Sister Ruby Buchanan, nursing sister at the Parramatta Hospital for the Insane, c.1907.
Source: Heritage Centre – Local Studies Photographic Collection, LSP00072
The Parramatta Lunatic Asylum became the Parramatta Hospital for the Insane in 1878, and in 1916 was renamed The Parramatta Mental Hospital.
In 1907, when Ruby Buchanan was a nursing sister at the Parramatta Hospital for the Insane, there were many activities provided for the patients’ entertainment and emotional well-being. The petty cash expenditure from 1907-1912 shows the entertainment included balls, musicals and picnics. [1]
On the 18 August 1906, The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate reported:
Another of those high-class entertainments by Mr. James R. Dellow was given on Tuesday evening at the Hospital for the Insane, Parramatta North. The Covent of Mercy orchestra played two items admirably.” [2]
Included in this evening’s entertainment was many types of musical performance, singing and dancing. The Cumberland Argus noted that: “The house got up and just roared its expressions of pleasure”, and ended with “Congratulatory salutations to the management”. [3]
Caroline Finlay, Regional Studies Facilitator, Parramatta Heritage Centre, City of Parramatta, 2020
References:
[1] Wistaria Fete Committee & Smith, Terry. (1995). An overview of the history of Cumberland Hospital. Westmead, N.S.W.: Wistaria Fete Committee. p. 14.
[2] Patients’ concert. (1906, August 18). The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate. p. 4. Retrieved 30/04/2020 from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85935546
[3] Patients’ concert. (1906, August 18). The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate. p. 4. Retrieved 30/04/2020 from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85935546