Postgraduate Profile

Ann Varelle Hardy

PhD Candidate, School of Humanities & Social Science

Faculty/Division:  Arts (Education & Arts)
Discipline:    Applied Linguistics (Linguistics)
Email:   Ann.Hardy@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au
Campus:  Callaghan Campus, Newcastle

Current Research

PhD Thesis Title: Government Heritage in Public ‘hands’- Constructing a Culture of Government Care in Australia

Abstract
This thesis explores the history of Australian Government heritage places, the management of inhabitants in the nineteenth-century and considers ideas of positive administrative interventions, extending literature away from its focus on weaknesses associated with building the Colony to the strengths of people working together. The Newcastle Government Domain (also known as the James Fletcher Hospital) is used as a case study to demonstrate how administrators used it to alleviate problems in the Colony. There were many uses and policy’s introduced at Newcastle and this study considers whether in reality a planned approach was reflected at all, or whether it was more about dispersal, possibly too much inertia in the system to really embrace radical change. The thesis follows the early patterns and strong theme of coal mining and the series of policies implemented, it was a ‘testing ground’ various policies to assist alleviate problems in Sydney and what resulted was an immergence of an ‘accidental’ asylum established there. The place relates to the urgent needs in the Colony, representing the foundations that were laid to construct a more effective management system for the Colony’s inhabitants. There was minimal planning and it is from this frontier reorganisation and forward thinking by Colonial and the Imperial Governments. The architecture and spaces of the asylum buildings are essentially masculine in shape and built for soldiers, all straight lines and hard edges, but with the softening of the carefully tended gardens.  The emasculation of incarceration and care is evident even when women were housed at the military barracks and this culture of ‘maleness’ permeated through to the gender roles of patients and the activities that they were assigned.  Gender roles of the staff also reflect the dominance of the place, with the males at the top and the perceived need for strong men to manage difficult patients - the keepers and wardsmen.

This thesis argues in support of colonial and imperial interventions and some of the positive outcomes for inhabitants including the resilience and legacy remaining in the limited Government Heritage places that continue to survive in public ‘hands’. A historical examination strengthens the argument supporting heritage methodology and conservation of Government heritage places. And also opens up new stories about masculinity, madness and Australian colonial asylum culture.

Honours/Awards

  • 2010
    • Awarded The Newcastle City Council Prize for Historical Research from the University of Newcastle for ‘Newcastle Government Domain Nomination’ to the NSW State Heritage Register.
    • Awarded Hunter Bonfide History Awards ‘Studious Bona’ from Hunter Heritage Network Inc

Previous and Current Appointments

  • 2005-07  Newcastle City Councils Strategic Heritage Committee                       
  • 2006-      Hunter Regional Committee of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) - (Secretary)
  • 2006-     University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party
  • 2008-     Hunter Heritage Network- A Professional Forum for Heritage Issues (Secretary)

Academic Background

  • 2007- PhD Candidate (History), University of Newcastle.
  • 2006-07 MA Candidate (History), University of Newcastle.
  • 2005- Grad Diploma Applied Heritage Studies (Heritage Site Management), Curtin University of Technology WA. Dissertation Title: Government House, Newcastle, New South Wales: A description of the ‘Government House’ site from an analysis of historical maps and artworks from 1804 to 1885.
  • 1997- BSW (Social Work), Charles Sturt University.

Professional Background

  • Tutor - History 1051: Issues in Australian History, University of Newcastle (2007-2009)
  • Freelance History/Heritage Consultant (2007-    )
  • Social Worker - Hunter New England Health Service (1997 – 2011)

Research Activities

Co-ordinator- UK Archive ‘Newcastle’ Project- Coal River Working Party (2011)

Researcher- Stockton Hospital History ‘Beyond the Pines’   (2010)

Heritage Conservation proposals & submissions- advocacy with the National Trust of Australia, NSW (2006- )

Co-ordinator- Lead a team to prepare the resubmission of the National Nomination for the ‘Coal River (Mulubinba) Cultural Landscape’ to the DEWHA (2009)

Author- State Heritage Register nomination for the ‘Newcastle Government House & Domain’ submitted to the Department of Planning NSW (2009)

History Week Committee member, 'Newcastle on the Edge' project. 2008

Project co-ordinator ‘Breath of Life' Project. Windmill art installation on Obelisk Hill, Newcastle. Historical input. 2008

Related Projects/Community Engagement

Radio Program ABC 1233 Radio-‘Show Us You PhD’ (March 2011)

Co-curator-  Annual National Trust Festival Art Exhibition bringing history and heritage together in new and contemporary ways. (2008-11)

Organiser- ‘The Making of Our Nation’ Forum part of the National Trust Festival, Three distinguished speakers  Dr Grace Karskens, Mr Robin Walsh & Ms Lisa Slade (2010)

Conferences

Paper given at Aust Historical Association Conference, Melbourne July 2008.
Book Review- Attending madness: At Work at the Australian Colonial Asylum by Lee-Ann Monk for Labour History  May 2009 Vol 96.

Paper given at Australian & New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine Biennial Conference ‘Health & Medicine at the Frontier’, Perth October 2009. "Official Lunacy Policy and Frontier reality in Colonial New South
Wales: Who was admitted to the Newcastle Asylum for Imbeciles?”

