Mount View Lunatic Asylum
| Mount View Lunatic Asylum | |
|---|---|
Mount View Asylum, c. 1906 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 41°18′22″S 174°46′52″E / 41.306114°S 174.7810835°E (current Government House) |
| Organisation | |
| Type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Beds | 200 |
| Speciality | Psychiatric hospital |
| History | |
| Former names | Mt. View Lunatic Asylum, Mount View Asylum |
| Opened | 1873 |
| Closed | 1910 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in New Zealand |
The Mount View Lunatic Asylum (alternates: Mt. View Lunatic Asylum, Mount View Asylum) was a psychiatric hospital located on 113 acres (46 ha) near the Basin Reserve in Wellington, New Zealand. Government House is now located on what were the asylum grounds.[1] Work began in 1872, and the hospital opened in May 1873.[2] It replaced Karori Lunatic Asylum, the first asylum in the country that was independent of a prison.[3] Mount View was designed to accommodate around 50 patients.[4] In May 1873, 27 patients moved from Karori to Mount View.[5][6] An expansion was required soon after the asylum opened to accommodate more patients, so in 1879 the two-storey wooden structure was enlarged with a block for 50 male patients, and another wing was built during 1880.[7]
From 1876 asylums were under government control and Dr Frederick Skae was appointed as administrator.[8] J.H. Whitelaw was the lay administrator of Mount View and in 1881, after a complaint about treatment of patients, he was charged with violence towards them which resulted in investigations by a royal commission.[9][10] Skae had supported Whitelaw's appointment but was held responsible when the commission upheld the charges.[10] In 1895, under the inspector of asylums Duncan Macgregor, nurse Grace Neill became an official visitor to Mount View.[11]
Around 1885 two additional wards were constructed.[12] By 1905 there were 250 patients but within the next five years, they were transferred to Porirua Lunatic Asylum and other asylums, before Mount View's closure in 1910.[8][4]
References
- ^ Toth, Gabor; Kim Clayton. "Heritage > Newtown & Berhampore". wcl.govt.nz. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
- ^ "The new lunatic asylum". Evening Post. 30 January 1873. Retrieved 28 January 2022 – via Paperspast.
- ^ Brunton, Warwick (5 May 2011). "Mental Health Services - Lunatic Asylums, 1840s to 1900s". Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
- ^ a b Travers, William Thomas Locke (23 August 1875). Lunatic Asylums of the Colony (Further Reports on) 1875 (Report). Wellington: General Assembly. p. 1. Retrieved 27 September 2025 – via Papers Past.
- ^ Williams, Wendy Hunter (1987). Out of Mind Out of Sight: The Story of Porirua Hospital. Porirua Hospital. p. 21.
- ^ France, Charles (17 February 1873). Reports of Lunatic Asylums in New Zealand (Report). Wellington: General Assembly. p. 12. Retrieved 30 August 2025 – via Papers Past.
- ^ "Report by the Inspector of Lunatic Asylums". Evening Post. 30 September 1879. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via Paperspast.
- ^ a b Brunton, Warwick (6 April 2011). "Mount View Asylum, 1872". Mental health services. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ^ "The Mount View Asylum". Evening Post. 11 February 1881. p. 2. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ^ a b Wright-St Clair, Rex. "Frederick William Adolphus Skae". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ^ Tennant, Margaret (1993). "Neill, Elizabeth Grace". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
- ^ "Charitable Institutions". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Wellington Provincial District. Wellington, New Zealand: The Cyclopedia Company Ltd. 1897 – via New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.
Further reading
- K M W. (1988). Wellington’s first lunatic asylum. Stockade, Dec 1988; v.21 n.16, 2.
- Kuglin, H. (2009). Mental illness in the 19th century Wellington region. New Zealand Genealogist, May/Jun 2009; v.40 n.317, 113–115.