is integral to the development of the Baillie Henderson Hospital complex, serving as a major contributor to the pleasant environment required for patient treatment in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century asylum planning. Terracing the site, planting trees, hedges, and gardens, and incorporating garden elements such as shelters and fencing were designed to provide an attractive, restful environment while meeting the requirements for patient containment within the complex. The recreation ground, located on the hospital plan's central axis, formed an integral part of an initiative of HB Ellerton for the second stage of the hospital development at Toowoomba, providing a pleasant outlook from the complex of buildings erected at this time through trees to a large oval and beyond to more distant views. Description Approached from the east, the Baillie Henderson Hospital becomes apparent at some distance as a tree-covered sanctuary on the east-facing slope of the valley set back from the approach roads in a rural setting. On the site, significant mature landscaping elements line the principal driveways to the hospital and residences, surround the buildings to provide shelter and restful gardens, create vistas and pathways, and frame the recreation oval. These plantings include Bunya pines (Araucaria bidwilli ) and many other species. Heritage listing Baillie Henderson Hospital was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 September 1999, having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Baillie Henderson Hospital is significant for its role in developing mental health care in Queensland since 1890. Although it has been altered and expanded over the years, the Baillie Henderson Hospital represents a pivotal era in Queensland mental health care. It is the most intact group of mental health buildings of the period. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Of the three main asylums built in Queensland before 1920, Baillie Henderson Hospital at Toowoomba is the only mental hospital in Queensland with formal, symmetrical site planning and, through this symmetry and the symmetry evident in its building forms and landscaping, demonstrates an asylum based on highly formal and systematic design. It is also the only such institution to retain its rural setting. Wolston Park, by comparison, developed more haphazardly and less formally, although some groups of buildings are arranged systematically. The Ipswich asylum was also well planned, but the buildings were arranged in an arc along a ridge to maximise views of the countryside. The buildings were not placed in a formal, systematic manner. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The place demonstrates nineteenth-century principles of asylum design, as enunciated in its planning, landscaping, and building design. Baillie Henderson Hospital clearly demonstrates the principal characteristics of an asylum according to nineteenth- and early twentieth-century principles. The site planning and building design followed well-established asylum design principles, as outlined in John Conolly's The Government and Construction of lunatic asylums (first published in 1847). Another important publication on asylum design was Thomas Kirkbride's On the Construction of Asylums (1861). Both publications emphasised the systematic arrangement of wards and service buildings, and the high level of order and discipline required to manage a large number of patients. The buildings erected at Baillie Henderson between 1888 and 1910 were arranged systematically and formally. Despite the demolition of two of the earlier wards and some service buildings, and the erection of new buildings, the symmetrical planning remains clearly evident. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. Baillie Henderson Hospital is significant for the architectural qualities of its buildings, particularly those erected between 1888 and 1919. The buildings include the Administration Building (1910), McDonald Hall (1888-1913), Jofre and Ray Houses (1888), Rush (1892) and Pinel (1891) Houses, Clouston House and the Museum (1902), Browne and Whishaw House (1917), James and Hill Houses (1915–17), Tredgold House (1919), the Medical Superintendent's residence (1888) and the Assistant Medical Officer's Quarters (1899). The hospital complex is also significant for the aesthetics of its setting as a tree-covered haven in a rural landscape with views afforded both from and to the site. Its mature plantings, including avenues of Bunya Pines, are contained within its grounds and gardens, along its principal driveways and pathways, and around its recreation oval, and contribute to the pleasant setting that was a principal characteristic of asylum planning in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. The Hospital is important for its association with the work of Colonial Architect JJ Clark and the Architectural Branch of the Department of Public Works . Clark was responsible for the site planning and design of the first stage of hospital buildings. The period between 1900 and 1915 was arguably the Branch's golden era in terms of the quality of its work. During this period, the second stage of hospital buildings was designed and constructed, and these works are significant examples of the Works Department's output. It has added significance through its association with Dr HB Ellerton and his approach to treating insanity. Dr John Hector Baillie Henderson (1.7.1902 - 1981) became Assistant Medical Superintendent in 1939, then Medical Superintendent from 1950 to 1969; thus, his influence and service to the hospital spanned over thirty years. Dr Henderson was a Queenslander who studied at Queensland and Sydney Universities until 1929. He then worked in private practice before joining the Queensland State Mental Health Service. Dr Henderson's service to the Toowoomba scene covered years of change in the mental health field throughout Australia. Locally, Dr Baillie Henderson became such a legend for the good he brought about that the hospital was renamed Baillie Henderson Hospital in his honour on 27th August, 1968. He received a further honour from the Queen when he was made a Commander of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours List 1969 "for his untiring and devoted service to the mentally ill". Notable people Notable staff include: Don Featherstone , first aid instructor and painting teacher 1885 Tracing of Original Portion Number 414 - Subdivisions 1 to 10 - County of Aubigny Parish of Drayton Reserved for Asylum (from General correspondence records - Includes plans for Proposed lunatic asylum Toowoomba, and Block plan new lunatic asylum Toowoomba) Click to view 1885 Proposed Lunatic Asylum at Toowoomba (from General correspondence records - Includes plans for Proposed lunatic asylum Toowoomba, and Block plan new lunatic asylum Toowoomba) Click to view 1886 Block Plan New Lunatic Asylum - Toowoomba (from General correspondence records - Includes plans for Proposed lunatic asylum Toowoomba, and Block plan new lunatic asylum Toowoomba) Click to view 1886 TOOWOOMBA - Lunatic Asylum - Architectural plan of the general and convalescent wards Click to view 1888 TOOWOOMBA - Lunatic Asylum - Architectural plan of the office, kitchen and administration buildings Click to view 1888 TOOWOOMBA - Lunatic Asylum - Perspective drawing Click to view 1891 Letter relating to the Industrial School for Girls, Toowoomba - Request to transfer Jane Leslie to Hospital for the Insane Click to view 1891 Letter relating to the Industrial School for Girls, Toowoomba - License for Mary O'Callaghan Click to view Click to view Click to view WROE, Harriet