This glass slide captures a scene from a male hospital ward at Mayday Hills Mental Asylum. Also known as the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, Mayday Hills was officially opened on the twenty-fourth of October 1867 and was commissioned following lobbying from Beechworth Municipal Council concerning a need for better living conditions for individuals confined to the town's gaol. These individuals, as well as many others who were brought from surrounding institutions, exhibited behaviours that were deemed to be unfit for mainstream society. At its peak, the asylum consisted of sixty-seven buildings and housed over twelve-hundred patients and five-hundred staff. At the time of Australian Federation in 1901 - just a year after this photograph was taken - the patient population numbered six-hundred and seventy-four. The asylum was officially closed in 1996. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as being architecturally significant. The extensive complex of buildings are examples of Italianate-style, which is strongly associated with asylums of the 1860s - the period in which construction of this particular asylum began. Today the asylum offers tours to visitors, including daytime history tours and night-time ghost tours. Lantern slides, sometimes called 'magic lantern' slides, are glass plates on which an image has been secured for the purpose of projection. Glass slides were etched or hand-painted for this purpose from the Eighteenth Century but the process became more popular and accessible to the public with the development of photographic-emulsion slides used with a 'Magic Lantern' device in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Photographic lantern slides comprise a double-negative emulsion layer (forming a positive image) between thin glass plates that are bound together. A number of processes existed to form and bind the emulsion layer to the base plate, including the albumen, wet plate collodion, gelatine dry plate and woodburytype techniques. Lantern slides and magic lantern technologies are seen as foundational precursors to the development of modern photography and film-making techniques.This glass slide is socially and historically significant as it is representative of the lives of the nurses and patients at Beechworth Mayday Hills Asylum in the early twentieth century. It is also historically significant as it is representative of the changing style of treatments and attitudes towards mental illness. Thin translucent sheet of glass with a circular image printed on the front and framed in a black backing. It is held together by metal strips to secure the edges of the slide.Obverse: h /lantern slide, slide, glass slide, plate, burke museum collection, photograph, monochrome, mayday hills, mayday hills hospital, mayday hills asylum, beechworth lunatic asylum, beechworth mental asylum, psychiatric hostpital, beechworth, burke museum, beechworth municipal council, beechworth patients, psychiatric patients, victorian heritage register, 1900, 1900 mayday hills, italianate style, 19th century asylums, asylums victoria, male ward mayday hills

Taken in approximately 1900, this glass slide captures an image of a Mayday Hills Mental Asylum nurse. Also known as the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, Mayday Hills was officially opened on the twenty-fourth of October 1867 and was commissioned following lobbying from Beechworth Municipal Council concerning a need for better living conditions for certain individuals confined to the town's gaol. These individuals, as well as many others who were brought from surrounding institutions, exhibited behaviours that were deemed to be unfit for mainstream society. At its peak, the asylum consisted of sixty-seven buildings and housed over twelve-hundred patients and five-hundred staff. At the time of Australian Federation in 1901 - just a year after this photograph was taken - the patient population numbered six-hundred and seventy-four. The designated site of the institution was chosen due to its scenery and altitude. It was argued that these picturesque surroundings would assist in curing the hospital's patients of their ailments. The asylum was officially closed in 1996. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as being architecturally significant. The extensive complex of buildings are examples of Italianate-style, which is strongly associated with asylums of the 1860s - the period in which construction of this particular asylum began. Today the asylum offers tours to visitors: both daytime history tours and night-time ghost tours. Lantern slides, sometimes called 'magic lantern' slides, are glass plates on which an image has been secured for the purpose of projection. Glass slides were etched or hand-painted for this purpose from the Eighteenth Century but the process became more popular and accessible to the public with the development of photographic-emulsion slides used with a 'Magic Lantern' device in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Photographic lantern slides comprise a double-negative