Charles Brothers was a founding member of the Victorian Mental Health Authority from 1952 to 1963 and its Vice-Chairman. He was in charge of monitoring and improving patient and staff conditions within Victoria's mental health institutions.
As part of this role, Brothers regularly visited psychiatric hospitals and began collecting psychiatric paraphernalia, including artefacts, records, photographs, and interviews with Dr Cunningham-Dax (Chairman) and others.
Through word of mouth the collection greatly expanded as institutions began sending Brothers their old artefacts directly. The collection reached over 700 objects and was housed in the Charles Brothers Museum at the Mental Health Library. The Museum closed in the late 1980s and most of its items were split between the Public Records Office of Victoria, Museum Victoria and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Some items still remain unaccounted for.
1927
1928
Career position - Medical Officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
1929
1936
Career position - Medical Officer at the Victorian Department of Mental Hygiene
1936
1936
Career position - Honorary Psychiatrist at the Royal Hobart Hospital
1936
1936
Career position - Medical Superintendent at Lachlan Park Mental Hospital
1941
1941
Career position - Honorary Major in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
1946
1946
Career position - Chairman, Mental Deficiency Board
1946
1946
Career position - Director of the State Psychological Clinic
1946
1951
Career position - Director of Mental Hygiene, Tasmania
1950
1950
Career position - President, Australian Association of Psychiatrists
1950
1950
Award - Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
1951
1963
Career position - Deputy director of the State Mental Hygiene Authority, Victoria