|
Australian
executions 1880 - 1967.
|
The details of the men and women hanged between 1880
and 1899 together with the 135 men and two women hanged between 1900 and
1967.
This list has been compiled, written and collated by
my friend Christian Schrepper from the sources stated.
The information for some of the early cases is
incomplete. Please email me if you can supply any
further details or corrections.
20 January
1880
Rogan,
Thomas (age: 23 / White)
Scott,
Andrew George (age: 37 / White) New
South Wales Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Edward Mostyn Webb-Bowen committed
on 17 November
1879 sentenced on 11 December 1879
After serving a prison sentence for robbery at
Pentridge gaol, Andrew Scott (alias Captain Moonlite) was released in March
1879, and on 16 November
1879, with a gang of five men he held up
Wantabadgery sheep station near Wagga Wagga for two days. He used the two
children of the near-by hotelkeeper as hostages, separating them by force from
their parents. Two of the gang, James Nesbitt and Augustus Wernicke (a boy of
15), and one trooper, Constable Bowen, were killed when the police attacked the
homestead at noon
on 17 November. Constable Bowen of Gundagai was wounded in the neck and died on
23 November. Scott, Thomas Rogan, Thomas Williams and Graham Bennett were found
guilty of murder and sentenced to death at the Central Criminal Court on 11 December 1879.
Williams and Bennett were reprieved and their sentences commuted to life
imprisonment. Rogan and Scott were hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9 a.m.
on 20 January
1880. Thomas Williams was hanged for another crime
on 14 July
1885. (Australian Dictionary of Biography;
www.policensw.com; The Brisbane Courier, Friday, 21 November 1879; Monday, 24
November 1879; Tuesday, 25 November 1879; Friday, 28 November 1879; Saturday,
13 December 1879; Wednesday, 21 January 1880; Timaru Herald, N.Z., 3 February 1880;
9 February 1880)
22 March
1880
Wells,
Joseph (age: 22 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Attempted murder and robbery victim: William Murphy
committed on 16
January 1880 sentenced on 17 February 1880
On 16
January 1880, Joseph Wells attempted to hold up
the Queensland National Bank at Cunnamula. After entering the banking-room at 10 a.m., he
threatened the manager, Joseph Berry, with a revolver, demanding money. Mr. Berry
opened the safe and Wells took a parcel of bank notes and a box with gold and
silver coins valued about £175. When Berry
managed to escape to the street, he heard a shot fired in the bank. William
Murphy from the neighbouring store had entered the banking-room, where he
encountered Wells. He tried to seize Wells' revolver, but was shot at the left
side of his head and shoulder during a short fight, after which Wells fled.
Wells was arrested about three-quarters of a mile distant from Cunnamulla. He
was convicted of robbery under arms and shooting with intent to murder, at
Toowoomba Criminal Assizes, and was sentenced to death on 17 February 1880.
Wells was hanged at Brisbane
gaol on 22 March
1880. (The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 19 January
1880; Wednesday, 18 February 1880; Friday, 20 February 1880; Tuesday, 23 March
1880; Thursday, 25 March 1880)
26 May 1880
Albert
(age: 22 / Aborigine) New South
Wales Dubbo
Murder victims: Nugle Jack and Sally committed on ? sentenced in April 1880
Albert shot to death Nugle Jack and Sally at an
Aboriginal camp at Dubbo. The murder resulted from a quarrel between the two
men concerning Sally. Albert was convicted and sentenced to death at Dubbo
Circuit Court and was hanged at Dubbo gaol on 26 May 1880. (The
Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 5 May 1880; Monday, 24 May 1880; Daily Liberal, 12
January 2008)
31 May 1880
Jimmy Ah Sue
(age unknown / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Ah Coo committed on 18 March 1880
sentenced on 22
April 1880
Ah Coo was killed by Jimmy Ah Sue at Nuggetty Gully,
near Copperfield, on 18
March 1880. The men had quarrelled about some
rice, which Ah Sue alleged Ah Coo stole from him, and in the row Ah Coo
received wounds in the head with a hammer, from which he died two hours later.
Ah Sue gave himself up to the police immediately after the crime. He was committed
for trial at the Rockhampton Circuit Court, where he was convicted after two
days and sentenced to death on 22
April 1880. He was hanged at Brisbane
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 31 May 1880,
together with James Elsdale. (The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 20 March 1880;
Wednesday, 24 March 1880; Friday, 23 April 1880; Saturday, 1 May 1880; Tuesday,
1 June 1880)
31 May 1880
Elsdale, L.
James (age: 34 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Michael McEvoy committed on 24 November 1879
sentenced on 20
April 1880
Michael McEvoy was travelling with his team in company
with other teams between Aramac and Belltopper Creek on 24 November 1879.
James Elsdale (alias James Munroe) was on another team. On their way Elsdale
talked about McEvoy and said that he couldn't drive a team of horses and that
he would show him how to drive them. He was warned not to interfere with
McEvoy's horses, but in spite of that he whipped two of the horses, on which a
fist fight ensued between the two men. They were separated by the other men,
but Elsdale harboured a certain kind of hatred against McEvoy, and went to one
of his horses and returned on horseback with a revolver in his hand. When
within fifty yards of McEvoy Elsdale fired several shots at the former, the
final bullet hitting McEvoy, who later died at Aramac. Elsdale stood trial at
the Rockhampton Circuit Court and was convicted of murder and sentenced to
death on 20 April
1880. He was hanged at Brisbane
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 31 May 1880,. together
with Jimmy Ah Sue. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 21 April 1880; Friday, 23
April 1880; Tuesday, 1 June 1880)
10 June
1880
Dan King
(age unknown / Asian) New South
Wales Tamworth
Murder victim: Eliza Hart committed on 27 December 1879
sentenced on 5 April
1880
Eliza Hart (or Rolk, or Betts) was killed at Tamworth
on 27 December
1879 by Dan King, a Chinese man, with whom she had
been living. Dan King was convicted at the Tamworth Circuit Court and sentenced
to death on 5 April
1880. He was hanged at Tamworth
gaol on 10 June
1880. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 30 December
1879; Tuesday, 6 April 1880; Wednesday, 19 May 1880; Saturday, 12 June 1880)
21 June
1880
Gomez,
Maximo (age: 36 / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: William Clarke committed on 24 December 1880
sentenced on 30
April 1880
Maximo Gomez (alias Pedro Gomez), a Filipino, killed
William Clarke at Possession
Island,
Torres Straits, on 24
December 1879. From the evidence published, it
appeared that the crime arose out of a drunken quarrel, Gomez having stolen up
behind his victim and struck him on the head with a piece of wood. He stood
trial at the Rockhampton Supreme Court and was found guilty of murder and
sentenced to death on 30
April 1880. After his trial, sentence was
respited to decide on the jurisdiction of the court. Possession
Island
had only recently been annexed to Queensland,
and the Court decided that Rockhampton Supreme Court had jurisdiction over Possession
Island.
Gomez was hanged at Brisbane
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 21 June 1880.
(The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 3 May 1880; Saturday, 15 May 1880; Monday, 21
June 1880; Tuesday, 22 June 1880)
16 August
1880
Kagariu
(age unknown / Aborigine) Queensland
Brisbane
Rape victim: Jane Macalister committed on 10 February 1880
sentenced on 28
July 1880
Kagariu (known to his contemporaries as Johnny
Campbell) terrorized the Upper Brisbane
and Wide
Bay
districts and committed a rape upon 15-year-old Jane Macalister at Kipper
Creek, Northbrook, on 10 February 1880.
On that day, Kagariu came to the house of Jane's sister, a married woman, and
after remaining for some two hours, and ascertaining that there were no men
about the place, he made "his unlawful desires known", and threatened
to shoot both women if they refused him. Holding his revolver to the married
sister's head, he went with Jane away from the house towards the creek, where
he raped her, under intimidation, having his revolver beside him, the sister
being an unwilling witness. After his arrest, he was first tried at Maryborough
and convicted of assault and robbery and sentenced to fourteen years'
imprisonment on 3
April 1880. In May, on application of the
Crown Solicitor's Office, an order was made to produce Kagariu before the bench
of magistrates at Ipswich
on a charge of criminal assault. He stood trial at the Ipswich Circuit Court
and was convicted of criminal assault and sentenced to death on 28 July 1880.
Kagariu was hanged at Brisbane
gaol on 16 August
1880. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 17 March
1880; Monday, 5 April 1880; Tuesday, 18 May 1880; Wednesday, 28 July 1880;
Thursday, 29 July 1880; Tuesday, 17 August 1880)
11 November
1880
Kelly,
Edward "Ned" (age: 25 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Thomas Lonigan committed on 26 October 1878
sentenced on 29
October 1880
Ned Kelly, from age 14 on, served several prison
sentences for larceny, especially horse theft. The Kelly family saw themselves
as victims of police persecution, but as they grew up, Ned and his younger
brothers James and Dan were heavily involved in the organized thefts of horses
and cattle. On 15
April 1878 a police trooper named Fitzpatrick
went to Mrs. Kelly's home to arrest Dan. He later claimed that he was shot by
Ned Kelly, although it was never satisfactorily established that Ned Kelly had
been present. Mrs. Kelly and two male relatives were convicted of aiding and
abetting the attempted murder of Fitzpatrick and were sentenced to prison
terms. Ned and Dan Kelly went into hiding, and Sergeant Kennedy and Constables
Lonigan, Scanlon and McIntyre set out to capture them. On 25 October they
camped at Stringybank Creek where they were attacked on the next day by the
Kelly boys. Ned Kelly shot and killed Lonigan and Scanlon, and mortally wounded
Kennedy, whom he later shot in the heart, claiming it
was an act of mercy. McIntyre, who had surrendered, escaped to Mansfield
and reported the killings. On 15
November 1878 the Victorian government issued a
proclamation of outlawry and offered rewards of £500 for each of the gang, dead
or alive. After the gang (including Joe Byrne and Steve Hart) held up several
banks, the reward was increased to £2000. At last, after taking possession of
the hotel run by Mrs. Ann Jones at Glenrowan and detaining sixty people, they
planned to rob a train, but the scheme came to nothing. On 28 June 1880,
the police surrounded the hotel and shooting began. Almost all hostages managed
to flee, but Byrne was shot and bled to death, Ned Kelly was captured, and his
brother Dan and Steve Hart took poison and were burned in the hotel. Ned Kelly
was tried at Melbourne
for the murder of Constable Thomas Lonigan and was convicted and sentenced to
death on 29 October
1880. He was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 11 November
1880. (Australian Dictionary of Biography; The
Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 29 June 1880; Monday, 8 November 1880; The Maitland
Mercury, Saturday, 30 October 1880; Saturday, 13 November 1880; The West
Australian, Tuesday, 23 November 1880)
I have always heard, including from
Melbourners born around 1880, that it was the "mercy" murder that Ned
was charged with, but perhaps that is a later conflation.
The train was a special, full of police sent
north from Melbourne to find and deal with the outlaws. They knew this and
planned to derail it, for which reason they occupied the Glenrowan Hotel and
detained the guests in order not to have their surprise spoiled; but one, Carew
or some such name, escaped during the lull before the storm, stopped the train
before it reached the town and reported the gang's presence there.
Ned left the hotel during the siege and could
easily have made his escape, but he came back, making a curious parallel with
the equally unexplained behaviour of Saint-Just in the siege of the Paris Town
Hall on the night of the 9th/10th Thermidor, Year II (27./28.07.1794). He (Ned)
was captured only after the police finally got the idea of shooting at his
lower legs, which were not protected by the heavy armour he had forged from
ploughshares.
I don't know on what authority it is always
stated that Dan Kelly and Steve Hart took poison; the story seems to me highly
unlikely, as Irish Catholics know or at least knew then, and indeed long
thereafter that suicide is a mortal sin and that they would go straight to
Hell.
On hearing his sentence pronounced by the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Sir Redmond Barry, Ned answered
"I'll meet you there".
He was hanged on Thursday of Melbourne Cup
Week, 1880, and the following week the judge died suddenly and unexpectedly.
(These details from contemporary newspaper reports which I have seen myself.)
