Castle Hill Lunatic Asylum

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Castle Hill Lunatic Asylum was Australia's first official place to care for the mentally ill. It was about 7 miles (11 km) north of Parramatta, New South Wales. It was established by Lachlan Macquarie in May 1811 and operated until 1826. The building was a two-storey stone structure that had once been a granary and had also served as a barracks. George Suttor, a farmer and early settler, was the superintendent from August 1814 to February 1819, but he was dismissed for using mentally ill workers on his farm. William Bland, a former naval surgeon who had been convicted of murder, worked as a physician there from 1814 until he received a pardon in 1815.