Historical information
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.
Significance
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.
Physical description
Black and white rectangular photograph
Subjects
References
- Heritage Council Victoria - Mayday Hills Heritage Council Victoria database entry for Mayday Hills which discusses the history, significance and heritage register of Mayday Hills.
- Beechworth (Asylum 1867-1905; Hospital for the Insane 1905-1934; Mental Hospital 1934-1967; Mayday Hills Mental Hospital 1967-1991; Mayday Hills Psychiatric Hospital 1978-1995) Public Record Office Victoria history of Mayday Hills 1867-1996
- Mayday Hills Online project dedicated to Mayday Hills. Contains online footage, artefacts and stories from those with familial or personal connection to Mayday Hills
- Beechworth A Titan's Field - Carole Woods ISBN/ISSN: 0 949905 25 9 Pages 122-123, 163, 192-193