Mary Jane Hayes was admitted, via prison, to the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum for the first time on 16 February 1881, a 32-year-old "drunken and violent woman" whose mind was "affected by drink". 1 Upon admission she was so violent she was placed in a padded room; she tore the padding off the walls and had her arms fastened in a waistcoat, which was removed after she promised to be quiet. 2 By the end of February she had improved and was discharged convalescent. 3 However, four months later, Mary Jane was readmitted, this time described as "a drunken prostitute". 4 As she remained violent she was removed to the padded room again. 5 However, she quickly became quiet and well behaved and so improved that within a month she was discharged, although "cautioned not to drink". 6 Mary Jane Hayes was one of eight women to be labelled a prostitute in the patient records by the staff at the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum from 1858-1908. 7 However, none of the other identified prostitutes were described with such obvious derision than in Mary Jane's case. Seven other women had prostitution alluded to with previous prison convictions for vagrancy, illegitimate children, or references to venereal diseases. Mary Jane had been clearly labelled a drunken prostitute and it was both of these issues in her life, prostitution and her addiction to alcohol, which were believed to be the causes of her insanity, bad behaviour, and criminal convictions. Mary Jane's story is an illustrative case study analysis that frames 1
Puerperal insanity, or what might be understood as a form of postnatal depression, was the third most frequent diagnosis among the women of the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum from 1858 to 1908. The emphasis society placed on pregnancy and child-rearing as women's primary function resulted in anxieties surrounding childbirth. Modern medical professionals are now aware there are several factors involved in postnatal depression. However, nineteenth-century physicians viewed it as a common issue of 'mental derangement' in women soon after childbirth, but unlikely to be permanent. To treat this, Fremantle Asylum physicians instituted moral treatment methods, including domestic work as rehabilitation. As this paper demonstrates, this form of rehabilitation reinforced the conventional feminine behaviours essential for functioning wives and mothers in nineteenth-and early twentieth-century society. As women suffering puerperal insanity challenged the notions of domesticity and femininity, their experiences allow for an analysis of how moral treatment was implemented in Fremantle. Through the patient records and case books of the Fremantle Asylum, this paper reveals that moral treatment did not cure all patients, leaving some susceptible to readmission and continued mental illness.
An economic and population boom in the 1890s created opportunities for architects to find work and fame in Western Australia. Architecture, therefore, became a viable profession for the first time, and the number of practicing architects in the colony (and then state) quickly grew. Associations such as the Western Australian Institute of Architects were established to organise the profession, but as the number of architects grew and Western Australian society matured, it became evident that a role for government was required to ensure practice standards and consumer protection. In 1921, therefore, the Architects Act was passed, and, in the following year, the Architects Board of Western Australia was launched. This report traces the evolution and transformation of professional architectural practice since then, and evaluates the role and impact of the Board in its first century.
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