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.
The “Stories from the Asylum” first day was an interesting, educational and entertaining experience. Talks today were about: Punishment and Health in convict Van Diemen’s Land by Hamish Maxwell-Stewart and Pete Smith on, Sharing Some Insights into the Closure of Willow Court from his perspective as a social worker employed at the hospital.
A full house with Pete Smith
On a lighter note we had music from the Derwent Valley Concert Band (part) who continued the long history of concert bands at the hospital, at one time there were three bands. We had two sessions of poem readings by Liz McQuilkin, co-author along with Karen Knight, of “Renovating Madness”.
Liz McQuilkin watching Matron call the audience together.
Tomorrow’s program of events are below. Gold coin donation for entry.
Sunday 29th November
10 – 12 Digital Future for Tasmanian History – Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
12-1 pm Music Derwent Valley Band Saxophone Quartet
1 – 2 pm Punishment and Health in convict Van Diemen’s Land – Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
2 – 3 pm Reflections on Lachlan Park Hospital school – Margaret Reynolds – former teacher
3:30 – 4 pm Music Derwent Valley Band Saxophone Quartet
Covid safe reception area set up for official opening.
Today Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC and Mr Richard Warner AM officially opened the “Stories from the Asylum” exhibition at Willow Court. The Willow Court Training Centre closed 20 years ago this month and the Friends of Willow Court have put together this display of storyboards from previous staff, residents, family members, along with a line up of guest speakers and music from Derwent Valley Band Brass Quintet.
Sandra Heatherington (Friends of Frascati House) Mr Richard Warner AM and Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC with Tony Nicholson OAM (Chair Friends of Willow Court)
Willow Court History Group have also added to the collection with 7 podcasts that can be found using QR codes. Six of these recordings have not been released before and have come from recordings of Oral History in 2015.
Dr Christina Henri’s “Roses from the Heart” Bonnet Project
We also welcome Dr Christina Henri who conceived the ‘Roses from the Heart’ project in 2003. Her memorial has expanded to include a number of art forms and is now recognised as a global public art phenomenon with the ‘bonnet’ symbolism a metaphor for convict women and their children. Dr Christina Henri would be happy to chat with anyone interested in her project and those with convict lineage.
Saturday Program 28 November
10 – 11:30
Punishment and Health in convict Van Diemen’s Land – Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
‘Roses from the Heart’ memorial bonnet tributes will be on display this coming weekend, 28/29th November 2020 at Willow Court, New Norfolk.
Dr Christina Henri conceived the ‘Roses from the Heart’ project in 2003. Her memorial has expanded to include a number of art forms and is now recognised as a global public art phenomenon with the ‘bonnet’ symbolism a metaphor for convict women and their children.
‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet tribute created by Kate Powell remembering the life of Ann Tully who died at the Asylum Hospital, New Norfolk, 13.01.1868. Kate has been attending Dr Henri’s ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet making sessions at Glen Derwent Tea Rooms and Accommodation, New Norfolk over the past few weeks.
Dr Henri’s memorials include remembering 25,566 convict women and their children transported to Australia and also the thousands of Orphan Girls who were given assisted passage to Australia.
‘The Friends of Willow Court’ have invited Dr Henri to exhibit symbolic bonnets this coming weekend at Willow Court, showcasing the lives of convict women with an association to the Asylum Hospital, New Norfolk.
To date Dr Henri’s aware of 242 female convicts associated with the Asylum Hospital, New Norfolk. 235 of these female convicts have been sourced from the ‘Founders and Survivors Convict’ data base.
The artist’s aim regarding the Asylum
Hospital, New Norfolk is to have bonnet tributes providing visual recognition of female convicts who either worked within the system as assigned servants or who spent time there as in-patients.
Currently Dr Henri has information of 85 deaths of female convict in-patients.
Jane Griffin working on her ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet tribute remembering the life of a convict lass who died at the Asylum Hospital, New Norfolk. Thanks to the support of hosts, Liz and Rob Virtue, Dr Henri has been holding weekly bonnet making sessions at Glen Derwent Tea Rooms and Accommodation, New Norfolk.
Jane’s symbolic bonnet will be on display amongst a collection of ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet tributes highlighting convict women with an association to the Asylum Hospital, New Norfolk.
Over the past few months Dr Henri has been holding weekly ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet making sessions at Glen Derwent Tea Rooms & Accommodation, New Norfolk. These free events, hosted by Liz and Rob Virtue, have provided a pleasant ambience for the collective stitching and embellishing of bonnets.
There has been a delightful camaraderie amongst the attendees and beautiful bonnet tributes have been created. There has been a real sense of community with people donating fabric, doillies, thread, buttons, ribbon and lace to the project.
Those with sewing prowess have willingly shared their knowledge and people with limited sewing skills are producing bonnet triumphs.
The ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet exhibition on 28/29th November will showcase symbolic bonnets remembering around a third of the female convicts connected to the Asylum Hospital, New Norfolk.
Chris Bush, local teacher at New Norfolk High School is generously assisting Dr Henri by creating wooden stands for effective displaying of the bonnets. The stand concept is taken from a Quaker bonnet stand, circa 1800s. Students in Waterford have used this design to build supports for ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet tribute displays in Ireland.
Dr Henri will be available to chat about her art memorials with interested visitors to the event at Willow Court. Her ‘Roses from the Heart’ art values the lives of every female convict to Australia whether the female convict ancestor has a relationship with the Willow Court site or not.
The symbolic bonnets on display on 28/29th November are tangible reminders of the lives of the women being remembered.
