mark krause spare – Willow Court Tasmania

APIU, DVC may approve tour of “Satan’s House”!

September 22, 2017 8 Comments

Last night the Derwent Valley Council (DVC) discussed a proposal for the (APIU) Australian Paranormal Investigation Unit (collection of friends) to conduct After Dark Tours (Paranormal Tours) of Frascati House. Previously the Group have referred to the house as Satan’s House in a podcast interview with Naked Zombie TV.

They also have told the interviewer about their experiences of “mild possession, unexplained scratches, evil presences, ghosts following people home”

While the group say they are not prone to over exaggeration or being disrespectful the above comments and naming of the place as “Satan’s House” would have to be questioned.

Frascati has a wonderful and long history starting with it’s construction in 1834, later it was the home of the many Medical Superintendents and then a Training Centre for some of the Residents.

“This request comes about as a result of the APIU recognising that Frascati House plays an important role in the history of the Willow Court precinct.
The APIU has indicated that they have had a discussion with a member of Friends of Frascati and at the time of writing was intending to attend a committee meeting of that group to discuss the After Dark Tours.

The APIU has advised that if the Council approves its request the use of Frascati House will not be advertised in its promotional material, rather it will be referred to as a ‘secret location’.

This will assist in preventing unwanted attempts to access the building prior to the tours. Further to this the APIU will ensure that the area will be patrolled during the tour operations to ensure that the site is kept secure.
All profits made from the tour will be donated to the Council for use in restoration activities on the site.

Should the APIU wish to conduct additional tours on any part of the Willow Court site a further report will be presented to the Council.”

Item 10.7 DVC agenda

Global, Local

Linc Tasmania search family history

September 12, 2017 6 Comments

I have many requests from people who are searching for Patient file of their family member. There are complications when searching, one of those is to know what the Hospital was called during the time your family member was a Patient, because the institution had many names during it’s 174 year history.

At this stage we can’t offer a search facility or assistance because of the groups limitations. People can always post on the Facebook Group to see if there is anyone who would know your family member.

Records are restricted for 75 years from the current date. You must have permission to see these later files from the Department of Health and Human Services. Use the contact form for the Department of Health & Human Services.

Its also great to see the Tasmanian Government recommending the Willow Court Tasmania History Group’s website as a credible place for information about the hospital and it’s history.

Search Family History

Patient Record Books

Female Convict Research Centre

Helpful Link

Find and Connect

Below is one of a number of replies I received from this article and is the often untold message from families. Thank you Lauren for allowing me to share this.

“Hi Mark,

you directed me to the Linc a few weeks ago, I was looking for my mum’s long lost brother who died as a boy at New Norfolk, all we knew was his name and a very rough timeline of when he was born and admitted to RDH. Our trip to Linc recovered the details of his condition, admittance, birth and death dates, who admitted him…and best of all, we found his unmarked grave at Malbina Cemetery.”

Thanks Mark!

Global, Local

Friends to continue preservation

September 12, 2017 No Comments

The Friends of Willow Court announced in partnership with the Derwent Valley Tidy Towns group, that work to preserve the outer perimeter wall at Willow Court will continue.

Thanks to some funding from the owners, the Derwent Valley Council the limewash and restoration will continue. The works to preserve the wall stopped in December 2015, two months after restoration work on the whole site ground to a stopped in November of the same year. No funding has been forthcoming for the site through either State of Federal Governments and almost appears to be off the agenda again.

The AGM of the Friends of Willow Court will also be held tomorrow night and Guest Speaker, Dallas Baker OAM will present his experience as a conservation volunteer at Deal Island.

Friends of Willow Court
Annual General Meeting
13 September 2017
7pm
Derwent Valley Community House
Guest Speaker Dallas Baker OAM
Dallas will talk about his experience as a volunteer on the maintenance of the Deal Island convict built (1848) lighthouse.
Members of the public are very welcome to attend the meeting.
The Friends of Willow Court together with DV Tidy Towns will commence a project this year to continue lime washing of the entire Willow Court perimeter wall after receiving a DVC Community Grant to purchase scaffolding for the project. Anyone interested in this project can contact Friends of Willow Court via friendsofwillowcourt@gmail.com

Global, Local

New map shows all the land managed by the hospital

August 20, 2017 3 Comments

Click image above to open as PDF.

This 1988 colour coded map, shows how much land was owned and operated by the hospital. 333.6ha of land was managed by the administrators of the hospital, some land was farmed and the remaining either housing patients, staff or administration and support services for the hospital.

The hospital was ready for major expansion with all the land it managed, but due to the change of philosophy in care provision, the hospital started down sizing in the early to mid 1970’s.

The purple dot is the Derwent Valley Council Building in Circle Street which gives the viewer an idea of the scale of land under management.

Global, Local

1947 Position Descriptions book

August 14, 2017 2 Comments

A wonderful read, especially the farm trade workers position description for 1947, the milkman not only had to deliver the fresh milk to the wards and kitchen, he was also responsible for milking the cows, only after cleaning their udders.

With the expansion of the hospital in the 1950 and 60s farming on the east side of the Lachlan River deceased although the Government land that once was Turriff Lodge had fertile soils and provided many hours for work for patients. After the Turriff Lodge buildings were demolished the bricks were used for the foundation on the fowl sheds on the hospital farm. Will get a scan copy onto the documents tab soon.