Karori Lunatic Asylum

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Karori Lunatic Asylum
Established 1846
Opened 1854
Closed 1875
Current Status Demolished
Building Style Single Building
Location Karori, Wellington, NZ
Alternate Names



History

The first of the new provincial lunatic asylums to care for the mentally ill opened on 1 January 1854 on the site of the present Karori Normal Primary School in Wellington. It is not known for certain whether the asylum moved into a building already present on the site, or was purpose built but probably the former as within 3 years a Select Committee reported that the “old building” be put into proper repair, and by 1867 the buildings were described as “decayed and worm eaten”. The asylum was on the fringe of Wellington, allowing for potential community interaction, but at the same time providing an environment described as spacious and rustic, allowing for manual work such as farming and gardening.

In September 1871, a group of doctors who were also politicians and who were dissatisfied with the high incurability rate in the asylums and lack of medical input, secured a parliamentary inquiry into the lunatic asylums of the colony. The inquiry was chaired by Dr Andrew Buchanan. The inquiry concluded that a new site was required, with enlarged buildings, more attendants, exercise for the women, baths, and a means of warming the isolation rooms. The findings of the Committee of Inquiry laid the foundation for the future development of mental health services in New Zealand.