Historical information

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.

Significance

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.

Physical description

Sepia rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paper mounted on card

Inscriptions & markings

Reverse:
1997.2489/
Beechworth