Behind the Wall: The Women of the Destitute Asylum Adelaide, 1852-1918

‘She wore a severe blue-grey dress and a white apron like her fellow female inmates. The dress was standard issue and had been made by women who had lived behind the wall before her. It was not designed to flatter, but to last.’

Behind the Wall is a compelling social history, which provides an insight into Adelaide’s Destitute Asylum and the women who experienced life behind its walls.

‘Once a week she was permitted to leave the grounds for five or six hours. This privilege was tempered by the humiliation of the distinctive uniform. To be destitute was to be shamed.’

Who was she? Who were the countless other women who passed through the Destitute Asylum and Lying-in Home before and after her? What became of them? What would they have done if there had not been a Destitute Asylum?

Based on historical documents and accounts provided by descendants of the women of the Destitute Asylum, these are the stories of those women who endured life as South Australia’s paupers.