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]
| 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 name(s) | Mt. View Lunatic Asylum, Mount View Asylum |
| Opened | 1873 |
| Closed | 1910 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in New Zealand |
References edit
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Report by the Inspector of Lunatic Asylums". Evening Post. 30 September 1879. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via Paperspast.
- ^ "[untitled]". Evening Post. 11 January 1881. Retrieved 31 January 2022 – via Paperspast.
- ^ "Charitable Institutions". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: Wellington Provincial District. Wellington, New Zealand: The Cyclopedia Company Ltd. 1897 – via New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.
- ^ Brunton, Warwick (6 April 2011). "Mount View Asylum, 1872". Mental health services. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 7 September 2011.