emulsion layer (forming a positive image) between thin glass plates that are bound together. A number of processes existed to form and bind the emulsion layer to the base plate, including the albumen, wet plate collodion, gelatine dry plate and woodburytype techniques. Lantern slides and magic lantern technologies are seen as foundational precursors to the development of modern photography and film-making techniques.This glass slide is socially and historically significant as it is representative of the lives of the nurses who worked at Beechworth's Mayday Hills Asylum in the early twentieth century. Thin translucent sheet of glass with a portrait image printed on the front. It is held together by metal strips to secure the edges of the slide.burke museum, beechworth, lantern slide, slide, glass slide, plate, burke museum collection, photograph, monochrome, mayday hills, mayday hills mental asylum, beechworth asylum, beechworth asylum nurses, psychiatric nurses, psychiatric care, 1900 mayday hills, victorian heritage register, italianate style, 19th century asylums, asylums victoria

Taken in approximately 1900, this glass slide captures an image of two Mayday Hills Mental Asylum nurses. Also known as the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, Mayday Hills was officially opened on the twenty-fourth of October 1867 and was commissioned following lobbying from Beechworth Municipal Council concerning a need for better living conditions for certain individuals confined to the town's gaol. These individuals, as well as many others who were brought from surrounding institutions, exhibited behaviours that were deemed to be unfit for mainstream society. At its peak, the asylum consisted of sixty-seven buildings and housed over twelve-hundred patients and five-hundred staff. At the time of Australian Federation in 1901 - just a year after this photograph was taken - the patient population numbered six-hundred and seventy-four. The designated site of the institution was chosen due to its scenery and altitude. It was argued that these picturesque surroundings would assist in curing the hospital's patients of their ailments. The asylum was officially closed in 1996. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as being architecturally significant. The extensive complex of buildings are examples of Italianate-style, which is strongly associated with asylums of the 1860s - the period in which construction of this particular asylum began. Today the asylum offers tours to visitors: both daytime history tours and night-time ghost tours. Lantern slides, sometimes called 'magic lantern' slides, are glass plates on which an image has been secured for the purpose of projection. Glass slides were etched or hand-painted for this purpose from the Eighteenth Century but the process became more popular and accessible to the public with the development of photographic-emulsion slides used with a 'Magic Lantern' device in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Photographic lantern slides comprise a double-negative emulsion layer (forming a positive image) between thin glass plates that are bound together. A number of processes existed to form and bind the emulsion layer to the base plate, including the albumen, wet plate collodion, gelatine dry plate and woodburytype techniques. Lantern slides and magic lantern technologies are seen as foundational precursors to the development of modern photography and film-making techniques.This glass slide is socially and historically significant as it is representative of the lives of the nurses who worked at Beechworth's Mayday Hills Asylum in the early twentieth century.Thin translucent sheet of glass with a portrait image printed on the front. It is held together by metal strips to secure the edges of the slide.burke museum, beechworth, lantern slide, slide, glass slide, plate, burke museum collection, photograph, monochrome, 1900 mayday hills, mayday hills, beechworth mental hospital, beechworth mental asylum, beechworth asylum nurses, psychiatric nurses, psychiatric care, victorian heritage register, italianate style, 19th century asylums, asylums victoria

Taken approximately 1910, this black and white photograph shows the interior of the surgery and consulting rooms at the Mayday Hills mental hospital known at that time as a lunatic asylum in Beechworth. Mayday Hills Hospital, then known as the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum was constructed between 1864-67 designed by The Public Works Department. The hospital is made up of a number of buildings, landscaping, ha-ha, workshops, laundry, administrative facilities and farmland, it was constructed in 'Italianate' style by a team of up to two hundred and fifty workers (Woods p. 122). The asylum was established in response to the need for the regional shire to locally care for those particularly affected by their time working the Ovens goldfield during the Indigo Shire gold rush era where poor living conditions and isolation were significantly affecting the welfare of a great many people through poverty