Taken about 1880, this photograph depicts nine people and a horse-drawn carriage in front of the Administration building of Beechworth Mental Asylum. Constructed between 1864 and 1867 to the designs by the Public Works Department (PWD) is the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum which was renamed Mayday Hills Mental Asylum. 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 photograph is historically significant as it shows one of the main buildings of the Beechworth Mental Asylum that was pivotal in changing the approaches to treating the mentally ill.Sepia rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paper mounted on card.Reverse: 1997.2458/ Front view/ Beechworth/ about 1880/ Lunatic Asylum/ administration building, mayday hills, beechworth, beechworth lunatic asylum, beechworth mental asylum, horse drawn carriage, mayday hills mental hospital, beechworth lunatic asylum administration building, psychiatric hospitals

This photograph is part of the Caulfield Historical Album 1972, showing an advertisement for the 21/04/1923 Glenholme Estate sale through real estate agents Knight and Harwood. This album was created in approximately 1972 as part of a project by the Caulfield Historical Society to assist in identifying buildings worthy of preservation. The album is related to a Survey the Caulfield Historical Society developed in collaboration with the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) and Caulfield City Council to identify historic buildings within the City of Caulfield that warranted the protection of a National Trust Classification. Principal photographer thought to be Trevor Hart, member of Caulfield Historical Society. Most photographs were taken between 1966-1972 with a small number of photographs being older and from unknown sources. All photographs are black and white except where stated, with 386 photographs over 198 pages. This polychrome brick and slate-roofed mansion was built by John Hart in 1871. Later owned by James McDougall (partner in Sands and McDougall; director of the first Caulfield horse tram company). Later again, it became a psychiatric hospital; demolished c1923.Page 36 of Photograph Album with two photographs of Glenholme Estate advertisements.Handwritten: "Glenholme" Bambra Road [top] / 36 [bottom right]trevor hart, caulfield north, bambra road, glenholme, advertisements, glenholme estate, knight and harwood, real estate agents, maps, polychrome bricks, slate roofs, john hart, james mcdougall, psychiatric hospitals

Mavis Jensen (nee Knight) was born in Broadford in 1920 and came to Beechworth with her family a year later, so her father could assist his father at Knight's Blacksmith at 1A Camp Street, where the Hotel Nicholas is now located. Mavis Jensen left school at the age of 13 and worked as a kitchen maid at Ovens Benevolent Asylum. She was employed as a ward assistant at Mayday Hills Hospital from 1939 to 1980, except for 1958-59 when she gave birth to her son, Noel. This oral history recording was part of a project conducted by Jennifer Williams in the year 2000 to capture the everyday life and struggles in Beechworth during the twentieth century. This project involved recording seventy oral histories on cassette tapes of local Beechworth residents which were then published in a book titled: Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth. These cassette tapes were digitised in July 2021 with funds made available by the Friends of the Burke.Mavis Jensen's account of her life in Beechworth and the local area during the 20th century is historically and socially significant to the cultural heritage of the region. She details important historical events and hardships in the region's history that had a lasting local, regional and national impact, including Australia during war time, economic struggles, and women's societal roles in a rural area. Her oral history is particularly significant for its insights into developments in psychiatric patient treatment and care in regional Victoria, as well as women's work conditions in the mid-twentieth century. This oral history account is socially and historically significant as it is a part of a broader collection of interviews conducted by Jennifer Williams which were published in the book 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth-century Beechworth.' While the township of Beechworth is known for its history as a gold rush town, these accounts provide a unique insight into the day-to-day life of the town's residents during the 20th century, many of which will have now been lost if they had not been preserved.This is a digital copy of a recording that was originally captured on a cassette tape. The cassette tape is black with a horizontal white strip and is currently stored in a clear flat plastic rectangular container. It holds up 40 minutes of recordings on each side.Mavis Jensen /listen to what they say, beechworth, oral history, burke museum, jensen, mavis jensen, psychiatric hospitals, mid-twentieth century psychiatry, regional hospitals, regional mental health care, mid-twentieth century women's working conditions, mayday hills hospital., ovens benevolent asylum, beechworth hospital history

255 p., illus.Written by former inmate Sandy Jeffs and sociologist and occupational therapist Margaret Leggatt, after interviewing many people associated with Larundel.larundel, larundel psychiatric hospital, mental health, mental illness

