Shelter and Care: Hyde Park Asylum

In 1862, the top floor of the Hyde Park Barracks was converted into an asylum. The immigration depot remained on the lower floors.

What does the word ‘asylum’ mean to you?

The Hyde Park Asylum provided accommodation and care for elderly and destitute women who could no longer look after themselves. It also took in younger women and girls with terminal illnesses, chronic diseases and a range of other physical afflictions.

Because of their age or health, these women were confined to the top floor of the Barracks for long periods. They were not allowed to interact with the female immigrants who lived below.

Women who recovered were free to leave. But many, particularly those with disabilities or terminally ill women without family support, chose to remain in the asylum. Some women may have found isolation from the bustling town of Sydney a blessing; others may have felt incredibly lonely.

In the gallery Shelter and Care: Hyde Park Asylum 1862–86, visitors are invited to view a large number of artefacts that relate to the asylum period. There are few surviving personal accounts of life in the Hyde Park Asylum, so we rely on the archaeology to tell us what life was like for the women who lived there.

Understanding lived experience through archaeology

Look at the images below. What do these objects found during the archaeological excavation tell us about daily life for women in the asylum? What were they doing?