Brisbane, Maitland and Perth are a long way
from Melbourne. It might be an idea to look up the Melbourne Argus of
18781880 as well, as almost all of Neds exploits took place in his native Victoria,
in the chief city of which he was tried before and sentenced to death by the
Chancellor of my old university and expertly hanged in the Melbourne Gaol by
the convict Upjohn. The gallows on which he died is still there; it served
the Americans in Australia during the war in the same way as did that
of Shepton Mallet in England at the same time, though in each case hanging
arrangements had to be revived. What remains of the old Gaol is now a museum,
and I think when Pentridge was closed down some years ago its gallows-beam, the
one on which Ned swung, was brought back there. It had come from England in the
19th century, I think from Tyburn.
Once again, thank you for your good work. One
small point. I think you should be careful with rιdiger/rιdaction/rιdacteur;
the word-set has admittedly been borrowed by the Germans, first as Redaktion,
then as Redaktor and redigieren as well, but I have never
seen it in English until to-day, and your presumable meaning suggested itself
to me, albeit dimly, only after a painstaking examination of the contexts you
establish.
29 March
1881
Brown,
William (age unknown / White) New South Wales
Darlinghurst gaol
Rape victim: Ann Brown committed on 23 January 1881
sentenced on 21
February 1881
William Brown, a farmer of Yappa Brush, Manning
River,
was arrested on 25
January 1881 and charged with criminally
assaulting his 12-year-old daughter Ann Brown. The crime took place at his
residence and was witnessed by his son, William, and his daughter, Bridget, who
later gave evidence at his trial. Brown had been separated from his wife for
six years. He protested his innocence to the last and stated that his children
had conspired together to take his life. His trial took place at the Central
Criminal Court at Sydney,
and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 21 February 1881. Brown was
hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9 a.m.
on 29 March
1881. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 30 March
1881; The Maitland Mercury, Thursday, 3 February 1881; Thursday, 24 February
1881; Thursday, 31 March 1881; Poverty Bay Herald, N.Z., 25 March 1881)
1 June 1881
Wilkinson,
Henry (age unknown / White) New
South Wales Albury
Murder victim: Mary Pumpa committed on 7 December 1880
sentenced on 13
April 1881
Henry Wilkinson killed Mary Pumpa at Lyster's Gap,
near Jindera, on 7
December 1880. At 3 a.m. Wilkinson entered the house of
Pumpa's father, Martin Mentz, entered Pumpa's room, and took some shillings
from her. He then fired two shots with a revolver, inflicting mortal wounds in
her lungs and head. Wilkinson then went to the room of Martin Mentz, and fired
two more shots. Mary Pumpa meanwhile slipped out of the house, and, drenched in
blood, reached a neighbour's dwelling. Immediately afterwards Mentz's house was
seen burning, and it was ultimately completely destroyed, Mentz's body being
charred to cinders. Mary Pumpa died a week later, but was able to identify
Wilkinson. Two bullets were found in her body, as well as in the skull of
Mentz. Wilkinson was arrested on the day he committed the crime and was later
charged with the murder of Mary Pumpa. His trial took place at Albury Circuit
Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 13 April 1881.
Wilkinson was hanged at Albury gaol at 9
a.m. on 1 June 1881. (The
Maitland Mercury, Thursday, 14 April 1881; Saturday, 14 May 1881; Thursday, 2
June 1881; The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 2 June 1881)
6 June 1881
Rohan,
Robert (age: 24 / White) Victoria
Beechworth
Murder victim: John Shea committed on 23 January 1881
sentenced on 6 May 1881
The body of John Shea was found murdered in a well at
Yalca, and Robert Rohan (alias Ernest Smith) was last seen in his company on 23 January 1881.
Rohan, after serving fourteen days' imprisonment for larceny
, was arrested on his discharge from gaol at Deniliquin and was remanded
to Shepparton on a charge of wilful murder. His trial took place at Beechworth
Criminal Court, where he was convicted with a recommendation to mercy and
sentenced to death on 6
May 1881. Rohan was hanged at Beechworth gaol at 10 a.m. on 6 June 1881.
(The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 7 May 1881; Tuesday, 24 May 1881; The Maitland
Mercury, Thursday, 17 February 1881; Saturday, 11 June 1881)
18 November
1881
Nugent,
Robert (age unknown / White) - South
Australia - Mt.
Gambier
Murder victim: Harry Edmond Pearce committed on 17 May 1881
sentenced on 21
October 1881
Police Trooper Harry Edmond Pearce was assaulted and
stabbed during the arrest of Robert Nugent (alias Robert Johnston) on 17 May 1881,
who had been charged with supplying liquor to Aborigines. Pearce died of his
wounds, and Nugent was charged with murder. He stood trial at the Naracoorte
Circuit Sessions, was found guilty and sentenced to death on 21 October 1881.
Nugent was hanged at Mount
Gambier
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 18 November
1881. (Towler & Porter, The Hempen Collar, p.
70-1; The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 19 November 1881; The Maitland Mercury,
Tuesday, 22 November 1881)
12 December
1881
Ah Quie
(age: 23 / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Ah Chen committed on 13 August 1881
sentenced in November 1881
Ah Que killed Ah Chen at the One-mile Camp, near
Palmerville, on 13
August 1881. He was arrested, charged with
murder and tried at the Cooktown Circuit Court. He was convicted and sentenced
to death by Judge Sheppard in mid-November 1881. Ah Que was hanged at Brisbane
gaol on 12 December
1881. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 22 November
1881; Monday, 12 December 1881; Tuesday, 13 December 1881)
1882
Braxton,
George (age: 60 / White) Tasmania
Launceston
Murder victim: Ellen Snezewell committed on 29 April 1882
sentenced on ?
On 29
April 1882, George Braxton, a
"sixty-year-old relic of the convict era" killed 34-year-old Ellen Snezewell
(or Sneezwell), a semi-paralyzed invalid, in her brothel at York
Street, Launceston. She died almost
immediately from one bullet wound to her breast. There was no obvious motive
for the murder, and Braxton was described as a quiet and inoffensive man doing
odd jobs at the theatre. After being charged with murder, Braxton tried to
commit suicide by cutting his own throat, but survived to be hanged at
Launceston by executioner Solomon Blay. (Davis, The Tasmanian Gallows, p. 69;
The Maitland Mercury, Tuesday, 9 May 1882)
22 May 1882
Byrne,
George (age: 32 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Rape victim: Susan Isaacs committed on 15 January 1882
sentenced on 30
March 1882
George Byrne raped 16-year-old Susan Isaacs at the
European boarding-house at Elizabeth
Street, Brisbane,
on 15 January
1882. He stood trial at the Brisbane Supreme Court
and was convicted and sentenced to death on 30 March 1882. Byrne was
hanged at Brisbane
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 22 May 1882.
(The Brisbane Courier, Friday, 31 March 1882; Tuesday, 23 May 1882)
5 June 1882
Towater,
Jimmy (age: 22 / South Sea Islander) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Jeremiah Worth committed on 8 January 1882
sentenced on 29
April 1882
Jeremiah Worth, a 70-year-old bailiff residing on the
farm of Dr. Hamilton near Bundaberg, was attacked on 8 January 1882
by four men, apparently South Sea Islanders, sitting on his doorstep enjoying
his pipe, and was killed. He was found the next day with his head split in half
by a tomahawk. There was no apparent cause or reason for the murder. Jimmy
Towater (or Towolar) and two other men were arrested about a week later, the
other men being discharged later. Towater was charged with murder and committed
for trial on 30 January. His trial took place at the Circuit Court at
Maryborough, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 29 April 1882.
He was hanged at Brisbane
gaol on 5 June 1882.
He resisted violently, and could not be made to stand while the hangman made
the preparations for the execution. He was lying down when the bold was drawn
and the drop fell. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 10 January 1882; Friday, 13
January 1882; Tuesday, 31 January 1882; Monday, 1 May 1882; The Maitland
Mercury, Tuesday, 6 June 1882)
22 November
1882
McGuan, John
(age unknown / White) New South
Wales Armidale
Murder victim: Thomas Smith committed on or about 12 May 1881
sentenced in October 1882
The body of 55-year-old shoemaker Thomas Smith was
found on or about 12
May 1881 lying on the hearth of his house at Inverell
where he lived alone. There was a hole in his skull as if from the blow of a
hammer, and a gash in the throat 4 inches long. It was generally supposed that
Smith, who was a first-rate, industrious workman, kept a large amount of money
in the house. A desk in the loft was broken open and was rifled. John McGuan
was arrested as a suspect in early June 1881. A hammer was found in his dray
with some blood on. The head of the hammer exactly fitted the wound in the
murdered man's head. After two important witnesses against him died under
suspicious circumstances, and after two trials at which the jury could not
agree, McGuan was finally convicted at Armidale Circuit Court in October 1882.
He was hanged at Armidale gaol on 22 November 1882. (The
Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 6 May 1882; Tuesday, 7 November 1882; The Maitland
Mercury, Saturday, 14 May 1881; Thursday, 9 June 1881; Saturday, 10 December
1881; Thursday, 23 November 1882)
18 January
1883
Burns,
William (age: 35 / White) - South
Australia Adelaide
Murder victim: Henry Loton committed on 23 September 1882
sentenced on 21
December 1882
William Burns, a seaman of the ship "Douglas",
killed Henry Loton, the second mate of that vessel, on the High Seas on 23 September 1882.
The hands were engaged in furling sails, and Burns asked why the chief officer
did not take in the lower stun-sails. The mate replied that he wanted none of
his insolence. Burns at once stabbed him in the neck with a sheath knife,
severing the carotid artery. Loton staggered and fell, dying in less than five
minutes. After arriving at Adelaide
on 10 December
1882, Burns was committed for trial on a charge of
murder. He was convicted at the Adelaide Criminal Court and sentenced to death
on 21 December
1882, and was hanged at Adelaide Gaol at 8 a.m. on 18 January 1883.
(Towler & Porter, The Hempen Collar, p. 72-4; The Brisbane Courier,
Saturday, 23 December 1882; The Maitland Mercury, Thursday, 14 December 1882;
Saturday, 20 January 1883)
27 January
1883
Ah Kett
(age unknown / Asian) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: Foo Ah Moy committed on 2 July 1882
sentenced 5 January
1883
Ah Kett and Foo Ah Moy were employed by Wallace D.
McLeod on his Cheritah property, 30 miles form Roebourne. McLeod had several
Chinese working for him, fencing. At 11
p.m. on 2 July 1882, McLeod was
awakened by screams coming from the hut where the Chinese men slept.
Investigating, he called on Ah Kett to come out, then the other Chinese. On
entering the hut he found Foo Ah Moy with wounds under his right ear and on his
body. A bloodstained tommy axe was found nearby. Foo Ah Moy told McLeod that Ah
Kett had attacked him, but the reasons seem somewhat vague. Ah Kett was
sentenced to death on 5
January 1883, confessing on that day. He was
hanged at Perth
at 8 a.m.
on 27 January
1883, along with John Collins. (Purdue, Legal
Executions in Western Australia, p. 28; West Australian, Tuesday, 30 January
1883)
27 January
1883
Collins,
John (age: 52 / White) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: John King committed on or about 1 October 1882
sentenced on 18
January 1883
Collins, a Bond man, murdered a person reputed to be
John King at the Kalgan
River
near Albany,
on or about 1 October
1882. Both men were sandalwood cutters. King's body
was found with the head and legs cut off. Collins trial took place at Perth
on 18 January
1883 and he was hanged at Perth
at 8 a.m.
on 27 January
1883, along with Ah Kett. (Purdue, Legal Executions
in Western Australia, p. 28-9; West Australian, Tuesday, 30 January 1883)
23 May 1883
Rushborne,
George (age unknown / White) New
South Wales Armidale
Murder victim: Jimmy Young committed on 16 March 1883
sentenced on 14
April 1883
George Rushborne (or Ruxbourne), a Maltese immigrant,
sent 13-year-old George Scarr to fetch Jimmy Young, a Chinese doctor, under the
pretence that a girl was ill. The boy led the doctor through Dumaresq
Street, Armidale, to a creek, where
Rushborne ran up behind him and hit Young with an axe at the back of the neck;
the doctor fell with a moan. Rushborne delivered two more axe blows to the
doctor twice again as he lay on the ground. He told George Scarr to watch out
for anyone passing while he drew the body up under the bank and instructed the
body not to tell anybody, promising to him to take him to Melbourne.
He stood trial at Armidale Circuit Court, George Scarr being the principal
witness, and was convicted and sentenced to death on 14 April 1883.