and lack of resources. The gaol and orphan labour systems were not able to effectively support to give housing, rehabilitation and ongoing care for the mentally ill, and transporting to Melbourne by waggon was a time consuming and counter-productive solution when the metro facilities were already overcrowded. According to Woods (A Titan's Field p. 122), between 1901 and 1911 a large percentage (thirty five percent in 1901 and twenty four in 1911) of the Beechworth population were either patients or inmates of Beechworth institutions, Mayday Hills accounted for some six hundred and seventy four patients in 1901, Beechworth's Mayday Hills was chosen as the site of Victoria's newest asylum, at the time, due to the landscape and altitude. The hilltop atmosphere and the native fauna, it was argued, would assist in the cure of the patients kept at the hospital (Wood 1985, 122). The positioning of the hospital had a beneficial effect on the rural town and the large volume of people living at the hospital and contributing to this population growth is counted as reason for the survival of Beechworth as a regional township. Mayday Hills continued to function as a mental hospital up until 1995 when it was sold to LaTrobe university. The building and grounds are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register under criterion A, B, D, E and F. Although grainy, the image gives a good indication of a functioning interior space of a surgery and consulting room at Mayday Hills in the early 1900's, from which we might interpret (from the types of tools and furniture present), the medical practices being performed at the time.Black and white rectangular photographmedical, asylum, surgery, hospital, beechworth, mayday hills, mayday hills asylum, mayday hills hospital, mental hospital, beechworth lunatic asylum, beechworth institutions, social welfare, public works department, consulting room

This image appears to show nurses at what is now the Mayday Hills Mental Asylum arriving for work in approximately 1900. These individuals are part of a long history of nursing in Beechworth. Three medical or social welfare facilities opened in the mid-1800s as part of a push by the township to become a regional centre for Government services. These were the Ovens District Hospital (opened in 1857), the Ovens Benevolent Asylum (opened in 1863), and the Beechworth Mental Hospital (opened in 1867 and renamed Mayday Hills Hospital at Centenary celebrations in 1967). It was recognised that the unsettled living conditions, poverty and relative isolation of the Goldfields environment could produce 'mental disturbances' which required local treatment facilities as services in Melbourne were too far away. Carole Woods' publication 'A Titan's Field' describes activities undertaken by patients at Beechworth Mental Hospital as including monthly balls and occasional concerts as well as work to make the facility self-supporting such as farm work and making clothes. She mentions a report in 1870 that the approximately 300 patients were clean and neat with 'no-one in restraint or seclusion' but that by 1905 the organisation had 623 patients which placed strain on building infrastructure such as heating and water supplies, leading to high turnover of nurses and other issues. A program of building works to extend and improve facilities followed over subsequent decades. Lantern slides, sometimes called 'magic lantern' slides, are glass plates on which an image has been secured for the purpose of projection. Glass slides were etched or hand-painted for this purpose from the Eighteenth Century but the process became more popular and accessible to the public with the development of photographic-emulsion slides used with a 'Magic Lantern' device in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Photographic lantern slides comprise a double-negative emulsion layer (forming a positive image) between thin glass plates that are bound together. A number of processes existed to form and bind the emulsion layer to the base plate, including the albumen, wet plate collodion, gelatine dry plate and Woodburytype techniques. Lantern slides and magic lantern technologies are seen as foundational precursors to the development of modern photography and film-making techniques This glass slide is significant because it provides insight into Beechworth's social and medical amenities in the early Twentieth Century, around the time of Australia's Federation into one nation. It is also an example of an early photographic and film-making technology in use in regional Victoria in the time period.Thin translucent sheet of glass with a rectangular image printed on the front and framed in a black backing. It is held together by metals strips to secure the edges of the slide.Obverse: i /burke museum, beechworth, lantern slide, slide, glass slide, plate, burke museum collection, photograph, monochrome, magic lantern, indigo shire, north-east victoria, nineteenth century, 1900s, twentieth century, emulsion slides, nursing, nurses, mental hospitals, lunatic asylums, asylums, social services, social welfare, insane asylums, mental health, infrastructure