Thanks to Liz and Rob Virtue’s support, Dr Henri will continue to hold ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet making workshops at Glen Derwent, New Norfolk in 2021. Creation of symbolic bonnets will continue.
Dr Henri is happy to be working with the Derwent Valley Council on 28/29th November to mark the twentieth anniversary of the closure of Willow Court.
Tasmanian artist Dr Christina Henri wearing a ‘Roses from the Heart’ bonnet tribute remembering the life of Ellen Wood who died on 28 October 1840 at the Asylum Hospital, New Norfolk.
The Friends of Willow Court Special Committee are holding a two day event in and around the Barracks Building on 28 & 29 November to acknowledge the closure of the Willow Court side of the Royal Derwent Hospital. The event will be officially (invite only) opened by, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC and the schedule of Speakers include Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart (Convict Historian), Margaret Reynolds (ex teacher Lachlan Park Hospital), Pete Smith (ex staff member) and poet Liz McQuilkin. co author of Renovating Madness (Karen Knight and Liz McQuilkin 2018).
Music will be from the Derwent Valley Concert Band who will bring back the sounds of the concert bands that were based at the Hospital.
‘Stories from the Asylum’
***NEW UPDATED PROGRAM***
‘Stories from the Asylum’ marks the 20thanniversary of the closure of Willow Court that falls on 28thNovember, 2020. The event seeks to acknowledge this milestone in the asylum’s 193 year history through talks by guest speakers, poetry, music, storyboards, and podcasts (QR code only) recordings of former staff reflecting on their time at the hospital, and the Roses from the Heart bonnet tribute to the convict women who spent time at the New Norfolk asylum.
Saturday 28 November
10 – 11:30 Punishment and Health in convict Van Diemen’s Land – Hamish Maxwell- Stewart
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.
The ABC has been using some photos reportedly supplied by Willow Court History Group. Some of the stories attached to these photos are about the New Norfolk Distillery, Paranormal related activities and the Derwent Valley Council activity at the site.
We don’t know anything about these photos being (Supplied: Willow Court History Group) or the attached stories. We are not associated with these groups but the articles give the impression that we are in some way supportive. Had we been consulted on these matters we would have supplied the correct information for the photos and maybe had offered an alternative point of view, but no opportunity was given.
The first photo was reported to have been taken in 1968 when the hospital changed from Lachlan Park Hospital to the Royal Derwent Hospital. The true date of this photo is 100 years earlier 1868.
The second photo was taken in 1890 as suggested but the hospital’s name was the, “Hospital for the Insane”, New Norfolk (1859-1915) and not the New Norfolk Insane Asylum.
We are don’t like being associated with groups we wouldn’t align our philosophy of respect with, eg paranormal tour groups and our gathered information is used in a disrespectful and inaccurate manner. We are more than happy to assist with respectful and accurate information about the site and the history and hope that the ABC will contact us before using our gathered material and before associating us with stories or other groups.
Above is an Artist’s impression of the restored Barracks building at Willow Court, this drawing dates back to 1962, about the same time that Dr. Eric Cunningham-Dax wrote about the proposed “State Museum” in his 1962 report on the state of the hospital and his recommendations to remedy these aging structures and treatment methods. The front of the Barracks building was already clearly ear marked in his report as a “State Museum”. He called for the gathering of historic artifacts and their storage in the Barracks buildings and it was recommended that immediate repair to the Barracks be undertaken to protect those stored artifacts.
Cunningham Dax Report 1962
The report also called for the physical structures of the hospital to change, additional services to be established around the State of Tasmania and the education of staff be a priority along with adequate remuneration. He writes about how staff are supplied housing and other perks in lieu of a comfortable salary.
The National Trust of Tasmania had a number of “artist impressions” of the restored Barracks and the image below shows what was going to be the proposed new multistory Ward behind the Barracks building, a very modern affair. History would show that there was a new Ward built behind the Barracks Building, it was known as Lachlan House and it was only a single story building that is now a number of converted, privately owned dwellings that face Humphrey Street. This ward only appeared after the deconstruction of the rear yard (behind the Barracks). This yard was referred to in some publications as the/a Male refractory as was B Ward (foundations still in the large Carlton Ward front yard). As different areas and Wards were used for different purposes during their life, this recollection could well be correct.
Artist’s impression of new hospital ward and Barracks restoration as a museum 1962
Urban Geason (ex-employee) remembers in his memoir his first shift in the Refractory division; When I entered the Refractory Division for the first time, I saw a large asphalted area about 100 yards square (about 100 m square), completely enclosed by buildings. All of them were old and ugly and showing their age, which was about 100 years old. It was a grim sight. Opening off the yard were patient dormitories, a mess hall, the central kitchen, the boiler house, a patient day room and the only two-storied building, the Pillar Ward. In the middle of the buildings facing Willow Court, the main entrance to the hospital, stood a tall building called the Bell Tower. The bell was rung to signal staff meal times, but the building was in fact the patients’ bath house and clothing store.Urban Geason: Ch 7 New Norfolk Asylum, 1936-39.
Below Dr Reg Parton recalled how the roof was repaired in his time as both an Acting Superintendent and the Superintendent in his letter to the editor of the local newspaper when the Heritage Council of Tas. were looking at delisting some important Tasmanian Heritage sites in Tasmania. He also recalled that there was “hospital paraphernalia” stored in the buildings during his tenure at the hospital.
Dr Reg Parton, Letters to the Editor
Thanks go to the following people for their assistants in supplying material for this article; Michelle Austin, Dr. Reg Parton (Derwent Valley Gazette), Urban Geason and the National Trust Tas.
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.
