Madness in the Family: Insanity and Institutions in the Australasian Colonial World, 1860-1914

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
List of Figures......Page 10
List of Maps......Page 11
List of Tables......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 13
Introduction......Page 18
1 Colonial Psychiatry in the Australasian World......Page 32
Psychiatry in the British colonial world......Page 34
Colonial asylum environments......Page 44
The medical superintendents......Page 48
Patient populations......Page 53
2 Families and the Colonial Hospital System, 1860–1910......Page 60
Insanity and colonial society......Page 61
Families 'scattered about the colonies'......Page 68
Heredity and degeneration......Page 71
Families and hospitals for the insane......Page 76
3 Families and the Language of Insanity......Page 82
Popular and expert understandings of madness......Page 86
Marginal notes: family observations in patient case notes......Page 91
Lay descriptions of insanity......Page 93
Expert knowledge......Page 99
First-hand accounts of mental breakdown......Page 101
4 Writing to and from the Asylum......Page 105
Traces of emotion in patient case records......Page 111
Family and patient correspondence......Page 116
The asylum as a 'theatre of emotions' for families......Page 119
5 Tracing Families for Maintenance Payments......Page 124
Asylum patient maintenance costs in the colonies, 1860s–1900s......Page 126
Poverty, families and institutions......Page 130
'Tricks and subterfuges': deceiving authorities?......Page 133
Family economies: money and emotions......Page 136
6 Porous Boundaries: Families, Patients and Practices of Extra-Institutional Care......Page 139
Trial leave and leave of absence: institutional practices across the colonies......Page 141
Boarding-out......Page 154
The After Care Association, New South Wales, 1907......Page 156
7 Conclusion: Families, Insanity and the Archive......Page 160
Exploring the archives......Page 162
Locating families......Page 167
Grappling with archival records: some conclusions......Page 168
Appendix: Indications of Insanity Noted by Family and Friends of Inmate Prior to Committal......Page 171
Notes......Page 173
Bibliography......Page 213
C......Page 232
E......Page 233
K......Page 234
M......Page 235
R......Page 236
Z......Page 237