This uniform was worn by student nurses at the Hillcrest Psychiatric Hospital in Adelaide in the early 1970s. In 1964, Northfield Mental Hospital was renamed Hillcrest Hospital. .1) Mid pink waisted and darted uniform with a front pocket (with H H embroidered) on left breast and side pockets on skirt. Buttoned up the front, with three buttons on top and a placket with four hidden buttons on skirt. There is a hook and eye at the waist and a separate belt with two buttons and buttonholes. There is a collar and cuffed short sleeves, a back yoke and a center inverted pleat. .2) A lined (double layer) woollen royal blue cape with collar and neck tie and a hook and eye clasp.Embroidered on top pocket - H Hnursing, hillcrest hospital, student nurse uniform, nurse cape, costume, textiles, cape, uniform, hillcrest psychiatric hospital

Used in Victorian psychiatric hospital between 1848 and1950. Clements Tonic contained herbs, vitamins and minerals and was used to improve general well-being. This bottle is rectangular in shape with tapered corners, giving the bottle 8 flat sides and is made from brown glass. The name of the product is molded down the length of the bottle. This bottle always remains the property of CLEMENTE' TONIC Limited

The psychiatric hospitals at Mont Park, Larundel and Plenty closed in the late 1970s and this book gives a brief history of the group of hospitals. The area has since been redeveloped into a residential area, although some of the original buildings remain.This book gives an outline of life within the hospital precinct.64 pages, illus. (some col.). Cover includes sepia photo 'Pond at Farm Worker's Block circa 1927'.mont park hospital, larundel hospital, plenty hospital, iliya bircanin, alex short, nemps, north eastern metropolitan psychiatric services

Circa 1920's the postcard depicts a pathway and manicured lawns leading to the Beechworth Mental Asylum administration building. The asylum was constructed between 1864 and 1867 to the designs by the Public Works Department (PWD) that was renamed Mayday Hills Mental Asylum. The now decommissioned asylum was cinsidered 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 one of the first asylums to focus on treatment and rehabilitation instead of institutional confinement. At the asylum active works was considered imperative and workshops were located near the male accommodations and laundries and drying yards near the female accommodation.This postcard is significant as it depicts the historical, architectural, technical and aesthetic significance of the Beechworth Mental Asylum's administration building to the State of Victoria.Black and white rectangular postcard printed on card.Obverse: Valentine Series No.1858/ The Asylum Beechworth Reverse: 1997.2464/ Valentines/ Real Photo Series Published by Valentine Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd/ Queen St.. Melbpostcard, beechworth, beechworth mental asylum, beechworth lunatic asylum, mayday hills, mayday hills mental asylum, administration building, beechworth mental asylum administration building

Taken 1905 by photograph W.D Gibbons the photograph depicts a pathway leading to the administration building of the Beechworth Mental Asylum. There are three well-dressed young men lounging on the grass as another is jumping behind them. This is significant as it demonstrates that the asylum was not a prison and that the mentally ill patients were allowed their freedom. The Beechworth 'Lunatic' Asylum was constructed between 1864 and 1867 to the designs by the Public Works Department (PWD) and was later renamed the Mayday Hills Mental Asylum. 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. 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 administration building itself highlights the architectural and aesthetic significance of the asylum to the State of Victoria. This photograph is historically significant as it demonstrates the architectural and aesthetic significance of the asylum but also the changing approaches to treating mental health. Black and white rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paper mounted on grey cork Obverse: W.D Gibbon/ Beechworth Reverse: 79.1701beechworth, beechworth lunatic asylum, beechworth mental hospital, mayday hills, mayday hills mental hospital, asylum, administration building, wd gibbon, photograph

Taken circa 1870, depicting twenty-eight staff members divided by gender standing in front of the Beechworth mental asylum. Constructed between 1864 and 1867 to the designs by the Public Works Department (PWD) is the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum that was renamed Mayday Hills. 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 was 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 works 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 photograph is historically significant as it provides insight into the importance of Beechworth mental asylum as the asylum demonstrates the changing approaches to the treatment of mental illness in Victoria from confinement to treatment and rehabilitation. Sepia rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paper mounted on card Reverse: 1997.2489/ Beechworthbeechworth, mental asylum, beechworth mental asylum, mental asylum administration building, mayday hills, mayday hills mental asylum, beechworth lunatic asylum

