Past to Present. Memory to Action
In an updated 2016 plan, the Derwent Valley Council were informed that the old Royal Derwent Hospital site may pose significant health risks. These are asbestos within the buildings, building rubble and in an undisclosed dumping site on the property. Other issues are undeclared flood prone areas and two dump sites which it still remains unclear if biological hazards were placed.
The language used in this report may not be considered appropriate today.
Thanks to Michelle Eastwood transcription services we have an easier to read version of a hand written report I received a year ago. This is an interesting report because the staff were trying something the Hospital system hadn’t tried before and was an interesting experiment which clearly paid dividends both for the”boys and staff”. I have attempted to date this document in a number of ways:
The author mentioned Lachlan Park Hospital (1937-1968)
The names of each of the boys was attached, but for privacy has been removed but are still known to me.
I have a survey dated 1975 in which I have the names and wards of each of the “boys” and their dates of admission and the length of stay at the time of the survey.
I would date this document between 1965-68.
The days routine within a Ward is explained and the issues with overcrowding described in the context of the work that was being attempted. Mostly what is explained here is the success of the hard work of a dedicated team of staff to develop the skills and therefore the Independence of each of the “boys”.
The interesting thing in this document is that the modern skill development guru for people living with an intellectual disability was Dr Marc Gold.
The language used in this film may not be considered appropriate today.
What we see here are a group of people at Lachlan Park Hospital trying what had not been developed as a full theory until the mid to late 1970’s. The mentioned survey above reports that even though this skill development was successful the results report that the “boys” returned to the Wards where skill development wasn’t common.
Ghost Tours as a Form of Alternative Tourism 18 pages
This article looks at Ghost tourism in all the different dimensions and names. It often refers to a historic place as an important part of the experience, Port Arthur comes to mind here in Tasmania and only concentrates on the older inhabitants and not the more recent murders. Staff will quickly divert back to their tour guidelines if customers inquire, as recent history (twenty years ago) is considered inappropriate. Willow Court closed 16 years ago.
Below is the conclusion, however the full document is an interesting read of what people expect during such experiences. One of the papers that the Derwent Valley Council instigated with Government funds stated that this shouldn’t be an area of activity at this site based on the fact that there was a huge amount of competition in this limited market and even more limited in the paranormal enthusiast market.
CONCLUSIONS
I found that the presence of a historic perspective plays an important role in ghost tours, in several ways. Quite often, ghost tour guides, ghost hunters, and paranormal organizations are aligned with historical societies. Guides have also expressed an interest in history, rooted in their formative years. A historic background is considered crucial to paranormal investigations. The research and use of historic narratives gives a face to haunted happenings; alternatively, it can serve to debunk some reported hauntings (e.g., older buildings have faulty wiring, creaking walls, etc.). History is also an important part of storytelling, contributing to hauntings’ narratives. Also, historically inspired costumes may be said to add to tours’ immersive quality. By extension, tour participants are becoming a part of the sites’ history; their experiences during the tour give them an embodied sense of history, especially when they have their own stories to add to the tour. In addition to other aspects shared with mainstream tourism, such as sightseeing, escapism and entertainment value, ghost tour participants are interested in the presentation of historical information during tours. Ghost hunters share common interests with ghost tour guides and participants, but they encounter potentially haunted places in an alternative way, emphasizing freedom of space, indepth information, and a sense of community among fellow group members.
The Friends of Willow Court Committee were honoured to have the company of Rodney Dunn at the 2016 annual general meeting. Rodney is the owner of the Derwent Valley favourite and world famous ‘Agrarian Kitchen’ situated in Lachlan. Renowned for his gourmet expertise, delightful old -world cooking school and neighbourly connections for fresh ingredients Rodney shares his plans for a new eatery and shop within Willow Court. The newly renovated Bronte building within the council owned section of Willow Court presents an appealing, relaxed and historically significant atmosphere for a choice dining experience.
It has been a foresight of the Friends of Willow Court of the sites potential for tourism and educational opportunities. Rodney explains the eatery’s location within the picturesque setting of the valley will provide an idyllic destination for functions and travellers to dine. The eatery and shop will show case locally sourced produce and highlight specialist kitchen equipment. Diners will enjoy the taste of the valley with a finely crafted menu. The site has room for expansion or as Rodney envisions a partnership with a boutique brewery.
Excited by the prospect of tourism to the site, committee members still held concerns for how the new eatery would engage the public with the historical memories and stories of the site. It was discussed and subsequently agreed upon that the sites rich heritage be preserved through interpretation. Rodney is eager to work with Friends of Willow Court, the Derwent Valley Council and the Willow Court History Group to implement interpretive panels within the eatery that will feature key stories that will connect the past to the present.
The new Agrarian Kitchen will reinvigorate the Willow Court historic Precinct with a modern dining experience for locals and visitors alike. Through interpretation the Friends of Willow Court Committee will help to develop a sophisticated respect and connection with the sites heritage to promote education and a more informed future.
