Callan Park: Hospital for the Insane

by Sarah Luke

Tales of Victorian-era madness have imbued twenty-first century minds with images of inconvenient husbands and wives, locked up in attics or diseased madhouses in the English countryside, without hope of real care or release. But what was the reality faced by the ‘insane’ in nineteenth-century New South Wales?

In 1874 Sir Henry Parkes purchased the pleasure grounds that were Callan Park and turned them into the jewel in the crown of New South Wales’ mental healthcare. Despite local protests, Garryowen House became the site’s first hospital – equipped with a cricket pitch, farm, orchard and zoo. Soon the asylum proper was built and became home to over 700 patients.

Callan Park, Hospital for the Insane uses Victorian-era medical files to explore the lives of the first patients and staff of the early hospital, detailing their daily routine, treatment, escapes and cures.

Paperback

Published July 26, 2018

Reviews

[Pippa Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I used to live in Callan Park (my father was a doctor there), I recently bought this book by Sarah Luke. I've always wanted to know about the hospital's history, and Sarah covers the early formative years very thoroughly. The buildings that were so fascinating to me as a young girl are described in detail, not only their architecture but the reasoning behind their design.

What is possibly most interesting is that for the era Sarah is covering, the treatment of the insane was very humane. Manning, who was in charge of Gladesville Hospital, before Callan Park was built, genuinely cared for the patients. He believed in encouraging them to work, not as slaves as is often assumed but in activities that would benefit them when they were cured, or in jobs that were appropriate to their skills or training.

Gary Owen House, which is now the Writers Centre was the first building to house patients, and it grew from there.

There were no drugs in those days and some patients were aggressive and needed restraint, but I gather from Sarah's book that this was a last resort. She doubts the tunnels beneath the buildings were used as "solitary confinement" for violent patients, but more probably for food storage. Callan Park was very self-sufficient. They constructed and maintained the buildings and landscape and grew most of their food.

Today of course we know more about the brain and have drugs that will help patients with mental illnesses, but I felt as I was reading this book that the insane were better cared for at the end of the 18th century than they are today. In the 21st century, many of them are homeless, and/or treated as criminals instead of people who are ill.

I highly recommend this book.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting as I had no knowledge at all of Callan Park. The treatment used involved respect of patients and pleasant surroundings including ornaments, photos, light filled interiors, attractive lovely garden, cricket patch and a range of animals roaming the grounds. Of interest is that neither items or animals were hurt or damaged save for one that horrified staff and inmates alike. I had a few concerns with some parts glossing over where the author suggests what might have happened or been the case in certain instances when another conclusion is also possible. This related to instances where attendants could also be considered failing duty of care for eg one where a bruised head is considered the possible result of a fall from a wheelchair rather than the equally possible cause of an assault by the attendant on a particularly irascible patient. The list of conditions suffered and their prognosis shows an earlier understanding of psychology, for eg sunburn crops up a lot but this is also interesting as in those times the pale skinned races that came to Callan Park and their carers would be unfamiliar with the extreme Australian sun and hence with how to protect themselves. I have had sunstroke once and can confirm it really messes with the head. Of interest too is how many damaged people were shipped off to Australia from other countries as it became known as a place that would take care of them once they arrived and could not be returned, to the despair of those then responsible for their care given the number of their own needing treatment. Overall, It’s an interesting start to the subject. Treatment is thoroughly covered, and the informative bits about architecture etc are linked with references to various inmates whose privacy unfortunately is lost to time.

[Jess Carlisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fascinating history of Callan Park Asylum and its patients is an engaging read. I don't normally read histories but I enjoyed learning about the hospital system for the insane led by Manning and the individual stories of those who found refuge and care at Callan Park.

Sarah Luke has successfully synthesised years of meticulous research to present an accessible account of Callan Park in context, zooming out to look at Australia, New Zealand, and England's treatment of lunatics in the Victorian era. Her subtle wit and gentle compassion for those whose stories she tells brings them to life and out of danger of being lost or forgotten.

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing as this work only covers the inception of Callan Park and its formative years to the turn of the 20th century. This place has a long history and endured as an asylum and hospital until 2008, but none of that history is recounted here. What we do get is a well-researched account of its early years, with biographies of its staff and quite a few of its patients. This work is also in good need of proofreading as typos abound.

Trivia: growing up in Sydney as a kid in the 1970s, to be accused of coming from Callan Park (and Morisset) meant you were a nutter.

[Ronan Hussey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual choice for me but I found it to be highly interesting.