Taken on the 1st of April 1928 and copied from a private collection on the 27th of January 2010 the photograph depicts three well-dressed men and a small child standing around a fountain at the back of the administration building of Beechworth's 'lunatic' Asylum The asylum was constructed between 1864 and 1867 to the designs by the Public Works Department (PWD) and was later renamed Mayday Hills Mental Asylum. 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 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 photograph is historically significant as it demonstrates the freedom and safety of those who visited the asylum while also highlighting this instutions mission to treat and rehabiliate patients instead on institutionalising them.Black and white rectangular photograph printed on photographic paperReverse: 7606-1/ Copied 27 Jan 2010/ Copied from private collection/ Inscribed on the back of original/ J.Pinfold 1-4-1929/ May Mental Hospital for the Insane. beechworth, beechworth mental asylum, beechworth lunatic asylum, beechworth mental hosptial, mayday, mayday hills, mayday hills mental asylum, administration building, fountain

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

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by ***** as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.The Kew Historical Society has been the recipient of a number of important collections relating to the Kew Mental Hospital and the Children's Cottages, Kew, including their former incarnations. This is an important donation in this context as it includes five sketchbooks by a patient in an art therapy program at the Hospital. Art therapy programs were introduced by Dr Eric Cunningham Dax to Victorian asylums in the 1950s. The sketchbooks contain incomplete drawings and finished artworks. The donor believes that the patient who created the sketchbooks suffered from Schizophrenia. The sketchbooks are historically significant as representative examples of works created by patients in the program and for what they reveal about how mental illness may be manifested in a patient's artworks. The most significant repository of comparable works is held by the Dax Centre at Melbourne University.One of five sketchbooks with illustrations by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Kew Mental Hospital in an art therapy program, during the 1950s or 1960s. No work is dated although a number of the drawings/paintings are signed with the artist's name. art therapy, kew mental hospital, herbert joseph chambers, dr eric cunningham dax

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by **** as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.The Kew Historical Society has been the recipient of a number of important collections relating to the Kew Mental Hospital and the Children's Cottages, Kew, including their former incarnations. This is an important donation in this context as it includes five sketchbooks by a patient in an art therapy program at the Hospital. Art therapy programs were introduced by Dr Eric Cunningham Dax to Victorian asylums in the 1950s. The sketchbooks contain incomplete drawings and finished artworks. The donor believes that the patient who created the sketchbooks suffered from Schizophrenia. The sketchbooks are historically significant as representative examples of works created by patients in the program and for what they reveal about how mental illness may be manifested in a patient's artworks. The most significant repository of comparable works is held by the Dax Centre at Melbourne University.One of five sketchbooks with illustrations by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Kew Mental Hospital in an art therapy program, during the 1950s or 1960s. No work is dated although a number of the drawings/paintings are signed with the artist's name. art therapy, kew mental hospital, herbert joseph chambers, dr eric cunningham dax

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by ***** as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.The Kew Historical Society has been the recipient of a number of important collections relating to the Kew Mental Hospital and the Children's Cottages, Kew, including their former incarnations. This is an important donation in this context as it includes five sketchbooks by a patient in an art therapy program at the Hospital. Art therapy programs were introduced by Dr Eric Cunningham Dax to Victorian asylums in the 1950s. The sketchbooks contain incomplete drawings and finished artworks. The donor believes that the patient who created the sketchbooks suffered from Schizophrenia. The sketchbooks are historically significant as representative examples of works created by patients in the program and for what they reveal about how mental illness may be manifested in a patient's artworks. The most significant repository of comparable works is held by the Dax Centre at Melbourne University.One of five sketchbooks with illustrations by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Kew Mental Hospital in an art therapy program, during the 1950s or 1960s. No work is dated although a number of the drawings/paintings are signed with the artist's name. art therapy, kew mental hospital, herbert joseph chambers, dr eric cunningham dax

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by ***** as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.The Kew Historical Society has been the recipient of a number of important collections relating to the Kew Mental Hospital and the Children's Cottages, Kew, including their former incarnations. This is an important donation in this context as it includes five sketchbooks by a patient in an art therapy program at the Hospital. Art therapy programs were introduced by Dr Eric Cunningham Dax to Victorian asylums in the 1950s. The sketchbooks contain incomplete drawings and finished artworks. The donor believes that the patient who created the sketchbooks suffered from Schizophrenia. The sketchbooks are historically significant as representative examples of works created by patients in the program and for what they reveal about how mental illness may be manifested in a patient's artworks. The most significant repository of comparable works is held by the Dax Centre at Melbourne University.One of five sketchbooks with illustrations by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Kew Mental Hospital in an art therapy program, during the 1950s or 1960s. No work is dated although a number of the drawings/paintings are signed with the artist's name. art therapy, kew mental hospital, herbert joseph chambers, dr eric cunningham dax

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenneth Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by **** as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.The Kew Historical Society has been the recipient of a number of important collections relating to the Kew Mental Hospital and the Children's Cottages, Kew, including their former incarnations. This is an important donation in this context as it includes five sketchbooks by a patient in an art therapy program at the Hospital. Art therapy programs were introduced by Dr Eric Cunningham Dax to Victorian asylums in the 1950s. The sketchbooks contain incomplete drawings and finished artworks. The donor believes that the patient who created the sketchbooks suffered from Schizophrenia. The sketchbooks are historically significant as representative examples of works created by patients in the program and for what they reveal about how mental illness may be manifested in a patient's artworks. The most significant repository of comparable works is held by the Dax Centre at Melbourne University.One of five sketchbooks with illustrations by ******, a patient of the Kew Mental Hospital in an art therapy program, during the 1950s or 1960s. No work is dated although a number of the drawings/paintings are signed with the artist's name. art therapy, kew mental hospital, herbert joseph chambers, dr eric cunningham dax

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenn’th [sic] Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by Bailey as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.Small notebook, of which the cover is lost, including the names of male and female staff members at the Kew Mental Hospital, the amounts that they gambled and their winnings. It is presumed that the record was kept by Herbert Joseph Chambers, a member of staff between c.1945-70. The names in the book, including some of their aliases are arranged alphabetically. The prices are listed in pre-decimal currency, (i.e. before 1966). From the number of names listed in the book, it must have been a very extensive SP betting ring. herbert joseph chambers, kew mental hospital, gambling - kew (vic)

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenn’th [sic] Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by Bailey as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.Small copy of an original photograph of Herbert Joseph Chambers, a member of the male staff of the Kew Mental Hospital, standing between two unidentified men at Circular Quay, Sydney. The donor believes his father, Herbery Chambers, was in Sydney attending a conference in 1962."Nursing Conference Sydney 1962 / Unknown | Herbert Chambers | Unknown"herbert joseph chambers, kew mental hospital

Herbert Joseph Chambers was born in 1912 in Clifton Hill, Victoria. Later he was to live in Clark and Charles Streets in Northcote, in South Caulfield, and finally in Mentone. While he may have worked at the Kew Asylum before 1945, that year was when he was presented with a Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that he had completed training and passed the examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant’. The document is dated 19th December 1945 and signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners. From at least 1945, he was to work as a member of the male staff of the Asylum, mainly in the Refractory Ward. A donor gifted to the Kew Historical Society in February 2019 a number of items collected by Herbert Chambers in his work at the Asylum. These include his Certificate of Registration, a photograph taken of him with two colleagues at Circular Quay in Sydney, a notebook containing ‘SP’ betting records of male asylum staff, and five sketchbooks with artwork created by Kenn’th [sic] Bailey, a patient of the Asylum. Herbert Chambers’ period of employment at the Kew Asylum coincided with the employment of the English psychiatrist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax (1908-2008) as Chairman of the Mental Hygiene Authority in 1952. Dr Dax introduced an art therapy program into Victorian psychiatric hospitals, including Kew, where it is likely that the five sketchbooks were created. The sketchbooks are believed to have been presented to Chambers by Bailey as a “gift for looking after him”. Herbert Chambers retired from the Kew Asylum in c.1970 after working there for almost thirty years.Representative example of certification required to work as a Mental Attendant in Victoria.Certificate issued by the Department of Mental Hygiene (Victoria) declaring that Herbert Joseph Chambers has completed training and passed examinations required to work as a 'Mental Attendant. The document, dated 19th December 1945 is signed by the Director of the Department and by the Co-Examiners.Department of Mental Hygiene Victoria This is to certify that HERBERT JOSEPH CHAMBERS is a trained MEDICAL ATTENDANT having completed the period of Training and passed the Examinations, prescribed by the Regulations of The Department of Mental Hygiene, in Elementary Anatomy and Physiology, First Aid, General Medical and Special Mental Hygiene. 19TH DECEMBER, 1945 Signed by the Director of Mental Hygiene and two Co-Examinersherbert joseph chambers, kew mental hospital, department of mental hygeine - victoria

