Lock Hospital (fmr) and Burial Ground, Port Hedland

Statement of Significance

The remains of Lock Hospital and Aboriginal burial ground are of considerable significance in representing issues associated with Aboriginal health and social conditions in the Pilbara, up to the 1960s when the hospital was closed. The site also represents associations with the Missionary Annie Lock.

Physical Description

The three buildings are single storey timber framed structures. The nursing
home building is a ground level pavilion clad with corrugated iron. It is located
adjacent to Meikeljon Street midway along the site. The other two buildings are
dwellings c.1950s, raised on stumps, clad with Asbestos, with hipped roofs clad
with corrugated iron.

The extensive site comprises three buildings, and many concrete slab remains of
buildings. The site is flat, although there is a steep rise at the north end of the site where other hospital development has taken place in recent decades,
fronting Sutherland Street. Those buildings are not part of this ‘place’. There is no indication of where any of the graves are located.

History

Established in 1919, the Lock Hospital took over after the closure of Dorre and Bernier Islands hospitals in providing hospital and isolation nursing for Aboriginal people. The island hospitals, off the coast of Carnarvon, had provided isolation for aboriginal people suspected of having venereal disease between 1908 and 1918. Lock Hospital was located on the ‘outskirts ‘ of the Port Hedland town, and accepted venereal cases from throughout the Pilbara. It was originally intended to build the hospital on Finucane Island, but there was a lack of water supply. The hospital patients (all Aboriginal men and women) were locked and segregated in barbwire compounds at Lock Hospital. The name ‘Lock’ alludes to the compound conditions of the hospital. Many Aboriginal people died and were buried on the site in unmarked graves. The Lock Hospital operated through until the early 1960s, although venereal disease decreased as a problem in the 1930s. The Lock Hospital became a general hospital. The only remaining original building is currently a community facility.
Additional information: The many local Aboriginals who had survived the introduced measles and smallpox epidemics were then confronted with other introduced diseases including STDs. These victims were isolated from the rest of the people, and those who died were buried outside of the fenced area of the Lock Hospital in the sand hill in unmarked graves on the north side where Moorgunyah Hostel now stands and the east side street near the Catholic Church. (Ref: Vincent Lockyer)
The name Lock could be derived from a missionary named Annie Lock who was associated with the funding of these hospitals. Lock went to central Australia to do missionary work. Because Lock was a middle-aged single white woman who mingles freely with naked Aborigines, she was ridiculed when she gave evidence into the Coniston massacre. (Ref: Aboriginal History Reader Volume 2)

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Moderate Degree
Authenticity: Moderate Degree

Changes to place: Some changes to nursing home building to facilitate changes in use. Current use as a boxing gym has required some modification.

Condition

Fair

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.