This picture was posted on the “Tasmanian History” Facebook group. It is a postcard estimated to be mid 19th century and printed by J Walsh & Sons Tasmania. The interesting part of this story for me is the proximity of Turriff Lodge to the river. When doing tours of Willow Court we have a great piece of evidence from Governor Arthur and Dr Robert Officer who when sitting on the verandah of the homestead witnessed a boat being rowed up the river. So taken was Governor Arthur of what was witnesses he sat down on the 2nd April 1827 and wrote to the Colonial Secretary:
“On Sunday last 12 invalids arrived at New Norfolk; they had been sent from Hobart Town on the proceeding Thursday in an open boat, and were thus exposed for three nights and two days, during a great part of which time it rained hard. All these men were miserably clothed, and two of them were destitute of bedding, and have remained so till the present time.”
His writing can be found in the Tasmanian Archives and also referenced in the book “Troubled Asylum” by Ralph. W Gowlland. Maybe this is the closest artist impression of that homestead and that boat on that river that we will ever have?
Here is a great opportunity to visit Willow Court for a free tour conducted by trained guides. No need to book, good for the whole family and it’s ethically respectful of the people who called this place home or a workplace.
At the 20th Anniversary of the closure of Willow Court the Willow Court History Group has put together a display to add to the theme of “Stories from the Asylum” using podcasts and QR codes. You can now access these from the tab “20th Anniversary Audio Stories”. Seven short stories are told from the perspective of care staff, artisans, the CEO and director of nursing and an advocate. These short histories start in 1946 and goes through to the person employed to close the hospital. Six of the stories have never been released before.
On the 28 & 29th November the Friends of Willow Court are holding an event “Stories from the Asylum” to mark the 20th anniversary of the closure of Willow Court.
The event will include guest speakers, stories, biographies about former convict patients, and stories from former staff, poetry readings, music, and a display of bonnets to commemorate the female convicts who were at the Asylum/Hospital at the time.
The Friends of Willow Court would like to know the stories behind the names of the female convict women, and then have this information as part of the display, but we need help researching this information.
These were turbulent times twenty years ago, the few years that led to the closure of the Willow Court Training Centre had brought a lot of pain and shame to the hospital’s staff, administrators and the Board of the Royal Derwent Hospital. All were to blame, including the Government of the day, if you were to have read and listened to the media, even staff were spat on in the streets leading up to the closure of the Willow Court Training Centre.
Two nurses had blown the whistle and alerted the media of conditions for the residents in the hospital, the Government called for a investigative report as did the Parents and Friends of Willow Court.
Morale plummeted at the hospital according to the Board’s Chairman and staff felt helpless to respond to the media attacks. An announcement by the Mental Health Commission stated that “there would be no job losses” as the Hospital and the Government adopted the Principle of deinstitutionalisation. The announcement was stated by the then, Minister for Community Welfare and the Elderly, Judy Jackson. It wasn’t long before this was a political issue with all sides raging at the conditions and living arrangements.
Letter’s to the Editor
The Board invited the media in to view the conditions and meet the residents. Some of the media stayed the whole day while others couldn’t stand the sights and sounds of people they had been so protected from that they left soon after arriving. Families were confused and worried for their family members that were residents, and started to organise and write to the Minister and the News Papers.
Letter’s to the Editor
Although this all happened 20 (plus) years ago some of the pain is easily brought to the surface of individuals who were involved. Raw emotions have been captured in audio interviews, denials, accusations and stories of retribution have all been told and recorded. Some interviewees have requested that their audio not be released while they are still alive, while others want the anger felt in the public domain.
Perhaps it’s still to early too remember and relive all these thoughts for some people, however for the previous residents the slow deinstitutionalisation process brought an new hope and most residents moved with some fear into what was a huge social change. Most residents never looked back, but some wanted to live in the town that they had known all their lives and this is why New Norfolk has one of the highest populations of Group Homes in Tasmania today.
Barbara’s Story
This again is all changing as we see the roll out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, reported to be one of the biggest social changes in Australia’s history. But for many people living with disability, social changes are only just starting to bring access and equity too those that this has been denied for so long.
Early this week the Friends of Willow Court, members of the Derwent Valley Players and a representative of the Willow Court History Group conducted an educational tour for students from Sacred Heart College at Willow Court. This was a Thematic interpreted tour with dramatized, evidence based stories, all presented and linked to the school curriculum.
The students first met with Matron Coates (Sharon Hutchison) who explained, within her busy schedule, the rules for visitors the Hospital. A short history of the development of Social Services within Van Diemen’s Land was presented, this put the New Norfolk Invalid Barracks into a context and explained why a Hospital needed to be built on the site.
