VPRS 18426 Register of Boarded Out Patients

This series consists of the Register of Boarded Out Patients of the Asylum/Hospital for the Insane/Mental Hospital, Beechworth.The register contains the following information: date, registration number for male/female, name of patient, number in the Admissions Register, the rate of maintenance (per week), the name and address of the patient's guardian, whether the patient was discharged or returned to the Asylum (including the date), and other remarks. There are instances of the patient having died or escaped whilst in the custody of a guardian. From October 1941, the guardian for the majority of patients boarded out was the Ovens Benevolent Home (later Ovens and Murray Home) in Beechworth. There were many more males than females boarded out during the period covered by the register.The register is not indexed. There is documentation in the register indicating that a separate index book existed. It may no longer be extant.Under s.95 of the Lunacy Act 1890 (No.1113), the Governor-in-Council could make regulations for the boarding out of patients. The regulations stated that the same person could not receive both male and female patients and prescribed other matters such as the class of person to whom patients might be boarded out; the type of accommodation and the distance from the hospital; the permissible occupations of the patient; the hours to be kept by the patient; the degree of liberty of a patient whilst boarded out and the dietary requirements to be provided for the patient.Under s.96, the inspector or superintendent of any receiving house or asylum was required to certify in writing that any patient boarded out was harmless and not a danger to himself or others.Reference: AS/1995/196