An agent of change in mental health treatment
Dr Robyn Hewland, a leading figure in forensic psychiatry, was told as a med student she was wasting a place that could have gone to a male.
Her ancestors, the Prebbles, founded and named Prebbleton. Later, her greatgrandfather was sent on the Sir George Seymour and was the first headmaster of Christ’s College.Her parents, Leonard and Helen Hewland, were active in the Christchurch community.
She declared her intention to be a doctor at age 10, and didn’t waver from that goal.
At medical school in the late 1950s, women students received many messages that they were not welcome. At their first lecture in 1958, the 10 women in Hewland’s class were told that they were wasting a place that could have gone to a man. The male students had a ‘‘common room’’, while the women were stuck in a small ‘‘powder room’’.
Working first as a rural GP, she became the first psychiatrist at Sunnyside Hospital to specialise in forensic cases, including giving expert opinions at 26 murder trials.
Hewland also worked directly as a psychiatrist at Paparoa, now Christchurch Men’s Prison, spearheading the creation of the Kia Marama unit for sexual offenders. For around 15 years, she also worked as a child psychiatrist for the Department of Social Welfare.
While completing her psychiatry exams, Hewland brought up her two children, Victoria and Andrew, as a single mother.
Her children said she was a force of nature with a huge capacity for learning and exploring. She was immensely loyal and a tireless campaigner for social justice.
‘‘She challenged us, all the time, to do our best.
‘‘She was always there with advice and help, using her extensive networks.’’
Close friend Dr Sue Bagshaw said Hewland will always be remembered as one of New Zealand’s trailblazers.
‘‘She was one of the few women accepted into medical school, one of the first psychiatrists who was involved in the justice system, and she always stood up for the underdog.
‘‘Robyn would tease me about being a dame. It was Robyn who should have been made a dame.
‘‘She is a role model we should be following, and will be sorely missed.’’
Hewland was involved in the Medical Women’s Association in New Zealand and internationally, where she was given honorary membership in 2019, for many years.
This position led her into the National Council of Women, where she remained an active member until very recently.
Hewland was also a member, and for some years president, of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists. She was awarded a Queen’s Service Medal in 1990 for public services.
In 1994, she moved to Queensland, where she took up a regional position as the clinical director of mental health on the Sunshine Coast.
She continued to divide her time between her Queensland and Christchurch homes until 2014 when, aged 76, she retired from her position on the Queensland Mental Health Review tribunal and from speaking at international conferences.
Hewland lived out her last years in a sunny unit at the Parkstone retirement village in Ilam, Christchurch.
She never stopped working and participating in community organisations. Even in the past couple of years she made submissions to a range of government inquiries, wrote to ministers, attended meetings and kept up her writing.
She was interested in producing her memoirs to ensure that the lessons she had learnt were not lost with her death.
Her archive is to be stored at Christchurch City Libraries, and her memoirs are currently being edited.
She remained very close to her children, Victoria and Andrew, and grandchildren, Sam and Maddie Coad, who said their grandmother had always been a huge source of inspiration.
She played a significant role in Sam’s law studies and Maddie’s decision to study psychology at university.
They said her amazing stories of working life, her ‘‘incredible accomplishments’’ and her tireless pursuit of positive societal change were particularly inspiring.
Hewland’s work as a GP, psychiatrist and advocate put her at the forefront of medical practice for nearly 50 years.
Over the past few months, she received many messages from colleagues testifying that she did not waste her place at medical school. – By Jake Kenny and Liz Gordon
‘‘She challenged us, all the time, to do our best. She was always there with advice and help, using her extensive networks.’’