Rushborne was hanged at Armidale gaol on 23 May 1883. (The
Maitland Mercury, Tuesday, 10 April 1883; Tuesday, 17 April 1883; Thursday, 24
May 1883; The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 24 May 1883)
4 June 1883
Ogden, James
(age: 20 / White)
Sutherland,
James (age: 18 / White) Tasmania
Hobart
Murder victim: William Wilson committed on 9 April 1883
sentenced on 15
May 1883
On 9
April 1883, William Wilson, a repairer on the
line who lived with his wife, four children, and his guest, Mrs. Borham, near Cleveland,
was awakened by stones being thrown on his roof. He went out, and his wife
heard a shot, and also ran outside. Her husband staggered past her saying that
he had been shot. He collapsed outside and died on the spot from wounds in the
head, breast, and groin. James Ogden and James Sutherland then robbed Mrs. Wilson,
wounded Mrs. Borham, and set the house on fire. They were both recognized by
Mrs. Wilson. On 11 April, Ogden and Sutherland also shot dead Alfred Holman,
who was driving a lemonade cart from Launceston, near Epping. They took the
cart into the bush, which led to their arrest on the same day. They stood trial
at the Hobart Supreme Court and were convicted of the murder of William Wilson
and sentenced to death on 15
May 1883. Ogden and Sutherland were hanged at Campbell
Street gaol, Hobart,
at 8:10 a.m.
on 4 June 1883.
(Brand, Executions at Campbell Street Gaol; Davis, The Tasmanian Gallows, p.
69-71; Timaru Herald, N.Z., 19 April 1883; The Maitland Mercury, Thursday, 19
April 1883; Tuesday, 24 April 1883; The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 23 April
1883; Wednesday, 6 June 1883; Otago Witness, N.Z., 30 June 1883)
18 June
1883
Guerhilla
(age unknown / Aborigine) - Western
Australia Rottnest
Murder victim: Anthony Cornish committed on 13 December 1882
sentenced on 9 May 1883
On the morning of 13 December 1882, Guerhilla,
a Kimberley
native, with Anthony Cornish and another Aborigine, Winny, were to go with a
flock of "weaners" (young sheep) from a place known as Lulingi. He
shortly returned back to the station because he had forgotten paper and pencil
and gave Guerhilla his sharp American pattern axe to carry. On the next day at
about six miles from the station Cornish's body was found lying on it's back in a large pool of blood. There was a deep cut to
the side of the neck which severed the jugular and a spear wound to the right
breast. Guerhilla admitted he hit Anthony Cornish with the axe after he was
arrested by P. C. James Hackett. He stood trial in Perth an was sentenced to death on 9 May 1883. Guerhilla
was hanged at Rottnest on 18
June 1883, along with Wangabiddy. (Purdue,
Legal Executions in Western Australia, p. 29-30; West Australian, Friday, 22
June 1883)
18 June
1883
Wangabiddy
(age unknown / Aborigine) - Western
Australia Rottnest
Murder victim: Charles Redfern committed about 6
May 1882 sentenced on 18
January 1883
Wangabiddy murdered Charles Redfern at the Upper
Gascoyne at the junction of the Lyons
River.
Redfern was last seen alive on 5 or 6 May 1882.
Wangabiddy's two wives found Redfern's bloody bodyand an axe lying in a nearby
gully with fresh blood and asked Wangabiddy why he had killed him. Wangabiddy
told them that Redfern had insulted him. He was sentenced to death at Perth
on 18 January and hanged at Rottnest on 18 June 1883, along with
Guerhilla. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western Australia, p. 29; The West
Australian, Friday, 22 June 1883)
30 July
1883
Nannacaroo
(age unknown / Aborigine) - Western
Australia Rottnest
Murder victim: Charles Brackell committed on 31 July 1882
sentenced on 13
July 1883
Nannacaroo, (or Narracoori) alias Billy, an Aborigine,
killed Charles Brackell (or Brackle, Bracknell)
at the Gascoyne. Brackell was a cook for J. H. Smith on the property of Marsh
and Wheelock at Minilya
River.
Brackell, James Henry Smith, a boy named Roach, and Nannacaroo and his wife
Jenny were camped about four miles from Gooch and Wheeler's camp, looking after
a flock of sheep. On the evening of 31 July 1882, Smith and
Roach went to Gooch's camp leaving Brackell, Nannacaroo and Jenny in the camp.
Smith returned at about midnight
and found Brackell in his bed wrapped up in his blanket with his head covered.
He uncovered him and discovered two large wounds to the side of the head.
Brackell was dead. Nannacaroo had lost a lamb on that day and Brackell told him
if he lost one again he would shoot him. Nannacaroo was sentenced at Perth
and hanged at Rottnest on 30
July 1883. (Purdue, Legal Executions in
Western Australia, p. 30; The West Australian, Tuesday 17 July 1883)
25
September 1883
Burns,
Robert Francis (age unknown / White) Victoria
Ararat
Murder victim: Michael Quinlivan committed in June
1880 sentenced on 23
July 1883
On 1
July 1880, the body of an unknown man was
found in the bush near Wickliffe,
the top of his skull having been smashed in as if by a blow from a hammer. The
remains were buried without being identified, the clothes and an empty purse
found alongside the body remaining in the possession of constable McCracken.
When Robert Francis Burns was arrested for another murder, McCracken
recollected a man answering his description and was later able to identify the
murdered man as being Michael Quinlivan, who had been robbed of a sum of £80.
Burns and Quinlivan had been working at Reedy Creek, near Wickliffe.
Burns had induced Quinlivan to withdraw the money at Dunkeld, and several days
later Quinlivan was not to be found. Burns was first charged with the murder of
Charles Forbes at Deep Lead, but was acquitted and immediately re-arrested and
charged with the murder of Michael Quinlivan and was remanded to Hamilton on 28
August 1882. His first trial ended on 2 March 1883, the jury
being unable to agree. On his second trial at Hamilton,
Burns was convicted and sentenced to death on 23 July 1883. He was
hanged at Ararat gaol at 9 a.m.
on 25
September 1883. Shortly before his execution he
confessed that he had committed eight different murders, five in Victoria
and three in New South Wales.
(The Maitland Mercury, Tuesday, 13 June 1882; Tuesday, 22 August 1882;
Thursday, 31 August 1882; Saturday, 3 March 1883; Thursday, 26 July 1883;
Thursday, 27 September 1883; The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 18 September 1882;
Hawera & Normanby Star, N.Z., Thursday, 27 September 1883; Evening Post,
Wellington, N.Z., 21 February 1884)
15 October
1883
Gardiner,
James (age: 19 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Ada
Gardiner committed on 22
August 1883 sentenced on 19 September 1883
James Gardiner (alias McMahon) had been living with
32-year-old Ada Gardiner (alias German Ada) at Rockhampton, "participating
in the earnings of her shame." They frequently quarrelled, and on the
night of 21 August
1883 the quarrel was of a more serious character,
and in the early morning hours, in his drunken rage he kicked and stamped the
life out of the woman. His trial took place at Rockhampton Supreme Court and he
was convicted of murder and sentenced to death on 19 September 1883. Gardiner
was hanged at Boggo Road
gaol, Brisbane,
at 8 a.m.
on 15 October
1883, along with George and Jango. (The Brisbane
Courier, Friday, 7 September 1883; Thursday, 20 September 1883; Friday, 21
September 1883; Tuesday, 16 October 1883)
15 October
1883
George
(age: 25 / Aborigine) Queensland
Brisbane
Rape victim: Johanna Anderson - committed on 21 August 1883
sentenced on 18
September 1883
On 21
August 1883, George ran after a 13-year-old
girl named Johanna Anderson at Gracemere. Having caught her, he brutally raped
her. He was convicted at Rockhampton Supreme Court and sentenced to death on 18 September 1883.
George was hanged at Boggo Road
gaol, Brisbane,
at 8 a.m.
on 15 October
1883, along with James Gardiner and Jango. (The
Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 19 September 1883; Tuesday, 16 October 1883)
15 October
1883
Jango
(age: 17 / Aborigine) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Eliza Mills committed on 10 July 1882
sentenced on 18
September 1883
Jango was known as a wild youth in the district
immediately surrounding Dingo. In early 1882 he became notorious for an assault
of a most serious character upon a boy. On 10 July 1882, he was
again heard of as having committed a murderous assault with a tomahawk upon
young Mrs. Eliza Mills at Dingo. For some days she lingered between life and
death, and Jango, who had been caught in the meantime, was remanded from time
to time to Rockhampton gaol. He managed to escape from gaol, but was recaptured
within an hour. Jango's trial took place at Rockhampton and he was convicted of
murder and sentenced to death on 18
September 1883. He was hanged at Boggo
Road gaol, Brisbane,
at 8 a.m.
on 15 October
1883, along with George and James Gardiner. (The
Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 19 September 1883; Tuesday, 16 October 1883)
25 October1883
Maroney,
John (age: 42 / White)
Watkins,
William (age: 44 / White) - Western
Australia - Perth
Murder victim: James Watson committed on 1 May 1883
sentenced on 6
October 1883
John Maroney and William Watkins (alias Mathuis or
Mathews), both Bond men, were sandalwood cutting at Yellenup, not far away from
Kojonup. The was considerable ill feeling between them
and James (Pigman) Watson who felt the other two were stealing his wood. On 1 May 1883
the partly burned body of Watson was found in the remains of a large fire and
investigations pointed towards Watkins and Maroney, who were arrested and taken
to Perth
to face trial. They were sentenced to death on 6 October 1883 and hanged
at Perth
on 25 October
1883. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 30-1; The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 27 October 1883)
10 November
1883
Mah Poo (age:
26 / Asian) - South Australia
Adelaide
Murder victim: Tommy Ah Fook committed on 10 August 1883
sentenced on 13
October 1883
Mah Poo (alias Charlie Bow, a Chinese cook) killed his
employer Tommy Ah Fook on 10
August 1883 in Hindley
Street, Adelaide.
Ah Fook died from one bullet shot into his head. His body was found on 14
August in a cesspit on the premises of Hindley
Street. Mah Poh stood trial at the
Adelaide Criminal Court on 9
October 1883, but on 11 October, one juror was
declared to be incapable of performing the proper function of a Juryman, and a
new jury had to be empanelled. Mah Poo was convicted and sentenced to death on
13 October. He was hanged at Adelaide
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 10 November
1883. Several days before his execution, Mah Poo
admitted killing Ah Fook, because he "was always cursing and
swearing" at him, so Mah Poo lost his temper and shot him. He claimed that
he did not rob him. (Towler & Porter, The Hempen Collar, p. 75-8; The
Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 13 November 1883)
23 January
1884
Haynes,
Henry Benjamin (age: 46 / White) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: Mary Ann Haynes committed on 12 October 1883
sentenced on 7 January
1884
Haynes, a Bond man and tailor, brooded over his past.
It was constantly on his mind that it would become public knowledge that he had
been transported for murder (in 1859, was granted a Ticket of Leave on 4 August 1861
and a Conditional Pardon on 16
August 1871); he also had a drinking problem of
which he was deeply conscious. After a short sentence for stealing some cloth
he became depressed and argumentative and began to drink heavily once again. On
12 October
1883, Haynes returned home and demanded money for
beer, which his wife ostensibly ignored. Following an argument about the money
for beer, Haynes hit Ann over the head with a hammer, not once but several
times. She died that night in hospital. He was convicted of murder and
sentenced to death on 7
January 1884 and hanged at Perth
at 8 p.m.
on 23 January
1884. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 31-2; The West Australian, Tuesday, 8 January 1884; Thursday, 24
January 1884)
23 April
1884
Rice,
William (age: 23 / White) New
South Wales Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: James Griffin committed on 28 February 1884
sentenced on 12
March 1884
William Rice, a butcher who lived in a house at Phelps
street
on Surry Hills with Sophia Holmes, a young married woman, as his housekeeper,
returned home on 28
February 1884 in company with 23-year-old James
Griffin, who had also been living at the house for a week. Mrs. Holmes followed
Griffin
into his bedroom, and Rice, who had procured a revolver in the meantime,
subsequently shot Griffin
twice, from motives of jealousy. Rice was immediately arrested in the
neighbourhood and was charged with murder. His trial took place at the Central
Criminal Court and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 12 March 1884.
