‘Empower a Women -Empower a Nation’ International Women’s Day – 2017

Cover image courtesy: Tantrum Youth Arts – ‘Stories in Our Steps’ performed in 2015 (about Newcastle Industrial Girls’ School)

International Women’s Day was celebrated by the Newcastle Branch of the Union of Australian Women on 3rd March 2017 at Charlestown Bowling Club with a talk by Ann Hardy. The topic was the Newcastle Industrial Girls School (1867-71) an institution that in August 2017 commemorates  150 years.

The girls’ school was at what is known as the James Fletcher Hospital (JFH) a site that continues as a mental health site, managed by (HNEMH). The use as a girls’ school was the most controversial of all the uses at the site.

“I became interested in this historic mental health site in Newcastle when I worked there as a Social Worker in the 1990s, it was a completely new environment. Despite the mental hospital taking up almost a whole block in the CBD, it remains hidden, the long association and stigma of mental health, has in fact been its saviour!” Ann Hardy

While working at the JFH during the late 1990s I was shown some old mental health case books from 1871, the first patient was John Buckley. The experience of looking, touching and smelling an archive stayed with for many years – years later I searched for these records, by this time they’d been transferred to State Records NSW.

“In 2004, I took leave from work to study heritage site management, I’d realised that many heritage sites in Newcastle were vulnerable, very little histories had been written about them- and I was particularly concerned about the JFH. I became involved in heritage debates in the city, but my focus was at the JFH site– history there was mostly absent. History is the evidence needed to fight heritage battles, and historical evidence is crucial in arguing heritage significance.” Ann Hardy

Historical Timeline

1801 – 1804 centre of local administration during penal settlement, contained Government House and gardens
1814 – Wallis Shaft Early working coal mine
1844 – British Military Complex 1853
1860- Newcastle Volunteer Rifles
1867-71 Girls Industrial school and Reformatory for Girls
1871 – Asylum (originally named ‘Newcastle Asylum for Imbecile and Idiots’), the first regional Government asylum, the first of its type in Australia & third Government institution of its type in the world.

Australia has a deep embedded history associated with providing health care

The NIS was only there for a very short period of four years, and another institution also opened during this period, the reformatory for girls (1869-71), it was a much smaller institution.

Research of individual girls undertaken by historian Jane Ison who has written biographies for over 190 girls (SEE NIS wikidot)

Why was the school established?

The Industrial School was established to care for children deemed ‘at risk’, usually neglected or abused, whereas the Reformatory was for girls who had committed offences.

The Industrial school and Reformatory acts came about in 1866, and in the following year legislation was implemented at the newly established Newcastle institutions, first admissions occurred in August 1867. Most of the children came from Sydney, and other parts of regional NSW. Some had been caught up in a cycle of poverty and neglect – a problem that had been spiraling out of control for decades in NSW.

Some of the reasons children were admitted included:-

• transferred from existing institutions
• homeless
• taken away from their parents if the environment was deemed to be unsafe

Other children were admitted to the school if their mothers required institutional care.
There were age restrictions for children admitted to orphanages, and it was not until the Industrial Schools Act and Reformatory Act (1866) that children over the age of 10 could be legally admitted to government institutions for their care and protection.

Although these new acts adopted newer educational models, in reality a culture of management from the old penal system continued. Legislation for these girls was drafted by former naval personnel, because the original idea was the management of boys through a nautical program, not girls. Boys were put on the ship ‘Vernon’.

Under the new acts authorities could detain, provide training and accommodation for children under the age of 16.

Vulnerable children living in unstable households, and having no extended family were identified by constables in Sydney who compiled a list of these children ‘at risk’. On the list were sisters Eliza and Theresa Hanmore, aged 15 & 7. They were 2 of 12 girls admitted by court order, to Newcastle in 1867 and subject to the control of the Superintendent who became their legal guardian until they were 18.
Some of the girls were released early and returned to their families, or after twelve months, were apprenticed out. Of those who returned home, constables regularly visited to check on their welfare.

In 1868 Henry Parkes visited the Newcastle school and in a speech encouraged the girls to make the most of their circumstances, urging them to look for opportunities that would advance their lives:-

“I want you to look upon life hopefully and at the same time try to understand your duty…It should not be forgotten that you are supported here at great cost to the country. I hope your obedience to those placed over you, and your general good conduct, will prove that you appreciate the benevolent intention of the Legislature in making this provision for your permanent welfare.”

Although Parkes emphasised their care was at a significant cost to the government, he also tried to empower them, by saying,

“one day you will make heads of families, possessing property and influence and enjoying the respect of good men and women.”Henry Parkes 1868

However the girls were very testing towards the authorities who found them extremely difficult to manage. Their new home was unfamiliar – the institution was purpose built for men, not children who were housed in the unaltered military buildings- was a very male environment.

