O n the 14th November the Committee appointed a Mr. and Mrs. Kirby as Superintendent and Matron, but the Asylum was not formally opened until the 27th November, 1851.
The First Inmate.
Was a Mr. William Cooper, known for several years about town as the " Literary Blacksmith." He was an old fellow with a grog-blossomed face. " Old Cooper'" was, up to 1842, an industrious sober man, but the drinking immorality introduced by the Corporation and Legislative elections, divorced him from his anvil, and turned him into a low public-house cadger. With a foresight for which few would credit him, he helped in bis own small way, to aid in the erection of the Asylum. Possibly he was stimulated by the selfishness of wishing for a peaceful haven in which to ride at anchor during the last few years of his life; and if so, who could blame him ? The Asylum yvas to him as it yvas to others—once in affluent positions, but reduced to penury in after years—a veritable harbour of refuge. " Old Cooper "contrived to have a very good innings, for he lived and fattened there for nearly twenty years, until his death. In a day or two the Institution was thus peopled, viz:— William Cooper, John Fitch, Peter Kennedy, Charles Thompson, Jeremiah Betheil, Andrew Fleurin, Michael Fogarty, J. F. Arnold, William Farmer, Patrick Burns, William Baker, Henry M'Ardle, James Harvey, James Bryant, Charles Duff, Robert Wakefield, and William Nicholson. The last-named, an old bloated-faced pedagogue who once kept a school in Little Collins Street, was remarkable for the large size of his foot, and the quantity of half-and-half he could imbibe. H e yvas partial to "long drinks." H e used to thrash his scholars severely, by w h o m he acquired the sobriquet of "Old Bumble-foot." In addition to the male inhabitants of the Asylum, were three children named E m m a Carr, Jane Walker, and Mary Swords, whose mothers yvere in gaol. Before a week elapsed, three old ladies, named Mary Smith, Jane Roach, and Hannah Johnston, were received and rated on the books.
First Board of Management.
At a meeting held on the 23rd January, 1852, Mr. C. H. Ebden (then Auditor-General), in the Chair, the following were elected as thefirstBoard of Management:—President, Lieutenant-Governor Latrobe; Vice-Presidents, Chief Justice A'Beckett and Mr. Ebden; Treasurer, Mr. Richard Grice; Committee, the Rev. S. E. Bloomfield, Messrs. John Lush, Germain Nicholson, J. M . Smith, J. A. Markert, David Benjamin, Timothy Lane, John Duerdin, A. H . Hart, Michael Lynch, John O'Shanassy, David Ogilvie, R. A. Balbirnie, A F. Greeves, Robert Cadden, J. P. Fawkner, W . R. Belcher, John Hodgson, J. S. Griffin, Henry Langlands, Michael O'Shea, Abel Thorpe, W . H . Taylor, and D. Y o u n g — a body representing every section of the community. Its only fault was being numerically too strong, and overstrength in such cases often weakens that feeling of responsibility, which would be more active if more concentrated. Dr. W . M . Turnbull was appointed Hon. Physician, and Mr. Edward Barker, Hon. Surgeon. Mr. J. A. Marsden was elected Secretary, at a salary of .£150 per annum. The original building forms the central portion of the present pile, and faced the south. It now resembles a huge brick and mortar bird, winged all round, and all its ancient individuality smothered by the extensive additions since made. As an instance of the great changes wrought here, as in all the other establishments and departments, it may be mentioned, that for the year ended, 30th June, 1881, the average daily inmates numbered 623, and the year's income was ,£8345 15s. 2d, made up as follow :— ,£2819 4 s. 2d. received from local sources, ,£126 1 is. Municipal grants, and ,£5400 Government subsidy. For the year ended 31st December, 1881, the total revenue was ,£10,995 13s. 4d, and the expenditure ^ 9 9 4 1 14s. 8d, but there had been ,£768 os. 3d. received from inmates' labour and other sources, and the net expenditure amounted to ,£9173 14s. 5d. The average number of inmates yvas 621, and the cost per head ,£13 19s. 4d. The Thirty-eighth Annual Report of this Institution for the year 1887 contains, besides the usual items of information, the following appropriate remarks :
