The End of the 19th Century

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The End of the 19th Century

The history of asylums begins in England at the turn of the 19th century. In Manitoba, as was the case elsewhere, patients were not just separated from the public socially, but also physically. At the Selkirk Asylum, an eight-foot fence was built for security purposes and to keep patients “out of sight and out of mind.”

SELKIRK

1871 – In Manitoba, the Provincial and Dominion government established the first asylum at Lower Fort Garry.

1884 – The provincial government passed a law authorizing the construction of an asylum.

1886 – The hospital in Selkirk is completed and called the Lunatic Asylum.

1886 – After its official opening, the “Manitoba Asylum for the Insane” had a capacity of 167 patients.

The newly completed Selkirk Mental Hospital, 1887
The “Lunatic Asylum,” Selkirk Mental Hospital, circa 1887

BRANDON

1891– Brandon Asylum first opened.

The staff, Brandon Asylum, 1894

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE

1890 – The history of the institutions in Manitoba for people living with disabilities begins with what was originally called the Home for Incurables in Portage la Prairie.

This new facility houses patients suffering from a wide variety of illnesses that were not treated in general hospitals at that time.

Sources

Manitoba Asylum – Selkirk Museum
[https://selkirkmuseum.ca/places/the-manitoba-asylum/]

Article: Abnormal psychology

Development centre’s time is past – Winnipeg Free Press
[https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2013/10/01/development-centres-time-is-past]

Module Three: Manitoba – Truths of Institutionalization
[https://truthsofinstitutionalization.ca/modules/module-3-mb/]

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Home for Incurables / Home for the Aged and Infirm / Manitoba School for Mental Defectives / Manitoba School for Retardates / Manitoba Development Centre (3rd Street NE, Portage la Prairie) (mhs.mb.ca)
[https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/homeforincurables.shtml]

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Brandon Mental Health Centre (First Street, Brandon) (mhs.mb.ca)
[http://mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/brandonmentalhealthcentre.shtml]

Manitoba History: The Brandon Asylum Fire of 1910 (mhs.mb.ca)
[http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/21/brandonasylumfire.shtml]

Photo Credits

The newly completed Selkirk Mental Hospital, 1887
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital,1887-1955, P1215

Selkirk – Mental Hospital 53 c1887. lunatic asylum
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Selkirk – Mental Hospital 41-53,1887-1955, P1215

The staff, Brandon Asylum, 1894
Archives of Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba photo collection, Brandon – Buildings – Provincial – Brandon Mental Health Centre, 1906-1946, P1132