Their daily routine was very structured.
– 5.30am washed and dressed
– 7am breakfast
– 8.00 am ‘inspection’ of rooms
– 15 minutes of prayer before 9am educational classes
– 12.00 Further religious instruction at midday.
– 12.30 Lunch
– Sewing from mid-afternoon until dinner at 5.00 pm.
– 6.30 pm more prayers then girls confined to their rooms
– Saturdays general cleaning and bathed in the afternoon.
– Sunday morning church – afternoon further religious instruction at Sunday school.

There was very little time for fun, no attempt to integrate the girls into normal public life.
The Industrial School legislation was harsh and punitive and the Superintendent had significant powers, they had full ‘custody and control’, a child could be placed in complete confinement for up to 14 days. This was given to the girls who escaped from the institution.

Whereas the Reformatory legislation gave authority to place girls under the age of 18 in ‘strict incarceration’, but this was at the local gaol for up to 3 months. This is what happened to the children who absconded from the reformatory (they were sent to Maitland or Newcastle Lock Up).

In total 186 girls passed through the Industrial School, just 6 were admitted to the Reformatory, and only 30 of 186 (only 16 percent) were apprenticed out.
The majority of the girls were aged 14 – 15 (a vulnerable age as identified by list compiled by Constables in Sydney)

Riots and Escapes

There were many riots and escapes. The girls’ were notorious for their extreme bad behaviour. Their antics reported regularly in newspapers across the nation. Riots started at the school early 1868 not long after the institution opened and continued until nearing its closure.

Matron King witnessed several incidents, on one occasion, the girls told her they saw a man or a ghost under a bed, they shrieked to get the attention of locals, however many in the community disliked the girls and instead had sympathy for the Matron who they believed was doing her best – girls were ostracized by the community.

One of the worst riots occurred while Superintendant Lucas was in charge, it was triggered after 10 girls broke out of the military cells from where they had been locked up. Armed with weapons ‘in the shape of brick bats’, stones and ‘billets of wood’ the girls went on a rampage, neither staff nor police were able to take control and reinforcements were sent for from Sydney, they stayed 3 months.

Senior Sergeant Lane (who came from Sydney), later said he had

“…never witnessed anything like this before, or during my 10 years on Cockatoo Island with the worst of criminals”.

Another incident occurred where it was reported a ‘little volcano slumbered’, there were outbursts of rioting, the girls had waited until the Superintendant went to Sydney to mount their protest, they’d heard about the impending closure of the school and armed with iron bedsteads, they broke through dormitory doors and got away over fences into neighbouring streets. Thirteen of them were captured and sent to the lockup. 11 of them were confined, at the school on bread and water. The 4 ringleaders were charged with willfully destroying government property and were transferred to Maitland Gaol for a month.

One of the girls involved in the riots was Mary Ann Meehan, she was a serial offender. One episode involved her escaping from the school disguised in Mrs. King’s clothing, she was recaptured and sent to Maitland Gaol. She also threw a cup of water and pound of bread at the Matron, and for this spent time in solitary confinement. She was incarcerated several times but remained undeterred by the harsh treatment and continued to act defiantly.

Eventually she was transferred to Cockatoo Island where she attempted to burn down the dormitory. It was a serious charge, courageously she represented herself at the trial. She was an intelligent and articulate girl, the magistrate was so impressed that she’d taken it upon herself to

“cross-examine the witnesses with an astonishing display of forensic ability” providing “. . . a very lengthy and plausible address to the Court that was artfully intermingled with a harrowing description of the treatment she had encountered at the old Reformatory at Newcastle.”

She also alleged she had been falsely detained because she was over age of 18, and she complained that her hair had ‘violently’ cut.

She stated that going to Maitland gaol was preferable to being locked up in the reformatory, and was willing to serve the remainder of her time (6 months) at Maitland gaol – highlighting just how harsh punishment was at the reformatory compared to the adult prison.

The school eventually closed in 1871, and the Girls were transferred to Cockatoo Island (Biloela) on Sydney Harbour, then later to the Parramatta Girls Industrial School (also known as ‘Parragirls’)

The school had failed for several reasons:-

•  Inadequate and untrained staff, lack of proper resources. The complete anarchy at times and the distance from Sydney was problematic, authorities were clearly unable to deal with the series of riots.
• The girls were not properly ‘classified’ – mix was toxic (delinquent girls with girls who had been abused and neglected).
• Many in the community simply disliked the ‘girls’, the stigma and association with prostitution isolated them.
• No attempt to integrate the girls into the community (apart from the few apprenticeships offered) there was very little socialisation.
• Result was a dysfunctional institution- things didn’t change when they went to Cockatoo Island.

Despite all the faults of this institution, I believe there were genuine attempts by the NSW Government to care for these girls, certainly not ideal, but considering the context (Minimal funding and lack of other caring institutions, and other social and family support) authorities did their best, intentions were well meaning – it was perhaps the personnel who took advantage of the legislation and harsh penalties.