By Nadia Lobb
(c) 2016 Anne Salt (Chairperson Friends of Willow Court) volunteering on the wall at the Willow Court restoration project.
On Thursday the 4th August the Friends of Willow Court had their Annual General Meeting which is open to the public. I attended and was allowed to record the Chairperson’s report. Mrs Anne Salt read out the years activities that the committee participated in or arranged. She also gave thanks to Haydn and Penny Pearce, Bernie and Janine Clifford for their support during the Heritage Month tours.
There was also a presentation from Mr Rodney Dunn. Mr Dunn showed the gathered committee his plans for an extension to his already highly successful business, the Agrarian Kitchen. (podcast to come later). Mr Dunn is keen to work with the Friends of Willow Court and the Willow Court History Group once the Derwent Valley Council finalise their long processes for a lease on the Bronte Building.
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the daughter of Eric Cunningham Dax at the Dax Centre attached to the University of Melbourne. Before our meeting Elizabeth Dax AM; MD, BS; PhD GAICD was lecturing a student group about mental health and the intersection of art.
I was given a tour of the storage and preparation facility and the Dax Museum. There are over 17,000 pieces of art created by people who have experience mental health issues, trauma, war or deep lose.
Some of the collection was gathered by Doctor Dax during his employment in Tasmania as the senior mental health expert. He also regionalised mental health services throughout Tasmania and extensively modified practices at the Royal Derwent Hospital. This was inline with his earlier, 1962 report to the Tasmanian Government about a modern approach to mental health.
This idea was the Psycho-social model which had been practiced and taught in the UK for sometime, mostly with good results. There were a number of staff at the hospital that were from the UK or some local people who training in the UK before return to Tasmania and taking part in training other staff and regionalising services throughout the state.
We had favorable discussions about some of the works returning to Tasmania at some stage for display. Elizabeth was very interested in hearing my proposal. More news as and when I know more.
Toward the last days of Mike Parr’s exhibition and standing in the cold, I started to witness for the first time the sun setting behind the hills of the 1827 Barracks Building and the array of dim incandescent light bulbs that lite the building in a soft yellow glow, highlighting the sandstone colour. I placed the camera on the ground and set it to time lapse and watched as people mill about from door to door, building to building.
httpv://youtu.be/c4Qi_rjLPEY
This website has been running since 2012 and has been funded from my own private funds and lots of volunteer work from willing people who have contributed by including research, transcription services, information technology consultations, historical consultations and free use of a range of equipment for recording oral histories and videos.
The costs have risen with the Australian dollar’s decline and as a result we have inserted a Paypal donation button. The money raised will completely, 100% be used for the hosting and research for this site.
Please consider a donation of $5.00 AU to keeping this work publicly available for education and continually informing our community about the history of Willow Court.
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“Woman, you seem to want to create a disturbance”1 By Nicola Goc
“Paper presented at FCRC Seminar May 2013. This paper is a draft the author is continuing to develop this research. For any queries please contact the author”
This is a paper by Nicola Goc who has researched in some detail the lives of women sent to the asylum at New Norfolk in the early to mid 1800’s. It talks about treatments and conditions in the Colonies early history.
Some of the knowledge comes from Dr. G. Crabb’s collection of medical knowledge in the book, “The History of Lachlan Park”.
In this paper she explores the use of an “electric machine” which was used here at the Hospital before it was used and recorded in the history books for the well established English Hospitals.
Nicola Goc Madness 24 pages.
This paper looks at the concept of ‘resilience’ through the frame of ‘madness’. It draws upon primary historical documents, namely a nineteenth century New Norfolk Lunatic Asylum Casebook HSD246/1/2 Female (mental) (Volume No. 3), and secondary sources to address two key questions:
1. Were the convict women admitted to New Norfolk Asylum suffering from insanity/mania/amentia as a result of hereditary factors, criminality, moral and physical degeneracy and a low social status – or was their mental state a combination of factors including an emotional response to the trauma of forced migration?
2. How was female ‘insanity’ understood and managed in the penal and medical institutions of colonial Van Diemen’s Land?
Last week I had the pleasure of filming an interview with John Langford OA who worked at Lachlan Park Hospital in the early 1960’s. John went to the UK to study in 1966 -70 and returned to the Royal Derwent Hospital to assist Dr Eric Cunningham Dax regionalise Mental Health services in Tasmania Cunningham Dax Report. As part of that work he started an organisation called Community Hostels Inc in Tasmania.
A trained Psychiatric Social Worker, John, at the age of 80 years took the time off his full time job to speak with us. He recently opened an accommodation centre in Mackay Queensland to assist people in crisis and has been awarded the highest honour you can get from Rotary Australia the ‘Paul Harris Award’.
This now matched his 2014 member of the Order of Australia as part of the Queen’s Birthday honours list. It was a delight to meet and talk with this gentleman who has dedicated his life’s work to people with mental health issues.
John’s 80th Birthday and Rotary award John’s Queens Birthday award
Above: left, John Langford O.A. right, Paul Mayne (c) 2016 Mark Krause