This image appears to show nurses at what is now the Mayday Hills Mental Asylum in approximately 1900. These individuals are part of a long history of nursing in Beechworth. Three medical or social welfare facilities opened in the mid-1800s as part of a push by the township to become a regional centre for Government services. These were the Ovens District Hospital (opened in 1857), the Ovens Benevolent Asylum (opened in 1863), and the Beechworth Mental Hospital (opened in 1867 and renamed Mayday Hills Hospital at Centenary celebrations in 1967). It was recognised that the unsettled living conditions, poverty and relative isolation of the Goldfields environment could produce 'mental disturbances' which required local treatment facilities as services in Melbourne were too far away. Carole Woods' publication 'A Titan's Field' describes activities undertaken by patients at Beechworth Mental Hospital as including monthly balls and occasional concerts as well as work to make the facility self-supporting such as farm work and making clothes. She mentions a report in 1870 that the approximately 300 patients were clean and neat with 'no-one in restraint or seclusion' but that by 1905 the organisation had 623 patients which placed strain on building infrastructure such as heating and water supplies, leading to high turnover of nurses and other issues. A program of building works to extend and improve facilities followed over subsequent decades. Lantern slides, sometimes called 'magic lantern' slides, are glass plates on which an image has been secured for the purpose of projection. Glass slides were etched or hand-painted for this purpose from the Eighteenth Century but the process became more popular and accessible to the public with the development of photographic-emulsion slides used with a 'Magic Lantern' device in the mid-Nineteenth Century. Photographic lantern slides comprise a double-negative emulsion layer (forming a positive image) between thin glass plates that are bound together. A number of processes existed to form and bind the emulsion layer to the base plate, including the albumen, wet plate collodion, gelatine dry plate and Woodburytype techniques. Lantern slides and magic lantern technologies are seen as foundational precursors to the development of modern photography and film-making techniques.This glass slide is significant because it provides insight into Beechworth's social and medical amenities in the early Twentieth Century, around the time of Australia's Federation into one nation. It is also an example of an early photographic and film-making technology in use in regional Victoria in the time period.Thin translucent sheet of glass with a circular image printed on the front and framed in a black backing. It is held together by metals strips to secure the edges of the slide.burke museum, beechworth, lantern slide, slide, glass slide, plate, burke museum collection, photograph, monochrome, magic lantern, indigo shire, north-east victoria, nineteenth century, 1900s, twentieth century, emulsion slides, nursing, nurses, mental hospitals, lunatic asylums, asylums, social services, social welfare, insane asylums, mental health, infrastructure

This photograph was captured in approximately 1900 and depicts the on site nurses homes. During the 1880s, these detached cottages were constructed and provided accommodation for the staff (in this case, the nurses) who lived within the hospital walls. Within the image are weatherboard buildings, a number of nurses and water tanks. Beechworth's Mayday Hills was chosen as the site of Victoria's newest asylum, at the time, due to the landscape and altitude. The hilltop atmosphere and the native fauna, it was argued, would assist in the cure of the patients kept at the hospital (Wood 1985, 122). The positioning of the hospital had a beneficial effect on the rural town. A pamphlet published by James Ingram and Son (1849) reveal that famous landmarks in Beechworth which included the Post Office, Gaol, Courthouse and Asylum "demonstrate the appreciation of Beechworth by the Government not only as as important district center, but also as a site unrivaled as a sanitarium". There were other locations in contention at the time, but ultimately Beechworth was chosen (Craig 2000, 33). Prior to the creation of the Asylum in Beechworth, those charged with having mental illnesses or, as it was termed, "insanity" were unable to be properly cared for in the Gaol (which is where they were often sent). John Buckley Castieau wrote, in 1861 for the Ovens and Murray Advertiser, that the Gaol was unable to properly care for those classified then as "insane" but that they would endeavor to treat them above the other inmates (which he notes is not always the case in other establishments). Castieau wrote this in favour of supporting the building of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth. It was stated that at the time the Mayday Hills Hospital was built, there were 83 prisoners kept in the Gaol who were to be rehoused to