On reflection – has care of children improved?

Recent 4 corners program “Broken Homes” late 2016 was very confronting, about the frontline of Australia’s child protection crisis, there remains a level of isolation for many children in permanent care today. Government care is at arm’s length- checks and balances are becoming blurred when care is increasingly contracted out and privatised.

What the girls at the NIS can teach us is that although the focus was on education and training, it is likely the girls’ experiences is what made an impact, hopefully some of them formed friendships and became stronger and more resilient and they succeeded in life.

Lifelong learning is about lessons in life “school of hard knocks” and experiences we learn from, and take with us into new situations – and new environments.

Working with people and communities are all wonderful lessons in life, and just as valuable as formal education. This is particularly relevant today where collaboration, creativity and new innovative ideas are encouraged – life experience and practical knowledge can be valuable.

Other Sources

Newcastle Industrial School for Girls. By Jane Ison
http://nis.wikidot.com/

Hardy, Ann  ‘. . . here is an Asylum open . . .’ Constructing a Culture of Government Care in Australia 1801- 2014, University of Newcastle (2014) – Thesis UON.

Islands of the Insane – our records, perceptions and the lost voices from the ‘asylum’

Paper presented at the Australian Archives Conference

‘Archives on the Edge’

University of Newcastle

Tasmania, Australia

18-21 August 2015

ABSTRACT- This article examines the mental health records from the ‘Newcastle Asylum for Imbecile and Idiot’ (1871-1900) held at Archives NSW. There seems to be an ‘island effect’ in terms of Australian asylum sites, many of these sites are forgotten, or not sought out by historians or the wider community. The same is the case for Australia’s historic asylum records, often not a common focus of research, and where perceptions around privacy, access and use of the asylum records can be distorted, perhaps due to the continued stigma associated with mental illness. The ‘Island effect’ is keeping the physical ‘asylum’ record locked up, and this paper explores whether there should be greater efforts to re-connect information about the lives of individuals in asylums during the nineteenth century, with the wider community. The second part of the paper discusses results of a desktop survey conducted on access and availability of colonial mental health records in Australia, and some examples of where archival records have been used.

BACKGROUND- This paper examines the ‘island effect’ in terms of Australian mental health history, particularly lunatic asylum records, and how perceptions about ‘asylums’ are keeping records hidden. Australia had many lunatic asylums during the colonial period, however these, along with their associated records are not commonly the subject of research, interpretation, or easily available to the public- what I am proposing is a project that brings asylums records into the open, by mapping historic health records on-line to create a web of greater understanding about care in Australia in the 19 Century.

I first became interested in welfare history when working as a social worker in mental health at the James Fletcher Hospital in Newcastle, NSW. I recall 20 years ago, a colleague telling me about a ‘discovery’ he had made of some old case books relating to the old asylum, found under the medical records building, excitedly announcing the first patient admitted was “John Buckley” in 1871. It was an account that stayed with me, and in 2005 I decided to seek out these records and begin researching them for myself. Fortunately by this time the records had been safely deposited with NSW State Records. My interest has remained primarily with the original sources and my doctoral research examines primary sources associated with the Newcastle Asylum, including the case books, artefacts and memorabilia, and the built heritage.

The institution I had worked at was originally named the ‘Newcastle Asylum for Imbecile and Idiot’, established in 1871 and continuing as a mental health site in 2015.The James Fletcher site has a rich European history dating from 1801, more generally the area is referred to as Newcastle Government Domain-(government house and gardens, coal shafts, military barracks, industrial Girls School). As a former social worker and now historian I came to understand the immense value in the medical records and other similar asylum records because they hold stories about people who were on the fringe- people that do not have a voice in the history books.

As an aside I also see a commonality between asylum records and asylum sites- neither have been extensively researched, often heritage issues are misunderstood because of the lack of historical evidence relating to places that cared for the insane. As a consequence this lack of historical research not only impacts on the renewing of stories about people who were there, but about the heritage of asylums, their significance and true history.
Until the 2000s the Newcastle records had not been researched, in fact they were thought to be lost as Stephen Garten and others point out. This made me think about other asylum records and their whereabouts- or of records not necessarily lost, but held in archives, that are not being accessed or researched because of  the common perception that they are ‘closed’ – or private. Records that the community may feel are not theirs to look at.

The stigma associated with mental health has created negative perceptions about the historic ‘asylum’.

QUESTION-“What if there are other stories to be told?” What if there are problems in the history, perhaps asylums were not as bad as history has made out.

The most common perceptions are of asylums as dark, closed and horrible places, ideas that are holding back important archival research. I refer to this phenomena as the ‘Island Effect’ (IE) because just as people stayed away from mental health institutions, they have also stay away from asylum records.

What is the ‘Island Effect?

Let me explain further the concept by giving a few examples.The IE relates to the way people have perceived asylums during the 19th and 20th centuries, both in England and Australia, asylums were rarely spoken about, and were often out of view on islands, peninsulas, many were on river bends, and others were in remote rural areas. There is a common theme is that they were near water, transport was often by boat.

However, asylums didn’t have to be isolated (on island etc.) for these perceptions to exist, the ‘island’ is metaphorical, needless to say that even if an asylum was in an urban setting (such as the Newcastle Asylum in the centre of the city) it still was perceived as isolated, not part of the community. This intensified further in the 20th Century- where patients and institutions were shunned- mostly because of increase drug therapy care implemented indoors.

“Asylums have gained bad press”- Stephen Garton 2009

Asylums were considered as having unsuitable management, and not providing adequate care, and being isolated only fueled negative ideas about them and further pushed institutions and inmates out of societies view. Perceptions were exacerbated by the use of drug therapies to treat mental disorders, taking the regime of care indoors during the 1900s when the medical profession were seen as the authority in treating psychiatric illnesses. This medical model persisted- and many would argue that even today care is dominated by the medical profession.

The medicalisation of mental health care distanced the general public from the ‘asylum’ and the negative perceptions deterred the community from engaging with these spaces, producing an ‘island effect’, and regardless of the institutions geographical location, the majority of asylums were isolated from communities.

We know very little about those confined to institutions, how they were cared for, instead there have been many assumptions made about institutional care that have perpetuated in the history books.

Unfortunately historians over decades have also given shape to these popular perceptions, only a few historians undertaking research in welfare history in Australia. Some of the leading historians in this field are Stephen Garten, Susan Piddock, Catharine Colebourne, Charlie Fox, Corrinne Mannng, Anne Westmore, Philippa Martyn.

It is encouraging that family historians are leading the way- ‘inside history’ May-Jun 2015

So where were the Australian asylums, when were they established, location and status in 2015

Desktop survey of Australian archival institutions – What asylum records exist?

NSW State Records – Mental Health Records

Queensland State Archives – Mental Health Records

Why are Historic welfare records important?

As mentioned, what if we have got it wrong in terms of getting history accurate, what is some asylums weren’t as bad as made out. It is surprising that moral therapy was implemented at the Newcastle Asylum, and the community engaged with the place and people there.

Vagabond (John Stanley James) (1843-1896) who regularly wrote for the Argus newspaper. He believed that Australian asylums were a ‘closed’ system of care, believing that the asylum at Kew was a great mistake because it had been modeled on institutions from the old country instead of considering the Australian conditions. He suggested that the Newcastle institution be held up as a model institution.What was found after researching the Newcastle Asylum records was that care was actually quite good- this is the opposite to what you might expect- breaking some of the myths that have perpetuated.

Statue at Stockton Centre (2014)

A story about an angel (as shown on postcard on previous slide) captured the imagination of heritage advocates, the ‘angel’ story had been subject of a discussion about the James Fletcher Hospital, then in 2014 the statue was ‘found’ at Stockton Hospital.  The statue signifying the direct association between the two mental health sites and the significant heritage associated with intellectual disability in Australia. The Newcastle Asylum that cared for those with an intellectual disability was the third institution of its type in the world. The story of the angel was exciting to advocates and is an example of the power that can come from archival research.

Inadequate historical analysis results ineffective heritage conservation.

Asylum Archives can provide new knowledge to support heritage and conservation campaigns, providing vital historical evidence for campaigners to be effective.

There is often a reluctance to access asylum archives due to complex privacy issues

Most states and territories have access restrictions of 110 years, however in reality there is often a blanket rule that applies even when records are older than 110 years, because in some instances entries continue to be made in case books if the person survived into the 20th Century.

However, there are many records that are accessible, and archivists can play a vital role in counteracting what is described in this article as the Island Effect, by advocating to change the culture around access.

So what can be done?

Promote records– Make records available on-line so that information can be disseminated. Use new technology and digital media to share information.

Project idea – “Open Asylum Project” – Digital humanities initiative

I propose a digital project that traces a patient’s movements from one institution to another, showing where they were transferred and discharged from. Envisage a digital mapping project that links institutions through individual asylum records. The focus would not be on large archival collections, or the institutions where they are held, but on the individual person and their journey through government institutions in Australia.

As mentioned there were many asylums, and NSW had quite an advanced network of welfare care during 1800s, much of this was Government supported seeing inmates admitted and transferred between institutions (today referred to as the ‘revolving door phenomena’). In NSW asylum admissions were overseen and accurately documented by Frederick Manning (Inspector of the Insane). A digital humanities project could see information mapped that relates to both time/place, plotted on Google Earth/ or GIS by geotagging locations of each asylum we could begin to conceptualise a single record to trace a person’s movements, mapping map care across time and place, and to get an idea of the flow of people through colonial asylums. As more individual data is added, certain themes and information would emerge.

Sources from NSW State Records

Information that can be gained from records:-

• Forms of committal (voluntarily, surrended)
• Patterns of admission
• Social characteristics of patients (learn about complex relationship between families)
• Localities – dislocation, poverty and incarceration
• Recovery rates and discharge statistics.
  

  Newcastle Asylum case records showing first inmates in 1871

  

  Data from over 800 records has been gathered (1871-1900)

E-history health records

Patient information could be entered into a database similar to E-Health records, mapped and analysed.  Similar software to that used by  family historians or Ancestory.com could assist gather statistical data. The use of digital technology to map care could also be extended beyond asylums to look at institutions such as orphanages, Benevolent homes etc. as well as private and government care. 

Advantages & Opportunities

• This individual approach to disseminating information held in asylum case records enables each record to be carefully assessed to ensure there is no breach of privacy, before information goes on-line.
• Archivists can play a pivotal and active role in digital humanities projects and there may be opportunities to collaborate with academics. Archivists are well placed to get involved because of their expertise in digital technologies. Often academics talk about wanting to do digital humanities projects, however many lack the expertise to create such projects.
• Funding – DECRA – Digital Mapping Project – digital humanity projects to be integrated with archival library systems.
• Archives can inspire Creativity – archives integral to arts project. For example the girls’ who were are the Newcastle Industrial School is now in the public realm, theatre preformed by young people of Tantrum Theatre. 
  

  ‘Stories in the Steps’ performed by Tantrum Theatre, 2015

  The role of archivists is very important in bringing about change in the way that asylum records are perceived. As an historian I can see that there has been problems with historical research of asylums, there has been a link between asylums and the old penal system that really has never been broken. Archivists can help break this link by advocating for the use of asylum records – ‘archives on the edge’ that may in fact reveal a much different story to what we’ve been told. It is essential that archivists and those in the humanities and the arts start to collaborate on projects, it is just another way to interpret and disseminate sources and new knowledge.

Dr Ann Hardy – Cultural Collections , University of Newcastle

Sources

Hardy, Ann  ‘. . . here is an Asylum open . . .’ Constructing a Culture of Government Care in Australia 1801- 2014, University of Newcastle (2014) – Thesis UON.

Hardy, Ann. Story of an Angel, Newcastle Government Domain – July 2014.

Pike, Ben “Sydney’s shameful asylums: The silent houses of pain where inmates were chained and sadists reigned”The Daily Telegraph. March 3, 2015.

Primary Sources

Colonial Government of New South Wales “Medical Journals Newcastle Psychiatric Centre.” Reference 5070 34/2636Sydney: State Archives NSW, 10 Mar 1879-11 Jul 1965

———., Newcastle “Medical Case Books”, Reference CGS 5066. Sydney: NSW State Archives, 1871. 6 October 1871 – 28 Feb 1973.

———.. “Record of Inspections.” Reference CGS 5065. Sydney: NSW state Archives, 1879. 23 September 1879 – 18 October 1935.

———.. “Visitors’ Book [Newcastle Psychiatric Centre] “. Reference CGS 5064. Sydney: NSW State Archives, 23 March 1881 – 10 May 1936.

———.. “Indexes to Admission registers”. Reference CGS 5071. Sydney: NSW State Archives, 1 Jan 1890-1935.

———., Newcastle “Medical journals”, Reference CGS 5070. Sydney: NSW State Archives, 10 Mar 1879-11 Jul 1965.

———., Newcastle “Registers of discharges, removals and deaths”, Reference CGS 5067. Sydney: NSW State Archives, 7 Jan 1879-18 Jun 1964

———., Newcastle “Registers of admission and discharge”, Sydney: NSW State Archives, 6 Oct 1871-28 Feb 1973, CGS 5068.

 

Newcastle ‘Girls’ – Chaos and Mayhem in the City

Local Treasures 1233ABC Radio- 28 October 2014
Presenter: Carol Duncan
Interviewees: Ann Hardy & Jane Ison

The University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party and the National Trust of Australia (NSW) have been strong advocates of the historic Newcastle Government Domain (James Fletcher Hospital). The stories about the girls who lived there from 1867 to 1871 is perhaps the most controversial in the history of the place. In 1867 two new institutions, the Newcastle industrial school and reformatory were hastily set up in the vacated military buildings during the 1860s. Local historian Jane Ison began her research in 2009 on these girls’ institutions, drawing extensively on records located at State Archives of NSW. Newcastle’s institutional history made a significant contribution to the development of the care of children in NSW. Ann Hardy has also written about the context of care for these girls in NSW.

