Palmerston Asylum / Hospital for The Insane.

The Hospital c 1970

One positive thing about Brougham  Sleight was that he always kept an eye on developments in Britain, Europe and The USA, and was surprisingly progressive in his ambitions to elevate Tamba- Tamba in the world order.

Often the Council were able to dissuade him from pursuing more ruinous ventures. He repeatedly wrote to the British Government proposing an undersea telegraph line to Tamba- Tamba, he also proposed introducing railways to the island (which would have been completely unnecessary) and privately introduced coal-mining to Gough's Hump (no coal was found).  

One area in which his keenness for progress bore fruit was in the care of the insane.
In 1858 one of Brougham's employees began to exhibit increasingly strange behaviour.
Jenkin Hobbs was a 45 year old bachelor who had come to Tamba- Tamba as part of a group of a  dozen or so workers from Brougham's Dorset estates. Hobbs, along with most of his countrymen, had stayed on after the English withdrawal.
The Council debated how best to manage Hobbs' ever more outrageous behaviour. Sir Brougham had recently read in The Times (he still received regular packages of English newspapers) about developments in the wake of the 1853 County Asylum Acts. He proposed that Tamba- Tamba needed 'a purpose built establishment in which Lunatics could be housed securely for their protection and the protection of others. The asylum would also provide an environment in which the insane , through firm but kind and patient management , could gradually be returned to a state of health and usefulness'. (Record of Council meeting Dec. 10th 1858).
The Council agreed in principle, but it was felt that to build an asylum would be rather extravagant. It was, however, decided that Hobbs required  careful management in a secure environment.
At the time Hobbs was 'living wild' in the wooded slopes of Gough's Hump, frequently terrorising goatherds. A posse was sent to bring him under control.
 He was placed under constant supervision in an outhouse on the outskirts of Palmerston. These arrangements were a perfect illustration of the mutual cooperation on which Tamba- Tamba society was founded.
Brougham wrote to England for textbooks on psychiatry. He also wrote to the medical superintendent of The Dorset County Asylum for advice.
Six months later Hobbs showed no sign of improvement. Having read about the role that environment played in the recovery of ones senses, Brougham proposed moving Hobbs from the outhouse into more salubrious accommodation. It was then that The Palmerston Asylum For The Insane was built.
18 metres square, the stone building contained an attendants booth, a cell for the inmate and an earth closet. It was ceremonially opened on March 1st 1860.
Ironically Hobbs absconded whilst he was transferred there, and fatally threw himself into the sea.
It was another 30 years before the Asylum  was used again.

Kelly squatting on the roof of the hospital, c 1905.

Berris Howard was born in Palmerston in 1830. He was considered 'mentally infirm', but lived a generally uneventful life. In 1890 he attracted the attention of the remarkable John Kelly. Kelly, who was born in Ireland c 1845, had spent many years in the Australian gold fields. It is unclear what brought him to Tamba- Tamba, although the Council recognised him as a man of considerable learning. When he approached Brougham about Berris Howard's condition the old Kakoy's passion for progressiveness was rekindled. At this time Howard was effectively dependent on the charity of others. His mental confusion appeared to be increasing with age, and he would frequently cause alarm in the streets of Palmerston at night with his raucous wandering. It was his firm belief that the island was under attack from the sky, and he would wail in a most pitiful manner.
Seemingly having little else to occupy his attentions, Kelly asked the Council that he be allowed to take control of Howard. He believed that with the correct diet and limited stimulation he could relieve some of Howard's suffering.
So, in April 1890 the Asylum was reopened (without ceremony) and Howard was delivered into Kelly's care.

Berris Howard in the yard of the hospital, c 1905.

Kelly kept detailed records of his dealings with Howard and reported regularly to the Council.  He ordered the latest available books on the care of the insane.  For 16 years, up until Howard's death, the men were constant companions, and they could be seen on a daily basis taking long walks around the island. Howard was also usefully employed for the first time in his life as a shoemender, working under Kelly's supervision.He was still 'prone to bouts of intense fear, believing that some unidentified enemy was about to rain destruction on the town' but Kelly's measured reassurances minimized the hullabaloo.

When Howard died in 1906 Kelly concluded that it was his companionship and attention that had benefited his charge. He could not say with conviction that any scientific aspect of his dealings with Howard had helped him, but rather 'the fundamentals of  meaningful human contact'. 

Kelly continued to study mental disorders and their  treatment up until his death in 1910 , and  although the Hospital was technically open for admissions up until the opening of the Cottage Hospital in 1938 (in which a rarely used room was available for the accommodation of mental cases), it was never utilized again. When individuals presented with some mental disorder the Council usually recommended that the community take responsibility for providing the kind of support that Kelly had advocated.

During the Kakoyship of Harry Roy mental disease was a highly sensitive topic, although doctors on the island were able to employ modern approaches to the best of their abilities.

The building stood until the mid 1980's when it was completely demolished by a runaway lorry.

Hardcastle StJohn - Cox, Tamba- Tamba's last asylum patient.

The last person to be detained in the facility at the Cottage Hospital was Hardcastle StJohn - Cox. He was admitted to the hospital in 1959 with a diagnosis of unmanageable schizophrenia and lived there until 1993 when he was released into the community.
Nowadays enlightened modern services for people with mental health needs are provided from the Peoples Clinic For Health and Wellbeing.