“. . . here is an Asylum open . . .” constructing a culture of government care in Australia 1801 – 2014

This thesis explores the history and heritage of the Newcastle Government Domain from its origins in the first European settlement at Newcastle in 1801 to its uncertain present as a largely vacated site of mental health care. The Domain is a significant holding of land at the centre of a growing urban area which has remained unalienated from the imperial, colonial and now state government because it has been seen as an asset to be applied to solving a series of contemporary challenges. Drawing upon public records, works of art and newspaper reports, the shifting uses of the Domain from centre of local administration, to military base, girls’ reformatory and asylum are traced demonstrating how the site contributed to meeting the responsibility for caring for the residents of New South Wales which fell to its governments. It is argued that rather than careful planning, decisions about the use of the Domain were largely the result of outside pressures. This is followed through in detail with regard to the establishment on the site in 1871 of an Asylum for Idiots and Imbeciles. A close reading of the extant records of this institution reveal that for several years, it served mainly as a repository for long term residents of older asylums. Only in the 1890s did it become populated by the intellectually disabled. Although it was an “accidental asylum”, the site was well suited to its purpose and has successfully hosted mental health services through to the present day. Its fraught transition from active health care campus to heritage site is traced to explore contemporary issues in heritage, in particular the rising interest in cultural landscapes, the role of interdisciplinary non-governmental organisations in heritage advocacy and the possibility of overtly recognising the positive benefits of heritage conservation for mental wellbeing at this and other sites. The Newcastle Asylum represented a new form of care in the colony of NSW and as such needs to form part of the cultural heritage of Newcastle because it contributed significantly to the social welfare of people in New South Wales.