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Picturesque Dunedin: or Dunedin and its neighbourhood in 1890

The Lunatic Asylum

The Lunatic Asylum.

Insanity too soon manifested itself in the young settlement of Otago, and it is a remarkable fact that this, the worst of all the ills that flesh is heir to, first appealed to the sympathies of the people and engaged the attention of the authorities. As stated in the previous sketch (that of the Hospital), when the Province was only two years old it was humanely determined to establish an Hospital, in anticipation of physical disease or injury, but it may be taken for granted that the possibility of mental disease appearing—or, at all events, so soon appearing—in their midst, was entirely foreign to the thoughts of the early settlers. The Hospital, as a place for the physically sick, however, was premature by two years, but it was fortunately in existence, and, in the first instance, it served the purpose of a Lunatic Asylum. Before two years elapsed after its erection it became the home of three insane persons, under the care of Mr. Barr.

page 223

This question of insanity has all along been a serious one to Otago, and indeed to the whole of New Zealand, not because this kind of malady has prevailed here more than in other places, but because of the shameful extent to which weak-minded and mentally impaired persons have been deported from the Home country by their relatives or others, and shunted on to the colony. Even now, notwithstanding the mortality that in the course of nature has taken place in the Asylum, there are friendless men and women who arrived long years ago, and who still bid fair to live for many years. As a matter of fact, the inmates of the Asylum live long. They are well housed, well fed, well clothed, are kept scrupulously clean, generally speaking they are free from care and worry, they are not subject to the risks connected with free life—the risks of accident or of disease by infection or exposure or excess, the work done by those of them who are capable of any service is of a healthful kind, and the careful nursing of the sick and really suffering is all that could be desired, and beyond what the outside world is aware of. In a word, all that makes up daily life in the asylum tends to long life, and, as a rule, death is the result of old age, or epilepsy, or other disease originating in the brain. All this is as it ought to be in the case of hapless beings who, from whatever cause, have been deprived of their reason; but it is nevertheless matter for regret that a prohibitive law was not from the first put in force that would have prevented heartless people in the Home country from freeing themselves of family burdens at the expense of the Province or of the colony—not to speak of the cruelty of ruthlessly sending the weak-minded or mentally afflicted away from all family connections and home associations to the extreme ends of the earth for the mere selfish purpose of getting rid of them. Taking into account the number of those who from time to time have been cast as helpless burdens upon our shores, and the cost of their maintenance throughout all the years, the expense so wrongfully imposed upon the colony must in the aggregate have been very great.

As time went by the three unfortunates located in the Hospital were added to, and in 1862 the number of insane men and women held in restraint was between twenty and thirty. A few were domiciled in the gaol, but most of them were in the page 224Hospital. There are citizens of that time still to the fore who will remember the entertainment given by a Frenchman, an insane inmate of the Hospital. He was an excellent vocalist and had a superb voice of great volume, and was wont daily to walk the grounds and ring out his melodies in his own language to the pleasure of passers by. The unsuitability of both the Hospital and the Gaol, however, and the impossibility of ensuring in these places the proper treatment of the mentally afflicted, forced the question of the establishment of a Lunatic Asylum upon the authorities, and it was decided to erect a temporary home on the ground now occupied by the Boys' High School, the intention being to build the Asylum proper on the site at Look-out Point, upon which the Industrial School now stands.

The first Asylum, or rather the nucleus of the first Asylum was an unpretentious one-storied wooden building. Dr. Hulme, in his capacity of Provincial Surgeon, was its first medical attendant, and Mr. and Mrs. Eobert Drysdale the first keeper and matron, but a year afterwards they were succeeded by Mr. and Mrs. James Hume, and to Mr. Hume was given the title of Superintendent. During his eighteen years' service the Asylum was extended to the right andto the left and far backward on to the Town Belt. The site chosen for the temporary Asylum consisted of eight or nine acres, minus the portion of the Belt encroached upon, and it was added to by the purchase of the adjoining property (one acre) of the late Mr. George Smith, with the building upon it called Park House. In the latter paying patients were located. With the exception of the Park House block, the ground was a wild and rough waste, and it was only by dint of eighteen years' steady, plodding labour that it was brought into the condition in which the Boys' High School authorities found it when they placed the school there.

Though a layman, Mr. Hume, who from his youth had acquired an extensive experience among the insane in the Home country, was well fitted for the work entrusted to him. He retired in 1882, when the Lunacy Act then passed made it imperative that large asylums should be under the control of Resident Medical Superintendents. Under his rule the institution grew piecemeal until it reached the dimensions it assumed at the page 225time of its removal to Seacliff, the great increase in the number of patients to over 300 being unquestionably, in large part at least, due to the free immigration system, or, rather, to unscrupulous immigration agents, who, for the sake of the £l per head, recklessly sent crowds of human beings out from the Home country, without any regard to their fitness mentally, physically, or morally.