Prior to the Newcastle Industrial School and Reformatory for girls opening the needs of children were addressed by orphanages. Charitable organisations offered the majority of the care to assist neglected and impoverished children in NSW. In 1866, under the guidance of Henry Parkes, the Premier of NSW, the government passed the Act for the Relief of Destitute Children in an attempt to alleviate the dreadful conditions under which many children were living. It was one of the first government initiatives to help the poor. By 1867 accommodation had been organized to facilitate the removal of children from their families and provide an opportunity to gain education and employment training. Boys were to be placed on the Industrial School Ship Vernon moored in Sydney Harbour. The provision of care for girls was considered vital because it was perceived that if they were to become pregnant at a young age, they would perpetuate the problem of poverty. Eventually the decision was made to fit out the former military barracks in Newcastle and from August 1867, arrests were made across NSW. Children were removed from dangerous situations, appeared in court and were sent to the Newcastle. In 1869 a Girls’ Reformatory was also opened on the same site.

The colonial government was ambitious in efforts to provide care for vulnerable children.
In his speech to the girls, Parkes encouraged them to make the most of their circumstances, urging them to look for opportunities that would advance their situation:-

I want you to look upon life hopefully and at the same time try to understand your duty…It should not be forgotten that you are supported here at great cost to the country. I hope your obedience to those placed over you, and your general good conduct, will prove that you appreciate the benevolent intention of the Legislature in making this provision for your permanent welfare.

(The Industrial School at Newcastle”, 14 Feb 1868).

Although Parkes let the girls know that their care was a significant cost to government which created a duty to reform, he also tried to empower them, by saying that one day they would make “heads of families, possessing property and influence and enjoying the respect of good men and women”.

These institutions existed at Newcastle for four, short, tumultuous years. The Industrial Schools legislation enabled authorities to accommodate, detain and provide training for children under the age of 16 years who were deemed not to be in the control of their parents, in particular those associated with prostitution. They were often identified by members of the local police force as vagrants or destitute. Once admitted by court order, children were subject to control of the Superintendent of Industrial Schools as their guardian until eighteen years of age.

Reflection from Military Barrack window of parade ground and Gate House where some of girls were incarcerated. Photograph: Charles Hardy 2013

Some were released at younger ages, either returned to their families or guardians or, after twelve months, apprenticed out. In cases of return to families, police checks were conducted in advance to ensure that the child was being sent into a suitable situation.
The girls who came to Newcastle were caught up in cycles of poverty and neglect and although the institutions themselves became sites of disorder, they were intended to alleviate social distress. The girls were very resilience, testing the management skills of authorities in charge of them. Their behaviour was infamous and their exploits as individuals or as a group were featured in local and national newspapers. Newspapers articles described their colourful and often outrageous behavior, their ‘ribald’ language, frequent escapes and the wild riots.

They were safe in their dormitories at 11 o’clock p.m. They made their escape by thrusting out the fastening of a window facing the verandah and broke open the Clothes Store Room by pushing a pole through one of the windows, from which they extracted some of the clothing they escaped in. They piled up some stones on a Bucket and climbed over the Fence next (to) the residence of the Police Magistrate. They were brought back by the Police at 3 o’clock a.m. and placed in the Cells at the Guard House where they will remain until the decision of the Honorable. Colonial Secretary. [Eliza O’Brien] has absconded from the Institution on three several occasions, she had frequently thrown stones with violence at the new bell, injuring the paint work, and rang it contrary to all discipline. She has gone into the pond against the most positive rules, was one of the most violent in the disturbance of the 9th of July and most active in breaking windows and otherwise injuring the property of the institution. Her language is usually of the most revolting and disgusting description, sometimes very blasphemous. She has taken my keys and robbed my private apartments. On one occasion, in the Muster Room, when correcting other girls for being in the pond and destroying their clothing, she rushed at and struck me before the rest. In the dining room throwing pannikins to destroy them and has several times threatened to take my life. She is constantly instigating other girls to acts of mischief and inciting them to insubordination. Her whole conduct has been such, and her violence of temper so ungovernable, I have no hope of any reformation on her whatever. I would earnestly recommend her removal to another Institution where the means of separation from others is complete and where there are no younger children to be vitiated by her pernicious example.

(SRNSW: CSIL: 68/5714 4/637 )

Other girls successfully escaped by climbing out of the windows at the barracks and descending the drainpipe.

Drainpipe at the former Barracks. Photograph: Charles Hardy 2014.

In 1871, the girls of both schools were transferred to Biloela on Cockatoo Island. Girls in the industrial schools were apprenticed to households across NSW, often moving further from their parents and siblings. The Industrial school was eventually moved to Parramatta in 1887 and became Parramatta Girls School.