The former Mont Park/Bundoora Psychiatric and Repatriation Hospitals Complex consisted of seven hospitals on a site of 185 hectares. The site comprising the Mont Park and Strathallen estates was consolidated by the Victorian government by purchase and transfer from the Closer Settlement Board in 1909 . The Mont Park Hospital commenced in 1910 with the building of the Farm Workers Block . In 1912 the landscape gardener Hugh Linaker was employed to layout the grounds of Mont Park and other State mental hospitals. The other hospitals were gradually split off from the Mont Park administration to form separate entities included among these was the Macleod Repatriation Hospital (1915), An agreement was made with the Defence Department in 1914 for the latter to erect the Mont Park central block (the "Chronic Wards") for use as a Military Hospital, and for it later to revert to the State as portion of Mont Park Hospital. The buildings now known as the Chronic Wards were completed in this way in 1916 and used as the Australian General Hospital no. 16 for the duration of the war. One wing of this building was set aside for mental patients during this period. Silver gelatin photographww1, macleod repatriation sanitorium, mont park

Mrs Sheila Parkinson was born in Wagga in 1916 and came to Beechworth as a young woman around 1938. Sheila trained as a psychiatric nurse at Mayday Hills hospital prior to the second World War. At that time, unmarried women were accommodated and received nursing training on-site. Shiela was obliged to cease professional training and employment when she married in 1941, which disrupted completion of her final nursing examinations. Following post-war changes to the law that allowed married women to work, Sheila returned to Mayday Hills. Sheila's husband, Don, returned to Beechworth after four years abroad as a serviceman in the Australian Air Force. Beechworth's institutions were a major source of local employment throughout the twentieth century. As well as providing limited employment opportunities to young women like Shiela, post-war European migrants from Bonegilla Migrant camp found at Mayday Hills, encouraging European migrant settlement in the district. Mayday Hills was renamed several times since its establishment in 1867. At the peak of operations, it comprised sixty-seven buildings housing over twelve hundred patients patients and five hundred staff. The hospital officially closed in 1998. Today, the decommissioned two-storey Italianate style main building stands on eleven hectares of botanical gardens under National Trust protection. The site remains a popular cultural heritage destination for visitors. This oral history recording was part of a project conducted by Jennifer Williams in the year 2000 to capture the everyday life and struggles in Beechworth during the twentieth century. This project involved recording seventy oral histories on cassette tapes of local Beechworth residents which were then published in a book titled: Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth. The cassette tapes were digitised in July 2021 with funds made available by the Friends of the Burke.Employed as a psychiatric nurse at one of Beechworth's large welfare institutions, Mayday Hills, Mrs Sheila Parkinson recalls the conditions faced by staff and patients at the hospital, which cared for chronically ill people from the Ovens region and patients from the Yarra Bend Asylum, Melbourne, which closed in 1925. When Sheila first began her nurse training, Mayday Hills suffered from a lack of resources and rudimentary facilities and patients frequently suffered from the cold due to poor heating and inadequate clothing and bedding. However, as the twentieth century progressed, Sheila recalls how conditions and treatments improved as a result of increased government funding of services and advances in psychiatry and pharmaceutical medicine. Mrs Sheila Parkinson's oral history recording is historically and socially significant for its witness to life in Beechworth in the pre- and post-WWII period. Sheila's story enriches our understanding of processes of modernisation with regard to psychiatric and welfare services, while the course of Sheila's professional training and employment brings attention to systemic and socio-economic barriers faced by women, as well as the valuable contribution women and migrants make in the delivery of care and ancillary services. This oral history account is socially and historically significant as it is a part of a broader collection of interviews conducted by Jennifer Williams which were published in the book 'Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth-century Beechworth.' While the township of Beechworth is known for its history as a gold rush town, these accounts provide a unique insight into the day-to-day life of the town's residents during the twentieth century, many of which would have been lost if they had not been preserved.This is a digital copy of a recording that was originally captured on a cassette tape. The cassette tape is black with a horizontal white strip and is currently stored in a clear flat plastic rectangular container. It holds up 40 minutes of recordings on each side.Mrs Sheila Parkinson /twentieth century beechworth, mayday hills, psychiatric care, benevolent asylums, nursing, wwii, psychiatric treatment, country women, psychiatric hostpital, beechworth's institutions, local employment, government institutions, listen to what they say, oral history, burke museum, sheila parkinson, beechworth lunatic asylum, beechworth mental hospital, beechworth hospital for the insane, the kerferd clinic, bonegilla migrant camp, working women, white australia policy