the Hospital on the grounds of "insanity". The classification as someone as "insane", in this period of time is a reflection on the inability to cure and understand illnesses of the mind during the mid to late 1800s. Opening on the 24th of October 1867, the Mayday Hills Hospital was originally named the "Ovens Lunatic Asylum", a title which is very much a product of its time. Whilst controversial, changes to the name is part of the history of the Hospital and can provide much insight into the understanding of mental illness throughout history and the use/disuse of this term provides information into the reception/changing opinions of mental illness in society. The Hospital would later become known as the "Mayday Hills Asylum" and/or "Mayday Hills Hospital" with the latter being the most commonly used title. An article in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser notes that on the 7th of March 1865, the foundation stone of the Hospital was laid (it would officially open in 1867) and that it was such a moment of accomplishment and joy for Beechworth that a letter to the editor even suggested that there should be a holiday dedicated to the day the foundation stone as laid. This reveals an extent to which the townspeople of early Beechworth valued the construction of the Hospital in their town. It provided the town with a sense of prestige and honour.At first glance, the remains of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth, Victoria, inspire tragedy, trauma and beauty. The buildings themselves, with their Italianate style Renaissance architecture designed by J.J. Clark (Craig 2000, 49 & Smith 2016, 203) reflect a bygone period of European and Australian history. The gardens provide a sense of tranquility and beauty. The experience of those within these walls remains a valuable area of study to provide a more complete understanding. This particular hospital is considered the fourth of its like and one of three identified as the largest of their kind. The Mayday Hills Hospital is a sister to the Kew and Ararat Asylums in Melbourne which are both located in relative proximity. Understanding the role of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth history is integral to understanding the development of the goldfields town, but also for providing important information as to the history of caring for, and the reception of, mental illnesses in Australian and wider European history. Mayday Hills provides a case study which can be researched through oral history, an analysis of the grounds/buildings and through images like these. Images like these depict the strong façade of the Hospital and provide a glimpse into the tranquility of the gardens. This has been done deliberately to provide a sense of comfort and healing about the building to those looking from the outside. Further research into the importance of the Hospital in Beechworth and it's connection to the town will be supported through images like these kept in the Mayday Hills photo album in the collection of the Burke Museum.Black and white rectangular photograph printed on photographic paper mounted on card"Early nurses quarters, Beechworth Mental Hospital, now May Day Hills Hospital."may day hills hospital, nurses quarters, beechworth, mayday hills, asylum

These images are copies of a photograph (3448) captured in approximately 1900 and depicts the on site nurses homes. During the 1880s, these detached cottages were constructed and provided accommodation for the staff (in this case, the nurses) who lived within the hospital walls. Within the image are weatherboard buildings, a number of nurses and water tanks. Beechworth's Mayday Hills was chosen as the site of Victoria's newest asylum, at the time, due to the landscape and altitude. The hilltop atmosphere and the native fauna, it was argued, would assist in the cure of the patients kept at the hospital (Wood 1985, 122). The positioning of the hospital had a beneficial effect on the rural town. A pamphlet published by James Ingram and Son (1849) reveal that famous landmarks in Beechworth which included the Post Office, Gaol, Courthouse and Asylum "demonstrate the appreciation of Beechworth by the Government not only as as important district center, but also as a site unrivaled as a sanitarium". There were other locations in contention at the time, but ultimately Beechworth was chosen (Craig 2000, 33). Prior to the creation of the Asylum in Beechworth, those charged with having mental illnesses or, as it was termed, "insanity" were unable to be properly cared for in the Gaol (which is where they were often sent). John Buckley Castieau wrote, in 1861 for the Ovens and Murray Advertiser, that the Gaol was unable to properly care for those classified then as "insane" but that they would endeavor to treat them above the other inmates (which he notes is not always the case in other establishments). Castieau wrote this in favour of supporting the building of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth. It was stated that at the time the Mayday Hills Hospital was built, there were 83 