Fremantle Lunatic Asylum

Description

DescriptionFremantle Lunatic Asylum was the main mental health facility in Western Australia during the nineteenth century.

Other mental health facilities that were established from the late 1890s include Whitby Falls (an annexe to Fremantle) and Claremont Hospital for the Insane (built to replace Fremantle).

General information from the 'Find and Connect' website:
"Fremantle Asylum was a government-run facility, established in 1857 to house adult ‘lunatics’. But by the 1890s increasing numbers of children aged 9-15 years with intellectual and other disabilities were sent there. Children were transferred to the new ‘hospital for the insane’ (Claremont Mental Hospital) between 1903 and 1908. Fremantle Asylum closed in 1909.

Fremantle Asylum was built and run by the colonial government from 1857. By the 1890s increasing numbers of children aged 9-15 years with intellectual and other disabilities were sent there, often for a lifetime. Children were transferred from Fremantle to the Claremont Hospital for the Insane from 1903 to 1908. Fremantle Asylum closed in 1909.

Fremantle Asylum was built in 1857 as a response to the increasing number of ‘insane’ convicts being sent from Britain after transportation began in 1850. In reality, the growing numbers of people with mental illnesses were as likely to have been a natural consequence of a growing population in the colony. The desire and economic need for a stable and controlled workforce was also a factor in removing people who were uncontrollable from civic institutions like schools, prisons, hospitals and work depots in the colony. Paupers were of particular concern to the colonial government. ‘Pauper lunatics’ were to be given precedence in admission to the Fremantle Asylum." [https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/entity/fremantle-asylum/]
Address1,Finnerty St,FremantleLocation^[1]

Organisation

Claremont Hospital for the Insane

Whitby Falls Asylum

Fremantle Lunatic Asylum pictured in the 1870s (source: State Library, 5770B/48).

Connections

SuccessorClaremont Hospital for the InsaneSubject (organisation)Whitby Falls AsylumSubject (place)FremantleRelated collectionCelebrating 200 Years - National Foundation for Australia-China Relations ProjectAnne Atkinson CollectionRelated linkFind and Connect website

Item information

ContributorSchool of Social Sciences

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UWA Collected

Fremantle Lunatic Asylum

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA