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Recreation Hall Built in 1890 The recreation hall was erected in 1890, extended in 1913 and 1972. The construction of an amusement room was recommended by the 1877 Royal Commission, but it was not until 1889 that plans were prepared for a Works and Recreation Room. The building comprised a large workroom, two retiring rooms, a dining room and stores. During the day, the recreation hall was used as a sewing room by female patients, and it was also available for dances, concerts or church services, which were to be a regular feature and which previously had been held in the wards. By 1912, the recreation hall was equipped with a gramophone, billiard table, bagatelle tables and a piano. In 1920, four additional WCs were installed, and two new doorways were added, providing access to the stores. The doors from the stores to the verandah were blocked up. The recreation hall was remodelled in 1972. Chronology: 1890: Construction commenced 1912: Extensions (stage, dressing room, and toilets) 1914: Fire-proof room for cinema operator 1920: Additional toilets 1972: Major additions and renovations Planned additions and extensions. Click to view Earliest photo known of the hall taken in 1907 Click to view Recreation Hall in the late 1950s Click to view Front Click to view Front Side Click to view Front stair entrance Click to view Entrance Click to view Rear stage Click to view Stage Click to view Stage with the piano Click to view New stage when built in 1914 Click to view Entrance Click to view Entrance Click to view Entrance Click to view Entrance Click to view Entrance Click to view Window at entrance Click to view Elevation rose window with tracery and coloured glass (probably 1890 fabric reused) Click to view Elevation rose window with tracery and coloured glass (probably 1890 fabric reused) Click to view Awning Click to view Rear Click to view Today 2024 Click to view Looking towards from Ellerton Dr Click to view Ventilation Shaft Click to view Underneath the stage Click to view

Ipswich Asylum The Ipswich Branch of the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum was opened in 1878 to take patients from the overcrowded Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum at Wacol. The name changed to the Ipswich Hospital for the Insane in 1910. Sandy Gallop asylum, as it was first known, was established in 1878 as a branch asylum of the Goodna asylum. It occupied a 140-acre site on the southern outskirts of Ipswich. The main building consisted of a single-storey timber-and-masonry structure containing three dormitories and two day rooms. The asylum received mainly chronic cases from Goodna. By the 1880s, it was accommodating more than 100 patients. The constant growth in admissions of patients to asylums in Queensland prompted the creation of Sandy Gallop as a separate institution. From 1910, it was known as the Ipswich Hospital for the Insane. A major building program was undertaken between 1908 and 1917 at the instigation of James Hogg, the Inspector of Hospitals for the Insane (1898–1908), and his replacement, Henry Byam Ellerton (1909–1937). Buildings erected included two male wards, three female wards, a hospital, an administration building, a laundry, a recreation hall, a kitchen, a boiler house, and a medical superintendent's residence. By 1920, the asylum was accommodating almost 450 patients. Changes in legislation in 1938 and shifts in approaches to the treatment of mental patients led to the institution's name being changed to the Ipswich Mental Hospital. The number of patients continued to grow throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and overcrowding and staff shortages became major problems. Another phase of building activity occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but did little to alleviate overcrowding. By the 1960s, more than 600 patients were accommodated in the institution. As a result of the reorganisation of mental health services in 1968, the institution was designated a training centre for people with intellectual disabilities. It was renamed the Challinor Centre and remodelled. In 1973, the original 1878 building was demolished and replaced by a substantially larger single-storey brick complex. Other new buildings included a canteen (1978), workshops (1979) and a staff development centre (1981). Attention was paid to providing recreational facilities for residents, and in 1978, a sporting oval was constructed on part of the former farm site. It was renamed the Ipswich Hospital for the Insane in 1910. These building works and improvements were intended to forge a new identity for Challinor and to distinguish it from its previous role as a lunatic asylum and mental hospital. This process also involved the demolition of buildings from earlier eras, where possible. Almost all evidence of farming activities, including sheds and yards, had been removed by the late 1970s. In 1973, Allison House (the former No. 1 female ward) was demolished, and a section of the nurses' quarters was demolished in 1981. The former medical superintendent's residence was demolished in 1984 following partial fire damage. Since the 1970s, a programme of normalisation and deinstitutionalisation has led to a steady decline in the number of people in the centre. Clients have been encouraged and assisted to move into community-based accommodation, and plans are underway to close the centre entirely. The Challinor Centre closed in 1998. The site then became the Ipswich campus of the University of Queensland . In 2015, the campus was transferred to the University of Southern Queensland, although the University of Queensland will continue to run some courses on the site. Former names: Asylum For the Insane, Ipswich Asylum For the Insane, Sandy Gallop Asylum For the Insane, Sandy Galop Hospital For the Insane, Ipswich Insane Asylum, Sandy Gallop Insane Asylum, Sandy Galop Ipswich Branch Asylum Ipswich Hospital for the Insane Ipswich Mental Hospital Lunatic Asylum, Ipswich Sandy Gallop Asylum for the Insane Sandy Gallop Insane Asylum Sandy Galop Asylum for the Insane Sandy Galop Insane Asylum Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view

Visitors’ Garden and Pavilion Built-in 1920 The Visitors’ Garden is located across from the Administration building and is highly visible from the Ellerton Drive approach. Originally a fenced yet attractive meeting space for patients and visitors, it now serves as the foreground setting for the area's main buildings. The Visitors’ Pavilion (1920) is highly intact and stands centrally in the garden at the end of Wolston Park Road. The garden terrain gently slopes to the south, and its original extent (a semicircular shape defined by the curving Ellerton Drive/Cricket Lane on its northern side) has been obscured by the progressive development of the eastern half since c1955; however, some mature trees and open spaces are retained among the buildings. Early plans indicate that the area was intended for offices and stables for horses. Visitor's Garden Click to view Visitor's Garden Click to view Visitor's Garden Click to view Visitor's Garden Click to view Visitor's Garden Click to view Visitor's Garden Click to view Visitor’s Pavilion Click to view Visitor’s Pavilion Click to view Visitor’s Pavilion Click to view Visitor’s Pavilion Click to view Visitor’s Pavilion Click to view Visitor’s Pavilion Click to view

Anderson House Built-in 1917 Anderson House (former female patient ward 7) is named after Mervyn Anderson, Toowoomba MLA, who was the former president of the Queensland Sub-Normal Children's Welfare Association and known to many as "Curley". The building remains highly intact and stands facing Ellerton Drive. Purpose-built as an admissions ward for female patients, the concept of an admission ward was to provide a facility where patients could be accommodated when first admitted to the institution. It was designed so that new patients could be kept under observation and receive more individual treatment. To achieve this aim, a building of a domestic scale and with individual cells was proposed. Initial sketches for the building were prepared by Ellerton in 1912, but final plans were not completed until February 1915. William Kerr was awarded the contract for a sum of £13,900, and construction commenced in 1915; the ward was opened in January 1917. The building is domestic in scale and set amongst semi-formal gardens, reflecting its original purpose and the principles of moral treatment. Positioned on a rise, the building is accessed from the south via stairs. In 1970, the toilets were refitted, providing additional showers and six washstands in the dormitory were removed. Anderson House is significant in demonstrating a new approach to the treatment of mental illness introduced by HB Ellerton in the 1910s. The concept of villa-type accommodation was developed in asylums in England in the late 19th century and was a departure from the practice of accommodating patients in large dormitories. The purpose of a villa-type ward, such as Anderson House, was to introduce a domestic scale to the environment for patients and emphasis was placed on the relationship with the outdoor environment. The building has important aesthetic values derived from its scale and form and is similar to buildings at Ipswich and Toowoomba asylums, and more utilitarian buildings such as the School of Musketry at Enoggera. In 2020, the building accommodates offices with minimal alterations to the original fabric. Chronology : 1916 construction completed 1970 alterations to the toilet and bathroom areas Front right side Click to view Anderson House Sign Click to view Anderson House Street Sign Click to view Anderson House Street Sign Click to view Anderson House across the street we see the former visitors stairs. Click to view In the shade Click to view Anderson House Front Click to view Anderson House Front Click to view Anderson House Front Click to view Anderson House Front Click to view Anderson House Rear Click to view Anderson House Door Click to view Anderson House Door Click to view Anderson House Rear Click to view Anderson House Front Click to view Anderson House Rear Click to view Anderson House Window Click to view Anderson House downpipe Click to view Anderson House Side Click to view Anderson House Grill Click to view Anderson House Garden Click to view Anderson House Garden Click to view Anderson House Front and Garden Click to view Family of ducks across from Anderson Click to view Sunset at Anderson Click to view

Toowoomba Asylum Situated on the northwestern outskirts of Toowoomba and known as the Baillie Henderson Hospital It was established as a lunatic asylum in 1890 and 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, from physical restraint and bizarre procedures to management through the provision of a pleasant environment and work opportunities. The new approach was based on reforming an individual by placing them in a suitable environment, and by the 1860s, asylums were accepted as the most appropriate place for the treatment of 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, three asylums were operating in Queensland. Queensland's first asylum was the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum, opened in 1865. Within a decade, overcrowding had become a chronic problem, and a Royal Commission in 1877 recommended the establishment of 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 plans for the Toowoomba institution were prepared by the colonial architect John James Clark 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 were based on 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 for m, 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 of symmetrical design, 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. The requisite requirements for a pleasant environment were enhanced by landscaping, which included planting gardens and perimeter trees to create 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 a major upgrading and expansion of the infrastructure at the Goodna, Ipswich, and Toowoomba asylums. At Toowoomba, five new buildings were erected as a result of Ellerton's initiatives. Ellerton was a strong advocate of the "moral treatment" approach to insanity. This approach emphasised the need to provide a pleasant environment for patients 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 nurse's 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. A further name change to "Toowoomba Special Hospital" was made under the Mental Health Act 1962. 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 the city 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 symmetrical layout of the hospital remains evident, although obscured in some views by well-developed landscaping and the large scale of the recreation and therapy complex located west of McDonald Hall. The buildings, grounds, and walkways connecting the buildings of the Baillie Henderson Hospital are of cultural significance; 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 original plan for the hospital complex. 