prisoners kept in the Gaol who were to be rehoused to the Hospital on the grounds of "insanity". The classification as someone as "insane", in this period of time is a reflection on the inability to cure and understand illnesses of the mind during the mid to late 1800s. Opening on the 24th of October 1867, the Mayday Hills Hospital was originally named the "Ovens Lunatic Asylum", a title which is very much a product of its time. Whilst controversial, changes to the name is part of the history of the Hospital and can provide much insight into the understanding of mental illness throughout history and the use/disuse of this term provides information into the reception/changing opinions of mental illness in society. The Hospital would later become known as the "Mayday Hills Asylum" and/or "Mayday Hills Hospital" with the latter being the most commonly used title. An article in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser notes that on the 7th of March 1865, the foundation stone of the Hospital was laid (it would officially open in 1867) and that it was such a moment of accomplishment and joy for Beechworth that a letter to the editor even suggested that there should be a holiday dedicated to the day the foundation stone as laid. This reveals an extent to which the townspeople of early Beechworth valued the construction of the Hospital in their town. It provided the town with a sense of prestige and honour.At first glance, the remains of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth, Victoria, inspire tragedy, trauma and beauty. The buildings themselves, with their Italianate style Renaissance architecture designed by J.J. Clark (Craig 2000, 49 & Smith 2016, 203) reflect a bygone period of European and Australian history. The gardens provide a sense of tranquility and beauty. The experience of those within these walls remains a valuable area of study to provide a more complete understanding. This particular hospital is considered the fourth of its like and one of three identified as the largest of their kind. The Mayday Hills Hospital is a sister to the Kew and Ararat Asylums in Melbourne which are both located in relative proximity. Understanding the role of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth history is integral to understanding the development of the goldfields town, but also for providing important information as to the history of caring for, and the reception of, mental illnesses in Australian and wider European history. Mayday Hills provides a case study which can be researched through oral history, an analysis of the grounds/buildings and through images like these. Images like these depict the strong façade of the Hospital and provide a glimpse into the tranquility of the gardens. This has been done deliberately to provide a sense of comfort and healing about the building to those looking from the outside. Further research into the importance of the Hospital in Beechworth and it's connection to the town will be supported through images like these kept in the Mayday Hills photo album in the collection of the Burke Museum.Black and white rectangular photograph printed on gloss photographic papermental hospital, mayday hills, beechworth, copy, nurse, nurses quarters, on-site dwelling, 1900s, 1880, beechworth asylum

This photograph is a copy of that captured in approximately 1900 and depicts the on site nurses homes. During the 1880s, these detached cottages were constructed and provided accommodation for the staff (in this case, the nurses) who lived within the hospital walls. Within the image are weatherboard buildings, a number of nurses and water tanks. Beechworth's Mayday Hills was chosen as the site of Victoria's newest asylum, at the time, due to the landscape and altitude. The hilltop atmosphere and the native fauna, it was argued, would assist in the cure of the patients kept at the hospital (Wood 1985, 122). The positioning of the hospital had a beneficial effect on the rural town. A pamphlet published by James Ingram and Son (1849) reveal that famous landmarks in Beechworth which included the Post Office, Gaol, Courthouse and Asylum "demonstrate the appreciation of Beechworth by the Government not only as as important district center, but also as a site unrivaled as a sanitarium". There were other locations in contention at the time, but ultimately Beechworth was chosen (Craig 2000, 33). Prior to the creation of the Asylum in Beechworth, those charged with having mental illnesses or, as it was termed, "insanity" were unable to be properly cared for in the Gaol (which is where they were often sent). John Buckley Castieau wrote, in 1861 for the Ovens and Murray Advertiser, that the Gaol was unable to properly care for those classified then as "insane" but that they would endeavor to treat them above the other inmates (which he notes is not always the case in other establishments). Castieau wrote this in favour of supporting the building of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth. It was stated that at the time the Mayday Hills Hospital was built, there were 83 