Memberships of Professional Associations



Postgraduate Profile

Ann Varelle Hardy

PhD Candidate, School of Humanities & Social Science

Faculty/Division:  Arts (Education & Arts)
Discipline:    Applied Linguistics (Linguistics)
Email:   Ann.Hardy@studentmail.newcastle.edu.au
Campus:  Callaghan Campus, Newcastle

Current Research

PhD Thesis Title: Government Heritage in Public ‘hands’- Constructing a Culture of Government Care in Australia

Abstract
This thesis explores the history of Australian Government heritage places, the management of inhabitants in the nineteenth-century and considers ideas of positive administrative interventions, extending literature away from its focus on weaknesses associated with building the Colony to the strengths of people working together. The Newcastle Government Domain (also known as the James Fletcher Hospital) is used as a case study to demonstrate how administrators used it to alleviate problems in the Colony. There were many uses and policy’s introduced at Newcastle and this study considers whether in reality a planned approach was reflected at all, or whether it was more about dispersal, possibly too much inertia in the system to really embrace radical change. The thesis follows the early patterns and strong theme of coal mining and the series of policies implemented, it was a ‘testing ground’ various policies to assist alleviate problems in Sydney and what resulted was an immergence of an ‘accidental’ asylum established there. The place relates to the urgent needs in the Colony, representing the foundations that were laid to construct a more effective management system for the Colony’s inhabitants. There was minimal planning and it is from this frontier reorganisation and forward thinking by Colonial and the Imperial Governments. The architecture and spaces of the asylum buildings are essentially masculine in shape and built for soldiers, all straight lines and hard edges, but with the softening of the carefully tended gardens.  The emasculation of incarceration and care is evident even when women were housed at the military barracks and this culture of ‘maleness’ permeated through to the gender roles of patients and the activities that they were assigned.  Gender roles of the staff also reflect the dominance of the place, with the males at the top and the perceived need for strong men to manage difficult patients - the keepers and wardsmen.

This thesis argues in support of colonial and imperial interventions and some of the positive outcomes for inhabitants including the resilience and legacy remaining in the limited Government Heritage places that continue to survive in public ‘hands’. A historical examination strengthens the argument supporting heritage methodology and conservation of Government heritage places. And also opens up new stories about masculinity, madness and Australian colonial asylum culture.

Honours/Awards

  • 2010
    • Awarded The Newcastle City Council Prize for Historical Research from the University of Newcastle for ‘Newcastle Government Domain Nomination’ to the NSW State Heritage Register.
    • Awarded Hunter Bonfide History Awards ‘Studious Bona’ from Hunter Heritage Network Inc

Previous and Current Appointments

  • 2005-07  Newcastle City Councils Strategic Heritage Committee                       
  • 2006-      Hunter Regional Committee of the National Trust of Australia (NSW) - (Secretary)
  • 2006-     University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party
  • 2008-     Hunter Heritage Network- A Professional Forum for Heritage Issues (Secretary)

Academic Background

  • 2007- PhD Candidate (History), University of Newcastle.
  • 2006-07 MA Candidate (History), University of Newcastle.
  • 2005- Grad Diploma Applied Heritage Studies (Heritage Site Management), Curtin University of Technology WA. Dissertation Title: Government House, Newcastle, New South Wales: A description of the ‘Government House’ site from an analysis of historical maps and artworks from 1804 to 1885.
  • 1997- BSW (Social Work), Charles Sturt University.

Professional Background

  • Tutor - History 1051: Issues in Australian History, University of Newcastle (2007-2009)
  • Freelance History/Heritage Consultant (2007-    )
  • Social Worker - Hunter New England Health Service (1997 – 2011)

Research Activities

Co-ordinator- UK Archive ‘Newcastle’ Project- Coal River Working Party (2011)

Researcher- Stockton Hospital History ‘Beyond the Pines’   (2010)

Heritage Conservation proposals & submissions- advocacy with the National Trust of Australia, NSW (2006- )

Co-ordinator- Lead a team to prepare the resubmission of the National Nomination for the ‘Coal River (Mulubinba) Cultural Landscape’ to the DEWHA (2009)

Author- State Heritage Register nomination for the ‘Newcastle Government House & Domain’ submitted to the Department of Planning NSW (2009)

History Week Committee member, 'Newcastle on the Edge' project. 2008

Project co-ordinator ‘Breath of Life' Project. Windmill art installation on Obelisk Hill, Newcastle. Historical input. 2008

Related Projects/Community Engagement

Radio Program ABC 1233 Radio-‘Show Us You PhD’ (March 2011)

Co-curator-  Annual National Trust Festival Art Exhibition bringing history and heritage together in new and contemporary ways. (2008-11)

Organiser- ‘The Making of Our Nation’ Forum part of the National Trust Festival, Three distinguished speakers  Dr Grace Karskens, Mr Robin Walsh & Ms Lisa Slade (2010)

Conferences

Paper given at Aust Historical Association Conference, Melbourne July 2008.
Book Review- Attending madness: At Work at the Australian Colonial Asylum by Lee-Ann Monk for Labour History  May 2009 Vol 96.

Paper given at Australian & New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine Biennial Conference ‘Health & Medicine at the Frontier’, Perth October 2009. "Official Lunacy Policy and Frontier reality in Colonial New South
Wales: Who was admitted to the Newcastle Asylum for Imbeciles?”

Memberships of Professional Associations