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 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

Carving of a large male head made by a patient of Mayday Hills Asylum. The sculpture has been roughly hewn from a single piece of wood.Mayday Hills Asylum was one of the three largest psychiatric hospitals in Victoria, and played an important role in the treatment of mental health illnesses from its establishment in 1867 to its closure in 1995. As part of prescribed treatment, many patients participated in craft activities were they were able to create an array of objects. A limb of a tree roughly carved into the shape of the man's face featuring heavy eyebrows, moustache and beard.beechworth, burke museum, mayday hills asylum, carving, wooden sculpture

Carving of a small female head made by a patient of Mayday Hills Asylum. The sculpture as been roughly hewn from a tree limb with multiple branches.Mayday Hills Asylum was one of the three largest psychiatric hospitals in Victoria, and played an important role in the treatment of mental health illnesses from its establishment in 1867 to its closure in 1995. As part of prescribed treatment, many patients participated in craft activities were they were able to create an array of objects. A limb of a tree roughly carved into the shape of a face, featuring a wide nose, protruding eyes, and flat mouth. On a limb section that extends above the head is a carving of a small totem-like face. Two small limb sections protruding from the back. Pen lines and figures on nose and ears.beechworth, burke museum, mayday hills asylum, sculpture, wood carving

Carving of a small female head made by a patient of Mayday Hills Asylum. A grid has been drawn across the top with Romanian letters written within the cells.Mayday Hills Asylum was one of the three largest psychiatric hospitals in Victoria, and played an important role in the treatment of mental health illnesses from its establishment in 1867 to its closure in 1995. As part of prescribed treatment, many patients participated in craft activities were they were able to create an array of objects. A limb of a tree roughly carved into the shape of a woman's face, featuring a thick hair style, slanted eyes, delicate mouth, and long neck. Pen notations on top of sculpture.beechworth, burke museum, mayday hills asylum, sculpture, wood carving

Centenary issue of the Open Door Magazine that was produced by both staff and patients. The title reflects Mayday Hills "open door" approach to patient care.Mayday Hills Asylum was one of the three largest psychiatric hospitals in Victoria, and played an important role in the treatment of mental health illnesses from its establishment in 1867 to its closure in 1995. As part of prescribed treatment, many patients participated in craft activities were they were able to create an array of objects. 13-page A4 paper magazine with 4 copper staples.CENTENARY ISSUE / 1867 / The New Open Door / 1967 [The Australian National Coat of Arms]beechworth, burke museum, mayday hills, magazine, centenary

Child-size rocking horse made and sold by a patient of Mayday Hills Asylum. Purchased in 1978 and used by a family for generations.Mayday Hills Asylum was one of the three largest psychiatric hospitals in Victoria, and played an important role in the treatment of mental health illnesses from its establishment in 1867 to its closure in 1995. As part of prescribed treatment, many patients participated in craft activities were they were able to create an array of objects. A small wooden rocking horse painted in green, white and brown, with carpet lining on seat.beechworth, burke museum, mayday hills asylum, rocking horse, children's toys

A knitted handbag made by patients of Mayday Hills Asylum.Mayday Hills Asylum was one of the three largest psychiatric hospitals in Victoria, and played an important role in the treatment of mental health illnesses from its establishment in 1867 to its closure in 1995. As part of prescribed treatment, many patients participated in craft activities were they were able to create an array of objects. A blue and white knitted handbag with cane handles, made by a patient of Mayday Hills.beechworth, burke museum, mayday hills asylum, knitting, handbag, bag, craft, fibre art