This 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 […]
Experimental Treatments Read More »
These short biographies tell the stories of five men who served on the Western Front in World War One. They suffered injuries and illness but after the War they returned to Victoria and tried to pick up the threads of
Five Diggers from Mayday Hills Read More »
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
Maternity Insanity in Victoria Read More »
Lessons from the past: Family involvement in patient admission and discharge, Beechworth Lunatic Asylum, 1900–1912 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
Lessons from the past Read More »
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
Who was Marie Stella Hewitt? Read More »
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
Collections from the Asylum: Past Lives, Present Tense Read More »
