Seaview Asylum

The Seaview Asylum (often: Seaview Lunatic Asylum, Seaview Psychiatric Hospital or Hokitika Lunatic Asylum)^[1] was a psychiatric hospital located to the north of Hokitika, in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island. Once the town's biggest employer,^[2] the hospital was staffed by a superintendent, matron, attendants, and a labourer.^[3] A comprehensive history of the hospital, Sitivation 125: A History of Seaview Hospital, Hokitika and West Coast Mental Health Services, was written in 1997 by Warwick Brunton,^[4] now an Associate Dean at the University of Otago.^[5]

History

Founded in 1872 by the Provincial Government, John Downey was promoted to Superintendent in 1904, and his wife served as matron.^[3] In the same year, Dr Duncan MacGregor, Inspector-General of Hospitals and Asylums, authorised the villa hospital pattern of development at Seaview Hospital.^[6] Three units were closed in the 1990s, as well as the nursing school in 1992. By 2002, the hospital board sold the asylum to a property developer.

In 1955, Seaview peaked with 549 patients.^[7] By 1996, there were 100, and when the facility closed in 2009, it was down to 22.^[2]

Buildings

Located on a government reserve, the land was terraced and consisted of approximately 150 acres (61 ha). The major buildings included dormitories, single rooms, dining rooms, and a padded cell. The Hokitika Gaol, containing 30 cells, was located on a terrace at Seaview.^[8] The Seaview Lighthouse, a Category II registered Historic Place erected in 1879, was later used as an observation tower by the hospital.^[9]

References