Thanks to Jane Ison’s research we know a little more about the life and experiences of the girls, and the period in which they lived. Unfortunately one section containing the names of 226 girls has been lost. The register for the reformatory is also missing. Identification of these missing girls requires careful compilation of the scattered records found mainly in the correspondence of the Colonial Secretary. Jane has meticulously compiled histories of individual girls and has provided valuable insights into the essential clues to their identity. Research to compile the names and admission dates of all Newcastle Girls as well as the missing Biloela girls is ongoing.
The names and details of those who staffed the school, the 187 girls admitted to the Newcastle Industrial School and the 6 girls admitted to the Newcastle Reformatory have been identified and biographies written. No biography is ever finished! It has been difficult to find some girls because after they were discharged from Newcastle, they assumed an alias to hide, not only from where they had come and to avoid any association with the infamy of the Newcastle institution (as the institution had gained quite a reputation), but they also wanted to conceal the stigma of their convict ancestry.
Many of their stories are quite remarkable. With rare exceptions, each story is a tale of the poor, vulnerable and disenfranchised during the nineteenth century and every girl deserves to be remembered. Most were admitted to the school after a tragedy had struck their family. Almost all of them were born in NSW and a very large number of their parents or grandparents had been transported to Australia. About half were born before compulsory registration and half after 1856. Their combined histories give an insight into society in NSW in the 1860s and 1870s. These girls survived childhood diseases, a difficult or turbulent early life and their life in the school and often their early employment as a single girl alone on the colonial frontier.
While the life of the poor and vulnerable at this time may make shocking reading, the stories of success are numerous, as most of these girls went on to become loving wives, mothers and successful women.

The following websites provide a brief glimpse into the world of the girls, their families and the many issues facing them.

Newcastle Industrial School for Girls. By Jane Ison
http://nis.wikidot.com/

“. . . here is an Asylum open . . .” constructing a culture of government care in Australia 1801 – 2014, pp.81-101. By Ann Hardy
http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:14435?queryType=vitalDismax&query=hardy+asylum

“The Industrial School at Newcastle”, Newcastle Miners’ Advocate 14 Feb 1868.

Story of an Angel

Story of an Angel – History of Newcastle’s mental health service

 Dr Ann Hardy

Recently I was giving a talk at the Newcastle branch of the Australian Federation of Graduate Woman about the history of mental health in Newcastle.  I was describing the close association between the Newcastle Asylum that opened in 1871, and Stockton Mental Hospital established in 1910. What few realise is that there is a long history of mental health care in the Hunter, particularly associated with intellectual disability, the institution known as the ‘Newcastle Asylum for Imbecile & Idiots’ was the first hospital for the intellectually disabled in Australia. The terms ‘imbecile’ and ‘idiot’ are not used today in this context, however in the nineteenth century were used to describe intellectual disability. What came about during the discussion with the graduates was the discovery of a much more tangible link between the two institutions- an Angel. Before I continue with the story about the Angel the following background information puts in context how mental health services came about in Newcastle.

Government authorities in NSW during the 1860s began planning how to best care for the mentally ill and intellectually disabled. In 1868 Dr Frederic Norton Manning undertook a study of asylums worldwide to find best practice methods, and after more than a year away he produced a report that was described as “undoubtedly one of the most comprehensive, complete and authoritative public documents that has appeared on the subject of Insanity and Hospitals for the Insane.” (American Journal of Psychiatry)    This report recommended separate institutions for people with mental illness and intellectual disability, another suggestion was that asylums be exposed to a southerly breeze, which both Newcastle and Stockton institutions are. The ‘Newcastle Asylum for Imbecile & Idiots’ was a public institution for people with intellectual disabilities, what makes this institution rare is that it was established quite early; it was the third public institution of its type in the world.  There was no similar institution publicly owned and managed in the British Empire, it was a first in Australia and in Britain. It differed because the NSW system did not follow the British tradition of charitable and private care, instead government authorities directly provided care for the mentally ill and intellectually disabled. Although methods of care were influenced by models used in institutions worldwide, the private sector was not involved in establishing or funding the Newcastle Asylum in 1871.

Ralph Snowball. James Fletcher Hospital and Gardens, Watt Street Newcastle [n.d.]

The hospital has had many name changes and in 2014 known as the James Fletcher Hospital. Although authorities intended to admit adults and children with an intellectual disability when it first opened in 1871 this group did not come straight away, instead many socially disadvantaged, single ageing men were sent from Sydney where asylums were overcrowded. After a few years the asylum population began to stabilise and intellectually disabled people were admitted. By the 1890s, children as young as five and six years of age were relinquished into care, an economic depression in this decade made it difficult for families to cope. The admission of mostly intellectually disabled women and children continued well into the twentieth century. The institution at Newcastle was special; the community had a presence there, they were encouraged by Superintendent Frederick Cane to visit and were welcomed through the gates of the asylum. The community was part of care of the patients, here they participated in musical and sporting events, and as the “Newcastle Fountain Hospital” postcard shows the asylum was quite a pleasant public place in the 1880s. The opening up of asylums worldwide, saw increasing numbers of visitors to asylums, they were marketed as tourist attractions where amusements were shared between patients and the wider community.  This notion of institutional tourism seems odd today because mental hospitals are very much private places, however in the late nineteenth century many public institutions, including asylums were tourist attractions.