Jane - 1921 Notice of transfer Click to view Administration Building, Nicoll Avenue, Baillie Henderson Hospital, Toowoomba English, Charles 1990 - 2000 The construction of the Administration Building in 1910 completed the plan for the first stage of the Toowoomba Lunatic Asylum, which at this time accommodated more than 700 patients. The block is a two-storey brick masonry building with hipped corrugated iron roof and centred clock tower. Click to view Brick structure at rear of laundry, Baillie Henderson Hospital, Toowoomba English, Charles 1990-2000 This tall brick structure is located to the south-east rear of the laundry building. It may have been part of the original laundry that was demolished around 1971. Click to view Browne House, corner of Boyce Avenue and Service Lane 1, Baillie Henderson Hospital, Toowoomba English, Charles 1990 - 2000 Browne House was erected between 1917-1919 as one of a pair of male and female ward buildings providing additional accommodation for patients needing comparatively less supervision. The buildings were part of the second stage of development of the hospital complex during Dr H.B. Ellerton's period in office. The single storey annexe at the rear of Browne House has been replaced by a large two storey masonry addition constructed c1970 and another single storey semi detached masonry wing with skillion roof has been added to the western end of the north elevation. In 2024, the building is still in use as a medical facility. Click to view Browne House, corner of Boyce Avenue and Service Lane 1, Baillie Henderson Hospital, Toowoomba English, Charles 1990 - 2000 Browne House was erected between 1917-1919 as one of a pair of male and female ward buildings providing additional accommodation for patients needing comparatively less supervision. The buildings were part of the second stage of development of the hospital complex during Dr H.B. Ellerton's period in office. The single storey annexe at the rear of Browne House has been replaced by a large two storey masonry addition constructed c1970 and another single storey semi detached masonry wing with skillion roof has been added to the western end of the north elevation. In 2024, the building is still in use as a medical facility. Click to view Floral display at Baillie Henderson Hospital for 1964 Carnival of Flowers. Click to view Laundry, corner of Boyce Avenue and Service Road 2, Baillie Henderson Hospital, Toowoomba English, Charles 1990 - 2000 This is a utilitarian, two-storey building in the middle of the Baillie Henderson campus, situated opposite the sports club and oval. It was erected in 1968. Click to view

Dawson House Built-in 1944 In August 1938, the medical superintendent, Dr Stafford, invited an architect. EA Godfrey from the Works Department was invited to visit the site and discuss plans, indicating the medical superintendent's involvement in the planning process. By June 1939, Dr Stafford reported that it was imperative to build the new ward, as 328 female patients were living in improvised or unsuitable accommodation, such as beds in corridors, alcoves, and between existing beds. The 641 female patients in the Institution were more than twice its normal capacity. The building differed from others as it was to provide, in addition to accommodation for 60 patients, facilities for Intensive psychiatric treatment. The site was selected to complete a regular layout of the female division. Dawson House was numbered Female Patient Acute Ward 4 and was named after Professor William Siegfried Dawson, a pioneer of psychiatry at the University of Sydney. The building is a substantial two-storey building with a basement, built into the steep slope at the northern end of the Female Patients Area. Purposely designed as an acute ward for female patients, the building reflects the principles of Mental Hygiene in its design and layout. In 2020, it is used as a mental health training and research centre and is highly intact. The building has its main front (south) entrance on the ground floor and a rear (north) entrance on the basement level, and retains its open, semi-formal garden setting. Later additions and alterations, including stairwells (1965) at the northern ends of the wings, the air-conditioning plant and ducting, non-original interior partitions that enclose and divide former open spaces, and fire doors, are not of state-level cultural heritage significance. Chronology 1944: construction 1965: fire escapes added 1967: landscaping to the rear yard 1968: alterations for acute physical treatment wards 1972: remodelling of wards Research Note: This was the first building to reflect medical superintendent Dr Basil Stafford's modern ideas. Dawson House was a new female building completed in 1944. It provided accommodation for 60 patients and was located on a sloping site close to 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. Day rear Click to view Rear side Click to view Front night Click to view Day side Click to view Tree at rear Click to view Window bar grille Click to view Window bar grille Click to view Inside Click to view Side night bar grilles Click to view Front side Click to view Rear night Click to view Lift and stairwell Click to view Old window Click to view Prior to renovations in early 2000s when abandoned Click to view Prior to renovations in early 2000s when abandoned Click to view Prior to renovations in early 2000s when abandoned Click to view In the roof of Dawson house Click to view 1988 private collection Click to view 1988 private collection Click to view 1988 private collection Click to view 1988 private collection Click to view 1988 private collection Click to view 1988 private collection Click to view private collection Click to view

Reservoir & Pump Houses Built-in 1914 The pump houses and reservoir are located adjacent to the main drive. The reservoir (WP 13 D) and pump house (WP 13 E) were erected in 1914. The major expansion of the asylum in the early 1910s required upgrading several services, including water. Ellerton expressed concern about the inadequate water supply, particularly in the event of a fire, soon after his appointment in 1909. In 1910, he reported that the Hydraulic Engineer was working on improvements to the institutions' water supply. In 1913, they constructed a new low-lying reservoir, along with a pump and a pumping house. New 6-inch pipes were laid from the Brisbane mains close to Mt Crosby, but an upper reservoir required a delay in the construction of the water tower and a temporary connection between the old existing main and the Brisbane main. The reservoir was rendered brickwork, approximately 5 m deep, surrounded by a structure of 2 m high cast iron columns supporting an open lattice-framed perimeter truss. This truss supported a timber-framed roof structure. The pump house was either an existing shed moved from elsewhere on the site or constructed of materials from a demolished building. It is sheeted with pine chamfer boards and has an unusual vented semi-circular openings above all of its windows. The history of the second timber building (WP 13 F) is uncertain. Its form and materials suggest it is earlier and possibly was moved. Documentary evidence indicates it was not in its present location in 1936, but was moved from elsewhere on the site or constructed of older materials from a demolished building. Reservoir and Pump Houses 1974 Click to view Timber pump houses & reservoir Click to view Timber pump house and pipe Click to view Timber pump house Click to view Timber pump houses. Click to view Reservoir Click to view Reservoir Click to view Reservoir Click to view Reservoir roof Click to view Reservoir Click to view Reservoir Click to view Timber pump houses window Click to view Plan layout showing where water was piped across the Brisbane River to pump houses and up to the elevated water tower. Click to view The elevated water tower (Demolished c2000) that stood in the grounds of the former residences to the east where water was pumped too. Click to view Old Pipe Click to view Old Pipe Click to view Old Manhole Click to view Old Manhole Click to view Reservoir Roof Click to view Reservoir Corner Click to view Manhole Cover Click to view Reservoir Click to view Inside Reservoir Click to view

