Admission papers, annual single number series - Colonial Lunatic Asylum, Adelaide and Parkside Lunatic Asylums, Parkside Mental Hospital and Glenside Hospital (GRS/13461)

These papers are variously titled Warrants, Admissions, or Admission Papers, and consist of the admission papers of the Colonial Lunatic Asylum, 1846-1852, Adelaide Lunatic Asylum, 1852-1902, Parkside Lunatic Asylum (1873-1913), Parkside Mental Hospital (1913-1967) and Glenside Hospital (1967-1981). It also includes a single warrant for admission for the short period when the mentally ill were detained in the Adelaide Gaol.

The admission papers are the formal means by which an individual was declared a patient under the various Lunacy and Mental Health Acts. Information recorded in the papers remained essentially the same over the entire period, with forms or letters of committal signed by a Justice of the Peace and a Medical Practitioner.

By the mid-nineteenth century the admission papers consist of an 'Order for the Reception of a Patient' form and a 'Medical Certificate' form, plus any supporting documentation.

The 'Order for the Reception of a Patient' gives name of patient, sex and age, whether married, single or widowed, occupation, religious denomination, previous abode, whether first attack, age at first attack, when and where under previous care, duration of existing attack, supposed cause, whether subject to epilepsy, whether suicidal, whether dangerous to others, name and address of nearest relative and degree of relationship. The 'Order for the Reception of a Patient' is signed by the Justice of the Peace making the order, and gives the name of the examining Medical Practitioner.

The signed Medical Certificate gives the Medical Practitioner's observation of facts indicating insanity.

There was a considerable amount of movement between the Adelaide Asylum and Parkside Asylum. Due to overcrowding 50 male patients from Adelaide were transferred to the newly opened Parkside Asylum in 1870. In 1902, Adelaide Asylum closed and all patients were transferred to Parkside. In about 1913, when Parkside Lunatic Asylum became the Parkside Mental Hospital, a decision was made to place the admission papers of all existing patients in a Parkside Mental Hospital file cover, including the papers of patients transferred from Adelaide years or decades before. The file was then numbered with the patient's original admission number. This explains the anomaly of Parkside Mental Hospital apparently existing prior to its creation.

The file cover gives number of admission, name, date of admission and previous admission (if any). Supporting documentation may include discharge papers, a death notice etc. For discharge papers not filed with the admission papers ie. the patient had been discharged prior to c.1913 and not re-admitted, see GRS 13786.

Arranged by annual single number (admission number). The admission number was not marked on the front of papers prior to 26/1861.

Consignment 3 also contains a small quantity of admission papers for voluntary boarders c. 1940 to c. 1950. See GRS 13986 for further admission papers for voluntary boarders.