Life of Martha Entwistle: Australia's first convict mental health nurse

Abstract

The present position paper provides an account of the life of Martha Entwistle, the earliest recorded convict nurse who worked within the Castle Hill Asylum. In our review of primary historical sources, Australia's first convict mental health nurse was found to be a resilient woman who endured several traumatic life experiences. Her nursing within Australia's first mental health asylum was highly valued by the superintendent of the service. She nursed in a harsh colonial environment, short of adequate resources, during an era of fast‐paced industrial and technological a change. Martha Entwistle's experiences provide a historical account of the role of the early convict mental health nurse. Her life story enables modern‐day nurses to reflect on the advances made in mental health nursing and contexts of care for nurses today.

Historical Context of Custodial Health Nursing in New South Wales, Australia

“…Around 1788, the convict Ann Smith was allocated the specific role of caring for female patients at the Sydney Cove Hospital becoming what could be considered the first recognized nurse of convicts in colonial Australia and therefore the original CHN (Cushing, 2005). Similarly, Martha Entwistle has been documented as Australia's first mental health nurse, working at the Castle Hill Asylum from 1814 until 1819 (Raeburn et al, 2018). Records indicate that Elizabeth Fulloon was the Matron of the Female Factory (penitentiary) at Parramatta in 1824, followed by Ann Gordon in 1827 (Cushing, 2005).…”

“…For the nursing profession, there is value in exploring nursing history and the experience of our nursing forebears as a meaningful tool for reflective practice. This, in turn, can help develop our professional identity and inform future nursing practice (Hallam, 2012; Raeburn et al, 2018).…”

“…Nurses have long worked in prisons, but there seems to be a consensus that their work is hidden and misunderstood (Goddard et al, 2019; Woods & Peternelj-Taylor, 2021). This view continues to be held, not only by the general community but also by the partner agencies with whom they work (the correctional bodies) and the nursing profession at large (Choudhry et al, 2017; Cushing, 2005; Raeburn et al, 2018; Wakem & McGee, 2012). It could be argued that, because the State of NSW is the original place of white settlement in Australia, the first nurses in Australia were people who cared for those in custody in the penal colony, that is, CHNs.…”

Liverpool “lunatic asylum”: A forgotten chapter in the history of Australian health care

“…Payment of wages to a nurse within the Liverpool lunatic asylum indicates a shift in approach to nursing within the colony. Prior to this, nurses in the lunatic asylum at Castle Hill had always been unpaid convicts, assigned to their positions (Raeburn, Liston, Hickmott, & Cleary, 2017). The employment and payment of a wage to a nurse within the Liverpool lunatic asylum indicates that as the numbers of free settlers within the colony increased, nursing slowly began to find its feet as a more legitimate form of employment.…”

Colonial surgeon Patrick Hill (1794–1852): unacknowledged pioneer of Australian mental healthcare

“…Unfortunately, he had little time for the lunatic asylum because he was occupied with establishing churches in New Zealand. In consultation with Marsden, Governor Macquarie appointed a new full-time superintendent, the businessman and botanist William Suttor (Raeburn et al, 2017a).…”