Goodna Township As early as 1841, a sheep run called "Woogaroo Station" was owned by the Grenier family of South Brisbane. This name referred to a waterhole in the creek and was superseded from 1856 onwards by Goodna, an Indigenous word meaning "dung. An unfortunate linguistic misunderstanding appears to have caused this name. Before time The broad river snaked its way through the bush as always since the Dreamtime, nourishing the people and animals who came to its banks. The rhythm of life and the movement of people accompanied the unfolding pattern of the seasons. Women and children spent their days gathering plants and small creatures while the men hunted larger animals, birds and fish. The dreaming stories were celebrated in dance, song, art, and word in the camp along the creek, where neighbouring clans gathered, and the Yaggera people met the Turrbal in corroboree. They fashioned tools and blades from stone and traded them. Men from many clans gathered at the Bora Ring to teach boys how to become warriors, and elders guided them through the secret steps to manhood. Ceremonies marked the passage from child to adult, and the ancestors' initiation mysteries were shared. Europeans' arrival In December 1823, the incursion began. Two rowboats came up the river, crewed by alien men from another continent. John Oxley and Allan Cunningham, with an officer and their boat crews, began their exploration. On 3 December 1823, Oxley landed at Prior’s Pocket on the northern bank of the river and, leaving his men to rest, he crossed the river, climbing a low hill and then walking to Dingo Hill from where he could see much of the surrounding landscape. Others followed, and in 1827, a small party of convicts and their guards passed by on their way to a spot upstream, beyond where two rivers joined together, where a deposit of white limestone had been recognised. Here, at the future site of Ipswich, they could hew and burn limestone to make cement. When the ghostly strangers arrived, they were terrifying in their violation of the land and its creatures, and of each other. They brought with them their alien animals, and in their cruelty and savagery, they broke all the laws that had existed since time immemorial, bending the country to their will and somehow escaping the fate of those who transgress against the spirit of the land. Against their violence and their diseases, the original people had little defence. The convicts left in 1839, and free settlement was allowed. The Aboriginal people were driven to the margins as the white men took over the land, careless of their gathering places and sacred sites, and excluding them from their hunting grounds. The men of Woogaroo Station and their horses drove their sheep across the land, crushing underfoot a way of life that had existed for thousands of years. Woogaroo The river became a highway for the steamboats of the white man, and the dusty track beside it became a pathway for bullock drays and carts. At this spot, a village known as Woogaroo grew up on the river flats as a landing developed and innkeepers set up hostelries for thirsty workers and travellers by land and by water. A store was established in 1857. By 1859, a thousand bales of Darling Downs wool made their way down the river to Brisbane each month. Settlers attempted to cultivate sugar and cotton with early success. Bullock teams heaved prized logs of hoop pine and red cedar to the wharf for use in Brisbane. Coal was discovered, and primitive mines were developed as men imagined the fortunes they could make selling the valuable fuel for use in steamships, foundries and workshops. Situated between the two most important towns in the Moreton Bay district, the growing settlement welcomed the establishment of the new Colony of Queensland in 1859, the same year that O’Possum Creek cattle station was established, and a cemetery was opened. As a self-respecting part of the British Empire, Queensland needed all the latest facilities. This included an ‘asylum’ where the unfortunates of society could be housed away from the public eye. In those days, such a place was not only for the mentally ill but also for many of those with disabilities. The Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum received its first inmates in 1865 when seven warders (two of them female) and ten police constables escorted 57 male and two female lunatics from Brisbane Gaol to the new Asylum. The place has changed its name many times: the Goodna Asylum, the Goodna Hospital for the Insane, the Brisbane Mental Hospital, the Brisbane Special Hospital, Wolston Park Hospital, and now simply ‘The Park’. As the number of inmates increased, so did the number of warders living nearby. So too did the number of farmers, as the government divided the land into farms, and the number of mouths to feed steadily grew. Establishing the new Colony required building a Government House and a Parliament building. The sandstone for these buildings came from a quarry established at Woogaroo near what Stuart Street is now. Workers quarried, dressed, and carted the stone to the river for barge transport to Brisbane. Construction of the Government House at Gardens Point in Brisbane began in 1860, and of the nearby Parliament House in 1865. Another requirement of the new Colony was a railway. River transport sufficed from Brisbane to Ipswich, but beyond that, a line to the rich Darling Downs, with its grazing properties, was needed. All the rails, workshop equipment, locomotives, carriages and wagons needed for the pioneer line came up the river on barges hauled by steamboat to North Ipswich, from where the line commenced in 1865 Woogaroo becomes Goodna In 1865, the settlement’s name was changed from Woogaroo to Goodna. By then, it had a post office and a Congregational church. The Royal Mail Hotel had opened by 1866. The wealthy entrepreneur Robert Towns opened a coal mine, with production beginning in 1867, thereby creating additional jobs. The loaded coal wagons, about 7000 tons a year, were hauled by horses down to the river wharf on a narrow-gauge tramway using timber rails. A police station was established, and in 1870, a blacksmith set up shop. In 1870, a State School also opened. As Brisbane and Ipswich grew, farming shifted to maize (for animal feed) and root vegetables, with a strong local market for these products. By the early 1870s, transport and industry had expanded, providing passenger services between Goodna and Brisbane and Ipswich, with two steamboat services per day in each direction. Three-horse coach services each way, two of them run by Cobb and Co. The steamboat called at Oxley and Goodna, while the intermediate coach stops were at Rocklea, Oxley and Goodna. The Brisbane Road of that time corresponds to the Brisbane Terrace of today. When it was decided to extend the railway from Ipswich to Brisbane, the first sod turning took place at Goodna on 30 January 1873. Two thousand people travelled from Brisbane and Ipswich, most by river, to see the Governor, the Marquis of Normanby, perform the ceremony using a silver spade and wheelbarrow. The Ipswich