prisoners kept in the Gaol who were to be rehoused to the Hospital on the grounds of "insanity". The classification as someone as "insane", in this period of time is a reflection on the inability to cure and understand illnesses of the mind during the mid to late 1800s. Opening on the 24th of October 1867, the Mayday Hills Hospital was originally named the "Ovens Lunatic Asylum", a title which is very much a product of its time. Whilst controversial, changes to the name is part of the history of the Hospital and can provide much insight into the understanding of mental illness throughout history and the use/disuse of this term provides information into the reception/changing opinions of mental illness in society. The Hospital would later become known as the "Mayday Hills Asylum" and/or "Mayday Hills Hospital" with the latter being the most commonly used title. An article in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser notes that on the 7th of March 1865, the foundation stone of the Hospital was laid (it would officially open in 1867) and that it was such a moment of accomplishment and joy for Beechworth that a letter to the editor even suggested that there should be a holiday dedicated to the day the foundation stone as laid. This reveals an extent to which the townspeople of early Beechworth valued the construction of the Hospital in their town. It provided the town with a sense of prestige and honour.At first glance, the remains of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth, Victoria, inspire tragedy, trauma and beauty. The buildings themselves, with their Italianate style Renaissance architecture designed by J.J. Clark (Craig 2000, 49 & Smith 2016, 203) reflect a bygone period of European and Australian history. The gardens provide a sense of tranquility and beauty. The experience of those within these walls remains a valuable area of study to provide a more complete understanding. This particular hospital is considered the fourth of its like and one of three identified as the largest of their kind. The Mayday Hills Hospital is a sister to the Kew and Ararat Asylums in Melbourne which are both located in relative proximity. Understanding the role of the Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth history is integral to understanding the development of the goldfields town, but also for providing important information as to the history of caring for, and the reception of, mental illnesses in Australian and wider European history. Mayday Hills provides a case study which can be researched through oral history, an analysis of the grounds/buildings and through images like these. Images like these depict the strong façade of the Hospital and provide a glimpse into the tranquility of the gardens. This has been done deliberately to provide a sense of comfort and healing about the building to those looking from the outside. Further research into the importance of the Hospital in Beechworth and it's connection to the town will be supported through images like these kept in the Mayday Hills photo album in the collection of the Burke Museum.Black and white rectangular photograph printed on photographic paper mounted on cardmayday hills, nurse, weatherboard, watertank, mayday hills hospital, asylum, mental health, kew, ararat, mental hospital, beechworth, gold town

This glass slide captures the driveway into Mayday Hills Mental Asylum formally known as the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum circa 1900. The slide depicts the driveway lined with an elevated landscape featuring tall trees, shrubbery of different varieties and well shaped bushes. The Mayday Hills Mental Asylum was constructed between 1864 and 1867 to the designs by the Public Works Department (PWD). The decommissioned Asylum was one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in Victoria and consisted of sixty-seven buildings, one thousand two hundred patients and five hundred staff members. The Asylum was predominately inhabited by long-stay patients but there were active out-patients. The Asylum was one of the first asylums to focus on treatment and rehabilitation instead of institutional confinement. At the Asylum, active work was considered imperative and workshops were located near the male accommodations and laundries and drying yards near the female accommodation. The Asylum closed in 1995 and was sold to La Trobe University before being closed and sold again in 2011 to a private owner.This glass slide captures social and historical significance as it represents a one small part of a much larger and pivotal location within Beechworth history. This lantern slide stands testament to a special place in Beechworth’s history and its significance continues to be remembered today.Thin translucent sheet of glass with a square image printed on the front and framed. It is held together by metals strips to secure the edges of the slide.NOW SCENE / ASYLUM AVENUE/ R.P.B. HALL/ BEECHWORTH.burke museum, beechworth, lantern slide, slide, glass slide, plate, burke museum collection, photograph, monochrome, mayday hills