Postcard ‘The Fountain Hospital for the Insane, Newcastle’. Private collection. Date unknown.

 

Newcastle’s asylum grounds were promoted in the local press as a community friendly space which drew people to the site “ …not to be missed…No visitor doing the sights of Newcastle ought to miss the excellent institution….the picturesque and interesting surrounds, it would well repay a visit.”[1] “Hospital for the Insane,” Newcastle Herald & Miners’ Advocate (Newcastle) April 3, 1886.

What added to the promotion of local tourism was the interest in sites of civic activity, public participation, and trips to experience the natural environment. The railway into Newcastle contributed to the general boom in tourism. The 1880s and 1890s saw the beginning of growth in the colonial tourism market and with a Depression meant people were less inclined to take expensive overseas travel, instead staying ‘at home’. The beauty of the asylum surroundings were emphasised, particularly to visitors as the postcard and other photographs show.

The main objective was “not only beautifying the place, but removing as far as possible the barriers which were formerly so prominent”. “Asylum Grounds,”  Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate(Newcastle)  October 2, 1878.

The main entrance to the Newcastle Asylum was from Watt Street formally styled with plantings and Roman style vases on plinths along the drive.

Now this is where the Angel returns to the story. A statue of an angel is shown in the postcard, it stood on a high plinth at the end of the main avenue at the Newcastle asylum. Also shown is a decorative fountain and a field gun reflecting the earlier military use at the Domain. For many years I had been thinking about this statue, wondering how it come to be there, who put it there, and where had it gone. Did it still exist somewhere? Nothing has been found in the records, I had no clues about the statue until March 2014.  At the dinner I was attending Jocelyn Caddies spoke up and said “I think I know where that statue is, it’s over at Stockton”.  Jocelyn worked at the multi-activity centre at Stockton Hospital during the 1990s to 2005 and remembers seeing the statue of the Angel. Thanks to Jocelyn’s local knowledge I went to Stockton Hospital the following day, with little effort I located the statue standing in a central place, quite unassuming near the main car park. I stood there staring at the face of this Angel, I understood its history and how far she had come. It is as if the Angel had flown across the harbour to protect those who were transferred there in 1910, many of them were women and children from the Newcastle mental hospital.

Photographs by Ann Hardy 2014. Angel ‘Mercy’ at Stockton Centre

The statue has been standing for at least 120 years and is a tangible link between the two mental health sites, it represents government care provided to the intellectually disabled and the first institution established at Newcastle in 1871. But more importantly it represents the community, the presence the community has had at the Stockton Centre, a community that cares about the future of the place and its people. The state government in NSW plans to close the Stockton Centre and it is of no surprise that there are many people willing to “fight until their last breath” against the closure. There is a passion to retain this public facility because of its history- it’s been the major institution for the intellectually disabled in NSW for over a century.

If you have any further information about the statue of the Angel please contact Ann Hardy at ann-hardy@hotmail.com

(Written by Dr Ann Hardy)

Sources

“Hospital for the Insane,” Newcastle Herald & Miners’ Advocate (Newcastle) April 3, 1886.

“Asylum Grounds,” Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate (Newcastle)  October 2, 1878. “Hospital for the Insane,” Newcastle Herald & Miners’ Advocate (Newcastle) January 22, 1890.

Laila Ellmoos, Beneath the Pines: A History of the Stockton Centre (Sydney: Ageing, Disability and Home Care. Department of Human Services NSW, 2010).

“Vow to fight Stockton Centre closure”, Newcastle Herald June 23, 2014.

Dr Nigel Lyons on the Future of the James Fletcher Hospital Site

This is an interview with Dr Nigel Lyons, CEO of Hunter New England Health, on the future of the James Fletcher Hospital site and its importance to the history of Newcastle and the Country.

The interview was recorded by Jenny Bates on ABC Radio 1233 and broadcast on Friday 4th December 2009. Following Dr Lyons,  Ann Hardy, secretary of the Hunter Committee of the National Trust was also interviewed for comment.

Interview by Jenny Bates with Dr Nigel Lyons (Hunter New England Area Health) and Ann Hardy (National Trust) ABC1233 4 December 2009 (12Mb file)

History of the Newcastle Government House and Barracks Historic Site (1804) Part 3

History of the Newcastle Government House and Barracks Historic Site (1804) (formerly the James Fletcher Hospital) – Part 3 by Dr Troy Duncan, University of Newcastle Australia.

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History of the Newcastle Government House and Barracks Historic Site (1804) Part 2

History of the Newcastle Government House and Barracks Historic Site (formerly James Fletcher Hospital Newcastle) Part 2 “On the REAL ‘St Trinians’ of Newcastle”

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History of the Newcastle Government House and Barracks Historic Site (1804) Part 1

History of the Newcastle Government House and Barracks Historic Site (formerly James Fletcher Hospital Newcastle) Part 1

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