Volunteer Artillery fired off two cannons as a salute. It took more than three years to complete the line, making Goodna an essential station for travellers between Brisbane and Toowoomba, Dalby, and Warwick. From Goodna, travel to Ipswich by train was only about half an hour and to Brisbane about an hour: the river steamers and coaches plied their trade no more. The railway line encouraged further development. For example, a sawmill had opened by 1884, allowing sawn timber to be taken as building supplies not only to Brisbane but as far west as Roma. Dairying, butchery, market gardening and even honey production grew as a result of the improved transport links. At the same time, a chemical factory was established close to the river, and a brickworks was opened. By 1888, Goodna's population was 500. The open country in the area served a variety of purposes. For example, in 1886, the Queensland Defence Force’s volunteer soldiers used the area for training their horses to haul artillery guns in preparation for any foreign attack upon the colony. A few years later, the Goodna area was a favourite gathering place for the Brisbane Hunt Club, which perpetuated the British traditions associated with fox hunting. The riders brought their horses from Brisbane by special train, and the pack of hounds came on foot from their kennels at Rocklea. Following lunch at a local hostelry or private residence, the ‘hunt’ would take place with the hounds following not a fox but a pre-laid scent trail across the country, and there was much jumping of fences and other obstacles on the part of the riders. The 1893 flood Flooding of the Brisbane River was a frequent problem at Goodna, and a rowboat was kept available to allow staff of the Mental Hospital to travel to and from work. The 1890 flood caused extensive damage, displacing many people from their homes and sheltering them in the Catholic church. In 1893, the most significant flood on record occurred. At Goodna, the water level rose to 22 metres (5 metres higher than in 1974 and 6 metres higher than in 2011), flooding the Catholic church. The flood destroyed many more of the buildings in the settlement north of the railway line. Even the Railway Station building was partially swept away. Although some buildings were rebuilt on the river flats along the old Brisbane Road, development turned to the higher ground above the railway line. There were seven hills in the area: Hospital Hill, Dingo Hill, Holmes Hill, Brickfield Hill, Meaney’s Hill, School Hill, and Bradley’s Hill. ‘School Hill’, ‘Brickfield Hill’ and ‘Holmes Hill’ were all common Goodna addresses in the 1930s Picture Ipswich Photo Gallery Trove Goodna Articles Plan of the Village of Goodna 1865 Click to view Goodna 1888 Click to view Woogaroo Scrub 1890 Click to view Moreton District, Queensland. 20 Chain Series. Parish of Goodna, County of Stanley 1863 - 1922 Click to view Town of Goodna, Parish of Goodna, County of Stanley. 8 chains to the inch. 1917 Click to view Brisbane Terrace Goodna in 1924 Click to view Ipswich Road - Goodna 1923 Click to view Men inspect repairs to road surface Brisbane Terrace Goodna, Ipswich, 1926. In the distance, you can see the Royal Mail & Railway Hotels Click to view In 1903 Goodna was described in the Australian handbook: Click to view "The Pines" residence was built and lived in by the Law family. The house was situated on Brisbane Terrace with the Blacksmith's shop next door and the Goodna School in the background. Click to view Looking from where today's Queen st roundabout Church St looking down towards the Goodna Jacaranda fields are today. The rail line still goes over, but newest addition is the motorway bridge Click to view Uknown resident, taken on Barram St Click to view Goodna State School 1923 Click to view Cotton Farm - Goodna 1913 Click to view Apiary in Goodna Backyard 1913 Click to view Truck Using Ipswich Road - Goodna Click to view Brisbane - Toowoomba Road at Goodna 1946 Click to view 1 May 1944 Click to view Goodna Racecourse 1919 Click to view 1921 photo Click to view 1925 photo Click to view Goodna Racecourse Click to view PURCHASE OF OLD RACECOURSE 1948 Click to view Goodna, QLD. 1942-06. Click to view Goodna, QLD. 1942-06. Click to view

Wolston House When Dr Stephen Simpson was appointed Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Moreton Bay District in 1842, the area opened for free settlement after the closure of the penal colony. He was a cultured man, a Doctor of Medicine, a Justice of the Peace, a Police Magistrate and a founding Member of the Queensland Legislative Council following Separation from New South Wales. His first home in the colony was at Woogaroo (where the Wolston Park Golf Club is situated), which was to become the site of the Wolston Park Hospital. In 1851, when the opportunity to buy land in the area arose, he purchased 640 acres (2.6 km2) to the east of his first house on land overlooking the Brisbane River. Wolston House comprises the homestead and garden of the Wolston Estate, a large pastoral property initially established by Dr Stephen Simpson in 1852 and extended during the 1860s by Matthew Goggs. The new property, which included a stockyard, stables, outbuildings and a house and garden, was laid out by surveyor William Pettigrew in 1852. The garden was planned with care. Pettigrew recorded in his diary the planting of fruit trees there, and Simpson was known for his interest in plants and gardening. Simpson may have planted the fig trees at Wolston. The house Simpson lived in was much smaller than the Wolston homestead that now stands. He had arrived in Brisbane as a recent widower and lived in a way that would have made a significant or formal dwelling unnecessary. He constructed a two-room brick cottage over a sandstone basement. The house was shingled and had a detached kitchen. This cottage now forms the core of the house. Simpson may have added the existing sandstone kitchen that adjoins this section before he sold the house in 1860, or Goggs may have. After his wife and child died, Simpson designated his nephew, John Ommaney (for whom Mount Ommaney is named) as his heir. On 11 March 1856, the young man, aged 20, was riding from Wolston station and was thrown from his horse. The horse returned to Wolston, and a search was undertaken. Ommaney was found on the ground insensible and, despite medical attention, died. His body was taken by steamer to be buried in the Church of England cemetery at Paddington . This may have affected Simpson's commitment to remaining in the colony, and a few years later, he put the Wolston estate up for sale and returned to England. According to the auction notice that appeared in the Moreton Bay Courier of 3 January 1860, the estate was by then well established with 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of fenced land, an extensive garden and orchards, 250 head of horses and 400 of cattle. Matthew Buscall Goggs purchased Wolston in October 1860. He continued to operate the estate as a cattle and horse-breeding station and expanded the holding to 100,000 acres (400 km2). Goggs, a farmer's son, emigrated to Australia in 1841 and took up land at Chinchilla with his first wife. He purchased Wolston after his second marriage to Anne Gedge, and they had ten children. Goggs built a sandstone extension to the house in the 1860s to accommodate his family, and in the 1870s added a cedar annexe containing children's bedrooms. Gogg died in 1882 and was buried in a mausoleum that he had built in the grounds of the estate. This was damaged in the 1893 floods, and the bodies of Goggs and two infants were reburied at Toowong Cemetery . Following Gogg's death, his eldest