Asylum Ball 1868 YARRA BEND Yarra Bend Asylum was the first permanent institution established in Victoria that was devoted to the treatment of the mentally ill. It opened in 1848 as a ward of the Asylum at Tarban Creek in New South Wales. It was not officially called Yarra Bend Asylum until July 1851 when the Port Phillip District separated from the Colony of New South Wales. Prior to the establishment of Yarra Bend, lunatic patients had been kept in the Districts gaols. Yarra Bend was proclaimed an Asylum under the provisions of the Lunacy Statute 1867 in the Government Gazette in October 1867. From its establishment until 1905 the institution at Yarra Bend was known as an Asylum. This title emphasised its function as a place of detention rather than a hospital which provided treatment for mentally ill people who could possibly be cured. The Lunacy Act 1903 changed the title of all asylums to hospitals for the insane. This Act came into operation in 1905. Despite the change in designation the function and structure of the agency was unchanged. The title was altered to reflect the communitys changing attitude towards mental illness and the Victorian Governments approach to the treatment of mentally disturbed persons. An asylum/hospital for the insane was any public building proclaimed by the Governor in Council in the Government Gazette as a place for the reception of lunatics. An asylum could also provide wards for the temporary reception of patients as well as long term patients. Patients could not be retained in an asylum without a warrant requesting their admission. Prior to 1867 the warrant was signed by the Governor. After this date the Chief Secretary was responsible for this function. Under the provisions of the Lunacy Act 1914 patients could also be admitted to a hospital for the insane on a voluntary basis, that is, on the patients own request for a specified period of time. Inmates who died at Yarra Bend Asylum were usually interred in unmarked, common graves within the asylum grounds. Families who wished their relative to be buried in a single grave were required to pay an extra fee. The exact location and the number of interments that took place is unknown, but it has been suggested as many as 1,200 former inmates were interred, in up to 400 graves. According to Parks Victoria, the cemetery was located along the banks of the Yarra, on what is today a practice fairway of the Yarra Bend public golf course.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 02:15:58 +0000
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