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 located 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 and a stair and scullery adjacent to the dining room. The layout on the upper floors was similar, except 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 semidetached 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 continues to house 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 sometime ago. Female Ward 4 now houses the hospital's museum and remains remarkably intact. Clouston House is also in an intact condition and is vacant and used for storage. Rush House has recently been refurbished, including the removal of roof ventilator fleches and chimneys, the replacement of the roof sheeting with Colorbond sheeting, and the painting of the brickwork. Changes to the interior include the addition of partitions to dormitory areas, the replacement of joinery, the lining of floors and the addition of 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. Whilst designed as a recreation hall, the building was also used for hospital administration 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 and have contrasting lintels and sills. The hipped roof of the main hall is supported on 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 semidetached 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 is located centrally between Ray House and Jofre House, along the same axis as McDonald Hall, and is connected to these buildings by 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 are of a scale and detail that suggest the domestic function of the first floor. Three of the first-floor verandah bays have been enclosed by a half-high wall with 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 and louvred windows, with 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 semidetached 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 semidetached 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 to follow the site's symmetrical layout but are set farther from the central axis, on the outskirts of the recreation ground, which they overlook. They were a result of 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 semidetached 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 erected in 1917 as a hospital ward for the treatment of 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 quarters for the Assistant Medical Superintendent 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 contains five fireplaces and has a verandah 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 and edge along the west of the complex. The building is currently unoccupied, but a tenant is being sought. Medical Superintendent's Residence History The quarters for the Medical Superintendent 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 semidetached 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 of the site, the planting of trees, hedges, and gardens, and the incorporation of garden elements such as shelters and fencing were designed to provide an attractive and restful environment whilst 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 and mature landscaping elements are planted along the principal driveways to the hospital proper and residences, around the buildings to provide shelter and restful gardens, to create vistas, pathways and to 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 the development of 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 to have formal, symmetrical site planning and, through this symmetry and the symmetry evident in its building forms and landscaping, demonstrates an asylum based on a highly formal and systematic design. It is also the only such institution to retain its rural setting. Wolston Park, by comparison, has developed more haphazardly and less formally, although there are groups of buildings that 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 planning of the site and the design of buildings were based on well-established principles of asylum design, as enunciated 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). A common theme in both publications was the emphasis on the systematic arrangement of wards and service buildings, and on 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 golden era of the Branch 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 work produced by the Works Department. 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 until he joined 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, the name of Dr Baillie Henderson became such a legend for the good in change that the name of the hospital was changed to 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 Click to view WROE, Harriet Jane - 1921 Notice of transfer Click to view

Statement of Significance Criterion A: The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history. Wolston Park Hospital Complex (established in 1865 as Woogaroo Asylum) is important in demonstrating the evolution of mental health care and welfare in Queensland. It is an early and distinctive example of a substantial public mental health institution. Wolston Park Hospital Complex demonstrates the primary role of the state in the care of people with mental illness since the 1860s. Founded by the Queensland government as the first publicly funded mental health institution in the colony, by the 1950s, it had become the largest institution providing care and treatment for people with mental illness in Queensland. The site is also important in demonstrating the development of specialist mental health services for returned service personnel and people with intellectual disabilities, including children. Wolston Park Hospital Complex retains a range of buildings dating from the 1860s, which through their design, relationships with each other and their setting, including designed landscapes, gardens and bushland, demonstrate the changing practices in the treatment of mental illness: from confinement and separation in the 19th century (Asylum); to activities and an environment conducive to mental health/recovery from 1909 to the 1930s (Moral Treatment or Therapy); to active treatment and cure through drug and medical therapies from the 1940s (Mental Hygiene 1940s-50s and Psychiatric Services 1960s-70s); to deinstitutionalization and community-based services by the 1980s. The site's physical evolution also demonstrates these changes in practice, as the complex developed incrementally across its large reserve. Grounds landscaping and patient gardening during the moral treatment era served as a form of therapy, providing meaningful work that created a pleasant environment and recreational facilities. Farming was also used as a therapy during the moral treatment era and from the 1950s for those with intellectual disabilities. The institution’s philosophy of self-sufficiency is illustrated by the riverside quarry (1860s) and associated buildings, structures, and landscaping featuring its sandstone; the Farm Wards, which provided food supplies; and the Female Wards 1 and 2, constructed using bricks made on-site and timber felled nearby. Criterion b: The place demonstrates rare, uncommon, or endangered aspects of Queensland’s cultural heritage, as one of only three mental health institutions established in Queensland in the 19th century, and the only one that illustrates, through its fabric and layout, the evolution of mental health services from the 1860s onwards. Wolston Park Hospital Complex is rare and distinctive. Criterion B: The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland’s cultural heritage. As one of only three mental health institutions established in Queensland in the 19th century, and the only one that illustrates through its fabric and layout the evolution of mental health services from the 1860s onwards, the complex is rare and distinctive. Criterion C: The place has the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Queensland’s history. The Wolston Park Hospital Complex has the potential to contribute knowledge that will lead to a greater understanding of early and evolved mental health treatment practices and conditions, the associated activities and infrastructure, the people who lived and worked there, and broader 19th and early-20th-century social attitudes towards mental health patients in Queensland. Detailed analysis of the hospital buildings – their planning, design and fabric, along with associated objects and documentary evidence – has the potential to contribute to a greater understanding of the historical functions, operational activities, and conditions experienced by patients subject to a controlled environment. Archaeological investigations at and around the three former cemetery sites may clarify the presence, nature and extent of burials, which, along with the identification and analysis of associated artefacts and features, have the potential to yield information about the treatment of deceased patients and burial practices at the hospital; spatial distribution and arrangement of graves; and the extent and methods of reinterments. Archaeological investigations of the early asylum area – its wards, hospital, doctors' residence and cottage sites, and associated jetty and bridge sites – have the potential to reveal sub-surface artefacts and features that might inform on the layout and operational activities, the living conditions of occupants, and transportation infrastructure associated with the complex. Previously the site of the 1840s Simpson residence, this area also has the potential to yield information about the site's mid-19th-century occupation. The medium- and high-density artefact scatters in the riverbank bushland area, including glass, ceramic, and metal kitchenware and tableware, have the potential to contribute to our understanding of the occupants, their material culture, and the day-to-day activities of hospital life. Criterion D: The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. Highly intact, Wolston Park Hospital Complex is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a substantial public mental health institution in Queensland developed from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Principal characteristics include an expansive, isolated, and highly secure site; groups of hospital buildings arranged by function, with segregation of male and female patients; on-site services and infrastructure to support self-contained operation; patient cemeteries; and landscape features and functions designed for patient therapy. Wolston Park Hospital Complex is the earliest and most extensive example of its type in Queensland. The complex’s buildings, structures, and landscapes are important in demonstrating this type of place, including: Early road network Ellerton Drive (1870s, 1913-6); Boyce Road (by 1896); Hogg Lane (by 1896); Wolston Park Road, southern section (by 1896); Barrett Drive (by 1896-1948); Farm Roads (1899-1950s) Central Administration, Services, & Staff Residences Area Visitors Garden (c1912) and Visitors Pavilion (1920); Administration Building (1917); Hospital (1917); Chapel (1961); Medical Superintendent's Residence and Garden (1898); Assistant Medical Superintendent’s Residence and Garden (1912); Reservoir and Pump Houses (1914); Recreation Hall (1890-c1972); Laundry (1918); Powerhouse (1917); Morgue (1902-49). Female Patients Area Female Wards 1 & 2 (1866-1951); Shelter Shed for Female Patients (by 1944); Anderson House (1917); Staff Residence (1890s-1910s); Bostock House (1885-c1924); Dawson House (1944); Female Bathroom Block (1902) Female Patients Recreation Area & Early Asylum Site Recreation Grounds (1951-5); Cafeteria (c1951); Change Room and Stores Shed (c1951); Packing Shed and Patients Shelter (c1951); Early Asylum Site (1865), including Cemetery. Male Patients Area Recreation Grounds (by 1895); Fleming House (by 1896, c1917); Gladstone House, Jenner House, and Kelsey House (all 1936); Male Bathroom Block (1902); Lewis House, McDonnell House, and Noble House (all 1915); Osler House (1928); Pearce House (1934); Cemetery Site (1895-1912). Wacol Repatriation Complex Recreation Grounds (c1954-55); Kitchen Block (1948); Wards A, B, and C (all 1948); Occupational Therapy and Recreation Hall (c1961); Cemetery Site (c1913- 45). Gailes Golf Club Course (1925) Farm Complex Piggery Remnants (1916-19); Dam (1950) and Pump House (by 1956); Later Farm Ward Building for Male Patients (c1964); Farm Overseer’s House (1918); Early Farm Ward Kitchen and Dairy (1916). Basil Stafford Centre Farm Ward Building and Grounds (1954-6); School Building for Child Patients with Intellectual Disabilities (1967) and Swimming Pool (c1973); Villas (c1978); and Hospital Dump Sites. Wolston Park Hospital Complex is also important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the Queensland Department of Public Works (DPW) 's architectural work, retaining an extensive range of excellent, highly intact examples of DPW-designed buildings constructed over more than 100 years (1875 to c1978). The principal characteristics of the DPW’s architectural work, as demonstrated at the hospital complex, include well-designed, fit-for-purpose buildings with a dignified civic character; the use of high-quality materials; and abundant natural light and interior ventilation. Criterion E: The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. Wolston Park Hospital Complex is significant for its aesthetic qualities, owing to the expressive and evocative qualities of its highly intact buildings and landscapes. The place expresses the Queensland Government’s regulation and treatment of people with mental illnesses from the 1860s to the 1970s, particularly its use of moral therapy. Through its elevated location and ordered buildings in formal landscapes surrounded by bushland, with controlled views to and from its features, the government sought to convey the perceptions of order, control, and calm to patients and visitors. The place is also evocative of institutional life and associated experiences of isolation, dependence, confinement, and treatment. These evocative qualities are layered across a variety of aspects, including substantial ward buildings designed for patient observation, control and management; communal patient dormitories, ablutions, dining, and recreation rooms, and individual patient cells; patient work and recreation landscapes; patient morgue and cemeteries; hospital paraphernalia and dump artefacts; and the patina of use on the fabric of the buildings. Important views unfold across the site, exemplified by the imposing early female and male ward buildings juxtaposed with their open, landscaped surrounds. Criterion F: The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. The place does not display any particular artistic, architectural, or creative qualities or any technical, construction or design qualities to be sufficiently important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. The place does not satisfy this criterion. Criterion G: The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. Operating for more than 155 years, Wolston Park Hospital Complex, the oldest and for many years, the largest mental health facility in Queensland, has a strong and special association with the Queensland mental health community, including past and present patients, their family members, friends, and advocates, medical and non-medical staff, social workers, clergy, and volunteers. Criterion H: The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland’s history. Wolston Park Hospital Complex has a special association with Henry Byam Ellerton (c1871-1951), its Medical Superintendent and the Inspector of the Insane of Queensland between 1909 and 1936, who made a notable contribution to the development of mental health services in the state. Ellerton improved patient care through staff training, occupational therapy, and improved facilities. In accordance with the moral treatment method of patient therapy, Ellerton transformed Wolston Park Hospital Complex, through major building, farming, recreation, and landscaping programmes, laying out the complex in the form it still retains.