Sharon Hutchison (Matron Coates)
A number of historical characters presented themselves throughout the Barracks building and along the tour path including Ruth Montgomery who played the part of a Nurse circa 1960’s. The nurse advocated on behalf of a patient at the time and read the patient’s account of being incarcerated in the Hospital.
Ruth also played the part of Mary Dingle a Convict who found herself transported to Tasmania and ending up in the Hospital. Mary’s story was referenced 36 times to ensure a high degree of accuracy, likewise all the stories, were either first hand accounts or came about because of research.
Ruth Montgomery (Nurse circa 1960’s & Mary Dingle Convict)
Jeff Windsor (Patient C Ward Criminal Division) waited in the Carlton yard ready to tell his story of being in the secure ward during the 1968 mass escape. A number of security staff were brutality beaten during the escape. He describes the scene before and during the escape and the energy levels before the attack on two security staff. The aftermath and consequences were still in his mind as the free patients were returned to the hospital and the ring leader sent back to Risdon Prison.
Jeff Windsor (Reflective Patient C Ward Criminal Division)
All the tour guides have been trained in thematic interpretation by Phil Fitzpatrick who was instrumental in thematic guide training in other Tasmanian Heritage sites like Port Arthur and Sarah Island. Tour guides continued their training in 2015 at both Port Arthur and the Cascades Female Factory in a behind the scenes applied learning experience.
A great email was sent to the Friends of Willow Court, Derwent Valley player and the Willow Court History group.
“I wanted to send you an email to let you know how fantastic the experience was at Willow Court earlier this week. The feedback I got from students was that they had never experienced the “thematic” approach that you and the actors delivered and they found this to be really interesting to hear these primary accounts within the confines of the rooms that these people worked in, students came away with some incredible insights, shocked by the tragic circumstances of some of the people incarcerated at this facility, as well as a deeper appreciation of the history of the site”
Teacher; Sacred Heart College
Missing from the pictures was Derwent Valley Player, Linley Hopkins who played the role of Mrs Smyth-Jones.
Not long after an Inmate riot in 1845 a number of advertisments were to be found requesting for new staff for the Hospital at New Norfolk.
‘WANTED, Two strong steady Females, as WARDSWOMEN at New Norfolk Asylum; they are required to be free women and good characters.’ (The Courier 1 April 1845)
‘Wanted an active young man of steady habits, as Under Keeper at H. M. Lunatic Asylum, New Norfolk. Wages 1s. 6d. per day, and a Ration. He must have come free to the Colony. Also two respectable young women as Nurses. Wages 1s per day, and a Ration. Reference will be required. Application lo be made at H. M. Colonial Hospital, New Norfolk.’ (The Cornwall Chronicle 27 September 1845)
Life seemed so much more simple according to the “Consolidates Instructions for Staff at Royal Derwent” for a Ward Aide 1968-90.
Duty Statement
The role of a Support Professional has and will continue to evolve into the future. For Support workers today this would be an interesting comparison to a current position description. The modern role asks for a high level of flexibility, mobility and now days a level contractual independence from the support organisation.
Part of the record management and accountability at the hospital meant that good documentation needed to be kept. “Official Visitors” were able to witness a list of patient treatments and visit the site at any time. They were considered the independent advocate for the hospital patients.
One such Visitor was Vincent W Shoobridge who was appointed in 1925 after the resignation of Philip S. Seagar who had been an Official Visitor from 1891-1925. Official Visitors would witness the log books and sign under the last entry for the month.
The lists identified patients who needed to be restrained, secluded, had received injury, had a seizure or who had died at the hospital during the month of June 1935.
Looking through the female pages of the log book and you can see that there is sometimes a correlation with the use of restraints or seclusion and the death of the patient in the following weeks. This was most likely indicative of the person’s deteriorating mental health at the time.
June 1935 Female Patient log bookJune 1935 Male Patient log book
The log book had a corresponding page for male patients. Each of the medical conditions being treated would also be logged along with new admissions and any discharges for the month. The Visitors would always sign in retrospect and the pages would show a date stamp or written date of the visit. There were 307 Male and 323 Female patients in the hospital in June 1935 and there was also a record of “out-patients” recorded on one page.
Today a vigil was held for Ann-Marie Smith who died.
On the 5th of April, 2020, 54 year old Ann-Marie Smith from South Australia was rushed to hospital by ambulance.
The next day, she died of severe septic shock, multi-organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnutrition. She was supported by professional support workers.
Ann-Marie was a woman with a disability.
To learn how to prevent such deaths of people with disabilities in the future please visit this website and be apart of the change that needs to happen.