The work accomplished by the patients while in the Asylum in the city was considerable. Under the direction of competent warders they levelled the very broken ground, for the most part erected from time to time the additional buildings required, and formed the large cricket and football park, now partly used by the High School boys and partly by the public. The formation of that flat necessitated the removal of a hill fourteen feet high and the filling up of deep gullies. They also formed a 2-acre garden and a large bowling-green, the first ever made in Otago. By them the road leading past the old cemetery to the top of the hill, which was in a very dangerous condition, was put in order and strongly and securely fenced, this work being suggested by the destruction of a horse and vehicle, which rolled from the road into the great gully below. That fence still remains. In addition to these and other works of a public nature, the patients formed the road leading from the Town Belt to Melrose, in connection with which there were some heavy excavations, and in recognition of this service the residents of that township generously imported from Melbourne and presented to the Asylum a billiard-table costing £120. That table is now in use at Seacliff.

In common with other Provincial institutions, the Lunatic Asylum passed into the hands of the General Government in 1876, when the Provinces were abolished; and just about that time Dr. Hulme died, after twenty years' service. Dr. Hulme was then succeeded by Dr. Alexander, and subsequently Dr. Macgregor, now Inspector-General of asylums and hospitals, was appointed to that office. After holding the position of Matron for three years, Mrs Hume died while in the service, and she was succeeded by Miss Ferguson, who retired in 1882 to assume the matronship of Ashburn Private Asylum, established by Mr Hume (in conjunction with Dr. Alexander), when he was page 226superseded by the appointment of a resident medical superintendent.

The reserve at Look-out Point, which, as already stated, was the first position determined upon for a permanent Lunatic Asylum, having been given over to the Industrial School, the Government had to cast about for some other suitable place. It was no doubt desired that the Asylum should be within easy reach of the city, but to that the high price to which land had attained was a bar. A better site for a home for the insane can scarcely be conceived of than the high table-land in the Waikari district overlooking the city, bay, and ocean beach. But the existence of the reserve at Seacliff settled the matter, and of that reserve 500 acres were allotted to the Asylum, and the remaining 400 set apart for the Industrial School and an intended Reformatory, the latter on the lines of the Redhill institution, near Birmingham, founded by the brothers George and Charles Sturge, of the Society of Friends. As, however, the removal of the Industrial School to a place so far distant from Dunedin has been strongly opposed by an influential section of the citizens, and as with the growth of the colony the inmates of the Asylum are bound to still further increase in number, it is not at all improbable that the whole of the 900 acres will eventually fall to the institution now on the ground.

When the Seacliff Eeserve was decided upon as the site of the permanent Asylum, a working party of fourteen men was sent out in August, 1878, to prepare the way. They were located in a house quickly run up on a knoll at the south-east corner of the Eeserve. Shortly after beginning operations they came upon the remains of a large Moa, which were handed over to Professor Hutton, then in charge of the Museum. The main trunk railway line running past Seacliff was not then opened, and the Reserve was a dense, trackless forest. In this connection mention may be made of an amusing incident. One day, before a break had been made in the bush, Mr. Hume and Mr. Alexander Cairns, who had been appointed Inspector of Works, visited Seacliff to examine the ground, with the view of forming a general idea as to suitable positions for the several buildings. The desirability of possessing themselves of a pocket compass, however, did not page 227occur to them, and the day was close and sultry. They entered the bush at a spot nearly opposite the railway station, with the purpose of traversing it right through to the further end. For over three hours the two gentlemen, who were by no means of light build, forced their way through the prickly scrub and tangled lawyers, and over fallen trees, and across and through marshes, and then, exhausted and out of breath and drenched with perspiration, to their relief, but with a feeling the reverse of that of exquisite satisfaction, they emerged from the labyrinth, only to discover that they were not more than thirty yards from the spot at which they had entered!

Shortly after the first party began work in the bush, what is now known as the Upper Building, and which was intended to be the farm steading, was erected by Mr. Mills, contractor, then of Waikouaiti, under the inspectorship of Mr. Cairns, of Dunedin. Upon the completion of this building in 1879, it gave accommodation to a second party of 60 males and a number of females, with their attendants. The Seacliff section of the institution was then termed the Branch Asylum, and from the first it was placed in charge of Mr. John Macdonald as manager, and Mrs. Macdonald as deputy-matron. In the following year (1880) another building, to accommodate a third party of 60 men, and so constructed that it could be taken down in blocks and be put together again in the form of cottages for warders, was erected by the patients, under the direction of Mr. David Reid, carpenter, who is still in the service.