Rice was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol on 23 April 1884. (The
Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 4 March 1884; Thursday, 13 March 1884; Thursday, 24
April 1884)
6 June 1884
Morgan,
Henry (age: 45 / White) Victoria
Ararat
Murder victim: Margaret Nolan committed on 17 November 1883
sentenced on 10
May 1884
Henry Morgan raped and then killed 10-year-old
Margaret Noland to hide his offence on 17 November 1883 at Panmure.
His trial took place at Warnambook, where he was convicted and sentenced to
death on 10 May 1884.
Morgan was hanged at Ararat gaol at 9
a.m. on 6 June 1884. Shortly
before his execution he confessed to his guilt. He had seen her on the day
before and was rather drunk when he asked her to hold his horse. He raped her,
and then killed her when she resisted. (The West Australian, Thursday, 5 June
1884; Northern Territory times and Gazette, Saturday, 14 June 1884; Saturday, 5
July 1884; The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 9 June 1884; Otago Witness, N.Z., 21
June 1884)
13 June
1884
Cordini,
Joseph (age unknown / White) New
South Wales Deniliquin
Murder victim: George Mizon committed on 10 October 1883
sentenced in April 1884
The body of George Mizon, a hawker, was found on 12 October 1883
on the road to Hay, near Deniliquin, covered with sheepskins, alongside of a
wagon. Indications in the vicinity of the wagon pointed to the fact that Mizon
was sitting in the vehicle when the fatal blow was struck, and the body was
dragged to the opposite side of the wagon from the road. The head was horribly
crushed with a heavy club, and then further mutilated with a tomahawk. Mizon
had been in possession of a sum of money in cheques, notes and coins some time
previous to the discovery of the body, but no money was found on him. Joseph
Cordini (alias Joseph Gordon), a French hawker, had previously to the murder
threatened to kill Mizon in the presence of other witness, and was the last to
be seen in Mizon's company. He was arrested some days later, charged with the
murder. Cordini was convicted and sentenced to death at Deniliquin Criminal
Court in April 1884 and was hanged at Deniliquin gaol on 13 June 1884.
He protested his innocence to the last. After his execution there were
unfounded rumours that Stevenson, the principal witness at Cordini's trial, had
confessed to the murder. Even five years later a newspaper reported that a man
named Harrison was by many
people believed to be the real murderer.
(The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 16 October 1883;
Saturday, 24 May 1884; Wednesday, 11 June 1884; Saturday, 14 June 1884;
Tuesday, 14 October 1884; New Zealand Tablet, 11 July 1884; Te Aroha News,
N.Z., 30 March 1889)
21 August
1884
Hawthorn,
James (age unknown / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: William Hawthorn committed on 21 March 1884
sentenced on 27
July 1884
William Hawthorn was asleep in bed in his home at Brighton
on 21 March
1884, when the window of the room was gently opened,
the barrel of a gun put through close to the sleeping man's shoulder, and the
gun fired, Hawthorn receiving a terrible wound in the shoulder. The police were
informed and sent "black trackers" out, who tracked footprints from
the window to the house of Hawthorn's brother, and the latter, James Hawthorn,
was arrested. The brothers had some litigation about a piece of land, and James
Hawthorn had threatened to kill his brother shortly before committing the murder.
William Hawthorn died shortly after, and his brother was charged with murder
and tried at the Melbourne Criminal Court. At his first trial, the jury were
unable to agree, but at his second trial, the jury found him guilty and
recommended him to mercy on account of his excited state of mind when the deed
was committed. He was sentenced to death on 27 July 1884. James
Hawthorn was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 21 August
1884. The knot was badly adjusted by the hangman, that Hawthorn's arms and legs kept contracting
spasmodically for two minutes after the drop fell. (The Brisbane Courier,
Tuesday, 25 March 1884; Wednesday, 2 April 1884; Friday, 22 August 1884)
13 October
1884
Stock, Henry
(age: 22 / White) Tasmania
Hobart
Murder victims: Elizabeth Keats and her child
committed on 4 April
1884 sentenced on 23 September 1884
Henry Stock had been married to seventeen-year-old
Elizabeth Keats for about 2 years. She had a daughter before they were married,
but Stock was not the father, which was a constant source of troubles between
them. After separating twice, he agreed to take her back but not the child.
They were last seen at Stock's hut on 4 April 1884, but when
her brother called two days later there was no sign of them. On 22 April he
organized a search party and their bodies were found the following day in a
dense scrub. Each had been shot. Stock was arrested and charged with murder.
After the first trial, at which the jury failed to reach a verdict, he was
convicted in a second trial at the Hobart Supreme Court and was sentenced to
death on 23
September 1884. Stock was hanged at Campbell
Street gaol, Hobart , on 13 October 1884.
His execution was botched, and he died from suffocation. (Brand, Executions at
Campbell Street Gaol; Davis, The Tasmanian Gallows, p. 71; The Brisbane
Courier, Tuesday, 14 October 1884)
23 October
1884
Carberry,
Thomas Henry (age: 44 / White) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: Constable Hackett committed on 12 September 1884
sentenced on 3
October 1884
Carberry, a Bond man, and Andrew Miller, another
Ticket of Leave man, were arrested on 12 September 1884 for being
drunk in the Settlers Arms Hotel. Miller paid his bail money and Carberry was
to return with a pound as his bail by 8
p.m., but did not do so. Constable Hackett went to
do his "rounds" later in the evening but did not return. A search
next morning found Hackett with his head smashed in and his pockets turned out.
He had been killed near the show-grounds and his body dragged 15 yards to a fence
and left there. Carberry and Miller had absconded, but were confronted by
police at the Dale. A gun fight broke out, Miller was shot and told Detective
Police Constable John McKenna that he and Carberry had killed Hackett. Carberry
was not arrested until 19 September and brought to trial, which took place on 3 October 1884.
He was sentenced to death and hanged at Perth
gaol on 23 October
1884. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 32; The West Australian, Thursday, 18 September 1884; The
Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 25 October 1884)
24 October
1884
O'Brien,
William (age unknown / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Peter McCansh committed on 23 July 1884
sentenced on 23
September 1884
William O'Brien was arrested on 27 July 1884, charged
with the murder of Peter McCansh, a farmer, who had been shot on the road near
his residence, about two miles from Lancefield, on 23 July. The "black
trackers" found footmarks corresponding to those of O'Brien between the
place where McCansh was shot and O'Brien's hut, in which was found a
single-barrelled gun recently discharged. O'Brien had formerly held a farm from
McCansh, but got into difficulties, and it was alleged that he cherished a
feeling of hatred against McCansh for taking it from him. His trial took place
at the Melbourne Criminal Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on
23
September 1884. O'Brien was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 24 October
1884. (The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 28 July 1884;
Friday, 19 September 1884; Wednesday, 24 September 1884; Saturday, 25 October
1884)
29 October
1884
Sing Ong
(age unknown / Asian) - Western
Australia - Geraldton
Murder victim: Chung Ah Foo committed on 11 May 1884
sentenced on 9
October 1884
Sing Ong was sentenced to death at Geraldton Supreme
Court on 9 October
1884 for the murder of Chung Ah Foo. The cause of
quarrel between murderer and victim appeared to have been that Ah Foo employed
a man whom Sing Ong considered to be his servant. Mr. E. W. Butcher, of Sharks
Bay,
heard pistol shots on the evening of 11 May and subsequently found the dead
body of Ah Foo. Ah Chee, a carpenter, was a direct witness to the murder and
saw Sing Ong firing two shots at Ah Foo from a small revolver, one of them
penetrating his body just below the chest, the other wounding him in the hip.
After the trial, the residents of the Victoria
District
presented a Petition claiming that Sing had not had a fair trial. Sing Ong was
hanged at Champion
Bay
(Geraldton), on a portable gallows which had been shipped up from Fremantle, on
29 October
1884. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 33; The West Australian, Thursday, 17 July 1884)
28 January
1885
Duffy, John
(age: 68 / White) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: Mary Sultana McGann committed on 21 November 1884
sentenced on 8 January
1885
Duffy, a Bond man, lived with Mary Sultana McGann at Cantonment
Street at Fremantle, from where he
operated a business as "John the Woodcutter". He was sixty-eight
years of age, but she only 26. He killed her on the morning of 21 November 1884
in their house. Her body was found by little children in a pool of blood. Duffy
said after his arrest that he had killed McGann because she had given him
"a bad disease". He was found guilty at the Supreme Court and sentenced
to death on 8 January
1885. He was hanged at Perth
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 28 January
1885 (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western Australia,
p. 33; The West Australian, Thursday 29 January 1885 and Saturday 31 January
1885)
14 April
1885
Watson,
Charles (age unknown / White) New South Wales
Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: William Matthews committed on 26 July 1884
sentenced on 6 March
1885
Charles Watson killed a hawker named William Matthews
at Urgandra on 26
July 1884. Matthews' body was found in the Lachlan
River,
a short distance from Cowl Cowl station, with the skull smashed in, probably on
6 November
1884. Watson's trial took place at the Central
Criminal Court at Sydney.
Circumstantial evidence showed beyond a shadow of doubt that Watson was the
murderer. He was convicted and sentenced to death on 6 March 1885.
Watson was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
on 14 April
1885. (The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 7 March 1885;
Wednesday, 15 April 1885)
15 May 1885
Barnes,
William (age unknown / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Joseph Bragge Slack committed on 9 September 1884
sentenced on 17
April 1885
On 11
September 1884 Joseph Bragge Slack was found in
his home at South Melbourne,
lying on the bed with his throat cut, and holding a razor covered with blood in
his left hand. The deceased was a well-known and eccentric character. The
particular form that his eccentricity took was a morbid love of litigation. He
was always involved in lawsuits, and he always conducted his own cases. An
inquest was held, and a verdict was returned that Slack had committed suicide,
which was not substantiated by any examination. William Banres, a notorious
criminal serving a sentence of imprisonment at Pentridge gaol, on 14 December 1884
asserted that he murdered Slack, placed the razor in his hand to avert
suspicion, and stole a quantity of jewellery from his safe. Slack's body was
exhumed and it was found that he died by strangulation. Barnes was tried at the
Melbourne Criminal Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 17 April 1885.
He was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 15 May 1885.
Before his execution he admitted his guilt and confessed to
many other crimes. (The West Australian, Tuesday, 30 December 1884; The
Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 29 April 1885; Tuesday, 26 May 1885)
14 July
1885
Williams,
Thomas (age: 23 / White) New
South Wales Darlinghurst gaol
Attempted murder victim: Mr. Roberts committed on 19 February 1885
sentenced in early June 1885
Thomas Williams (alias Frank Johns) was twice
sentenced to death. As a young man he was a member of the gang of Captain
Moonlight, who was hanged on 20
January 1880, Williams being reprieved to
imprisonment for life. On 27
March 1884, Williams was removed to the Parramatta
gaol where his conduct was exemplary. However, in the afternoon of 19 February 1885
one of the table knives were missed, and a full search made everywhere for it,
without success. About 4 p.m. two prisoners, Watkins and Roberts, were walking
together when Williams came up to Roberts and demanded to know what Watkins had
just told him about himself. When the unsuspecting Roberts replied
"Nothing" he was called a liar by Williams, who revealed a large
table knife sharpened to the point and plunged it to the handle in Roberts'
breast. Williams was charged with murder and stood trial at the Central
Criminal Court, where he was convicted and sentenced to death in early June
1885. He was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9 a.m.
on 14 July 1885.
(The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 2 July 1885; Wednesday, 15 July 1885; Evening
Post, Wellington, N.Z., 20 June 1885; Northern Territory Times & Gazette,
Saturday, 11 July 1885; Saturday, 18 July 1885)
3 September
1885
Bushby,
Charles (age unknown / White) Victoria
Ballarat
Attempted murder victim: Detective Hyland
committed on 12 December
1884 sentenced on 27 July 1885
On 12
December 1884 the police received information
that Charles Bushby (alias Baker) was connected with a robbery of wool from a
farm near Kyneton. Detective Hyland and two other policemen drove in the
direction of the Gong Gong Reservoir, and met Bushby walking towards Ballarat.