The Packing Shed and Patients' Shelter Built-in c1951 The packing shed and patient's shelter stand to the southwest of the cafeteria. It is a freestanding, brick, slab-on-ground building with a cross-shaped floor plan. Originally built to serve the surrounding vegetable fields, it is highly intact and, in 2020, is used as storage for golf course maintenance. Minimal changes include the removal of two walls from the vegetable storeroom, the replacement of its roof cladding from corrugated asbestos sheets with corrugated metal sheets, and the addition of a freestanding metal-framed shelter on the southern side. Only the interiors of the vegetable storeroom and packing area were inspected. 1950 Plan Click to view 1950 Plan Click to view Inside view Click to view Front view Click to view Front entrance Click to view Shelter Click to view Front view Click to view

Patients we have learnt about publicly thru various public sources "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living" Marcus Tulliuis Cicaro The first known patient death at the asylum Eliza Gorman Age: 31 Birth Year: 1833 Death Date: 13th January 1865, Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum Arrival Date: 20 Nov 1864 Queensland, Australia, on the Fiery Star Eliza Gorman was a young Irish woman who had been committed as a lunatic from the South Brisbane immigration depot in February 1864. Fellow passengers on her ship said she had been placed under restraint on the ship that brought her to Australia for her ‘exceedingly violent behaviour’. The warden at the depot gave similar evidence, and Eliza was committed. She was among the group brought down to the new asylum, but she died the following day. The cause of death was said to be ‘gradual decay’, but she was described as having been in a state of ‘profound melancholy when admitted’. Susan Shrimpton 1880–1954 BIRTH 4 AUG 1880 • Nanamy Station, Forbes NSW DEATH 8 DEC 1954 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland Johanna Rice 1861–1894 BIRTH 1861 • Ballinvally, Carlow, Ireland DEATH 21 MAY 1894 • Wacol, Brisbane Region, Queensland Burial of Johanna BARTLETT, with her Brother John Rice, and her daughter- [May] Mary Josephine Bartlett, all buried together, at Ipswich General Cemetery - Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. Death of Mary Josephine BARTLETT (24 June 1894, died only an baby infant) Ephraim Robert Claude Brooke 1881–1943 BIRTH 25 JULY 1881 • Normanby, Taranaki, New Zealand DEATH 16 MAY 1943 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia. Admission to Goodna Mental Asylum 13 December 1925 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia. Qld State Archive Item ID1384872 Declared Mentally Incapacitated 13 December 1925 • Qld State Archive Queensland State Archives Item ID1384872, Insanity file Death 16 May 1943 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia. Cause of death listed as cardiac failure and myocardial degeneration. buried on 18 May 1943 in Lutwyche Cemetery Margretta Elizabeth Wagner 1865–1954 BIRTH 11/9/1865 • London, Middlesex, England DEATH 12/8/1954 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna Ellen Sophie Kruck 1843–1943 BIRTH 11 FEB 1843 • South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia DEATH 31 JAN 1943 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Remembering Randall Carrington involuntary patient in Wolston Park Mental Hospital in 1970s. Randall Carrington Randall Scott Carrington was first admitted as an involuntary patient into Lowson House Mental Ward, Brisbane Hospital, on 16/06/1978, aged 17. After five weeks, he was admitted as an involuntary patient under the 1974 Mental Health Act for a year and transferred to Wolston Park Mental Hospital. Initially, he was placed in McDonnell House. After a few weeks, he was transferred to Pearce House, a brutal, locked ward for convicted violent offenders. John Milfull 1876–1948 Birth JUL 1876 • Cleator Moor, Cumberland, England Death 22 MAY 1948 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Herbert Dyer 1883–1947 Birth 1883 • Marrickville NSW Death 15 OCT 1947 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Goodna, QLD Charles Wesley Round 1867–1920 Birth 25 AUG 1867 • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Death 17 JAN 1920 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia John Devine 1879–1955 Birth 7 MAR 1879 • Baskinagh, Athboy, County, Meath, Ireland Death 7 APR 1955 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Elizabeth Matilda Parish 1852–1934 Birth 1852 • Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Death 02 JAN 1934 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Goodna, Qld Harriott Pikett 1843–1922 Birth 8 OCT 1843 • Camberwell, Norfolk, England Death 3 AUG 1922 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Sarah Ann Mace 1868–1941 Birth 1 NOV 1868 • Bonshaw Station, Tenterfield, N S W Death 29 JUNE 1941 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Qld. Aust James Scorgie 1862–1923 Birth 20 MAR 1862 • Buckie Banffshire Scotland Death 12 APR 1923 • Mental Hospital Goodna Brisbane Qld Australia Alfred Francis "Curly" Chandler 1883–1964 Birth 2 DEC 1883 • Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Death 12 DEC 1964 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Queensland, Australia William Henry Henderson 1889–1953 Birth 25 JAN 1889 • Mackay, , Queensland, Australia Death 15 OCT 1953 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Queensland, Australia Emily Isabella Cannell 1856–1947 Birth MAR 1856 • Liverpool, Lancashire, England Death 26 JULY 1947 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Edward Joseph Weston 1855–1926 Birth AB 1855 • Suffolk, England Death 22 FEBRUARY 1926 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Qld, Australia Edward Joseph Weston 1855–1926 Birth AB 1855 • Suffolk, England Death 22 FEBRUARY 1926 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Qld, Australia Mary Jane Rush 1851–1930 Birth 1851 • St George, Queensland, Australia Death 3 SEP 1930 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Matilda Greinke 1880–1961 Birth 23 DEC 1880 • Kaschnitz, Pommern, Prussia Death 19 MAY 1961 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Catherine (Kate)Kathleen Boyce 1856–1929 Birth 1856 • Beechworth, Victoria, Australia Death 21 MARCH 1929 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Alfred Jonathan Runham 1851–1938 Birth 6 APR 1851 • Sawston, Cambridgeshire, England Death 26 DEC 1938 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Queensland, Australia Thomas Auton 1885–1936 Birth 1885 • New Plymouth, New Zealand Death 5 MAY 1936 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Frederiche Wilhelmine Auguste Zellmere 1851–1919 Birth 1851 • Neu Larzig, Dramburg, Pomerania, Germany Death 25 DEC 1919 • mental, hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Percy Young 1876–1950 Birth 01 JUN 1876 • Birmingham, Warwickshire, England Death 31 MAR 1950 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna John (Jack) Burrows 1896–1956 Birth ABT. 1896 • Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Death 21 JUN 1956 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia James Madden 1855–1936 Birth 11 MAY 1855 • Jamberoo, New South Wales, Australia Death 10 OCTOBER 1936 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland Joseph McLean 1858–1943 Birth 1858 • Lostwithiel. St Winnow, Cornwall, England Death 16 OCT 1943 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Janet Kerr Barclay 1874–1928 Birth SEP 29, 1874, • Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland, Death MAY 16, 1928, • Goodna Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Eva Mary Douglas 1872–1948 Birth ABT. JUN 1872 • Pancras, London, England, Death 7 OCT 1948 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Irvine Crain 1834–1919 Birth 08 SEP 1834 • Corkill, Kilskeery Parish, County Tyrone, Ulster Nth Ireland Death 5 DEC 1919 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Eileen Fysh 1834–1958 Birth 05 SEPT 1899 • Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Death 3 MAY 1958 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Martha Helena Gunzler DEATH 18/12/1953 Martha was admitted to Goodna Asylum in September for 'having a weak intellect and being troublesome at times' in September 1915. She was transferred to Toowoomba Mental Hospital in 1918, where she remained until her death. Anna Marie Karoline Meier 1887–1928 Birth 25 JAN 1887 • Mt Beppo, Queensland, Australia Death 9 MAY 1928 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Lillian Sherman Markwell 1874–1936 Birth 16 SEP 1874 • Slacks Creek, Logan River, Queensland, Australia. Death 01 NOV 1936 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Queensland, Australia Eva Emily Percival 1904–1922 Birth 6 MAY 1904 • Ayr, Burdekin Shire, Queensland, Australia Death 16 OCTOBER 1922 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Andrew Clanachan 1858–1934 Birth 11 DEC 1858 • Kirkcowan, Wigtownshire, Scotland Death 26 JUL 1934 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Qld, Aus Mary Hannah D'Arcy 1881–1958 Birth 12 JAN 1881 • Auckland St, Bega, New South Wales, Australia Death 6 MAY 1958 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland Mary Jane Tucker 1869–1952 Birth 17 MAR 1869 • North Pine, Queensland, Australia Death 07 JUL 1952 • Goodna Mental Hospital. Goodna, Queensland, Australia Eliza Arberry 1862–1945 Birth 9 AUG 1862 • 5 Lower College St, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England Death 6 AUG 1945 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia James Bryan 1862–1935 Birth 1862 • Clogher, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland Death 29 OCT 1935 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Qld, Australia Hugh Alexander Ellis 1888–1962 Birth 08 MAY 1888 • Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Death 14 SEP 1962 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Queensland, Australia Denis Gregan Dillon 1866–1931 Birth SEPT 1866 • Kinard, Limerick, Ireland Death 7 JUL 1931 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Queensland Elsie Myra Lewis 1910–1967 Birth 27 APRIL 1910 • Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Death OCT 20, 1967, • Goodna Mental Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Edward Joseph Weston 1855–1926 Birth AB 1855 • Suffolk, England Death 22 FEBRUARY 1926 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Qld, Australia William John Forsyth 1895–1935 Birth 30 JAN 1895 • Fassifern Valley, Queensland, Australia Death 17 JAN 1935 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia Frances Helen Wooroolah O'Donahoo 1910–1946 Birth 31 JAN 1910 • Blackall, Queensland. Australia Death 9 DEC 1946 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia George Stenhouse 1872–1949 Birth 9 DEC 1872 • Channelkirk, Berwickshire, Scotland Death 4 FEB 1949 • Goodna Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Oda William Atkins 1887–1963 Birth 1 NOV 1887 • Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia Death 17 JUN 1963 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Harold Sheppard 1891–1935 Birth 13 DEC 1891 • Quay Street, Bulimba, Queensland, Australia Death 20 MAY 1935 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia George James Benham 1830–1902 Birth 19TH SEPTEMBER 1830 • Baptised Parish of Hinton Ampner, Hampshire on 19 Sep 1830 Death 4 AUG 1902 • Died stroke, Goodna Mental Hospital John Moffat Young 1861–1941 Birth 12 MAY 1861 • Milton, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland Death 31 MAY 1941 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland, Australia John Henry Grisinger 1889–1955 Birth 20 JUL 1889 • Bogambil near Lismore, New South Wales, Australia Death 9 MAY 1955 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, New South Wales, Australia Charlotte Fox 1849–1938 Birth 15 SEP 1849 • Nag's Head Hill, Clifton St George, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England Death 26 SEP 1938 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Victor Ernest Henry White 1896–1948 Birth 22 JULY 1896 • Boundary Street, Spring Hill, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Death 15 AUGUST 1948 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia John Frederick "Joseph Hugh" Bebb Barry 1870–1956 Birth 19 JUL 1870 • Mortlake, Surrey, London, England Death 29 AUG 1956 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Blanche Hilda HANSEN 1905–1942 Birth 16 JUN 1905 • Limestone Creek, Yeppoon, Queensland Death 27 AUG 1942 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Queensland Mary Jane Crain (Fletcher) 1864–1943 Birth 14 JAN 1864 • Araluen, New South Wales, Australia Death 12 JUL 1943 • Brisbane Mental Hospital, Goodna, Brisbane, Queensland James Garrad 1887–1925 Birth 6 MAR 1887 • Hope Island, Logan, Queensland, Australia Death 26 SEP 1925 • Mental Hospital, Goodna, Qld Cecilia Kelly 1876–1939 Birth 7 OCT 1876 • Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Death 4 NOV 1939 • Mental Hospital, Goodna. Aged 63 Years. Dulcie May Lake (nee Swindell) Dulcie May Lake (nee Swindell) Click to view Letter Click to view Letter to the Governor of Queensland from the Home Secretary's Office, Brisbane, providing information on the cases of members of the Australian Imperial Forces who have been admitted to Goodna Asylum. Dated 9th January 1917 Click to view Click to view Click to view Here we see the 1904 inquiry into the death of patient Thomas Ireland. Who drowned in a body of water at the former quarry located out the back of the Asylum. He was buried at the cemetery site no 2 Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Admission notice and medical reports for Carl Anderson or Andersen from Denmark, who was discovered wandering in Beaudesert. Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Courtesy of the Queensland State Archives here we see a patient file from the year 1900 of john Softley Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Patient David Nolan Born: 1841, Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland Died: 6 July 1898, Woogaroo Asylum – Mania & Exhaustion Magisterial Inquiry held at Woogaroo Asylum, 7 July 1898, by W Yaldwyn PM Buried 8 July 1898, Asylum Cemetery 2 Great Grandpa David Nolan was born in County Tipperary in 1841 to Edmond Nolan and Catherine Morrissey, one of four known children. David was baptised in the Roman Catholic faith in the Parish of Cashel on 16 May 1841. In 1877, David boarded the brand-new immigration ship, Saraca, bound for Maryborough, one of 275 Assisted Passengers. The Saraca departed Greenock, Scotland, on 18 Aug 1877 and arrived in Maryborough on 14 December 1877. On 22-Nov-1882, David married Bridget Hogan, an Irish immigrant who had arrived just 5 months prior, in St Mary's Church, Maryborough, according to the rites of the Church of Rome. David worked for the Queensland Government Railways, according to the Staff records—the earliest known record dates to 1889, as a Labourer. The 1892 Staff record shows he was a lengthsmen. David & Bridget had six children before Bridget died on 14 Sep 1892, just 9 months after the birth of their 6th child. Great Grandpa Nolan then married another young Irish Immigrant, Eliza Tinkler, on 9 July 1893, again at St Mary’s Church, Maryborough. David and Eliza had three children: Alice Margaret, born 19 Jun 1894 and died 1 Jul 1894; and Lizzie, my grandmother, born 17 Sep 1895 and died 3 Apr 1980. Their 3rd Child, William John, was born on 20-Jun-1898 whilst his father was in Woogaroo Asylum and died on 13 Mar 1899. David was committed to Woogaroo Asylum on 23 June 1898 and died, just 2 weeks later, on 6 Jul 1898 of Mania and exhaustion. Woogaroo Asylum contacted Eliza to request a contribution toward the maintenance of our David whilst in their care. The letter she wrote in return says, “Sir, referring to your letter of 26th October, my husband David Nolan has no property of any kind. He has no relations in Queensland. He left eight children, including an eight-month-old infant. The oldest boy is only fifteen. I cannot earn sufficient income to purchase food for my children. I am relying on the Government for housing because my husband was a lengthsman on the railway line. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Obedient Servant, Mrs D Nolan. An article in the Maryborough Chronicle on Friday, 24 March 1899, advertises “A social and dance will be held in the Hibernian Hall on Easter Monday night, under the auspices of the HACB Society and in aid of the widow and orphans of Late D. NOLAN”. I cannot begin to imagine what it was like for Eliza and the children at the turn of the 19th and the start of the 20th Century. Times were tough for a lone woman. So different to our lifestyle now! Life improved for Eliza, who married Andrew Jessen, a widower with 14 children (yes, I said our Eliza was excellent) in 1900 and lived a happy life bearing him three children. I have not found any record of a grave marker for David Nolan in the relocated Goodna Cemetery Click to view Click to view Click to view Patient John Cook Till John Cook Till was a Pearl Trader, Gunrunner to French New Caledonia, and supplier of indentured labour from Vanuatu and elsewhere. He lived on Middle Percy Island 1860/80s. He went to Brisbane for medical treatment for Flu-like symptoms. Then spent the last 25 years of his life, from 1887 to 1912, at Goodna Asylum. He was a Master Seaman. He was also a person of interest to the French and British Governments. Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Patient Robert Mandy Edols Robert Edols was admitted to the asylum in May 1894, aged 29 and died there on 21st May 1940, aged 75. Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Eliza Jaccard late of Rockhampton, aged 11 years, of epilepsy Birth 1878 • Switzerland Death 25 May 1889 • Goodna, Queensland, Australia Brisbane Mental Hospital, Wednesday 10 March 1886 An inquiry was also commenced on Friday Last by sub-committees appointed by the committees of the Rockhampton Benevolent Society and the Port Curtis and Leichhardt Districts Hospital for ascertaining if there was any truth in the charge made verbally by Dr Macdonald against the matron of the Children's Hospital. It seems the doctor told that lady, a Mrs Mills, that she had ill-treated a child named Eliza Jaccard, and that he would no longer permit it. She wrote to the society's committee, by which she was appointed, demanding an investigation. Dr Macdonald was examined and cross-examined at great length, The substance of his evidence was this:-"At 4 o'clock one morning I was lying in my bed in my residence, which is fifty yards distant from the Children's Hospital, and heard smacks; a child, Eliza Jaccard, screamed, and I heard Mrs Mills call her a dirty brute, and a dirty beast; I saw the child, too, on two occasions, tied up to the lattice with a cloth; she was partly suspended in this way, the band being around her waist." Mr Henry Jones, who was vice president of the Port Curtis Hospital when the alleged brutality took place, was also examined, and he declared that when he saw the girl on the day following the castigation, there were no marks save a few pimples on her. He also stated that she was an idiot and that, when he endeavoured to pat her head, she shrank back and howled. The inquiry was not concluded on Friday, and when the ladies and gentlemen met on Monday to continue it, they were presented with a letter signed by Dr Macdonald and several employees at the General Hospital, stating that the matron had been intoxicated the previous day and that the doctor had to discharge her. The visitors' book was produced, and it contained a memorandum signed by the police magistrate and the mining registrar, corroborating these assertions. A motion was then passed in favour of discontinuing the hearing of evidence as to the charge of cruelty, it being the opinion of all the members of the committee that there was no need for further prosecuting the investigation, as the matron, who had demanded it, was absent. The position of the Children's Hospital was then discussed, and it was decided to recommend that the named institutional committees take steps to place it on an independent basis under the management of an independent committee. Other matters of detail were arranged, and the proceedings terminated. Wikitree Biography (Information sourced from Family Tree research, compiled by Erica Knox, nee Goltz) All that I know of my mother’s maternal grandmother was that she died in Switzerland, survived by her husband and three little daughters. Her husband (Mum’s grandfather, Albert Jules Jaccard) was born in 1849 and emigrated from Switzerland as a widower with the three little girls. The eldest was Marguerite (known as Maggie), then Matilda Emma (known as Tilly - Mum’s mother) and their little sister, Eliza. Matilda’s marriage certificate gives her birthplace as St Croix, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Sadly, Eliza died as a child. Mum had always believed that she died as a result of eating poisonous berries. I located her name, written as “Glisa”, as well as those of Albert, Matilda and Marguerite, as passengers on a ship from England, the “Merkara”, owned by the British East India Company, which left Plymouth, England, in March 1883 and arrived at Cooktown about 11 th May 1883, then sailed on to Townsville. I seem to remember hearing (probably from my cousin Ivan) that a son, Paul, had previously died in Switzerland. I was anxious to unravel the mystery surrounding Eliza’s fate and originally thought that her name was either “Glian” or “Glisa” as that was how it was recorded on the Merkara’s passenger list. I had been unable to find any record of the death of either Glisa Jaccard or Glian Jaccard in Queensland, but there is a record in the Queensland Police Gazette 1889 of an Eliza Jaccard who died of epilepsy at Woogaroo Asylum in Goodna, in 1889 (parents unnamed). At this stage, I thought Eliza’s name was “Glian” or “Glisa”, and although the name “Eliza” was different, I had a gut feeling about it. Perhaps there might have been a case of mistaken handwriting on the Merkara’s passenger list, and “Glisa” and “Glian” were recorded instead of “Eliza”? A record in the Queensland Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages shows that Eliza Jaccard (parents unnamed) died in 1889, was born in Switzerland, and was aged 11 years. “Glian” Jaccard, listed as a passenger on the Merkara, was said to have been born “about 1879”, aged ten or 11 in 1889. The Australia Death Index lists Eliza’s date of death as 25 th May 1989. The article at right appeared in the Brisbane Courier Mail on 10 th March 1886. If the Eliza Jaccard referred to was my great-aunt, her short life was indeed tragic. She was only a child when her mother died, and she was subjected to unspeakable treatment at the hands of the matron of the Children’s Hospital, and then died in a mental asylum in 1889 at the age of eleven. I later found a report in The Morning Bulletin dated 2 nd March 1886 regarding the ill-treatment of Eliza Jaccard whilst a patient at the Children’s Hospital in Rockhampton. It included the following passage: “She is the daughter of a blacksmith who works at the Central Queensland Meat Export Company's Works, and the disease from which she suffered was caused by eating berries of some kind; she is subject to fits”. There was no longer any doubt that the ill-fated Eliza was the daughter of Albert Jules Jaccard Grandma Hill had told her children that her sister died from eating poison berries. Many years later, Ivan Williams (Rita’s son) did a lot of work on the family history, well before we had the benefits of computers and the internet. He was unable to find any mention of Eliza arriving in Australia with the rest of the family and wondered if she had died on the voyage and been buried at sea. Mum then wondered if Grandma had mentioned the poison berries to frighten her children about eating such things. Now we know that Eliza did indeed eat the berries. It must have been so difficult for Albert Jaccard, a single parent who had to work to support his children, and would have had no one to help him and give Eliza the care that she needed. She was eventually transferred from the Children’s Hospital in Rockhampton to the Woogooroo Asylum, so far away from her family, where she died alone in such tragic circumstances. The inquest into Eliza’s death recorded that she was transferred to the Asylum from Rockhampton in December 1886, aged eight. After we had discovered what happened to Eliza, Katie made some phone calls and found out that Eliza was buried at the Woogooroo Asylum, but from 1945 to 1950, 200 bodies were exhumed and transferred to Goodna General Cemetery, where a memorial wall has been erected. We were told that it was possible to have a plaque made and erected on the wall, so Katie and I had one done. In June 2018, Kevin, Katie and I had a holiday at the Scenic Rim and on our way home, we called at the Goodna Cemetery to see the plaque and pay our respects. It was a very sombre place, but we were pleased that we had recorded Eliza’s name. There were very few plaques on the wall. Memorial Plaque at Goodna Cemetery Click here Inquiry Paperwork Click here Click here Click here Click here Click here Click to view Click here Miscellaneous Files Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Remembering the South Sea Islanders at Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum

Early Asylum Site Before the establishment of the Early Asylum Site (former Woogaroo Insane Asylum, established 1865, demolished following the 1890-93 floods), the area was the site of the former Simpson Residence (1843-44), which comprised a house located on the ridge, with stables to its southwest, and a series of dams along a north-south watercourse to its east. Historical documents indicate the Early Asylum Site was arranged with a cemetery near the confluence of the Brisbane River and Woogaroo Creek; a hospital to its northwest; and a men’s ward and various service buildings, along the central curved ridge where the cafeteria currently stands and to its south. Initial access was via a wharf on the river to the north, and later a series of bridges (a footbridge in the 1870s, a timber road bridge by 1896, a stone and timber road bridge in 1916) crossed the creek southeast of the men’s ward. A steam saw and a nearby cottage were located northeast of the footbridge. The female ward stood on higher ground to the north, with a doctor's residence to its immediate south. By 1896, water management and farming infrastructure included a dam along what is now Boyce Road, and a nearby sawmill, stables, and piggery. In 1862, the final site for the first Asylum building was determined: it was the site formerly occupied by Dr Simpson's Border Police Station, near the junction of the Brisbane River and Woogaroo Creek. This land was flat and already cleared, and had a wharf nearby. Building began in 1863, with bricks made on site and timber and stone cut locally. The first patients arrived by river in 1865. The new Lunatic Asylum at Woogaroo has been fairly commenced. It is the first block of a series of buildings to be constructed hereafter for the exclusive accommodation of the insane. The design partakes of the Italian order of architecture, and the building, when completed, will have a neat though not showy appearance. The walls, two storeys high, are to be composed of brick and stone, the roof of slate, and the building is estimated to accommodate 48 males and 32 Floods Whatever gains in improving and expanding the ward accommodation were achieved in the building work during the 1880s were suddenly negated when the asylum experienced severe flooding in March 1890. The Brisbane River rose to a height of 40 feet, the highest level ever recorded. All of the male section was inundated, and damage was caused to all the buildings, as well as fences and other structures. Three months were required to repair the damage before patients were able to return to the buildings. Fortuitously, the first wards at the new Toowoomba asylum were completed in April. In 1890, a group of patients were transferred from Goodna. Disastrously, another severe flood occurred three years later in February 1893. Abnormally high rainfall in the catchment of the Brisbane River raised the level to an unprecedented height. It caused, according to the Brisbane Courier, "lamentable havoc' at the asylum. All the male wards were again inundated, as well as the four main staff residences. The farm, recreation grounds, and fencing suffered extensive damage. As a temporary measure, more than 100 of the 'quieter' male patients were transferred to the former Diamantina Orphanage at South Brisbane. More patients were transferred to Toowoomba, and the building of new male wards became even more urgent. Relocating the male division The floods highlighted the unsatisfactory location of the main male section. After the 1890 flood, the decision was made to abandon the low-lying area near the river and consolidate the male section on higher ground where two wards had already been erected. In 1890, a temporary timber building was erected in this area to alleviate the immediate problems of overcrowding. A more substantial two-storey brick building for 50 male patients was opened in 1892." The main building program occurred after the second flood. Between 1894 and 1900, four new wards were completed for male patients: in 1894, two similar single-storey wards, each with accommodation for 75 patients; a two-storey brick building in 1898 [Fleming House]; and in 1900, a large two-storey block. By the turn of the century, the male section comprised a well-defined group of eight buildings. A cricket ground was laid out in 1895 by patient labour adjacent to the male wards. Early Dams A series of three dams along the watercourse that runs roughly north-south and feeds into Woogaroo Creek North Dam - Substantial earth dam forming part of the current Boyce Road alignment, and a reservoir Central dam/crossing - Stone and earth dam/crossing remnants, located along an early (1860) former road alignment South Dam – Earth dam Stone Bridge Abutment (1916) End of Ellerton Drive Areas where potential archaeological evidence could contribute to a greater understanding of the early layout and operation of the complex, the activities and living conditions of occupants, and associated transport infrastructure include the following: Simpson Residence Site Potential archaeological evidence in this area includes footings of former buildings and artefacts associated with the site's mid-19th-century residential occupation. Original Asylum Cemetery Site 1 Potential archaeological evidence in this area includes interments, stone and metal grave markers and other artefacts and features associated with asylum burial practices. Original Asylum Hospital Site Potential archaeological evidence in this area includes footings and postholes from former buildings and artefacts associated with asylum medical practices. Original Asylum Men’s Ward, Female Ward, Cottage, Doctor's Residence and Associated Building Sites. Potential archaeological evidence in this area includes footings and postholes from former buildings and artefacts associated with the early asylum site's occupation. Asylum Sawmill, Stables and Piggery Site. Potential archaeological evidence in this area includes footings and postholes from former buildings and artefacts associated with asylum farming practices. Wharf Site & Bridge Sites Potential archaeological evidence in this area includes stone and timber abutments and piers. The Simpson Letterbook Click here to view a very detailed plan of Woogaroo Asylum in 1896, showing the layout of buildings to this day remain as well as some geographical features. Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view Click to view 1893 Flood Click to view 1890Flood newspaper report Click to view The Goodna Asylum Farm. By D.J. Click to view GOODNA— ASYLUM PATIENT DROWNED. 1890 Click to view Contract for New Wards 1893 Click to view Click to view Related Documents to the Early Asylum 1877 Royal Commission of Inquiry into Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum and the Lunatic Reception Houses of Queensland - Eyles Irwin Caulfield Browne, William Graham, William Henry Groom, William Gill Bailey, William Leworthy Good Drew, Joseph Bancroft Click to view Commission of Appointment - Commissioner re Enquiry Lunatic Asylum, Woogaroo - Patrick Macarthur, Police Magistrate at Ipswich and Albert Maxwell Hutchinson, Sub Collector of Customs at Ipswich - Dated 1869 Source - State Archives Click to view Commission of Appointment - Commissioner re Enquiry Lunatic Asylum, Woogaroo - Patrick Macarthur, Police Magistrate at Ipswich and Albert Maxwell Hutchinson, Sub Collector of Customs at Ipswich - Dated 1869 Source - State Archives Click to view Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld.: 1861 - 1908), Tuesday 18 May 1869, page 4 WOOGAROO LUNATIC ASYLUM. The following is the special report sent to the Colonial Secretary by Mr Hutchinson: Sir,- Although scarcely justified in so doing, officially, I trust I may not be deemed intrusive if, in my private capacity, I venture to submit for your consideration, the following cursory observations, with intention to attract your special notice to what, from a non-professional point of view, appear to be the most salient deficiencies and defects in the condition and management of the Lunatic Asylum, at Woogaroo. As designed for the mere purpose of safe custody, the Asylum, in point of equipment, is not on the customary effective footing of a common goal. As an institution for the treatment of the insane, with a view to the restoration of mental health, as far as my unprofessional understanding enables me to judge, I should say it is simply a delusion. When it is said that the buildings are admirably kept with respect to cleanliness and that the ordinary patients are fairly clad and well-fed, the measure of deserved praise may be considered exhausted. Unfortunately, tile deficiencies at the establishment that warrant condemnation are far more numerous. Briefly, they may be epitomised as including either the insufficiency or utter absence of everything popularly supposed to be desirable or essential for the successful treatment of lunacy. The principal defect that most conspicuously demands early attention is the manifest insufficiency of accommodation for proper classification of the patients. In the male department, the number of leaping rooms admits of a partial though inadequate subdivision by night; but by day, the means are restricted to a separation of the most violent and noisy from the quieter, and the more peaceful from the infirm. In practice, this is effected by drafting them, on release from the sleeping wards, into their respective yards, wherein, and in the mese room attached to each, they are confined until evening, except a few who form what is called "tie outside working party." These yards are three in number, of the absurdly small dimensions noted (No. 1-81ft. x 61ft., No. 2-81ft. a 86ft., No. 8 141ft. a 81ft.), and divided from each other, as well as walled in by a close plank wall, 12 feet high, completely shutting out all view of the surrounding grounds. Being undrained, they are, moreover, muddy beyond measure in rainy weather, and in all weathers unsheltered, save by a not-too-large shed in one and the shade of a tree in another. From early morning until withdrawn for the night the wretched inmates can be seen pacing to and from in various degrees of restless excitement, or lounging listlessly brooding over their misfortunes, whereof, to 10 out of 20; the least endurable would seem to be the galling sense of a gaol-like imprisonment, which, as they cannot understand as a necessity, they resent as an injustice. Without occupation, without amusement of any kind, for the confines in No. 3 yard, there is literally nothing to break the monotony or divert the tedium of the dreary day, except the momentary gratification of consuming their meals. The confines in No. 2 are substantially very little better off. Their enclosure is smaller, and absolutely without shelter from the broiling sun or falling rain as either may happen to prevail; but for them a couple of bagatelle and draught boards, with a pack or two of cards, nod, weather permitting, a game of cricket, would serve, at least for some, to while away for an hour br so the weariness of life. The bagatelle and draughts fail to inspire either a lively or general interest; cricket is held in greater esteem, less perhaps for the pleasure of the game than the chance it affords for a passing glimpse of the outer world. No. 1, still smaller than No. 2 yard, is devoted to paralytics, and semi-hospital patients in various conditions of chronic debility; and this brings me to the second grievous defect in present arrangements, the absence of a proper infirmary for the due treatment of sufferers from bodily ailments requiring special medical care and supervision. One of the chief errors into which the witness Thomas White has, by a not unreasonable misconception, fallen is in supposing the building in No. 1 yard to be the hospital of the establishment. In point of fact, there is no infirmary, nor, as far as I am competent to judge, any hospital arrangements adequate to the proper medical treatment of the sick. Patients requiring such treatment for acute disorders are kept indifferently in wards No. 3 and on the ground floor of the main building, which are not devoted exclusively to their use; and, with the wooden building referred to, called the 'hospital in the yard,' are wholly unfurnished with any of the conveniences of a sick room. The care of the sick by day is dependent on the perfunctory attention of the hall warder, who has other duties to perform, and by night on such casual attention as the sole warder in charge of the entire premises may bestow. I am not prepared to say that in the matter of prescribed sick dirt, and medical comforts, they are altogether neglected. The chief warder, in conjunction with his other numerous and really arduous duties, seems not unmindful of their interests. On the whole, however, I am inclined to believe that all practicable attention under present circumstances is. Insufficient to the requirements of the infirmary patients proper, as well as the usual confines in the "hospital in the yard"-that is to say, patients in a state of chronic debility and of filthy habits. The institution's total inadequacy in ablutionary arrangements constitutes another of its principal deficiencies. Setting on one side the desirability of the most scrupulous personal cleanliness on the part of the inmates, it is almost incredible that in an establishment where plentiful, ablutions in every shape and form are a primary necessity in a then poetic point of after a five years' existence, there is neither bath-room nor bath utensils of any kind save and except three half-hogsheads inn one yard, two in another, and one in the third; four hand-basins in an unused cell, and a dilapidated shower bath, of inconvenient construction, behind the kitchen. With the occasional loan of a tub from the laundry, the appliances mentioned constitute the entire provision for the ordinary and sanitary ablutions of from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty patients, more or less afflicted with insanity, and, as