son, also named Matthew Buscall, ran the estate until around 1890, when he moved to Brisbane. A Mr Thomas Matthews is recorded in Post Office Directories as having lived at Wolston between 1890 and 1893 and may have leased the property from the Goggs family. Over the years, the family had bought and sold land, and by 1907, the Wolston property had been reduced to 650 acres (2.6 km2) around Wolston House. Wolston House, 1890 In 1907, the Grindle family purchased the property. They expanded it and ran a successful dairy, milking 120 cows a day and selling the milk to Brisbane. They covered the shingle roof with corrugated iron. They rationalised the spacing of the verandah posts, which had previously been irregular, reflecting the stages of the house's extension. In 1956, Robert Hurley purchased the estate. By this time, the property had become run-down, and the house was inhabited by three elderly Grindle brothers who were no longer able to manage it. At the time, this consisted of 117 acres (47 ha) of freehold land in poor condition. The Hurleys rebuilt the property, establishing an intensive dairy business. In 1960, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock resumed the property to develop a tick research centre. They demolished the farm outbuildings and intended to demolish the homestead as well; however, an intensive campaign by the Queensland Women's Historical Association, the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, and the newly formed National Trust of Queensland saved it. In 1965, the house was transferred to the National Trust and became its first property. Sir Raphael Cilento , who became the Trust's second president from 1966 to 1971, and architect Karl Langer were prominent in acquiring the homestead and shaping its interpretation. This interpretation rested on the property's occupation by Dr Stephen Simpson, and it was therefore decided to demolish the timber section at the rear, which was clearly of a later date. When the Trust acquired the house, it was in poor condition. In addition to urgent repairs, the Trust carried out extensive reconstruction. Although it reflects early-1960s philosophies, this approach is unacceptable today. The current conservation philosophy, in line with the recommendations of the Burra Charter , favours minimal intervention and interpretation and embraces the house and its setting throughout its life. The Trust has owned Wolston House for more than 30 years. It remains open to the public as a museum, allowing study of the effects of changes in conservation philosophies and methods over this period. Description Wolston House is on a rural site between Brisbane and Ipswich overlooking the Brisbane River. The surrounding land is now occupied by Wacol Correctional Centre and the Department of Primary Industries, but retains its pastoral character. A mature garden surrounds the house, with large trees, a well, and a pump. The house is constructed of sandstone and brick, with a galvanised-iron roof, and comprises six rooms. Two cellars with attached lean-tos form a half-basement accessed from the rear. The house is one room deep with the rooms disposed along a verandah supported by timber posts. The rooms are accessed through French windows, with no formal entrance. These consist of a large double room divided by folding cedar doors, a bedroom, a dining room, and a kitchen set at a slightly lower level. Much of the joinery is original; however, much of the plaster wall finishes have been reconstructed, and the ceilings, which were thought to have been pressed metal and plaster, have been rebuilt in secondhand timber. To the rear of the house, brick basement walls remain from the 1860s children's wing, which was demolished in the 1970s. Wolston functions as a house museum, and a modern caretaker's residence is situated to one side of the house. A modern toilet block sits behind the house, and a timber railway building has been relocated to the rear of the site to serve as a store. The gate posts and part of the wall shown in 1930s photographs survive, as do elements of original paving. The collection, which was developed to furnish the house, does not pertain to it but includes items associated with individuals who lived or worked on the property. It contains several significant early pieces of furniture and objects. Heritage listing Wolston House was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992, having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. It is also associated with the formation of the National Trust of Queensland and with Sir Raphael Cilento and Karl Langer, who played significant roles in acquiring Wolston House as the Trust's foundation property. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. Wolston House is a rare surviving early homestead, primarily constructed in the 1860s, incorporating an 1852 cottage. The surviving materials and workmanship from these building stages illustrate techniques not commonly found in small rural buildings of this period. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. By its form and the absence of a formal entry, the building demonstrates aspects of the way of life of the district's first European settlers. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance The building's character and its relationship with the landscape have considerable aesthetic appeal and are well-received by the community. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. The earliest part of the house is associated with Dr Stephen Simpson (1792-1869), a prominent figure in public life in early Brisbane. It is also associated with the formation of the National Trust of Queensland and with Sir Raphael Cilento and Karl Langer, who played significant roles in acquiring Wolston House as the Trust's foundation property. HISTORIC WOLSTON. By F.E. LORD. Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Click here to view Sir Raphael Cilento demonstrating laundry mangle to Governor Sir Alan Mansfield, Wolston House, Wacol. 1969 Click here to view

Residential Area The residential area sat at the end of the main drive on an elevated position. It comprised several residences that overlooked the golf course. Most residences in this area were built after 1960, but three were built before 1920. The first building in this area was the former medical superintendent's residence. It was erected in 1898 following damage to the existing residence, which was situated near the original male wards. It is the most substantial residence on the site, befitting the medical superintendent's status. It was built of brick with terra cotta tiles and comprised spacious rooms and verandahs. The grounds were landscaped over time, creating a distinctly private area for the medical superintendent and his family. The former assistant medical superintendent's residence was erected in 1912 following a fire in the existing building. The new structure was of timber, and the planning was typical of a large Queensland residence but less substantial than the medical superintendent's residence. Both residences have been altered and extended, but still clearly retain their residential function and character. Residence D is the only other early residence in the area. It is less substantial than the others and is of minor significance in demonstrating the range of accommodation provided for staff. More to come soon Click to view