Hyland called to him, but he declined to stop, and then he turned suddenly
round, drew a revolver and fired. The ball struck Hyland in the back, and was
not removed for some days. Bushby was secured and afterwards put upon his trial
for (attempted) murder. The jury disagreed, and he was remanded. He was
convicted at Ballarat on 24
July 1885 and sentenced to death three days
later. He was hanged at Ballarat gaol at 10
a.m. on 3 September 1885. (The West
Australian, Saturday, 1 August 1885; The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 25 July
1885; Friday, 4 September 1885; Saturday, 12 September 1885; Northern Territory
Times and Gazette, Saturday, 14 November 1885)
26 October
1885
Gordon,
Walter Edward (age: 28 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Walter Bunning committed on 2 May 1885
sentenced on 16
September 1885
Mr. Walter Bunning, manager of Darr River Down
station, declined on 1
May 1885 to take Walter Edward Gordon, who had been
employed on the station for three weeks wood-washing, to the Muttaburra
Hospital
because Gordon was only suffering from a fever then prevalent on the station.
He gave him some medicine instead. The following day Gordon's bitterness
towards Mr. Bunning increased and he stole a revolver and two cartridges from
the tent of a fellow worker, walked to the station (a mile from where he was
working) and entering the store shot Mr. Bunning in the back, killing him
almost instantly. Gordon was convicted and sentenced to death at Rockhampton
Circuit Court on 16
September 1885, with a recommendation to mercy on
account of his weak state of health at the time he committed the deed.. Gordon was hanged at Brisbane
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 26 October
1885. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 20 May 1885;
Thursday, 17 September 1885; Friday, 16 October 1885; Tuesday, 27 October 1885)
27 October
1885
Sherry,
Henry (age: 47 / White) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: Catherine Waldeck committed on 16 September 1885
sentenced on 7
October 1885
Sherry, a Bond man, murdered Catherine Waldeck on 16 September 1885
at "The Williams". She was the wife of a local farmer and became
Sherry's paramour. On the night of the murder, Mrs. Waldeck went out to shoot
some possums with her two sons, Thomas (aged 10) and William (aged 12), when
she was approached by Sherry with a gun. He pointed the gun at her, and when
she turned away he fired, shooting her in the back. It seems that she had
refused to elope with him, which had enraged him. He was sentenced to death on 7 October 1885
and hanged at Perth
gaol on 27 October
1885. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 33-4; West Australian, Wednesday 28 October 1885)
27 November
1885
Hunter,
Edward (age: 72 / White) Victoria
Bendigo
Murder victim: James Power committed on 16 September 1885
sentenced on 22
October 1885
On 16
September 1885, James Power was sitting on a form in
the bar of the Golden Fleece Hotel at Charlton, when Edward Hunter (alias The
Fiddler), a resident of Wychetella, came in and demanded some money back he had
presumably given to Power. The latter replied that he didn't have it. Hunter
then went out, and returned with a sheath knife, which he plunged into Power's
breast. Power died in fifteen minutes. Hunter, who was immediately arrested,
expressed his hope that he had killed the man. He had been transported to Tasmania
in 1836 and had been frequently convicted since of various offences. He was
charged with murder and was tried at Bendigo
(then Sandhurst). Hunter
was convicted and sentenced to death on 22 October 1885. He was
hanged at Bendigo
gaol on 27 November
1885. (The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 17 September
1885; Saturday, 19 September 1885; Saturday, 24 October 1885; Monday, 30
November 1885; The West Australian, Tuesday, 1 December 1885)
10 December
1885
Friske,
Matthew (age: 67 / White) New
South Wales Grafton
Murder victim: Matt Matteson committed in early
August 1885 sentenced on 16
October 1885
The body of 26-year-old Matt Matteson (a native from Finland)
was found charred in a smouldering fire in a hollow tree, about 500 yards from
the hut he had occupied, at Coff's Harbour. His mate, Matthew Friske (also a
native from Finland),
was arrested on suspicion, and he soon confessed to murdering Matteson by
striking him on the head with an axe, and then burning the body. The two Finns
had been partners as selectors, and it was believed a will was made by them to
the effect that, on the death of one, his property should be owned by the
survivor. Friske was committed for trial at Grafton Circuit Court, where he was
convicted and sentenced to death on 16 October 1885. He was
hanged at Grafton gaol on 10
December 1885. (The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 17
August 1885; Saturday, 22 August 1885; Saturday, 17 October 1885; Thursday, 26
November 1885; Saturday, 12 December 1885; Friday, 18 December 1885)
7 January
1886
Morell,
Freeland (age: 39 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: John Anderson committed on 15 November 1885
sentenced on 15
December 1885
Freeland Morell (a native of Connecticut,
USA)
killed John Anderson, second mate of the American barque Don Nicholas at Port
Melbourne on 15 November
1885. Anderson (a 38-year-old native of Hanover,
Germany)
was walking along the pier with Alfred Petersen,
another seaman, when Morell, one of his crew, came up with a long knife
concealed in his hand, and, after using bad language to Anderson,
plunged the knife downwards into his heart. Anderson
collapsed and died almost immediately. Morell was arrested on the scene, and
was charged with murder. It appears that on the passage out Anderson
was not satisfied with the way in which Morell did his work, and a dispute over
the matter resulted in ill feeling. Morell's trial took place at the Melbourne
Criminal Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 15 December 1885.
Morell was hanged at Melbourne
gaol at 10 a.m.
on 7 January
1886. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 17 November
1885; Tuesday, 24 November 1885; Saturday, 16 January 1886; Northern Territory
Times and Gazette, Saturday, 2 January 1886)
5 April
1886
Tim Tee
(age: 30 / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Jimmy Ah Fook committed on 26 February 1886
sentenced on 10
March 1886
Tim Tee, a cook at Falconer's boring camp at
Dulbydilla (a native from Amoy
/ Xiamen,
province
of Fujian)
shot baker Jimmy Ah Fook on 26
February 1886. Ah Fook lived just long enough to
give the name of his murderer, but died on his way to the Roma
Hospital.
At the post-mortem, forty shot wounds were found in his body. Tim Tee was
arrested and charged with the murder. Reports were current to the effect that
the shooting was the result of a gambling quarrel about £10. Tim Tee's trial
took place at the Roma Circuit Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to
death on 10 March
1886. He was hanged at Boggo
Road gaol at 8 a.m. on 5 April 1886. (The
Brisbane Courier, Monday, 1 March 1886; Tuesday, 16 March 1886; Saturday, 27
March 1886; Monday, 5 April 1886; Tuesday, 6 April 1886)
8 June 1886
Liddiard,
William (age unknown / White) - New
South Wales Grafton
Murder victim: Patrick Noonan committed probably
in May 1885 sentenced on 20
April 1886
In early June 1885, the government of New
South Wales offered a reward of £25 for
the identification of a man found murdered in a bag at Wardell, Richmond
River,
and £75 for the arrest and conviction of the murderer. It seems that it took
several months before the victim was identified as Patrick Noonan. William
Liddiard and his wife were arrested, Liddiard was charged with murder on 13 February 1886.
Noonan had been in the employ of Liddiard. The motive for the murder was said
to be jealousy on the part of Liddiard towards Noonan. After Liddiard's
recovering from a suicide attempt, his trial took place at Grafton District
Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 20 April 1886.
He was hanged at Grafton gaol on 8
June 1886. Standing on the scaffold, he made
a short statement admitting that he was guilty as an accessory by the
concealment of the body. He implied that another man, Herlsford, who had turned
Queen's evidence at Liddiard's trial, had struck Noonan from behind, killing him with several blows on the head. (The Brisbane
Courier, Thursday, 4 June 1885; Tuesday, 16 February 1886; Friday, 9 April
1886; Saturday, 27 February 1886; Wednesday, 9 June 1886; The West Australian,
Thursday, 10 June 1886)
21 June
1886
Wong Tong
(age: 35 / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Cock Tow committed on 25 April 1886
sentenced on 6 May 1886
On 25
April 1886 Cock Tow was in the company of
several Chinese employed at a plantation near Bundaberg, when Wong Tong came to
the hut in which the men were, and demanded payment from Cock Tow of a debt
alleged to be due. A reply was made, postponing payment, when Wong Tong said,
that if Cock Tow wouldn't pay, he would shoot him. Cock Tow attempted to run away, and Wong Tong followed him with a gun and fired a
heavy charge of shot into his head, causing death in fifteen minutes. He was
arrested soon afterward and charged with murder. His trial took place at
Maryborough Circuit Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 6 May 1886.
Wong Tong was hanged at Boggo Road
gaol, Brisbane,
at 8 a.m.
on 21 June
1886. See also the case of his brother, Wong Ming,
who was hanged on 13
December 1898 at Dubbo. It was alleged that Wong
Ming was the murderer of Cock Tow. (The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 13 May 1886;
Tuesday, 22 June 1886)
8 October
1886
Reynolds,
Alfred (age: 26 / White) - New
South Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Rhoda Caroline Reynolds 13 August 1886
committed on sentenced on 31
August 1886
Alfred Reynolds, a stone mason, had compelled his
wife, 24-year-old Rhoda Caroline Reynolds, to take a dose of opium, in their
home at Newtown,
on 12 August
1886. Mrs. Reynolds died on the following day.
Reynolds was described as a hot-tempered and cruel husband, who was often
drunk, and who had been in the habit of ill-treating his wife, who was a
respectable woman and a good housewife. They had been married for about seven
years and had four children. Shortly before committing the crime, Reynolds
forced his wife to write a letter confessing she had done a great wrong,
deceived her husband, and stating her intention to commit suicide. After he was
arrested, he was committed to hospital , suffering
from the effects of narcotic poison, having attempted suicide. He was charged
with murder, and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to death after a hearing at
the Central Criminal Court on 31
August 1886. It was obvious that he wanted to
die as soon as possible. Reynolds was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
on 8 October
1886. (The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 14 August
1886; Tuesday, 17 August 1886; Tuesday, 31 August 1886; Wednesday, 1 September
1886; Monday, 6 September 1886; Saturday, 9 October 1886; Evening Post,
Wellington, N.Z., 27 August 1886; The West Australian, Monday, 11 October 1886)
7 January
1887
Boyce,
William (age: 19 /White)
Duffy,
George (age: 17 / White)
Martin,
George (age: 17 / White)
Reed, Robert
George (age: 19 / White) - New
South Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Rape victim: Mary Jane Hicks committed on 9 September 1886
sentenced on 27
November 1886
Nine young men were sentenced to death on 27 November,
1886 for the gang-rape of 16-year-old servant Mary Jane Hicks in a waste piece
of country in the vicinity of Randwick, on September 9, 1886: William Boyce,
Michael Donnellan, George Duffy, William Hill, George Keegan, George Martin,
Hugh Miller, William Newman, Robert George Read; Thomas Oscroft and Michal
Mangan were acquitted; five of those sentenced to death were reprieved, Boyce,
Duffy, Martin, and Reed, were hanged in the prison yard at Darlinghurst gaol at
9:35 a.m. on 7 January 1887 (Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, 29 November, 1886;
Saturday, 8 January 1887; The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 8 January 1887;
Tuesday, 11 January 1887; The West Australian, Saturday, 8 January 1887; Te
Aroha New, N.Z., 15 January 1887)
10 January
1887
Walker,
Timothy (age: 76 / White) Tasmania
Hobart
Murder victim: Benjamin Hampton committed on 2 December 1886
sentenced on 15
December 1886
23-year-old
Elizabeth Woods was living with her Aunt Harriett Hurley and Benjamin Hampton
in Barracks Street,
Deloraine in December 1886. Timothy Walker lived in Morgans Row, Deloraine. He
and Woods had lived together until she had left him in late October after a
quarrel. About 6.30 p.m.
on 2 December
1886, Woods saw Walker
in Barrack Street
and he asked her if they were still friends. When she said "No" he
lifted his double-barrelled gun and said hed blow her brains out. Hampton came
out of the house and asked Walker
to leave quietly. Walker
shot him in the left arm and fired the second barrel into his left side. Walker's
trial took place at the Hobart Supreme Court on 15 December 1886 on a charge
of wilful murder. Walker
argued that the gun had gone off during a struggle, but witnesses agreed that
there was no such struggle. Walker
was sentenced to death. He had been transported to Van
Diemens Land and had committed a number of
offences there between 1833 and 1837. Walker
was hanged at Hobart
gaol on 10 January,
1887. (Brand, Ian: Executions at Campbell Street
Gaol, 1857 1946; The West Australian, Thursday, 6 January 1887; The Maitland
Mercury, Thursday, 20 January 1887)
4 April
1887
Erdmann,
Franz (age unknown / White) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: Anthony Johnson committed on 27 October 1886
sentenced on 15
March 1887
Franz Erdmann, alias Frank Hornig, murdered Anthony
Johnson (Johanson) at McPhee's Creek in the Kimberley
in October 1886. Erdmann and Johnson became partners in a visit to the diggings
at Kimberley.
