Mount View Lunatic Asylum

Mount View Lunatic Asylum
Mount View Asylum, c. 1906
Map
Geography
LocationWellington, New Zealand
Coordinates41°18′22″S 174°46′52″E / 41.306114°S 174.7810835°E / -41.306114; 174.7810835 (current Government House)
Organisation
TypeSpecialist
Services
Beds200
SpecialityPsychiatric hospital
History
Former name(s)Mt. View Lunatic Asylum, Mount View Asylum
Opened1873
Closed1910
Links
ListsHospitals 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.[3] Mount View was planned to accommodate 28 male and 28 female patients, but as 70 patients were transferred from Karori, overcrowding was a problem from the beginning.[4] 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.[5][6] Around 1885 two additional wards were constructed.[7] 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

  1. ^ Toth, Gabor; Kim Clayton. "Heritage > Newtown & Berhampore". wcl.govt.nz. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  2. ^ "The new lunatic asylum". Evening Post. 30 January 1873. Retrieved 28 January 2022 – via Paperspast.
  3. ^ Dekker, Diana (30 July 2011). "Conquering Karori It's sprawling, popular, and has a past. A new history of Karori recalls how only three lifetimes ago the place was forest". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b Crosby, Arthur (5 May 1910). "Wellington Mental Hospital". Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 1910 Session 1, H-07: 18–19 – via Paperspast.
  5. ^ "Report by the Inspector of Lunatic Asylums". Evening Post. 30 September 1879. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via Paperspast.
  6. ^ "[untitled]". Evening Post. 11 January 1881. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via Paperspast.
  7. ^ "Charitable Institutions". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Wellington Provincial District. Wellington, New Zealand: The Cyclopedia Company Ltd. 1897 – via New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.
  8. ^ Brunton, Warwick (6 April 2011). "Mount View Asylum, 1872". Mental health services. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 September 2011.


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