No one can form from the present appearance of the surroundings of Seacliff Asylum anything like a correct idea of the condition of the place when, and for a long time after, Mr. Macdonald took charge, and of the severe nature of the work that devolved upon him and his fellow pioneers. The Reserve, as already stated, was a dense, trackless forest, and the bush had to be felled, and the trees and scrub removed, roads made, watercourses formed, and the ground grubbed. As no road metal was available, in winter and in wet weather the grounds around the buildings were a veritable Slough of Despond, and, for about four years, in the rainy seasons the only means of access on the public road was a corduroy path formed of rough logs, and extending for about half-a-mile. All this is changed. Firm page 228metalled and gravelled paths are now the rule, well-laid-out gardens have been formed, many acres have been brought under cultivation, and with all that is yet to be achieved, the work of the institution can be proceeded with with comfort. Mr. Macdonald, who with his co-labourers bore the heat and burden of the day, is, after the long period of 25 years' good service, still connected with the institution.

The main building, which can accommodate 500 patients and 50 of a staff, was commenced in 1879, and its erection occupied three years. Mr. R. A. Lawson was the architect, and Mr. J. Grore the builder. In architectural design it is said to partake somewhat of the form of Balmoral Castle, and its cost, all told, including the meat-house and laundry (separate buildings), attendants' cottages, the reservoir, &c, exceeded £100,000. It is 568 feet in length, by 228 in width at the broadest part, and the tower, in which there is sufficient space for a clock, and a large circular opening on each of the four sides for the dials, is 160 feet high. The spaces for the dials, 11 feet in diameter, are of course at present boarded up. In front the building rises three stories, and in the back part two stories. As seen from the Heads, or the Ocean, or the Waitati Cliffs, it is a very prominent land-mark. The Recreation Hall, which is also used for Divine service, and is capable of accommodating between 800 and 900 persons, has a large stage at one end, and a tastefully-formed gallery at the other end. "The principal stage-drop is a fine view of Dumbarton Castle from the sea, the work of Mr. Willis, the well-known scenic artist. The dining hall, equal in size to and directly under the recreation hall, is a handsome room. The large day-rooms throughout the Asylum are carpeted or matted, as far as possible a homely appearance is given to them, the walls are profusely hung with pictures, and strong padlocked screens securely fixed in front of the fireplaces effectually protect the patients from fire. From the windows of the rooms on the second and third stories a magnificent view of the Heads and of the Ocean out to the horizon. Is obtainable. The airing courts are large, and each has a verandah running the whole length to shield from rain or from the sun's heat, while in the centre of each is a large, circular flower-plot. The Medical Superintendent's quarters are still in page break
Dunedin from the Junction.

Dunedin from the Junction.

page 229the main building; but it was from the first intended that his residence should be on the knoll at the south-east corner of the estate, on which stood the small house erected by the first working party sent out.

For a time a good deal of anxiety was occasioned by the shifting of a portion of the northern end of the building, caused by the moveable nature of the ground. The faulty portion, however, has lately been taken down and re-erected of lighter material, and it is believed all danger of further damage is now at an end.

As already stated, the upper building first erected was intended to be the farm steading, while the second one put up by the patients was meant for temporary use. But they still serve as dormitories, the steading being now on another and more easily accessible part of the ground. Among other recent additions is a well-advanced handsome block of workshops, formed of bluestone, and which will do away with the frail shed-like structures that have for a number of years done duty.

While the institution at Seacliff is understood to be the asylum for the insane within the Otago and Southland districts, among its 500 inmates are patients from northern asylums, parties having on two or three occasions been sent south to relieve the over-crowded condition of these lesser asylums. In. respect of their insane, Otago and Southland are no doubt on a par with other parts of New Zealand. But there seems to be an impression, at least among some of the public, that the number of the insane in the colony, as compared with the same unfortunate class in the Home Country, is unduly large. As a matter of fact, in proportion to the population, and as gauged by the number of inmates of our asylums, insanity in New Zealand is less prevalent than in the Home Country. While that in itself speaks well for the colony, the fact already alluded to must be borne in mind—viz., that many of our asylum inmates, though sane when they arrived in the colony, were, from their mental calibre, unfitted for colonial life—men and women who, if they had remained in their homes and with their friends, and continued in their easy-going mode of life, with all its old familiar surroundings, might (and in most instances at least would) have got on well enough in a way; but landing here among strangers page 230and placed in the midst of forceful conditions of life such as they had never been accustomed to, and with the necessity laid upon them to rely upon their own resources, they earlier or later broke down under a pressure too great for them. Indulgence in intoxicants is rightly said to be a large factor among the causes of insanity, but it is not unreasonable to assume that in the first instance the hard struggle for existence and the nomadic, comfortless life in which many homeless and friendless men in the colony have been involved, leads to that intemperance which completes the mental wreck. Even now, after the lapse of the years that have intervened since free immigration ceased, the number of men absolutely adrift in the colony is appalling, and in many instances they find their way into asylums, where they are cared for, or prematurely and as strangers end their lives in the hospitals or benevolent institutions, with none of their kith or kin present to cheer them in their last days and hours, and with no one save the Chaplain or other minister to follow their remains to the cemetery. If during the operation of the immigration scheme something like a proper system of selection had been adopted, many of the unsuitable persons brought to the colony would have been allowed to remain at Home, to their own and the colony's advantage. Still further, it has to be borne in mind that many of our asylum inmates, such as epileptics and silly, useless, but harmless creatures, would not in the Home country be ranked as lunatics or be placed in asylums. To a large extent they are retained in their homes, and when they cannot be managed or maintained by their own relatives, the poor-house becomes their home, and they consequently do not appear on the lunacy list. Here, however, many such are committed to our asylums and rank as insane. All things considered, therefore, in the matter of insanity New Zealand compares favourably with the British Isles.

Reference has already been made to the change Seacliff estate has undergone since the pick and the grub-hoe were first brought to bear upon it. In addition to the extensive gardens, and lawns, and paths, and water-courses that have been formed, a very large portion of the forest has been cleared, and the many acres under cultivation are steadily increasing in number. Ornamental trees here and there dot the ground, and long belts page 231of such trees, which in time will be extended, line the southeasterly end. It is pleasant to see on Sundays groups of female patients, in their attire for the day, premenading the tastefully laid out plain in front of the main building, with the far-reaching landscape and seascape before them, or lolling enjoyably on the lawn, or, with book in hand, quietly seated on the rests. From the centre of this lawn a high flagstaff rises. In the general work of the institution and in the clearing and cultivation of the land, a large number of the patients are daily employed, not by compulsion, but by kindly inducement. Apart from the parties of males engaged in the fields, and the women serving in the laundry, kitchen, &c, all directly under the eye of male and female officers respectively, there are men who, in various kinds of asylum labour, and without any surveillance beyond that of the general superintendency, work to good purpose. Yet if they were out in the world on their own account, they would not only be aimless and useless members of society, but in some instances be dangerous to themselves and others. The regularity also, and the precision and efficiency, with which some of them attend to their respective charges are really amazing. While there are drawbacks unavoidably arising from the congregating of so many of the insane in one establishment, there is nothing connected with Seacliff Asylum to justify the common expression, "the horrors of a lunatic asylum." It is a home, as far as such a large institution of the kind can be made a home, where everything possible is done for the welfare and recovery of the unfortunate people on whose account it exists.

Dr. Neill was the first medical superintendent appointed. When he took office the asylum was in a divided condition—partly in Dunedin and partly at Seacliff, and under him the final transference took place. Upon his retirement he was succeeded by Dr. T. R. King; and upon that gentleman's removal to Auckland Dr. Truby King, the present superintendent, took charge. There have also at different periods been five assistant doctors: Drs. Elliott, Nelson, Macandrew, Money, and Jeffreys. There is no assistant now, and the charge wholly devolves upon Dr. Truby King. Mr. F. E. Chapman is the local inspector, and Mr. J. P. Maitland the official visitor. Mrs. Huston succeeded Miss Ferguson as matron, and that office is now held by Mrs. Grundy. page 232Mr. S. Smith was the first chaplain, and since 1868 that post has been filled by Mr. J. A. Torrance.

Note.—In the foregoing sketch reference is made (page 225) to the formation by the Asylum patients of the large Football and Cricket Park adjoining the Boy's High School, and which necessitated the removal of a hill 14 feet in height. As a matter of history, it deserves to be noted that on that hill were located the barracks of the soldiers, sent from Auckland on account of the rush of population into Otago, caused by the discovery of the goldfields. At that time Mr. St. John Branigan was engaged in the arduous work of organising the Police Force; but as his arrangements were not sufficiently advanced to ensure the preservation of peace and order, a detachment of the Imperial troops, stationed at Auckland, was sent to Dunedin by request of Sir John Richardson, the then Superintendent of the Province. So soon as Mr. Branigan's department reached the point of full working order, the military were withdrawn, and the buildings vacated by them were used in the additions made to the Asylum, but the house occupied by Major Ryan, who commanded the troops, still exists, and is now the residence of Mr. Weldon, Inspector of Police.