# Karori Lunatic Asylum

Between 1854 and 1873, Karori Lunatic Asylum in Wellington, New Zealand held and cared for patients with mental disorders. They had been certified as lunatics, but were not considered a danger to the public. It was the country's first independent lunatic asylum, which was not part of a prison. Karori was then a rural village isolated by a poor road, but is now the westernmost suburb of Wellington.
At that time, asylums followed the principle of moral management. Staff behaved in a humane and orderly way towards patients, and gave them a routine of chores and leisure activities. But the staff were laypeople who simply managed the patients, they did not treat them.
Karori asylum offered an effective mental health service until the mid-1860s. However, by 1871, overcrowding and understaffing led a parliamentary committee to single it out for reform. In response, Wellington Province built a larger asylum in Wellington city as the replacement.
In 1872, a provincial inquiry concluded that two staff leaders had been physically abusing patients. They were dismissed, and the asylum returned to moral management under new leadership. Mount View Lunatic Asylum replaced the Karori asylum in 1873.

## History
### Lunatics and asylums

The Lunatics Act 1846 enabled the colony to hold and care for lunatics: people who were "... dangerously insane ..." or "... of unsound mind." Two doctors and a magistrate could certify someone as a lunatic, and later certify that they had recovered. Lunatics who were considered a danger to the public were held in prisons. The rest were held in asylums or public hospitals. The Constitution Act 1852 divided the colony into six provinces, one of which was Wellington, and made the provinces responsible for asylums. Regular independent inspections of asylums were introduced by The Lunatics Act 1868.
At that time, asylum staff were laypeople who were not trained to treat mental disorders. They aimed to help patients recover by following the principles of moral management and non-restraint. Moral management involved "Patience, gentle treatment, nourishing diet, cleanliness with light employment or exercise goes far to recover the lunatic ... Good example in the attendants is the greatest guide, and gives confidence to the patients.", according to James Hume who led the asylum in Dunedin. Non-restraint meant that a troubled patient would be confined in a padded cell instead of being physically restrained.

### Opening and growing (1854–1865)

Karori Lunatic Asylum opened in 1854 with one patient and one member of staff. Asylums were added to Wellington and Auckland prisons in 1844, but Karori was the first independent one in New Zealand.
The asylum was on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) section, which has a corner on Karori Road and Donald Street where Karori Normal School is today. Wellington city was 4 miles (6.4 km) away on a poor road. The asylum building was a house, which was extended in 1857. In contrast to a prison, there was little physical security to keep patients at the asylum. By 1862, it was enclosed in post-and-rail fencing used on farms to contain livestock. It had a 0.5-acre (0.20 ha) kitchen garden, that supplied most of the asylum's vegetables, and a flower garden of a similar size. The house was further extended in 1863.
There were two types of patient: chronic and acute. Chronic (or incurable) patients were held for life. A smaller number of acute patients were admitted, then improved sufficiently to be discharged.
In 1857, the first medical officer was appointed: a doctor who visited the asylum at least once a week to tend the physical health of the patients. By 1862, there were 10 patients, according to medical officer France. The number of staff had also grown to three: the keeper (or master) and matron, Mr and Mrs William Sutherland, and an assistant (or attendant). In 1861, France's predecessor noted that it had been two years since the last patient absconded and restraint had not been used. According to Williams (1987), a history of Wellington asylums,
Karori offered an effective mental health service during this period.

### Overcrowding and departing from moral management (1866–May 1872)

In Karori asylum's later years, the number of patients, particularly chronic, grew more quickly. However, no more accommodation was added.
In 1867, official visitors reported that the asylum had 19 patients and it was full. They also said it was understaffed and dilapidated.
By 1871, a parliamentary committee considering reform of asylums was aware of problems at Karori. Their report recommended improving asylums in general, but singled out Karori for "... immediate attention and reform." The committee's chairman, doctor Andrew Buchanan, made an inspection. He found Karori asylum overcrowded with 23 patients, while the number of staff had also grown to five. The keeper and matron, the Sutherlands who had led the staff since 1858, seemed to be humane, and they showed Buchanan whatever he wanted to see. His report raised concerns about the lack of a bathroom, poorly clothed patients including a naked woman in an unheated cell, and male patients idling indoors. Buchanan noted that "... the females never go outside the house." Apart from the medical officer, there had been next to no visitors in months.
Buchanan recommended replacing Karori with a larger asylum. He suggested it should be in Wellington city to make inspections easier. The provincial council agreed, and started work on a site off Adelaide Road overlooking the city and harbour.
In 1872, a provincial inquiry was held into the asylum. A newly-arrived assistant had raised concerns about ill-treatment of patients by the matron and keeper. The assistant alleged the principles of moral management and non-restraint had been abandoned. And matron was regularly abusing patients, both verbally and physically. Another assistant was dismissed in 1867 after raising concerns about beatings of female patients, particularly absconders. A third assistant, who resigned the previous year, read the inquiry instances of abuse from his diary. He had not raised his concerns at the time, believing they would be difficult to prove.
After hearing contradictory testimony, the inquiry concluded "... patients have been treated with unnecessary violence ..." It also expressed surprise that France had not noticed the abuse. The Sutherlands were dismissed. In a subsequent criminal trial, they were found guilty of assaulting patients and fined.

### Returning to moral management and closure (June 1872–May 1873)

Karori asylum returned to moral management under the new keeper and matron, Mr and Mrs Henry Seager. Henry had worked at Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum in Christchurch, which was led by his brother Edward Seager.
In May 1873, Karori Lunatic Asylum closed after 27 patients moved to Mount View Lunatic Asylum. The Seagers and medical officer France continued their roles at the new asylum.

## Legacy

The problems experienced at Karori Lunatic Asylum helped to convince Buchanan's parliamentary committee that asylums should be led by doctors not laypeople.
In 1875, Karori School moved to the section formerly occupied by the asylum. Renamed Karori Normal School in 1968, it is still there today.