a consequence, for many reasons, requiring more than average liberality in that behalf. But were the appliances better, the means of a copious supply of water are lacking. This is the more unaccountable in that, stinted as it is in the extreme for water, Asylum stands within a distance of a hundred yards in front of the Brisbane River on the one side, and Woogaroo Creek on the other,-from either whereof abundance for the coarser uses of the institution could be made available, at a trivial outlay judiciously expended. The rainfall from the roof of the building itself, collected in a suitable system of underground tanks, would afford a more liberal supply for general purposes than the present method of drawing from the creek by horse and cart, not what is required, but what is used, the difference between the two being in the proportion of one to twenty gallons. So far, however, there is no system of underground tanks; there are only a few galvanised-iron tanks, the contents of which are reserved for drinking purposes. Another deficiency, to which your attention has already been directed, deserves a passing notice, viz., the absence of padded cells, lock beds, and other expedients for dealing more tenderly than present resources permit with patients of violent and destructive habits, especially such as are addicted to tearing up their clothes and bedding. Confinement, in all seasons, in bare hardwood cells, without clothing or other bedding than loose straw, seems scarcely humane or proper treatment. But, under existing circumstances, there is apparently no other course. This is a grave defect and demands prompt remedy. The deficiencies of the dormitory and messing arrangements hardly fall within the scope of my present object. Indeed, little exception can be taken to the former. The wooden linings of the walls certainly impede the complete extermination of vermin. Still, they may perchance be necessary as a protection against the petty destructive inclinations of many of he patients. Both dormitories and mess-rooms are lofty and well-ventilated. The messing also is, on the whole, good, and the ordinary patients are better than perhaps the generality are accustomed to be. This, however, would be rendered more certain of continuance if someone were charged with the special duty of inspecting the rations upon receipt from the contractor, with respect to both quality and quantity. On more than one occasion, I have had to find fault with the bread as being scarcely according to contract. The female department is, in some respects, superior to the male department. But here again, conditions prevail subversive of the objects of the institution. The dormitories are overcrowded, and there are no means of secluding or adequately tending the sick, or dealing kindly with patients of violent and destructive habits. There is a capacious underground tank on the premises, and an excellent corridor available for exercise. But the first is partially rendered ineffective for want of a serviceable pump, and the other is set off by the literally complete absence of even a pretence shelter in the yards, two in number, and surrounded with the inevitable close plank fence so suggestive of penal imprisonment. The drainage of this branch is worse than in any other branch of the establishment. Having referred to a few of the most prominent deficiencies of the asylum, I would now chiefly advert to a few seeming defects in the general management. It cannot be to the advantage of patients that only inexperienced persons be employed as attendants. Still, the fact is that neither warders nor nurses have ever before been employed in an institution of the kind, with the single exception of warder Bailey, lately appointed by yourself, who was for a very short time an employee in the Gloucestershire Asylum. The value of experienced and skilled attendance on the insane is too apparent to admit of doubt. The existence of the defect needs, therefore, only to be pointed out to suggest the remedy and the expediency of its application in making selections for future appointments. The present practice of appropriating the clothes and personal effects of patients for the use of the institution is, to some degree, objectionable. It may be that generally, they are of no great value and that nothing would be gained by storing them for any length of time. Nevertheless, it seems desirable that means should be provided to protect them from use at least for a fixed period. If, ultimately, it became impracticable to return them to their owners upon discharge, they should be replaced by similar articles of a description known to the police, issued only to discharged patients, to obviate the inconvenience that sometimes arises from patients being supplied on liberation with clothes bearing the asylum brand, in connection with the disease. Some patients may note the apparent harshness. Missing in a penniless condition such as have been brought from considerable distances, without any assistance towards enabling them to return p the localities from whence they came, or where they are known. The greater number of patients are of a class who would find the best means of amusement in congenial occupation. Nothing, I feel assured, would contribute more to the benefit of the institution and the individual welfare of the inmates than moderate employment. Not being competent to decide whether they could be employed more than they are, I can only say that if they could, they ought to be. Nor is there any lack of opportunities to utilise their labour. Enlarging and draining the yards, constructing 'underground tanks, improving the spacious and picturesque grounds belonging to the institution, gardening, and even agriculture on a small scale, might well occupy some of the time now spent by many in painful idleness. Trilling indulgences, such as were formerly allowed, would stimulate willingness to labour; but as a rule, being allowed without the sais would, I am inclined to believe, be found to operate as sufficient inducement. The propriety of allowing the warders' non-residence to continue may be doubted. For several reasons, their being quartered in, or in too close proximity to, the institution might not be an unmixed advantage. Still, under a better system, the residents of some areas at different points within the grounds would be served with appreciable benefit. At present, the surgeon-superintendent and the chief warder are the only officers provided with quarters and permanently in residence; the circumstance of one warder currently residing on the premises being a casualty. I have no knowledge of the 'internal condition of the surgeon-superintenont's abode (a prettily situated cottage overlooking the Brisbane River, about equidistant between the two branches of the asylum); and judging from the outside, and unaware of any imperfections, I cannot give even this damaging testimony in favour of We chief warder's quarters, to whom better and not so contiguous to the refractory yard (No. 3) should without delay be assigned. Patient attitudes toward the dying and the dead do not appear desirable. Without this, they seem, in general, sufficiently subjected to dispiriting influences. And here, incidentally, I would venture to suggest that on the demise of a patient, a certificate of death, upon view of the body, should be forwarded at once to your office by the surgeon-superintendent. The cause of death was made the subject of magisterial inquiry by the visiting justice on the next occasion of his periodical inspection. In the future, interments might also be made in the Goodna Cemetery. Small enclosure on the grounds, presently used for that purpose, is full and liable to complete submersion in time of flood. From all that has lately fallen within my knowledge, by personal observation and otherwise, I have little hesitation in expressing a belief that the prevalence of insanity and the treatment of the insane, in their relations to public policy, call loudly for investigation. Both the law and practice regarding committals seem susceptible to improvement, particularly with respect to dypsomaniacs; whilst, as to the asylum itself, the least that can be said is that the buildings require to be remodelled, the establishment to be reorganised, and the administration to be radically reformed. But whether undertaken by the Legislative or the Executive, I would respectfully suggest that inquiry, with a view to the amendment of existing conditions of the institution, will probably fail, without preliminary professional and local survey, with a view to decisive evidence as to site, plans of enlargement, and sufficient means of water supply. It must be remembered that the seemingly excellent plan for the asylum, in the real meaning of the term, initially prepared by Mr Tiffin, has not been carried the present male department being merely part of the administrative block of the proposed structure; whilst tie female department was erected for the special use of paying patients, and forms no part of the permanent plan, according to the original design referred to. Since its erection, the male department has once, if not more frequently, been closely surrounded by an overflow of the Brisbane River. As there is no guarantee that the waters of a flood will not again cut it off, it is an open question whether the higher ground in the neighbourhood of the female establishment would not be a more suitable site, especially if the present building could be applied to some other useful public purpose. As well nigh every detail of the routine and general management is disclosed in the voluminous evidence taken at the late inquiry, now in your hands, together with the plans of the present buildings, I have not deemed it expedient to enter into a description of the premises, or upon an elaborate report on the condition of the institution. Trusting the cursory object. The serrations I have made may not be considered out of place. 1 would beg to be understood as in no way expressing, by implication or otherwise, an opinion as to the professional management. Whether the surgeon-superintendent is or has been equal to the requirements of his position is a question I am neither competent nor called upon to decide. Indeed, the only conclusion I could draw regarding the subject is that no amount of professional skill or ability could, under existing conditions, render the institution adequate to the due care and proper treatment of the average number of patients confined therein. Before bringing this communication to a close, I feel constrained to acknowledge the valuable assistance, received in the discharge of my late duties as a commissioner on the inquiry, from the information contained in the well-ordered and admirably written: letter of Thomas White, published in the Queensland Times, of 9th February last-a letter, I have reason to believe, entirely and in every way his own. Reserving a few practical suggestions of minor importance for a more convenient season.- I have, &c., A. M. HUTCHINSON. (The Courier of yesterday sits very heavily on the above report, rather more so than it deserves. - Q. T.) Link Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld.: 1866 - 1939), Saturday 27 November 1869, page 9 THE WOOGAROO LUNATIC ASYLUM. Perhaps the saddest and most painful scenes it is possible to witness anywhere are to be found within the walls of a madhouse. The man or woman who could visit an institution of this kind without being affected by the sights to be seen must possess an unenviable strength of nerve and indifference to human suffering. Eastern travellers report that the Turks and Arabs treat the insane with marked consideration and respect, under the belief that they are divinely inspired. It is not difficult to conceive how such a belief originated amongst an ignorant, devout, and imaginative race with respect to such a mysterious, peculiar, and terrible visitation. To see a number of fellow creatures, most of whom seem to be in the possession of robust health and all their faculties except for that crowning one reason, to listen to their strange weird talk, and observe their conduct, arouses feelings of awe and dread, of pity and commiseration, of deep humility and self-abasement, which are never experienced in the same force under any other circumstances. It is a painful task to witness such a scene, and very few persons ever think of undertaking it except from a sense of duty in some shape. This, in all probability, is the chief reason why the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum was allowed to become such an accumulation of unutterable horrors before any effectual steps were taken to reform the abuses which had crept in. The only visitors were officials of one kind or another, who, as a matter of routine duty, went through the form of an inspection at stated times, and hurried away as soon as possible from the disagreeable scene. The public left the management to the Government and the officials appointed by them and were content to accept the word of these people that everything was being done which could be done for the unfortunate inmates until at last the horrible truth leaked out that nothing, absolutely nothing, was being done for them except locking them up in a foul den out of sight, and leaving them there to their own fearful devices, until the place became more like a pandemonium than a habitation of human beings. Of course, it was never the deliberate intention of any Colonial Secretary or other official person that the Asylum should become such a den of horrors. No one was, or pretended to be, more shocked than these officials when a searching inquiry finally revealed the truth—still, that miserable parsimony which was eternally begrudging any outlay or expense in connection with the institution. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of pounds were being recklessly squandered in other directions; the ignorant apathy of the public, and the apparent want of sufficient firmness and decision of character on the part of those entrusted with the management, produced the result just as certainly as though it had been a carefully devised scheme from the first. With the present Acting Surgeon Superintendent in charge, and after the public exposure which has taken place, it is hardly likely that the Asylum will be allowed to again fall into such a state as it was found to be at the commencement of the present year. Still, the only sure way to prevent this is for the public to keep a vigilant watch over the institution and ensure that it is not neglected. The most devoted and energetic of surgeon-superintendent is apt to lose heart in time if he finds himself left single-handed to battle with all kinds of obstacles, and the present Government seem just as much wedded to the " penny wise and pound foolish" policy as were any of their predecessors. An overactive zeal for economy by saving the " pickings" is, unless checked, almost certain to result in the striking off of necessaries, where it can be done with impunity, rather than superfluities, which are likely to be resisted. The present Government, like all previous ones we have had in this colony, are exceedingly pacific, not to say pusillanimous, and its action is influenced in a great measure by the probabilities of meeting with active resistance from any quarter, not by any simple rule of right. If the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum is made what it ought to be, and can be made,—a clean, comfortable, and healthy re-treat where the insane can be treated under the conditions most favourable to their recovery—it will be because the Government are urged on to make it so by the pressure of public opinion not from any voluntary action on their part. At present, the asylum is far from what it ought to be, and there are already symptoms of peddling, with makeshift expedients advocated by the Government rather than a thorough and sweeping reform as is needed. We paid a visit to the asylum a few days ago for the purpose of seeing what had actually been done and what was proposed to be done, for the purpose of rendering the place more endurable, and a more fitting hospital for the treatment of the insane. We dropped in quite unexpectedly in the afternoon and were received very cordially by the Acting Surgeon-Superintendent, Dr Challinor, and shown over every part of the buildings and grounds. The Doctor seems to take a real pleasure in pointing out what has been done, what he intends doing, and what he hopes to be able to do, in the way of improvements and reforms, and he is justified in feeling a little proud of his work so far. He, at all events, appears to be the right man in the right place at Woogaroo. He has evidently entered upon his duties con amore and made the treatment and cure of the insane an absorbing study, to which he brings that genuine kindness of heart, singleness of aim, and persistent tenacity of purpose, which rendered him such an intractable politician. He also seems to have a good first lieutenant in the present chief warder, Mr Jessie, who, in addition to his experience as a warder in the Melbourne Lunatic Asylum, evidently possesses the qualities of kindness, decision of character, love of order, and administrative faculty, so requisite in an officer of this kind. The Doctor and Mr Jessie have already effected many and significant improvements, as may be seen at once by anyone visiting the place, but having, as it were, to begin with chaos, the distance from thence to perfect order is very great, and the Government are beginning to discover that it is also costly to traverse. They have not yet gone the length of decidedly refusing to carry out the reforms to the desired consummation which have been commenced. Still, they are not showing the alacrity required by the necessities of the case and demanded by the public. The male wards are fearfully overcrowded, and although the number of patients continues to increase, we could not ascertain that any provision whatsoever was being made, or in contemplation, for increased accommodation for them. The building itself was not originally intended for occupation by patients, and therefore can never be made a very commodious and well-arranged asylum. Still, a great deal could be done to improve the accommodation at present provided. In the first place, the over-against without any unnecessary delay. The building is a brick two-story one, and the upper-floor rooms are used as dormitories. These are being made as comfortable as circumstances permit. The ghastly white walls are being colored to a warm, cheerful tint, and the patients are provided with clean sheets, pillowcases, and coverlets to their beds, in addition to the blankets, or fragments of blankets, which before time were their only bed clothing. But the beds themselves are so thickly placed that it is difficult to walk between them. The occupant of one bed can, by merely stretching out his arm, reach over to the middle of the bed occupied by his neighbour on either side. Even in the daytime, when all the rooms were unoccupied, as they were at the time of our visit, those rooms in which the windows were closed to keep out the rain, had a close and sickly smell. When every bed is occupied, and the door closed, during a hot summer's night, the atmosphere must be terribly oppressive and injurious to health, not to speak of comfort. The dormitories, four on each side, if our memory serves us correctly, are divided by a narrow corridor. Each room is crowded with beds in the manner described, some containing as many as fifteen, and there is no means of separating the noisy from the quiet patients. A sane man of nervous and excitable temperament, doomed to pass a week in such a place, would inevitably become as mad as the maddest of his fellow denizens. The warders are no better provided for than the patients. The chief warder, his wife and family, seven in all, occupy, and are obliged to reside, in a couple of rooms at the end of a range of wooden buildings near and at right angles to the main entrance. The remainder of the building is used as a doctor's office, a chief warder's office, and a storeroom. By taking a portion of the storeroom, the chief warder has added a small sleeping room to his quarters, and, by close packing, he and his family can now sleep there. But the door is close to the refractory yard on the one side, and the hospital on the other, every word uttered in these places and the language is sometimes horrible, is heard by the chief warder's wife and children, even when the door is closed, and there is no back-yard accommodation whatever. Another range of wooden buildings, running parallel to those already mentioned, forms the kitchen for the men, and a miserable little room at the end is made to accommodate four wardens. The size of the beds and their closeness together reminds one of the 'tween decks of an immigrant ship more than anything else, and the proximity to the kitchen, being only divided by a wooden partition, must render the room particularly lively at night with one kind of vermin or other. The remaining warders are accommodated in the same luxurious style within the main building. The ground floor of the main building comprises hospital dayrooms for patients, a warders' dayroom, and a dormitory for soiled patients. Currently, only eight patients are required to be placed in this ward. Under the old regime, patients were left to decide for themselves how they went to bed, and the result was that some, from perversity, and others from paucity of bedclothes or the like, went to bed without undressing. The majority of the j patients did so, and some even carried the practice so far as to go to bed in their hats, as well as in their coats and boots. Now that clean sheets, pillows and pillowcases, blankets, and coverlets have been provided for the beds, the doctor has had shelves installed on the corridor wall at the entrance to each dormitory, and the patients are obliged to undress and place their clothes on the shelves until morning. The poor, unfortunates not only understand and duly appreciate the change, but already there is a marked improvement in their habits. Cases of dirtiness are becoming less frequent, and men who would never rise to satisfy the calls of nature have latterly been known, during an attack of diarrhoea, to get up four times in a single night. A few of Mr Tiffin's self-acting earth closets have been supplied to the institution on trial and have been found to perform admirably. The presence of these in the rooms has undoubtedly contributed to the gratifying result. The sooner a full supply of these is provided for every ward, the better. The old hospital, a miserable little shed quite unfitted for the purpose, has now been converted into a bath and lavatory, where a certain number of the patients are once a week provided with a very comfortable plunge bath, with ample supply of soap and water, and can get an extra swill from a shower bath to wash the soap off after. Indeed, baths and lavatories have now been fitted up in every ward, and in addition to a force pump, which supplies water from the creek, a new underground tank has just been constructed, capable of containing 32,000 gallons, to store the rainwater from the roof of the buildings, so that an ample supply of water will be provided. The present hospital consists of three adjoining rooms at the main entrance to the building on the left-hand side; they have recently been furnished with half-tester iron bedsteads, which are to be provided with mosquito curtains in addition to the sheets, coverlets, and other modern conveniences. The third room is darkened and designated for the use of patients with ophthalmia. The hospital might be rendered more comfortable by opening a door from the first room into the yard at the back, called No. 1 yard, which is currently unused, and by erecting a verandah over a recess in the building near the door. It is doubtful whether this will be done without some pressure being brought to bear in the proper quarter, the objection being the expense. The extra space and greater comfort, however, that would be thereby provided, fully justify the outlay, which, after all, would not be considerable. The day rooms for the patients are at the opposite end of the building from the main entrance and open onto a yard known as No. 2 yard. Initially, this was a small place enclosed by a tall hardwood fence that completely blocked everything except the sky. The cross fence has been removed, and the yard extended nearly to the river so that now the poor fellows can obtain a view of the river and a portion of the surrounding country, as well as having more space for exercise, and a much better supply of fresh air. The yard is not so complete as it might be made, as it is still only provided with the old-fashioned privies, the wells of which are now full to overflowing. Half a dozen new earth closets are standing in the shed of No. 1 yard, apparently for the purpose of supplying the place of these privies, but they have not been put up as yet, although they have been there some time. To the right of the main entrance is the refractory ward and yard called No. 3 yard. This yard, which used to be a mudhole in wet weather, has been gravelled and made comfortable, and on the far side, a lavatory, bath, and shower-bath have been provided. The tank over the bathroom can hold 1400 gallons of water. Once a week, the refractories are stripped to the skin, thoroughly cleansed with soap and water in the plunge bath, and finished in the shower bath. The latter is designed to discharge only a small volume of water. Because the operation is performed in the afternoon, the water in the tank above is generally tepid and therefore not disagreeable. The only room in the building remaining to be mentioned is the warders' day and dining room. A list is kept in this room of every patient in the hospital, and each warder has to enter a return on this list three times each day, morning, noon, and night, of every man under his charge. All the rooms are kept scrupulously clean, the men are supplied with clean clothes, and the beds with clean sheets and pillowcases once a week, and clean blankets, coverlets, and bed ticks as frequently as occasion requires. How this is managed is a mystery that we shall not attempt to fathom, but we were assured