Local Government
Port Hedland
Region
Pilbara
34 Sutherland St Port Hedland
Taplin St bounded by Anderson & Meiklejohn St
Port Hedland
Pilbara
Constructed from 1918, Constructed from 1919
Type | Status | Date | Documents | More information |
---|---|---|---|---|
Heritage List | Adopted | 23 Aug 2017 | ||
State Register | Registered | 04 Sep 2019 |
Register Entry Assessment Documentation |
Heritage Council |
Type | Status | Date | Documents |
---|---|---|---|
(no listings) |
Type | Status | Date | Grading/Management | More information | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category | Description | ||||
Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 31 Dec 1996 | Category 1 |
Category 1 |
The remains of Lock Hospital and Aboriginal burial ground are of considerable significance in representing issues associated with Aboriginal health and social conditions in the Pilbara, up to the 1960s when the hospital was closed. The site also represents associations with the Missionary Annie Lock.
The three buildings are single storey timber framed structures. The nursing
home building is a ground level pavilion clad with corrugated iron. It is located
adjacent to Meikeljon Street midway along the site. The other two buildings are
dwellings c.1950s, raised on stumps, clad with Asbestos, with hipped roofs clad
with corrugated iron.
The extensive site comprises three buildings, and many concrete slab remains of
buildings. The site is flat, although there is a steep rise at the north end of the site where other hospital development has taken place in recent decades,
fronting Sutherland Street. Those buildings are not part of this ‘place’. There is no indication of where any of the graves are located.
Established in 1919, the Lock Hospital took over after the closure of Dorre and Bernier Islands hospitals in providing hospital and isolation nursing for Aboriginal people. The island hospitals, off the coast of Carnarvon, had provided isolation for aboriginal people suspected of having venereal disease between 1908 and 1918. Lock Hospital was located on the ‘outskirts ‘ of the Port Hedland town, and accepted venereal cases from throughout the Pilbara. It was originally intended to build the hospital on Finucane Island, but there was a lack of water supply. The hospital patients (all Aboriginal men and women) were locked and segregated in barbwire compounds at Lock Hospital. The name ‘Lock’ alludes to the compound conditions of the hospital. Many Aboriginal people died and were buried on the site in unmarked graves. The Lock Hospital operated through until the early 1960s, although venereal disease decreased as a problem in the 1930s. The Lock Hospital became a general hospital. The only remaining original building is currently a community facility.
Additional information: The many local Aboriginals who had survived the introduced measles and smallpox epidemics were then confronted with other introduced diseases including STDs. These victims were isolated from the rest of the people, and those who died were buried outside of the fenced area of the Lock Hospital in the sand hill in unmarked graves on the north side where Moorgunyah Hostel now stands and the east side street near the Catholic Church. (Ref: Vincent Lockyer)
The name Lock could be derived from a missionary named Annie Lock who was associated with the funding of these hospitals. Lock went to central Australia to do missionary work. Because Lock was a middle-aged single white woman who mingles freely with naked Aborigines, she was ridiculed when she gave evidence into the Coniston massacre. (Ref: Aboriginal History Reader Volume 2)
Integrity: Moderate Degree
Authenticity: Moderate Degree
Changes to place: Some changes to nursing home building to facilitate changes in use. Current use as a boxing gym has required some modification.
Fair
Ref ID No | Ref Name | Ref Source | Ref Date |
---|---|---|---|
J Hardie; "Nor’ Westers of the Pilbara breed: The story of brave ancestors who pioneered the outback Pilbara of Western Australia". | The Shire of Port Hedland, | 1981 | |
Mr V Lockyer; "Additional Information". | |||
Town of Port Hedland MI | 1996 | ||
S238 "Aboriginal History Reader Volume 2", page 410. |
Library Id | Title | Medium | Year Of Publication |
---|---|---|---|
11455 | Regional institutions attended by Aboriginal people in Western Australia | Heritage Study {Other} | 2014 |
11429 | Prostitution, Race & Politics: Policing venereal disease in the British Empire | Book | 2003 |
11456 | Thematic review of institutions attended by Aboriginal people in Western Australia represented on the Register of Heritage Places and the assessment program. | Heritage Study {Other} | 2016 |
8820 | Counting, health and identity ; a history of Aboriginal health and demograpy in Western Australia and Queensland, 1900 - 1940. | Book | 2003 |
7599 | Havens of refuge : a history of leprosy in Western Australia. | Book | 1978 |
Individual Building or Group
Epoch | General | Specific |
---|---|---|
Original Use | HEALTH | Hospital |
Present Use | VACANT\UNUSED | Vacant\Unused |
Type | General | Specific |
---|---|---|
Roof | METAL | Corrugated Iron |
Wall | METAL | Corrugated Iron |
General | Specific |
---|---|
SOCIAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES | Community services & utilities |
This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.