Cemetery Sites “Many burials occurred at the institution from the 1890s to 1944. Between 1895 and 1912, more than 1500 patients died there and were presumably buried in Cemetery No. 2 and possibly some in No. 3. In addition, the remains of staff members and their families were interred in the cemetery. Between 1914 and 1940, approximately 4670 patients died – an average of 155 per year. With perhaps few exceptions, all would have been buried in the hospital cemetery. A new plaque (post-2007) states that ‘approximately 200 bodies’ were transferred to Goodna Cemetery. The highest number on the grave markers is 2,300.” From Blake, ‘Wolston Park - Police Academy Cultural Heritage Survey. Archaeological excavations at and around the three previous cemetery locations could clarify the existence, character, and scope of interments. Combined with the identification and examination of related artifacts and features, this research can provide insights into how the hospital treated deceased patients and its burial customs, the spatial organisation and layout of graves, and the scale and techniques of reburials. "The asylum of the nineteenth century, and the mental hospital after it, were not intended to function as hospices for the dying or depots for the senile and abandoned aged. But in an era when there were few other options for residential care for the physically as well as mentally ill, the mental hospital was the final resting place for many... " Finnane, Mark (2008) Wolston Park Hospital, 1865-2001: Early articles relating to the complex's cemeteries May 1869 Click to view September 1926 Click to view July 1939 Click to view Cemetery Reserve Click to view Cemetery Reserve Click to view Cemetery Reserve Click to view Cemetery Site 1 (1865 - 1894) Historical records indicate that the Early Asylum Site included a cemetery near the confluence of the Brisbane River and Woogaroo Creek, at the southern end of the site, with the river serving as an access point. Site plans from around 1869 and 1878 reveal the establishment of a cemetery at the far western end, close to where Woogaroo Creek meets the Brisbane River. The severe floods of February 1893 caused significant damage to the male quarters and submerged the primary staff residences along with the original cemetery. The original asylum cemetery site may contain interments, stone and metal grave markers, and various artefacts and features related to the asylum's burial practices. During research, Mr James Clifford, who is mentioned on the Caring page, also certified burials at site 1 Location Survey Plan Click to view 1944 Image overhead corner was left untouched as framing was being conducted Click to view Untouched in 1961 Click to view Location today is part of the golf course near Woogaroo Creek Click to view Cemetery Site 1 currently apart of the Golf Course Click to view 1869 newspaper artricle Click to view 1913 newsaper article Click to view 1901 QLD Government Estimates Meeting Click to view Visit the Debbie Manson Research page Click to view Visit the Debbie Manson Research page Click to view Cemetery Site 2 (1895 - 1912) The second cemetery linked to the hospital lies on the western flank of the Male Patients Area and has archaeological potential. Historically, it lay to the north of the main hospital structures and west of the cricket field. The cemetery operated from 1895 to 1912, after which it was closed to facilitate the construction of two-story male wards, and burials were believed to have been transferred to a third cemetery by 1913. The site was later used for housing (1910s- c. 1958) and for kitchens and workshops (1970s), which have since been relocated or demolished. Possible archaeological remnants in this vicinity may include burials, reinterments, stone and metal grave markers, and various artefacts and features related to burial customs. According to the heritage report, between 1895 and 1912, more than 1500 patients died there and were presumably buried in cemetery no 2 and possibly some in no. 3 1944 overhead with location circled Click to view Heritage register report location Click to view Current location today Click to view location of site 2 early 2000s Click to view Click to view November 1899 article Click to view October 1910 article Click to view June 1911 article Click to view Cemetery Site 3 (c1913-1945) The hospital's third cemetery lies immediately northeast of the Wacol Repatriation Pavilion Complex and has archaeological potential. This area served as the hospital's cemetery from around 1913 to 1945, after which the burials were transferred to Goodna Cemetery. Cleared initially, the site now features regrowth bushland, flanked northwest by Wolston Park Road and a car park, and southeast by Orford Drive, both roads elevated above the cemetery's ground level. Possible archaeological remnants in this vicinity may include burials, reinterments, stone and metal grave markers, and various artefacts associated with burial customs. A few years ago, a bushfire went through the former site, and old headstones were still found amongst the burnt-out scrub September 1926 Click to view Queensland Times newspaper article Click to view 1946 newspaper article Click to view 1946 exhumation Click to view November 1946 Click to view 1947 article Click to view 1961 Click to view Site today Click to view Site today Click to view Site today Click to view Site today Click to view Site today Click to view Site today Click to view 2025 Click to view The Bottom Drawer Book Articles By Lisa Joy Lost remains of Wolston Park Mental Asylum patients buried in trenches. An aerial photo and a sharp memory: location of missing Wolston Park Mental Hospital patients identified Site of asylum’s hidden and forgotten cemetery acknowledged on Qld Heritage Register Mental asylum mass exhumations and missing remains: the tale of Wolston Park’s lost and forgotten patients.

Assistant Medical Superintendent’s Residence & Garden Built-in 1912 The building was erected in 1912 as a residence for the After an extensive fire in 1911, the senior assistant medical superintendent's residence was destroyed. Plans for a new residence were put in place immediately. Ellerton recommended building it in brick, but this was rejected as too expensive. However, Ellerton did persuade the Department of Works to specify Wunderlich pressed metal ceilings in the dining room and sitting rooms for the new building. Tenders were called in June 1911, and construction was completed the following year. Also had a former tennis court along with rendered masonry garden stairs, including concrete lion statues Chronology: 1912: construction was completed 1930: front verandah extended Assistant Medical Superintendent Residence Click to view Assistant Medical Superintendent Residence location of former tennis court Click to view Assistant Medical Superintendent Residence location of former tennis court rendered masonry garden stairs including concrete lion statues Click to view Assistant Medical Superintendent Residence Click to view Assistant Medical Superintendent’s Residence Click to view Assistant Medical Superintendent Residence Click to view Original and early brass door, fanlight, and window hardware Click to view timber joinery. Click to view Original and early brass door, fanlight, and window hardware Click to view Timber joinery Click to view Timber joinery including moulded architraves, picture rails, panelled doors, fretwork fanlights, multi-paned windows, window seats (dining room) Click to view Facebrick chimney Click to view Lion statues Click to view Lion statues Click to view

