Alison Watts

Stigma, shame and family secrets

Stigma, shame and family secrets as consequences of mental illness in previous generations: A micro-history approach Original research article written by Eileen Clark, Jennifer Munday & Alison Watts Abstract In this article we evaluate micro-history as a method for investigating the meaning of stigma, shame and family secrets through generations. We present micro-histories of two […]

Stigma, shame and family secrets Read More »

Experimental Treatments

Experimental Treatments: Women, Gender,and ‘Maternal Insanity’ in Victorian Psychiatric Institutions, 1920–36This article investigates new and experimental medical treatments used to cure ‘maternal insanity’ in women committed to Victorian psychiatric institutions between 1920 and 1936. Close examination of the women’s clinical files reveals the use of numerous treatments, vaccines, and tests that produced a wide range

Experimental Treatments Read More »

Madwomen and Maternity

written by Alison Watts, 2021. When I began my research for my PhD back in 2009, I was primarily interested in my grandmother’s story. Ada was hidden from our family for nearly thirty-years when she was committed as insane in 1936. Her journey through several mental institutions in Victoria saw her transferred from Mont Park

Madwomen and Maternity Read More »

Asylum Staff Cricket Team

written by Eileen Clark, 2021 James Neilson BRADLEY (1868–1943)James BRADLEY was born in Sandhurst (Bendigo), one of seven children of William BRADLEY and Jane NEILSON. In 1892 he married Ida Emily SCOPES and they had three children, all born in Beechworth. He had a short spell working as a clerk in Melbourne before being appointed

Asylum Staff Cricket Team Read More »

Lessons from the past

Lessons from the past: Family involvement in patient admission and discharge, Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, 1900–1912 ABSTRACT: In this study, document analysis is used to examine case books from the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum with the aim of determining the extent of family involvement in patients’ admission and discharge. There were 420 male and 278 female patients

Lessons from the past Read More »

Who was Marie Stella Hewitt?

written by Eileen Clark, 2016. Marie Stella HEWITT was admitted to the Beechworth Lunatic Asylum on 23 July 1907 suffering from dementia but it was the cause of her illness that caught my eye: “Supposed Cause: The Deeming Case (she being the discoverer of body & chief witness)”Was this an early case of Post-Traumatic Stress

Who was Marie Stella Hewitt? Read More »

Collections from the Asylum: Past Lives, Present Tense

The exhibition Collections from the Asylum gives a fascinating glimpse into life inside and outside the walls of the former Mayday Hills Mental Hospital, Beechworth, Victoria. Mental AsylumsMental asylums, along with penal colonies, form part of Australia’s rich history of British settlement as institutions that ‘locked-up’ those deemed unfit for mainstream society. Mayday Hills Asylum

Collections from the Asylum: Past Lives, Present Tense Read More »

css.php