On 27 October
1886 they were camped at a place near Mount
Barratt
called the Springs During the night, Johnson, when lying in bed, was shot dead
by Erdmann, the bullet entering the back of the head. Erdmann buried the body
and then took flight with all Johnson's horses, money and effects. The crime
was discovered by a digger named McAlister. Erdmann was sentenced to death on 15 March 1887,
and was hanged at Perth
at 8 a.m.
on 4 April
1887. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 34; West Australian, Tuesday, 15 March 1887; Wednesday, 16 March
1887; Tuesday, 5 April 1887)
30 May 1887
Pickford,
Christopher (age: 31 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Martin Emmerson committed on 20 February 1887
sentenced on 25
April 1887
On the night of 20 February 1887 Pickford
was seen in the company of his mate Martin Emmerson and several other men, who
were all engaged in the work of constructing the deviation of the Northern
Railway across the Main
Range.
They were drinking together at different hotels at Ravenswoord Junction until 9:20 p.m., when
Pickford and Emmerson, carrying a bottle of whiskey, were last seen going
together along the railway on the Townsville side of the Junction. Emmerson was
subsequently found unconscious, and lying in a pool of
blood, with several wounds on his head, which were inflicted by a crowbar lying
a few yards away. As Pickford had several spots of blood on his trousers, he
was arrested on the same night and charged with murder. His trial took place at
the Charters Towers Circuit Court and he was convicted and sentenced to death
on 25 April. Pickford, a navy, confessed his guilt shortly before he was hanged
at Brisbane
at 8 a.m.
on 30 May 1887,
and attributed the crime to drink. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 26 April
1887; Tuesday, 31 May 1887; The Maitland Mercury, Tuesday, 31 May 1887)
13 June
1887
Harrison,
John (age: 27 / White)
Thompson,
Ellen (age: 41 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: William Thompson committed on 22 October 1886
sentenced on 6 May 1887
William Thompson was shot dead in his home at Port
Douglas on the night of 22
October 1886. His wife alarmed neighbours and
tried to give the impression that her husband had shot himself accidentally or
in the course of suicide. However, Mrs. Thompson and her paramour, John
Harrison, were arrested on a charge of wilful murder, Mrs. Thompson having
instigated Harrison
to kill her husband. At their trial at the Northern Circuit Court at
Townsville, she insisted that she had tried to calm down a quarrel between the
two men, in which course Harrison
accidentally or in self-defence shot Thompson, who had threatened to kill him.
They were convicted and sentenced to death on 6 May 1887. At their
hanging at Boggo Road
gaol, Brisbane,
on 13 June
1887, the rope severed the jugular vein in both
cases and the blood flooded out all over their clothes and onto the floor. (The
Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 11 May 1887; Tuesday, 14 June 1887; The Maitland
Mercury, Tuesday, 14 June 1887)
18 November
1887
Conroy,
William (age: 30 / White) - Western
Australia Perth
Murder victim: John Snook committed on 23 June 1887
sentenced on 7
October 1887
Conroy shot and killed Fremantle Town Councillor John
Snook. On 23 June
1887 Conroy went to the Fremantle
Town Hall
where there was a children's ball in progress He demanded entrance, as he was a
licensee of the "National Arms", but was told by Snook that only
ladies and children were to be admitted. He persisted in his demands and
finally the door was slammed on him. Conroy later gained admittance to the Town
Hall. When Snook left the Supper Room, Conroy followed him, drew a revolver
from his pocket, shot Snook and put the gun back in his pocket. Snook died
several weeks later. Conroy was arrested immediately. His trial took place at Perth
and he was sentenced to death on 7
October 1887. He was hanged at Perth
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 18 November
1887. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 34-5; West Australian, Saturday, 19 November 1887)
29 May 1888
Grace, John
(age unknown / White) - New South
Wales Armidale
Murder victim: John Stapleton committed on 26 January 1888
sentenced on 10
April 1888
On 26
January 1888 the body of John Stapleton was
found at the Hillgrove mines by a party of men who were out possum shooting.
His throat was cut from ear to ear, and his skull battered in. Stapleton was a
prospector (over 50 years old), who was supposed to have had a large sum of
money in his possession. Four days later, the suspected murderer, John Grace,
was arrested. He was charged with murder, stood trial at Armidale District
Court, and was convicted and sentenced to death on 10 April 1888. Grace was
hanged at Armidale gaol on 29
May 1888. (The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 6 February
1888; Wednesday, 11 April 1888; Wednesday, 30 May 1888)
13 June
1888
Cubbergeran
(age unknown / Aborigine) - Western
Australia Rottnest
Murder victim: Indyco committed on
? sentenced on 5
March 1888
Cubbergeran, (or Cabbergerana / Calabungamarra /
Carlaboongumbuna / Carlboongumbarra) alias Arthur, an Aborigine of the North
West, was sentenced to death at
Roebourne on 5 March
1888 for the murder of a Chinese man with the
unlikely name of Indyco. Cubbergeran was executed at Rottnest on 13 June 1886.
(Purdue, Legal Executions in Western Australia, p. 34 <erroneously 1886>;
West Australian, Friday, 6 April 1888; Monday, 16 April 1888; Monday, 4 June
1888; Thursday, 14 June 1888)
11
September 1888
Hewart, Robert
(age unknown / White) - New South Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Thomas Park committed on 25 May 1888
sentenced on 3 August
1888
Robert Hewart horribly mutilated a fellow-prisoner,
Thomas Park, in a cell at the Central Police Court on 25 May 1888.
His trial took place at the Central Criminal Court at Sydney,
where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death on 3 August 1888,
with a recommendation to mercy. Although nine of the twelve jurymen petitioned
the Governor to spare Hewart, the Executive saw no reason to alter its opinion
and let the law take its course. Hewart protested innocence to the last, on the
grounds of being incapable at the time of the crime through drunkenness. He was
hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9:10 a.m.
on 11
September 1888. The assistant executioner
hesitated for several seconds, so that executioner Howard had to pull the lever
himself. (The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 10 September 1888; Wednesday, 12
September 1888; The West Australian, Thursday, 13 September 1888; Te Aroha
News, N.Z., 22 September 1888; Taranaki Herald, New Plymouth, N.Z., 27
September 1888)
8 November
1888
Symes,
George (age unknown / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Elizabeth Clifford committed on 2 October 1888
sentenced on 19
October 1888
George Symes, a blacksmith, killed his mother-in-law,
Mrs. Elizabeth Clifford, at Lilydale, in a quarrel over some family dispute, on
2 October
1888. Symes, who had been separated from his wife
for some time, went to the house where she resided, and which belonged to Mrs.
Clifford. After some altercation, he fired four shots from a revolver at Mrs.
Clifford, one of them taking effect, the bullet passing through her arm into
her left side. Mrs. Clifford died shortly afterwards. Symes was immediately
apprehended, and was charged with murder. His trial took place at Melbourne
Criminal Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 19 October 1888.
The jury recommended mercy, as two of the jurors were opposed to capital
punishment. Symes was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 8 November
1888. (Evening Post, Wellington, N.Z., 3 October
1888; North Otago Times, N.Z., 10 October 1888; The Brisbane Courier, Monday,
22 October 1888; Friday, 9 November 1888; The West Australian, Monday, 8
October 1888; Saturday, 20 October 1888; Monday, 12 November 1888)
12 November
1888
Duhamel, Edmond
(age: 37 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Sarah Ann Descurry committed on 18 August 1888
sentenced on 16
October 1888
Mrs. Sarah Ann Descurry had been living with Edmond
Duhamel (a Frenchman) for some years but lately had been in service at
Wheeler's Hotel, Cork Creek, Croydon. On 18 August 1888
Duhamel found her at Wheeler's in bed with a man named Alfred Ginn. He took her
home and cut her throat in three places. She tried to flee, but he caught her
and brought her back. He afterwards took two large doses of strychnine. A
coach-driver passing Duhamel's home saw them lying covered with blood and
informed the police. The doctors saved him from the effects of the poison, and
he was charged with murder. His trial took place at Normanton Circuit Court,
and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 16 October 1888. Duhamel
was hanged at Boggo Road
gaol, Brisbane,
at 8 a.m.
on 12 November
1888, together with Sedin. (The Brisbane Courier,
Monday, 20 August 1888; Wednesday, 17 October 1888; Tuesday, 13 November 1888)
12 November
1888
Sedin
(age: 24 / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: John Fitzgerald committed on 14 June 1888
sentenced on 15
October 1888
Sedin, a Malay, ran amok in
Normanton, and killed three men, John Fitzgerald, a carpenter, Christian
Mariager (or Meriga), a labourer, and J. P. Davis, also a carpenter. There was
a festival among the Malays on the night of 14 June 1888, and it was
supposed that Sedin with others afterwards ran amok. The murdered men were
lying at their tents near the town lagoon, not far from the Malay camp. The
weapons used were Malay daggers. A riot ensued on the following days, the mob
burning down houses of coloured people. Sedin was charged with the murder of
John Fitzgerald and Christian Mariager. His trial took place at Normanton and
he was convicted of the murder of John Fitzgerald and sentenced to death on 15 October 1888.
Sedin was hanged at Boggo Road
gaol, Brisbane,
at 8 a.m.
on 12 November
1888, together with Edmond Duhamel. (The Brisbane
Courier, Saturday, 16 June 1888; Monday, 18 June 1888; Saturday, 30 June 1888;
Tuesday, 13 November 1888)
8 January
1889
Collins,
Louisa (age unknown / White) - New South Wales -
Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Michael Peter Collins committed on 8 July 1888
- sentenced on 8 December1888
In February 1887 Louisa Collins' first husband,
Charles Andrews, became ill and died after prolonged suffering. Louisa married
her second husband, Michael Peter Collins, shortly afterwards and collected her
first husbands life insurance of £200. In June 1888, Michael also became ill
and died at Botany on 8 July. Suspicion was now aroused and Louisa Collins was
arraigned on murder for the deaths of both husbands, in two trials juries could
not agree, in the third trial concerning the murder of Andrews on 19 November
the jury could also not agree, but in the fourth trial on 8 December 1888 she
was found guilty of the murder of Collins and sentenced to death. Her execution
at Darlinghurst gaol at 9 a.m.
on 8 January
1889 was dreadfully bungled. Initially the drop did
not fall because the safety pin, which allows the lever to operate, had not
been removed. The second round was even worse. She was a woman of some weight
(11st 3 lb), and a drop of five feet had been allowed. When her body came up
with a jerk at the end of the fall the rope literally cut her throat. An awful
gash was visible on her neck, from which a great gush of blood spread over the
lower part of the white cap, while a small stream trickled away down her dark
prison garb and fell in drops in to the pit below. (Newcastle Morning Herald,
Wednesday, 9 January 1889; The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 24 July 1888;
Tuesday, 7 August 1888; Tuesday, 6 November 1888; Friday, 23 November 1888;
Thursday, 6 December 1888; Tuesday, 11 December 1888; Wednesday, 9 January
1889; The Observer, Auckland, N.Z., 12 January 1889; Poverty Bay Herald,
Gisborne, N.Z., 21 January 1889; Evening Post, Wellington, N.Z., 24 January
1889; )
2 March1889
Long Jimmy
(age unknown / Asian) - Western
Australia- - Fremantle
Murder victim: Claude Buchanan Kerr committed on 7 September 1888
sentenced on 21
January 1889
Long Jimmy, alias Jimmy Long, a Malay of Penang,
murdered Claudius Buchanan Kerr on the schooner Dawn at Cossack. Kerr had been
pearling in the area for same time and Long Jimmy was his Head Serang. Kerr was
leaving the Dawn for the alluvial gold fields to try his luck. On 7 September 1888,
he went on board to pack up. After packing, Long Jimmy went into the cabin
where Kerr was and cut his throat. Long Jimmy drank nearly two bottles of arrak
and was too drunk to resist arrest. He was sentenced to death at the Special
Supreme Court at Roebourne on 21
January 1889, and was hanged at Fremantle gaol
at 8 a.m.
on 2 May 1889.