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Operating Profile Operational Names: Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum 1865 - 1880 Goodna Asylum for the Insane 1880 - 1898 Goodna Hospital for the Insane 1898 - 1940 Brisbane Mental Hospital 1940 - 1963 Brisbane Special Hospital 1963 - 1969 Wolston Park Hospital 1969 - 2001 The Park - Centre for Mental Health Treatment, Research and Education - The Park- Centre for Mental Health 2001 - current Operating Under Government Departments: Colonial Secretary's Office 10/01/1865 to 06/08/1896 Home Secretary's Office 06/08/1896 to 05/12/1935 Health and Home Affairs Department 05/12/1935 to 26/09/1963 Department of Health 26/09/1963 to 03/04/2012 West Moreton Hospital and Health Service 01/07/2012 - Current Heritage Classification: State Heritage Register status: Entered Date entered: 21 October 1992 Lot Plans: L414_SP257441; L408_SP257441; L413_SP257441; L412_SP257441; L526_SL4672; L527_SL4672; L530_SP111924; L395_SP118987; L402_SP129387; L407_SP130796; L1_SP130679; L2_SP130679; L4_SP130679; L397_SP141587; L600_SP206830; L406_SP191458; L409_SP257441; L411_SP273842; L410_SP257441; L415_SP257441; L3_SP130679; L404_SP257444 L409_SP312142 Archaeological: Archaeological potential: Artefact scatter Burial ground: Cemetery - Private Education, Research, Scientific Facility: School - Special Farming - Agriculture/Dairying/Grazing/Horticulture: Accommodation - Barracks, huts Farm - Dairy Farm Piggery Health and Care Services: Benevolent Institution - inebriate home. Benevolent institution home - physically/intellectually disabled Office/Office Building/Administration Centre Benevolent institution/home Hospital - psychiatric/mental institute/asylum Hospital - repatriation/veteran’s Mortuary/morgue Recreation & Entertainment: Golf course Swimming pool/Baths - in-ground Cricket ground Religion/Worship: Chapel Residential: Villa Retail, Wholesale, Services: Laundry Utilities - Gas and Electricity supply: Electricity Power Station - coal/gas/oil Utilities - drainage, sewerage, waste disposal: Rubbish dump Utilities - water supply: Dam/reservoir Pumping station Themes: Peopling places: Family and marking the phases of life Exploiting, utilising and transforming the land: Pastoral activities Exploiting, utilising and transforming the land: Agricultural activities Exploiting, utilising and transforming the land: Managing water Exploiting, utilising and transforming the land: Valuing and appreciating the environmental landscapes Working: Unpaid labour Building settlements, towns, cities and dwellings: Developing urban services and amenities Maintaining order: Policing and maintaining law and order Creating social and cultural institutions: Worshipping and religious institutions Creating social and cultural institutions: Sport and recreation Educating Queenslanders: Providing primary schooling Providing health and welfare services: Providing health services Providing health and welfare services: Caring for women and children Providing health and welfare services: Caring for the aged and infirm Architects: Queensland Department of Public Works Tiffin, Charles Designer: Cannan, Kersey Construction periods: Former Simpson Residence Site (1843-44), 1843 - 1865 1860, Former Sandstone Quarry and Track (1860s) Early Asylum Site (1865) 1866 - 1951, Female Wards 1 & 2 (1866 additions and modifications added in 1868, 1870, 1875, 1905, 1906, 1923, 1937, and 1951) 1866 - 1978, Wolston Park Hospital Complex (1866 - 1978) 1870 - 1950, Early Road Network (1870s - 1950s) 1885 - 1924, Bostock House (1885, extended 1901, c. 1924) 1890 - 1958, Residence (1890s - 1910s, relocated c1958, c2000) 1890 - 1972, Recreation Hall (1890, extended c1914, remodelled c1972) 1895 - 1910, Male Recreation Grounds (by 1895) and Cricket Pavilion (1910) 1895 -1912, Former Cemetery Site (1895 - 1912) 1898 - 1917, Fleming House (1898, extended c. 1917) 1898, Medical Superintendent’s Residence and Garden (1898) 1902 - 1949, Morgue (1902, extended 1949) 1902 - 1955, Female Bathroom Block (1902) 1902, Male Bathroom Block (1902) 1912 - 1920, Visitors Garden (c1912) and Visitors Pavilion (1920) 1912, Assistant Medical Superintendent’s Residence and Garden (1912) 1913 - 1945, Former Cemetery Site (c. 1913 - 1945) 1914, Reservoir and Pump Houses (1914) 1915, Lewis House, McDonnell House, and Noble House (all 1915) 1916 - 1919, Piggery Remnants (1916 - 19) 1916, Early Farm Ward Kitchen and Dairy (1916) 1917, Powerhouse (1917) 1917, Anderson House (1917) 1917, Administration Building (1917) 1917, Hospital (1917) 1918, Laundry (1918) 1918, Farm Overseer’s House (1918, relocated within complex area c2009 - 13) 1920 - 1925, Gailes Golf Club Course (1925) 1934, Osler House (1928), Pearce House (1934) 1936, Gladstone House, Jenner House, and Kelsey House (all 1936) 1944, Shelter Shed for Female Patients (by 1944) 1944, Garage (by 1944) 1944, Dawson House (1944) 1948, Repatriation Kitchen Block (1948) 1948, Repatriation Wards A, B, and C (all 1948) 1950 - 1956, Dam (1950) and Pump House (by 1956) 1951 - 1955, Female Recreation Grounds (1951-5) 1951, Cafeteria (c. 1951) 1951, Change Room and Stores Shed (c. 1951) 1951, Packing Shed and Patients Shelter (c1951) 1954 - 1955, Repatriation Recreation Grounds (c1954 - 5) 1954, Farm Ward Building and Grounds (1954-6, Basil Stafford Centre) 1961, Repatriation Occupational Therapy and Recreation Hall (c1961) 1961, Chapels (1961) 1964, Later Farm Ward for Male Patients (c1964, later called Weeroona) 1967- 1973, School Building for Child Patients with Intellectual Disabilities (1967), Swimming Pool (c. 1973) 1978, Villas (c1978) Historical period: 1840s - 1860s Mid 19th century 1870s - 1890s Late 19th century 1900 - 1914 Early 20th century 1914 - 1919 World War I 1919 - 1930s Interwar period 1939 - 1945 World War II 1940s - 1960s post-WWII 1970s - 1990s Late 20th century Style: Arts & Crafts Classicism Persons In Charge: Kersey Cannan - 1860 - 1869 Henry Challinor - 1869 - 1872 John Jaap - 1872 - 1877 Patrick Smith - 1877 - 1881 Richard Scholes - 1881 - 1894, 1896 - 1898 James Hogg - 1898 - 1908 Henry Byam Ellerton -1909 - 1937 Basil Stafford - 1937 - 1950 J.E.F. McDonald - 1943 - 1944 Clive Boyce - 1950 - 1965 Orme Orford - 1965 - 1976 Harry (Don) Eastwell - 1976 - 1978 Victor Matchett - 1976 (Acting) , 1978 (Acting) , 1981 -1982 James Wood - 1982 -83 (Acting) , 1983 - 1990 Policy/legislation: Mental Hygiene Act 1938 (Qld) Residency and treatment were influenced by the Mental Hygiene Act 1938 (Qld), which aimed to medicalise mental illness and required active treatment for people with a mental illness. Despite this, the Mental Hygiene Act 1938 (Qld) maintained the custodial, nineteenth-century asylum model, with broad powers for involuntary detention and no legislated patient rights to be informed of or participate in treatment plans, or to advocate for their own review or discharge. Mental Health Act 1962 (Qld) The Mental Health Act 1962 (Qld) introduced government directions to shift psychiatric services into general hospitals, aiming to focus treatment outcomes on rehabilitation and reduce the need for admissions to isolated asylum settings. Mental Health Act 1974 (Qld) The Mental Health Act 1974 (Qld) shifted language describing people with a mental illness from ‘inmate’ to ‘patient’. A subsequent amendment in 1983 established the Mental Health Tribunal to assess fitness for trial or detention under involuntary orders. Although the Mental Health Act 1974 (Qld) aimed to modernise terminology and practice, it did not yet provide a statutory definition of mental illness (that was introduced later in the Mental Health Act 2000 (Qld) following the closure of Wolston Park Hospital), or fully provide institutions and treating teams with the ability to value patient consent in decision-making about their own treatment and/or confinement. Mental Health Act 2000 (Qld) The purpose of this Act is to provide for the involuntary assessment and treatment, and the protection, of persons (whether adults or minors) who have mental illnesses, while