Current holiday reading can be fun, but getting copies of publication to read can be harder to do. Today I picked up a copy of Marion Geyssel’s Royal Derwent Hospital, Willow Court. While a great, and recent publication of a pictorial record it has had its share of detractors for its content and views of Mental Health Services in Tasmania. The cost of this book , like any Tasmanian publication is gaining momentum and if you can find this in any second hand shop it will set you back about $45.00. The other reading I have really enjoyed was Lawrence Edward Cullen’s Royal Derwent Hospital, past to present 1936-1978. This has been a joy to read and was written from a past employee’s perspective, and I must say this is an accurate and great insight into the hospital’s changes over that part of it’s history. It should be remembered that during that time, the East Side of the Hospital was created and setup, the oval Wards were opened and set up and the old Wards were closed and demolished. Treatments like Electro Convulsive Therapy, Insulin Therapy, Malaria Treatment – GPI, Deep Narosis and new medications were all introduced and used and this publication stated the times they started and even the administering Doctors. There is also a wonderful piece about some of the “unforgettable characters” that made up the Patients and some of the wonderful skills they brought, such as key cutting, bookmaking (betting), scavenging and business entrepreneurship. This also has some good plans from 1936 to the more current 1978.

This small publication is available to view at the Tasmanian Archives office (I would thank LG for my copy) and Marion Geyssel’s publication is out of print and you would have to hunt around the secondhand book stores.