that it was done, although the laundry is only supplied with two ten-gallon coppers, the Government being such rigid economists. Mr Hodgson, in the first burst of public indignation on the discovery of the state of the asylum, took it upon himself to order a recreation ground of about four acres in extent to be fenced in; this has been done, and an admirable improvement it is, for the men can and do make holiday here every Saturday, playing cricket, quoits, and a number of games, to their evident gratification and permanent benefit. But there is no shady place for them to retire to except a temporary shelter contrived by the chief warder with some fragments of Osnaburg cloth utterly inadequate for the purpose. And what is worse, the laundry is within the fence, and the women employed are therefore subjected to some annoyance from the male patients when admitted to the recreation ground. The other available amusements for the patients are cards, draughts, dominoes, and bagatelle, most of which are impossible due to insufficient room to play without interruption. Mr Hodgson, before leaving, presented the Asylum with a very handsome and costly bagatelle board, his private property, but the Doctor is obliged to keep it packed up in his store because there is no room in which it could be set up for play. The kitchen for this division of the Asylum is large and appears to provide ample accommodation for all requirements. The rations, too, are of excellent quality and ample in quantity, as the following dietary scale will show: Each patient receives daily 1 lb. of fresh meat, 1 lb. of bread, 1 lb. of vegetables, and 1 oz. rice, 1/2 oz. Salt, 1 gill milk, 1/2 oz. Tea, 2 ozs. Sugar, 2 ozs. Maize meal for hominy, 2 ozs. Molasses, 1 oz. Soap and 1 oz. of butter to sick patients, or those who desire it. The weekly diet list is Sunday, roast beef, plum pudding, soup, vegetables, and tea; Monday, corned meat, potatoes, pumpkins, or other vegetables; Tuesday, stew and roast beef; Wednesday, mutton, roast and boiled, soup and vegetables; Thursday, roast beef and vegetables, and soup; Friday, mutton, roast and boiled, and vegetables; Saturday, roast beef and vegetables. All the men who work are supplied with tea each day, and half a pint of beer each day. The work for the men consists of road-making, fencing, gardening, and other occupations of a similar character; and, from a daily return of the chief warder, we found that, out of 118 healthy patients, the daily average number of workers is over 76. Of 54 women, 38 are employed in useful occupations of one kind or another. These facts speak volumes in favour of the new management. In fact, all that is now required to render the male portion of the Asylum very comfortable, and tolerably complete, are the addition of a cottage-ward, capable of accommodating about forty patients; ten or eleven new cells for refractories; new quarters for the chief warder; better accommodation for the under warders; the removal of the laundry to a more convenient situation; and providing it with a better supply of utensils; and the erection in every ward and yard of the self-acting earth-closets. As yet, however, we could not determine whether any of these improvements would be implemented. The Colonial Architect prepared plans for the whole. Still, when the estimates were submitted, some members of the Ministry shrank from the outlay. They thought it must be deferred until the public purse was better supplied with cash, an event which may happen in some succeeding generation, but is not at all likely to occur in this. In the female portion of the Asylum, a number of extensive improvements have been commenced, which, when completed, will leave little to be desired. Fortunately, they were well begun before the Government were taken with their last fit of economy and retrenchment so that they are in a fair way of being carried out. They will consist, in the first place, of a detached cottage ward of wood, two stories in height, with eight-foot-wide verandahs around three sides and most of the fourth. This building is being erected on an elevated site, a short distance from the present female wards. It will command extensive views of the river, the village, and the surrounding country, including Mount Flinders in one direction, altogether a beautiful and pleasant site. The ground floor will consist of a day room and a dormitory, 24 feet by 40 feet, and the remainder of the available space, both below and above, is divided into a lavatory and bathrooms, a nurses' room, sleeping rooms, and the like. Six of the sleeping rooms will be single ones, 8 feet by 9 feet 6 inches, for quiet and convalescent patients. The windows, instead of being barred, will be made with narrow panes in frames of wrought iron, in shape and size like the ordinary wooden sashes, from which, when painted, they cannot be distinguished. This will eliminate the prison-like appearance of the place, which is now objectionable and depressing to patients. There will be no balcony to the upper rooms, but the windows will be fitted with Venetian shutters. The entire ward is to be enclosed by a substantial fence to provide a significant recreation ground of approximately four acres. Another improvement, which is also at a satisfactory stage of progress, consists of a large, well-appointed kitchen and offices. The ground floor is about equally divided. One part of the main building, consisting of a kitchen 20 feet by 20 feet, is to be fitted with a Russell stove capable of cooking for 80 persons, two large boilers, and other kitchen requisites. The other part, consisting of a large room, also twenty feet by twenty feet, is to be a warders' or nurses' dining and day room. It was initially designed to have the kitchen chimney so constructed as to admit of a fireplace for this room, but, by an unwise alteration, as we think, the fireplace in the dining room is to be dispensed with. Even in Queensland, and especially by the riverside, in winter, a fire in a room is necessary to render it all comfortable, and there is no reason why the nurses should not be made as comfortable as circumstances will permit. In addition to the rooms already mentioned, there will be nurses' bedrooms, a storeroom, a pantry, & etc. At the front of the kitchen will be a verandah eight feet wide, floored, and at the back a ten-foot-wide verandah, not floored. Among the minor improvements in this portion of the institution are the enlargement of the yards and the construction of covered airing courts in the refractory yard. The main yard has been opened out nearly to the river, giving a splendid view from the upper part of it, and the refractory yard has been vastly extended in the opposite direction. The previously mentioned covered airing courts are an excellent scheme developed by the Doctors for dealing with refractories. They consist of a series of courts 7 ft. 6 in. wide and about 20 ft. long, covered at the top, with the sides constructed of narrow hardwood boards fixed upright, allowing small spaces, much like an ordinary sawn-wood paling fence, only much higher. The boards are all nailed on from the inside, so that escape is impossible, and the inmates cannot injure either themselves or the building. However refractory and troublesome a patient may be, all that is necessary is to put her into a strait waistcoat and lock her up in one of these courts for a few hours. She is there, secluded from the other patients, and at the same time has the benefit of fresh air and the exercise she prefers, without the necessity of being attended by a nurse. One poor creature we saw there could never be taken out into the fresh air without two nurses to attend to her until these courts were constructed. Adjoining the courts are the refractory cells, or rather, they are in the process of removal from their old site to the bottom end of the new refractory yard. The female ward, although at present too crowded, is much better adapted for a lunatic asylum than those occupied by the men. One-half of the ground floor forms a day room or covered court, and along the sides are the sleeping rooms, each capable of comfortably accommodating three beds but now containing four. The chief nurse's cottage is also as crowded as the male warder's rooms, but when the new kitchen and cottage ward are completed, this objection will be removed. An objection has been raised to the site of the asylum, but we cannot agree with the objectors in this particular. There are all the natural features requisite to render the site both healthy and pleasant. By rearranging the fences, extending the yard, and other similar improvements, a good deal has already been done in this direction. The doctor appears to have been indefatigable in his efforts to effect improvements in this way and has been eminently successful. Indeed, the amount of valuable work accomplished by the patients alone in fencing, road construction, clearing, and beautifying the grounds over the last six or seven months is truly remarkable. A great deal more is under consideration and will, we hope, be carried out, as it involves very little expense and provides beneficial occupation for the inmates. One of these is the construction of a wharf and approaches, partly done already, for the landing of Government stores and other requisites for the asylum from the river. Another is the laying out of a large garden, so that the inmates may grow their own vegetables. A third is to beautify the grounds, and for this purpose, Mr Walter Hill has not only promised to furnish designs but also the requisite number of trees and ornamental shrubs. A very popular innovation has been introduced in the form of biweekly balls on Tuesday and Friday evenings, to which the neighbouring villagers are occasionally admitted, as well as all patients who can attend. One of the patients, a warder, and two visitors provide the music, and the dancing is performed with equal enthusiasm. The enjoyment is as real and significant as at the most fashionable ball in the grandest room in the colony. What is better still, it has been found to have a permanent beneficial effect on the health and spirits of patients. Sometimes visitors drop in from Ipswich, although it is ten miles distant; Brisbane is almost out of the question, being fifteen miles away, and attending one of the balls would necessitate staying in the village all night and returning to town the next day. The general impression left on our mind by this visit to the Asylum is that Dr Challinor is well qualified for the duty he has undertaken, is really and heartily desirous of conscientiously performing that duty both to the letter and spirit, and that he is well seconded by his present chief warder and chief nurse. That a wonderful change for the better has been effected in almost every direction, but that still more is required to be done to render the Asylum decently comfortable; and that the only way of securing this end is to keep public attention constantly directed to it. Link

Hospital Ward Built-in 1917 The former hospital was erected in 1916 and was one of several innovations introduced by HB Ellerton. Two similar buildings were erected at the Toowoomba and Ipswich asylums. HB Ellerton. Two similar buildings were erected at the Ipswich and Toowoomba asylums. Ellerton prepared preliminary plans for a hospital in June 1912, but funding and difficulties in finding a suitable site delayed construction. The site of male ward 8 was finally chosen for its central location between the female and male sections. Construction finally commenced in 1915, the contractor being W Kerr. The building was opened on 24th August 1916 by the Hon John Huxham, Home Secretary, who also unveiled a World War 1 Honour Board which is now located in the Administration Building. The hospital block comprised an eleven-bed male medical ward, a three-bed male surgical ward, a five-bed male open-air verandah dormitory, a nurses' room, and two single rooms with corresponding female wards in the opposite wing. Two rooms for sick staff were also provided. The central portion of the building comprised a waiting hall, kitchen, scullery, pantry, octagonal operating room, electrical treatment room, disinfecting room, bathrooms and lavatories. In 2025, it is used as administrative offices and is highly intact today, known as Gunni House. Chronology: 1916: building construction was completed 1945: bulk store for X-ray, dental equipment and dispensary 1945: X-ray building constructed 1914 Hospital Ward Plan Click to view 1914 Hospital Ward Plan Click to view 1914 Hospital Ward Plan Click to view 1915 Hospital Ward Plan Click to view 1914 Hospital Ward Plan Click to view 1914 Hospital Ward Plan Click to view Hospital Ward 1938 Click to view Hospital Ward 1949 Click to view Nursing staff outside the Hospital Ward 1958 Click to view Hospital Ward 2022 Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Tile Window Click to view Window Frame Click to view Inside Click to view Inside Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Front entrance Click to view Front entrance Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Former Recovery Ward Click to view Side Front Click to view