at the same time safeguarding their rights and freedoms and balancing their rights and freedoms with the rights and freedoms of other persons Early Legislation 1843 - Dangerous Lunatics Act, 1843, 7 Vic. No. 14 1845 - Dangerous Lunatics Act Amendment Act, 1845, 9 Vic. No. 4 1846 - Dangerous Lunatics Act Further Amendment Act, 1846, 9 Vic. No. 34 1849 - Dangerous Lunatics Act Further Amendment Act, 1849, 13 Vic. No. 3 1869 - Lunacy Act, 1869, 33 Vic. No. 12 1871 - Lunacy Act Extension Act, 1871, 35 Vic. No. 1 1884 - Insanity Act, 1884, 48 Vic. No. 8 1896 - Inebriates Institutions Act, 1896, 60 Vic. No. 14 1935 - Insanity Act Amendment Act, 1935, 26 Geo. 5 No. 34 1938 - The Backward Persons Act, 1938, 2 Geo. 6 No. 30 1938 - Mental Hygiene Act, 1938, 2 Geo. 6 No. 21 1949 - Mental Institutions Benefits Agreement Act, 1949, 13 Geo. 6 No. 56 1962 - Mental Health Act, 1962, No. 46 1964 - Mental Health Act Amendment Act, 1964, No. 50 1968 - Inebriates Institutions Act Amendment Act, 1968, No. 5 1974 - Mental Health Act, 1974, No. 2 1984 - Mental Health Act, Criminal Code and Health Act Amendment Act, 1984, No. 66 1985 - Intellectually Handicapped Citizens Act, 1985, No. 11 1987 - Mental Health Services Act Amendment Act, 1987, No. 11 1989 - Mental Health Services Act and Another Act Amendment Act, 1989, No. 49 1989 - Intellectually Handicapped Citizens Act Amendment Act, 1989, No. 33 Treatments and Medications: Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a medical treatment that rapidly relieves symptoms of severe psychiatric disorders. ECT involves delivering a small, pulsed electrical current to the brain, sufficient to induce a seizure, for therapeutic purposes. ECT is performed whilst the person undergoing treatment is under general anaesthesia. Insulin Coma Therapy Insulin coma therapy, or insulin shock therapy, is a historical (circa 1930s-1950s) psychiatric treatment used to treat severe mental illness by delivering large doses of insulin to patients to induce a coma. The practice was phased out of mental health treatment plans following the introduction of antipsychotic medications beginning in the 1950s. PRN PRN, or pro ne nata (Latin for ‘in the circumstances’), medications are medications that are administered to manage symptoms as determined by an individual’s assessment of a situation, as opposed to a prescribed schedule. This does not typically mean administering a medication to exceed a prescribed daily amount, but rather administering it only as needed. The treating team must monitor, record, and review PRN medication administration to ensure it remains appropriate. Psychotropic medications Multiple psychotropic medications are referenced by either generic or trade names throughout this report. They include the following, with the generic medication name first, with the trade names in brackets and capitals: • haloperidol , • chlorpromazine (Largactil or Thorazine), • paraldehyde , • promazine . Psychotropic medications such as these medications have been used in the treatment of mental illnesses. Promazine and paraldehyde have not been used routinely since the 1970s. Since the advent of newer antipsychotic medications in the late 1990s, the use of chlorpromazine and haloperidol has become less common. They are now used only rarely and in particular situations, including when medications with a lower side-effect burden are not effective. Restraint Restraint refers to practices used as an intervention considered justifiable to protect the safety of patients and/or staff. It may refer to: • physical restraints (e.g. limitations of movement such as holding a patient by the body), • mechanical restraints (e.g. limitations of mobility such as restraining a patient to a bed or chair), • chemical restraints (e.g. the use of PRN psychotropic medications. Note that the use of medications within historical and current mental health services is considered as treatment within an acute scenario as opposed to a mechanism of restraint, or • environmental restraints (e.g. locked wards, isolation rooms or restrictions of movement between areas). Seclusion Seclusion refers to isolating a patient in a room or area they cannot leave. It is intended for use only in extreme circumstances, as a measure to prevent serious harm to the patient or others. Click to view Click to view Opening Up & Closing Down: Notes on the End of an Asylum Wolston Park Hospital, 1865 - 2001: A Retrospect Courtesy of the Queensland State Archives, here we see the paperwork advising of the change from Brisbane Special Hospital to Wolston Park Hospital in 1968. Transfer of Responsibility - Security Patients Hospital, Wacol, from the Prisons Department to the Health Department in 1985 Site Buildings * denotes the oldest remaining building since the asylum's opening Female Division • Female Ward 1 & 2 (Preserved) * • Original Female Ward 1 & 2 (Demolished) • Female Refractory Cells (Demolished) • Female Ward 3 & 5, Female Ward 3, Cameron House (Demolished), named after the former Commonwealth Minister for Health, The Honourable Donald Alistair Cameron OBE • Female Ward 4 Dawson House (Preserved) • Female Ward 6 Bostock House (Preserved)* • Female Ward 7 Anderson House (Preserved) • Female Ward 8(Demolished) • Female Ward 9 (Unknown) • Female Ward 10 (Unknown) • Female Ward 11, Lewis House (Preserved) • Matron Quarters (Demolished) • Nurses' Quarters (Demolished) • Female Toilets, Sewing Rooms (Preserved) Male Division • Male Ward 2 (Unknown) • Male Ward 2 Visitors Pavilion (Demolished) • Male Ward 2 Recreation Shelter (Demolished) • Male Ward 2 Visitation Shelter (Demolished) • New Male Ward 2 (Unknown) • Male Ward 3 (Unknown) • Male Ward 4 (Demolished) • Male Ward 5 Fleming House (Preserved)* • Male Ward 6, 7, 8 Gladstone, Jenner, Kelsey House (Preserved) • Male Ward 11 McDonnell House (Preserved) •Male Ward 12 & 13 Noble House (Preserved) • Male Ward 9 & 10 Lewis House (Preserved) • New Male Ward 14 Osler House (Preserved) • New Male Ward 15 Pearce House (Preserved) • Male Ward E (Unknown) Other Wards, Buildings • Farm Ward, Basil Stafford (Preserved) • Farm Block, Basil Stafford (Preserved) • Morgue (Preserved) • Powerhouse (Preserved) • Administration (Preserved) • Recreation Hall (Preserved)* • Laundry (Preserved) • Workshop (Preserved) • Water Reservoirs and Pumping Stations (Preserved) • John Oxley Centre (Demolished) • John Oxley Memorial Hospital (Demolished) • Cemetery Sites 1,2,3 • Riverside Ballroom, Wolston Park Golf Club (Preserved) •Croquet Green (Shelter Preserved) • Soccer Field (Demolished) • Cricket Field, Eddie Gilbert Memorial Field (Preserved) • Staff Residence 10 (Preserved) • Assistant Medical Superintendents' Residence (Preserved) • Medical Superintendents' Residence (Preserved)* • Chapels (Only 1 of 3 Preserved) Chapel - The Resurrection, Chapel - St Dympna, Chapel - Christ the King Residence A, B, E, F, H, J, K Doctors Flat Barrett Block A, B, E, F, G PABX -Speech Therapists Barrett Adolescent School Barrett Adolescent Accommodation Bowling Green & Club House (Demolished) Artisans (Demolished) John Oxley Memorial Hosptial when abandoned Click to view John Oxley Memorial Hosptial following demolished Click to view Cameron House Female Ward 3 & 5 Click to view Cameron House Female Ward 3 & 5 Click to view Female Division before and current Click to view Male Ward no 6 taken in 1911 Click to view Male Wards 4,6,7,8 in 1936 Click to view Ellerton House 1970 Click to view Ellerton House 2001 Click to view 1990s aerial image Click to view 29 January 1974 Click to view 29 January 1974 Click to view 29 January 1974 Click to view 29 January 1974 Click to view Prior to upgrades in 2000s Click to view