Generation 1
Susan Healy was the eighth child of Margaret and Thomas Healy. She was born in Kyeburn, Central Otago on 9 June 1892. Her baptism record shows: Healy Susan; birth date not given; bap 1/02/1902; father Thomas Healy; mother Margaret Gallagher; address Lower Kyeburn; minister W.A. McMullan; godparent: Mrs Sinclair (Naseby); Ranfurly Book 13 (Bap 1), 29.
Susan was enrolled at Kyeburn School on 13 September 1899 (Register No 222, 240) joining her sister Catherine who started school two years prior. The teacher at the time was Mr William Bannerman.
However, on 14 August 1914, her mother signed the documents committing Susan to Seacliff Mental Hospital. This was the same day as her sister Catherine, and her two brothers Patrick and Francis.
The medical records for Susan outline why she was institutionalised at 22 years of age:
The second certifying doctor stated:
Medical examinations described Susan's physical appearance:
Other medical notes state that Susan's physical appearance was under-developed, with flabby muscles, although she had a strong heart. She had a strabismus of the right eye (a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other), and a tumor about the size of a walnut on the right side of the neck believed to be a goitre.
Susan's general intelligence was recorded as being "that of a very young child. Her answers to questions are monosyllabic and accompanied by a foolish grin. She knows where her mother is, but is quite unable to say why the family has been broken up. She can say her a-b-c, but is not sure of numbers above 100. Like her sister, she identifies all money above a penny as 'money' but cannot say whether a shilling or a half-crown is the more valuable. She recognises common objects such as keys, but cannot name them - only knows their uses. She is clean in her habits, but has little or no initiative and is incapable of fully appreciating her surroundings."
The records have a note on 2 September 1914, a couple of weeks after they entered Seacliff that Susan and her sister Catherine "go out daily to the airing court. They are quite content, give no trouble and have settled down into the routine of the institution."
In March 1915, Susan was able to do some work about the wards, mainly polishing door handles, scrubbing floors and carrying things, but this was the limit of her physical ability.
Later in September 1915, Susan was recorded as being more anaemic-looking than her sister, but was growing tall and fat. She could speak better than her sister, and translated for her. She was noted as being very affectionate, relishing in the company of others, and always willing to do housework and help out. Regarding her being anaemic, Susan's records show that she suffered from "poverty of blood" which was the old way of identifying anemia, and this condition is consistent with the other physical defects described in her files.
During the 1920s, Susan was employed in the kitchens and vegetable gardens at Seacliff, and was quiet and cooperative, sleeping well and having a good appetite. By the early 1930s however, Susan was noted as being quarrelsome and abusive at times, but otherwise a good worker who kept herself clean and tidy. She was occasionally given an extra diet of eggs.
There is a gap in the records from February 1942 until 1944 (probably due to the Seacliff fire) and again from 1946 to 1952. By this time Susan required supervision in the kitchen, but her sleep and appetite was good, and she still kept herself clean and tidy. However, she was in the habit of hoarding objects, and was noted as being "bossy" and "childish" by the nurses, but there was no change in her mental condition.
By the late 1950s, Susan was requiring supervision with regard to personal cleanliness, although she was still working in the kitchens. She was easily upset and was moody and sullen at times. An extra diet of eggs, cream and oranges were made available to maintain her health in 1961, although the notes show that she suffered several falls injuring herself on each occasion.
In early November 1964, Susan suddenly fell ill with vomiting and abdominal pain. On 13 November she was admitted to Dunedin Public Hospital for examination and possible surgery for a growth in her pelvis and lower abdomen which was believed to be advanced cancer.
However her condition deteriorated quickly, and she died from right ovarian carcinoma on 23 November 1964 aged 72 years. At that time she was recorded as being a resident of Cherry Farm as Seacliff had closed. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Her sisters Rose Johnson and Margaret Sharp were informed by letter of their sister's death, and presumably Catherine was also told.
Susan was the second of the four Healy family members to die who were committed to Seacliff in August 1914, having spent 50 years as a patient.
No photos of Susan are known to exist.