AGY-1994 | Newington Asylum (1886-1913) / Newington State Hospital and Asylum / Newington State Hospital and Home for Aged Women (1913-68)

Full description

The Newington Estate, on the Parramatta River, was resumed by the Government in 1882 for the purpose of the construction of a Magazine for the storage of gunpowder and other explosives.(1) Newington House, part of the Estate and originally the home of John Blaxland, built in 1832, was converted for use as an Asylum for infirm and destitute women (2), opening in February 1886 with the transfer of 306 residents from the Hyde Park Asylum upon it's closure.(3)

Although the residents of Newington Asylum were predominantly elderly, Newington and the other Government Asylums also assumed the functions of hospitals for the "ordinary pauper population" and for those with incurable conditions, or who required convalescent care (4), at one third of the cost to the Government compared to Hospital treatment.(5) In May 1912 women treated for tuberculosis at Newington Asylum were transferred to the newly completed wing for female patients at Waterfall Sanatorium.(6)

After administrative responsibility for Government Asylums transferred from the Department of Charitable Institutions to Public Health in 1913, Newington Asylum became known as Newington State Hospital and Asylum for Women.(7) During 1926 admissions totalled 1,280, with 673 patients remaining in residence at the end of the year.(8)

In 1960 it was decided to close Newington State Hospital due to the growth of industry, and associated pollution, in the area. Residents were to be transferred in four stages, the first to Strickland Convalescent Home, Rose Bay, the second and third stages to Garrawarra Hospital, and the fourth transfer to a new hospital block to be constructed at Lidcombe State Hospital, estimated to be complete within two years, the sale of the land at Newington contributing to it's cost. Delays to the sale occurred as the Commonwealth Government declined responsibility for damage resulting from accidents at the explosives and ammunition magazines at the Naval Armament Depot, still situated on adjacent land.(9)

In May 1968 Newington Hospital closed, with the last remaining patients transferred to wards 9, 22, and 23 of Rydalmere Hospital.(10)

FOOTNOTES
1.NSW Government Gazette, 22 August 1882, p.4317
2.Health Dept, Histories of various NSW Government Hospitals 1879-1980, Folder for Newington Hospital, SRNSW Ref: 10/50590
3.Report of the Government Asylums Inquiry Board, in Votes and Proceedings 1887, Second Session, Vol 2, p.416
4.Report from the Director of Government Asylums and Boarding Out Officer on the Department of Charitable Institutions of NSW, for annual periods ending 31 August 1894, in Votes and Proceedings 1894-95, Vol 5, p.447
5.ibid, p.448
6.Report of the Director-General of Public Health for the year ended 31 December 1913, in Parliamentary Papers 1914-15, Vol 4, p.327
7.ibid, p.338
8.Report upon the State Hospitals under the control of the Director-General of Public Health, Report for the year 1926, Parliamentary Papers 1927, Vol 2, p.949
9.Health Dept, Histories of various NSW Government Hospitals 1879-1980, Folder for Newington Hospital, op cit
10.Director of State Psychiatric Services, Report for the year ended 30 June 1968, Parliamentary Papers 1968-69, Second Session, Vol 3, p.596