It was the first execution in that gaol. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 35; The West Australian, Tuesday, 2 October 1888; Thursday, 7
February 1889; Monday, 25 February 1889; Monday, 4 March 1889)
18 March
1889
Harrison,
William (age unknown / White) Victoria
Bendigo
Murder victim: John Duggan committed in May 1888
sentenced on 25 February
1889
Harrison
murdered his victim, an old bushman, named John Duggan, in May 1888 by dealing
him two tremendous blows with an axe which smashed his skull in. A sum of money and bank receipts of £670 were stolen from
Duggan's hut. Harrison
was acquitted on his first trial, but was found guilty on the second trial on 25 February 1889.
There was strong suspicion that this tragedy was not Harrison's
first murder. He was believed to have killed a man at Grossy Flat a few years
before. It was also believed that the celebrated Deniliquin case, in which a
man named Cordini was hanged for murdering a hawker, was really the work of Harrison.
The case caused a good deal of excitement in Sydney,
where the matter was brought before the New South Wales Parliament by Mr. James
Fletcher, M.P., who maintained that the murder was not the work of Cordini. Harrison
was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 18 March
1889. (Newcastle Morning Herald, Tuesday, 19 March
1889; The West Australian, Tuesday, 26 February 1889; Saturday, 9 March 1889;
Wednesday, 20 March 1889)
20 August
1889
Morrison,
James (age: 25 / White) - New
South Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: David Sutherland committed on 3 June 1889
sentenced on 19
July 1889
About 2
a.m. on 3 June 1889,
26-year-old Constable David Sutherland was found lying fatally wounded in Macleay
Street, Potts Point. He was
conveyed to the hospital and was able to report that he had tried to apprehend
cabinetmaker James Morrison, who had entered the gates of an adjacent house and
pass toward the rear of the premises, obviously with burglary on his mind.
Morrison had shot him twice. He was arrested on the same day, because his
clothes were saturated with blood, and after Sutherland's death he was charged
with murder at the Water Police Court. His trial took place at the Central
Criminal Court in Sydney,
where he was convicted and sentenced to death on 19 July 1889. Morrison
was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol on 20 August 1889. (The West
Australian, Wednesday, 5 June 1889; Tuesday, 23 July 1889; Wednesday, 21 August
1889; The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 4 June 1889; Wednesday, 21 August 1889)
16
September 1889
Castillo,
Filipe (age: 20 / Asian) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Annie Thornton committed on 8 July 1889
sentenced on 20
August 1889
On the evening of 17 July 1889,
29-year-old Annie Gorrie Thornton was found at her residence in Somerset
place, Carlton,
with her throat cut from ear to ear. She had been dead for a week. Mrs.
Thornton had been living separated from her husband, who was earning his money
in the country, while she "took to an immoral life, and kept company with
a man named Hilton." At first there was strong suspicion that Hilton had
killed Mrs. Thornton, but on 21 July Philip Costello, a Filipino cook, was
arrested. He had gone home with Mrs. Thornton to Carlton,
when a row ensued and she struck him. He cut her throat and took her watch and
two rings. He was charged with wilful murder and stood trial at Melbourne
Criminal Court, where he was convicted and sentenced to death on 20 August 1889.
Castillo was hanged at Melbourne
gaol at 10 a.m.
on 16
September 1889. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 23
July 1889; Wednesday, 31 July 1889; Wednesday, 21 August 1889; Tuesday, 17
September 1889; Northern Territory Times and Gazette, Saturday, 24 August 1889;
The West Australian, Friday, 19 July 1889; Saturday, 20 July 1889; Tuesday, 23
July 1889; Wednesday, 18 September 1889)
16 October
1889
Landells,
Robert (age: 52 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Peter James Sherlock committed on 20 July 1889
sentenced on 25
September 1889
On 21
August 1889, human remains were discovered in a
paddock, about four miles beyond Ringwood. The case remained a mystery until 2
September, when civil engineer Robert Landells was arrested on a charge of
having murdered Peter James Sherlock. Sherlock had boarded with Landells, who
was the first to give information to the detectives as to the murdered man's
identity. No suspicion at first pointed to him as the murderer, but as the detectives
proceeded with their enquiries, the evidence against him grew so strong that
they felt justified in applying a warrant for his arrest. Landells confessed to
the murder, but stated that it was due to an accident. He stood trial at
Melbourne Criminal Court. A number of witnesses testified that the property
entrusted to them by the victim had been applied for by Landells. He was
convicted and sentenced to death on 25 September 1889. Landells
was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 16 October
1889. Death was instantaneous, but the drop was too
long; an artery of the neck was severed, and the blood gushed out, causing a
sickening spectacle. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 3 September 1889;
Wednesday, 25 September 1889; Thursday, 26 September 1889; Thursday, 17 October
1889; The West Australian, Thursday, 26 September 1889)
6 November
1889
Riley,
Thomas (age: 21 / White) - New
South Wales - Wagga Wagga
Murder victim: Christian Eppel committed on 15 September 1889
sentenced on 27
September 1889
Christian Eppel, a 40-year-old drover of German
descent living at Toowoomba, was found murdered about 8 a.m. on 15 September 1889,
on the Wagga Common, some four miles from Wagga. He had been shot while
sleeping. Eppel was in charged of 950 bullocks, which had been sold on 6
September at Albury. Eppel, with six drovers, including Thomas Riley, and a
cook, camped at Wagga Common, Eppel sleeping in his own tent. In the morning of
15 September, a shot was heard, and a boy saw Riley running to get a horse and
ride away very fast. After a chase, Riley was arrested by the police on the
same day, and as he was found with a watch belonging to Eppel in his
possession, he was charged with wilful murder. His trial took place at Wagga
Wagga District Court, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 27 September 1889.
Riley was hanged at Wagga Wagga gaol at 9:20
a.m. on 6 November 1889. (Northern
Territory Times and Gazette, Friday, 25 October 1889; The West Australian,
Monday, 30 September 1889; The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 7 November 1889;
Saturday, 9 November 1889)
8 November
1889
Pres, Arle
(age unknown / Asian) - Western
Australia Fremantle
Murder victim: Louie committed on 8 June 1889
sentenced on 18
October 1889
Arle (or Harry) Pres, either from Singapore
or Java, and Louie, a Filipino, had been working together in the Kimberley
district, cutting grass for a man named William Hibbard. They were employed for
seven weeks up to 8 June, and received £2 a week. Three days after pay-day, a
teamster found Louie's body so far burned as to be almost unrecognizable. An
autopsy showed the cause of death to be a fractured skull. Blacktrackers
identified Pres by his boot marks and he was found in possession of property
owned by Louie. He was sentenced to death on 18 October 1889, and hanged
at Fremantle at 8 a.m.
on 8 November
1889. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western
Australia, p. 35-6; The West Australian, Saturday, 9 November 1889)
2 June 1890
Barry,
Michael (age: 46 / White) Queensland
Rockhampton
Murder victim: Mrs. Barry committed on 26 February 1890
sentenced on 24
April 1890
Michael Barry, an industrious carpenter but also a
heavy drinker, killed his 31-year-old wife on the morning of 26 February 1890
at his home in Rockhampton. The doctor's examination showed that the whole
surface of the woman's body had been beaten to such an extent that the nervous
system had broken down. On the night previous to the murder Barry was drunk, as
he had been so often before and had to be taken by his wife in a cab to their
home on the Range. In the morning he accused his wife of stealing his purse,
but Mrs. Barry stated that she had not got it. Barry then seems to have slowly
killed his wife, striking her with two different pieces of wood, and then with
an axe-handle until she expired. His 11-year-old daughter was the principal
witness of the murder. He sent one of his children for a policeman, to whom he
gave himself up. His trial took place at Rockhampton on 23 April 1890,
and he was convicted and sentenced to death on the following day. Barry was
hanged at Rockhampton gaol at 8
a.m. on 2 June 1890. (The
Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 27 February 1890; Friday, 28 February 1890; Friday,
25 April 1890; Tuesday, 3 June 1890)
18 November
1890
Schmidt,
Albert (age: 30 / White) - New
South Wales - Wagga Wagga
Murder victim: John Young Taylor committed on 7 April 1890
sentenced on 29
September 1890
John Young Taylor, aged 60, and Albert Schmidt, a
German immigrant, left Wagga Wagga on Easter Monday, 7 April 1890, in a
wagonette, ostensibly to go to Cumminaroo, about twelve miles from Wagga. They
had been close companions for some months, Schmidt being employed by Taylor
as a dray driver. Schmidt arrived at Lake Albert
alone, no trace of Taylor
was found, but Schmidt was seen trying to wipe blood marks from the wagon. He
was arrested, and Taylor's
head was found at Old Junee on 11 April, his body on 13 April. Schmidt
confessed that he had killed Taylor
after a drunken quarrel. Taylor
made several derogatory remarks towards him and called him a liar. He then
struck Taylor
with a tomahawk, knocking him out of the wagonette in which they were, and
killing him. Schmidt afterwards cut Taylor's
throat with a razor. He was charged with murder; his trial took place at Wagga
Wagga, and he was convicted and sentenced to death on 29 September 1890:
Schmidt was hanged at Wagga Wagga gaol on 18 November 1890. He was
supposed to have murdered two other men, but he remained silent on those cases.
(The West Australian, 11 April 1890; The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 10 April
1890; Saturday, 12 April 1890; Monday, 14 April 1890; Friday, 18 April 1890;
Thursday, 1 May 1890; Tuesday, 30 September 1890; Wednesday, 19 November 1890;
Tuesday, 25 November 1890; Taranaki Herald, N.Z., 19 April 1890)
16 March
1891
Phelan, John
Thomas (age: 30 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Ada
Charlotte Reynolds Hatton committed on 15 January 1891 sentenced
on 23 February
1891
John Thomas Phelan, an engine driver on the railways,
had been cohabiting with 25-year-old Ada Hatton for two years, when she left
him, presumably for another man. On 15 January 1891 Phelan
found Miss Hatton at her new home at South Yarra
alone, and cut her throat from ear to ear with a table knife. He was in the act
of cutting his own throat, when some neighbours rushed on the scene and
prevented him. He was charged with murder and stood trial at Melbourne Criminal
Court. He was convicted and sentenced to death on 23 February 1891, the jury
recommending him to mercy on the ground that he had received great provocation.
Phelan was hanged at Melbourne
gaol on 16 March
1891. (The Brisbane Courier, Friday, 16 January
1891; Wednesday, 28 January 1891; Tuesday, 24 February 1891; Tuesday, 17 March
1891; Otago Witness, N.Z., 29 January 1891; West Coast Times, Hokitika, N.Z.,
16 February 1891; The West Australian, Wednesday, 25 February 1891)
23 March
1891
Wilson, John
(age: 23 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Stella Leah Marks committed on 25 January 1891
sentenced on 25
February 1891
John Wilson, a tram conductor, was engaged to
24-year-old domestic servant Stella Leah Marks. On 24 January 1891, he saw her
walking arm in arm with another man at Bourke
street
and on seeing this he became jealous. On the next day he demanded an
explanation, and some words passed between them. In the evening, he accompanied
her to her home at Clifton Hill and asked her to go for a walk. He again
demanded explanation about the other man and became enraged. He cut her throat,
killing her instantly. Then he tried to commit suicide, but lacked courage to
do so. He was charged with murder, stood trial at the Melbourne Criminal Court
and was convicted and sentenced to death on 25 February 1891. Wilson
was hanged at Melbourne
gaol at 10 a.m.
on 23 March
1891. (The West Australian, Wednesday, 28 January
1891; The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 27 January 1891; Wednesday, 25 February
1891; Thursday, 26 February 1891; Tuesday, 24 March 1891)
16 April
1891
Ah Chi
(age unknown / Asian) - Western
Australia Fremantle
Murder victim: Ah Gui committed on 3 March 1891
sentenced on 3 April
1891
Ah Chi (or Long Li Ha / Li Ki Hong) attacked Ah Gui
with an axe killing him instantly on 3 March 1891. They were
both working, together with other Chinese workers, for Mr. Monger at his
property "Dalach", six miles from York.
