Seaview Lunatic Asylum was erected in 1872 to receive the deluded, the demented, and the otherwise mentally impaired from across New Zealand’s West Coast. It was a small institution, housing fewer than two hundred patients at its most crowded and has been generally overlooked by historians in favour of larger and more influential asylums. However, Seaview is a valuable case study for historians of the New Zealand asylum, as it operated in ways that were so fundamentally different, and in some cases opposed, to the paradigms of the time. Victorian Asylums were notorious for being strictly regulated and modelled on exacting British standards. Despite this, Seaview received almost ubiquitous praise from every conceivable source.

This thesis examines the impact of place on the development of the asylum and the daily lives of its staff and patients. It argues that the local peculiarities of the West Coast influenced the experiences of Seaview’s patients as much as any piece of legislature or reformist philosophy. The gold rushes of the 1860s played a particularly important part, as they drew a highly diverse demographic to the area and fostered a unique culture of tolerance amongst the predominantly working-class population. This analysis also considers the hardships faced by the population after the rushes had ceased, which led to Seaview playing a crucial role in Westland’s provision of welfare. Finally, it analyses the relationship between Seaview and the local community, arguing that the small and close-knit nature of the West Coast communities allowed close and positive relationships to form between those inside and outside the asylum walls.