Shortly before that murder, Ah Chi had attacked two other workers and wounded
them so badly it was at first thought it was a triple murder. They allegedly
had stolen £5 of his money. Ah Chi went to the Police and gave himself up. He
was sentenced to death on 3
April 1891, and was hanged at Fremantle at 8 a.m. on 16 April 1891.
(Purdue, Legal Executions in Western Australia, p. 36; The West Australian,
Friday, 17 April 1891)
20 April
1891
Bourke,
Cornelius (age: 73 / White) Victoria
Ballarat
Murder victim: Charles Stewart committed on 23 February 1891
sentenced on 12
March 1891
Cornelius Bourke kicked to death a fellow-prisoner,
76-year-old Charles Stewart, on 23
February 1891 in Hamilton
gaol. They had arrived there from Warrnambool on their way to Portland
gaol to serve six-month terms of hard labour for vagrancy. Stewart was ill, and
the prisoners were placed in one cell, so that Bourke might attend to him.
After hearing great noise in the cell and Stewart calling out, a constable
found Stewart lying on the floor, which was covered with blood, flowing from
wounds on his head and face. Stewart died two hours later. Bourke had a long
history of crime, having served over fifty years in gaol and was transported to
Van Diemen's Land in 1841.
His trial took place at Ballarat and he was convicted of murder and sentenced
to death on 12 March
1891. Bourke was hanged at Ballarat gaol on 20 April 1891.
Standing on the trap, although his elbows being pinioned, he was able to grasp
the iron rail in front of him twice and the coil of the rope once before the
white cap was pulled down over his eyes. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 25
February 1891; Thursday, 26 February 1891; Tuesday, 21 April 1891; Friday, 24
April 1891; West Coast Times, Hokitika, N.Z., 10 March 1891; The West
Australian, Friday, 13 March 1891)
27 April
1891
Chand, Fatta
(age: 21 / Asian) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Mur
Juggo Mull committed on 22
November 1890 sentenced on 24 March 1891
Fatta Chand, an Indian hawker, killed Mur Juggo Mull,
another Indian Hawker, at Healesville on 22 November 1890. The two
were business partners and good friends and had just sold most of their stock.
The victim was attacked while he was asleep. His badly battered and mutilated
body was found in a shallow grave on 27 November. Chand was arrested two days
later and was charged with murder. His trial took place at Melbourne Criminal
Court on 26 February, but the jury was not unanimous and had to be dismissed.
Chand was convicted and sentenced to death after a second trial on 24 March 1891.
He was hanged at Melbourne
gaol at 10 a.m.
on 27 April
1891. Until his last hour he protested his
innocence. (The West Australian, Tuesday, 2 December 1891; Friday, 27 February
1891; Tuesday, 3 March 1891; Thursday, 26 March 1891; Tuesday, 28 April 1891;
The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 2 December 1890; Tuesday, 28 April 1891; Tuapeka
Times, Lawrence, N.Z., 13 May 1891; Marlborough Express, N.Z., 14 May 1891;
Main, Hanged, p. 101-2)
11 May 1891
Wilson, John
(age unknown / White) Victoria
Ballarat
Carnal knowledge victim: unidentified girl
committed on 22 February
1891 sentenced on 13 April 1891
John Wilson committed rape on a girl six years of age.
On Sunday morning, 22
February 1891, the child was playing in the
Eastern Oval at Ballarat, when Wilson
accosted her, and offered her some lollies if she would accompany him to a
lonely part of the reserve. The little girl refused, whereupon Wilson
seized her, dragged her under a palm tree, and raped her. He was captured
immediately after by Mr. Samuel Whiteley, who passed through the reserve, and
charged with criminal assault of a girl under the age of ten. He stood trial at
the Ballarat Supreme Court and was convicted and sentenced to death on 13 April 1891.
At his trial evidence was shown that he had been punished twice for a similar
offence, at Melbourne
in 1875, and at Collingwood in 1889. Wilson
was hanged at Ballarat gaol at 10
a.m. on 11 May 1891. (The West
Australian, Tuesday, 14 April 1891; Tuapeka Times, Lawrence, N.Z., 29 April
1891; The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 30 April 1891; Tuesday, 12 May 1891;
Otago Witness, N.Z., 21 May 1891)
18 May 1891
Johnston,
James (age: 30 / White) Victoria
Ballarat
Murder victim: Mary Gourlay Johnston and four
children committed on 8
December 1890 sentenced on 10 April 1891
James Johnston, a well-known stock and station agent,
killed his four children (Queenie, 8 years; Ruby, 7 years; Gordon, 3 years, and
Pearl, 2 years)
by smothering them in their beds, on 8 December 1890. He then
shot his wife, Mary Gourlay Johnston, through the head, and finished by
poisoning himself. Mrs. Johnston died shortly afterwards, and Johnston
stayed in hospital for more than two months in a critical condition. He was
charged with murder on 11
March 1891 and stood trial at Ballarat Supreme
Court. He was convicted and sentenced to death on 10 April 1891. His
execution was set for 11
May 1891, but as doubts arose as to his sanity, his
execution was postponed and Johnston
was examined by a medical board whose three doctors pronounced him to be quite
sane on 13 May. Johnston
was hanged at Ballarat gaol at 10
a.m. on 18 May 1891. (The West
Australian, Monday, 9 February 1891; Friday, 13 March 1891; Monday, 13 April
1891; The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 10 December 1890; Wednesday, 13 May
1891; Thursday, 14 May 1891; Tuesday, 19 May 1891)
2 June 1891
Hansen, Lars
Peter (age unknown / White) - New
South Wales Dubbo
Murder victim: Charles Duncker committed on 28 September 1890
sentenced on 14
April 1891
Lars Peter Hansen (a Dane) killed Charles Duncker (a
German) at Peak Hill on 28
September 1890. He was arrested on 4 October.
Hansen confessed his crime on 19
January 1891, and told the judge that he had met
Duncker at Peak Hill and that they had camped together. They allegedly had a
row, and Duncker fired a revolver at him, and he cut him down with a tomahawk.
However, after Duncker's body had been discovered by the police, they concluded
from evidence that Duncker had been murdered in his sleep. Hansen was charged
with wilful murder. His trial took place at Dubbo Circuit Court and he was
convicted and sentenced to death on 14 April 1891. Hansen was
hanged at Dubbo gaol on 2
June 1891. (The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 2
October 1890; Friday, 3 October 1890; Monday, 6 October 1890; Friday, 17
October 1890; Tuesday, 20 Janaury 1891; Thursday, 22 January 1891; Thursday, 16
April 1891; Wednesday, 3 June 1891; The West Australian, Friday, 17 April 1891;
Thursday, 4 June 1891)
17 August
1891
Cooley,
Arthur (age: 19 / White) Tasmania
Hobart
Murder victim: Mary Ogilvie committed on 14 May 1891
sentenced on 30
July 1891
On 14
May 1891 Mrs. Mary Ogilvie from Richmond
went into a field to gather mushrooms. She was later found dead with her head
partially blown off by a gunshot. Her body had been thrown into the river.
Arthur Cooley was soon arrested. The supposed motive was that the victim's
husband, a well-known and respected magistrate, had been subpoenaed as a
witness in a criminal charge pending against Cooley, who was out on bail.
Cooley's trial took place at Hobart Supreme Court and he was convicted and
sentenced to death on 30
July 1891. He was hanged at Campbell
Street gaol, Hobart,
on 17 August
1891. (Marlborough Express, N.Z., 19 May 1891;
Wanganui Herald, N.Z., 29 May 1891; The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 19 August
1891; Tuapeka Times, Lawrence, N.Z., 2 September 1891; Davis, The Tasmanian
Gallows, p. 72)
24 August
1891
Colston,
William (age unknown / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Mary Elizabeth Davis committed on 20 February 1891
sentenced on 18
July 1891
At Narbethong, William Davis and his wife, Mary
Elizabeth Davis, were murdered on the night of 20 February 1891. Mr. Davis
was found near the main road, his head and face battered past all recognition,
his throat was cut. Mrs. Davis was found dead on her bed at the house. Her head
had received a massive blow, and her throat was horribly gashed. Suspicion soon
fell on Colston, but he was not arrested until 31 March at Yarra Glen. He was
charged with wilful murder of Mary Elizabeth Davis and stood trial at Melbourne
Criminal Court, being found guilty and sentenced to death on 18 July 1891.
Colston was hanged at Melbourne
gaol at 10 a.m.
on 24 August
1891. From his confession it seems that the murder
was an act of revenge on Mrs. Davis. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 24
February 1891; Thursday, 2 April 1891; Monday, 20 July 1891; The West
Australian, Wednesday, 25 February 1891; Thursday, 5 March 1891; Tuesday, 7
April 1891; Friday, 17 July 1891; Tuesday, 21 July 1891; Tuesday, 25 August
1891; Poverty Bay Herald, N.Z., 20 August 1891)
17 November
1891
Dalton, Maurice
(age: 72 / White) - New South
Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Catherine Dalton committed on 14 April 1891
sentenced on 5
October 1891
Maurice Dalton, living at Foveaux
Street, Surry Hills, battered his
wife Catherine to death with a branding iron, on 14 April 1891. On that
day, Mrs. Arthur, one of Mrs. Dalton's lodgers, heard the couple quarrelling,
but left the house. Upon her return, she found Mrs. Dalton lying on the kitchen
floor in a pool of blood. Her skull had been broken in several places. Two days
before her death Mrs. Dalton (who was about 50 years old) had definitely stated
that she would not support her idle husband any longer. She took in lodgers and
also did a good deal of needlework t make ends meet but her husband was
anything but grateful, and there was continual bickering between the pair. Dalton
was charged with wilful murder, and stood trial at the Central Criminal Court
at Sydney.
He was convicted and sentenced to death on 5 October 1891. Dalton
was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9 a.m.
on 17 November
1891. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 15 April
1891; Wednesday, 18 November 1891; The West Australian, Thursday, 16 April
1891; Wednesday, 18 November 1891)
26 November
1891
Mallalieu,
Harold Dutton (age 19 / White) - New
South Wales Dubbo
Murder victim: Jerome Carey committed on
sentenced on 9 October
1891
Harold Dutton Mallalieu (alias Harold Massey, alias
Michael Black, a native of California)
killed Jerome Carey (alias John Wilson) on the Monagee
Road near Nyngan. Both were young men,
travelling the country in search of sheep shearing work. Mallalieu confessed to
the murder, stating that they had a quarrel about being union or non-union. In
the course of that quarrel, Carey allegedly made a rush a Mallalieu with a
sheath knife, cutting his hand. Mallalieu then snatched the knife from Carey
and stabbed him in the breast, killing him almost instantly. He subsequently
attempted to burn the body on a camp fire, and then cleared out with the horses
and Carey's property. Mallalieu was charged with wilful murder. His trial took
place at Dubbo Circuit Court, and evidence disproved Mallalieu's statement that
Carey had been killed in a quarrel. Mallalieu was convicted of murder and
sentenced to death on 9
October 1891. He was hanged at Dubbo gaol on 26 November 1891.
(The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 4 April 1891; Saturday, 10 October 1891;
Friday, 27 November 1891; Otago Witness, N.Z., 9 April 1891; West Coast Times, Hokitika,
N.Z., 9 November 1891)
18 February
1892
Corrondine
(age unknown / Aborigine)
Tchawada ( age unknown / Aborigine)
Terribie
(age unknown / Aborigine) - Western
Australia - Mt.
Dockerell
Murder victim: Mr. Millar committed on 27 June 1891
sentenced on 4
November 1891
Terribie, alias Tomahawk, Tchawada, alias Jumbo, and
Corrondine, alias Dick, had murdered William Scott while he was digging a hole
in the bed of a creek fossicking for gold. They clubbed and speared him,
throwing his body behind a ridge. Police tried to arrest them on 10 January 1888,
but were not successful. A second Police expedition was sent out after the
murder of Mr. Millar on 27
June 1891 and was more successful, and the
three were taken to Roebourne, where a trial was held and all three were
sentenced to death on 4
November 1891. They were hanged at Mount
Dockerell,
near the murder site, on 18
February 1892, in the presence of 67 Aborigines.
(Purdue, Legal Executions in Western Australia, p. 37-9; The West Australian,
Wednesday, 19 August 1891; Thursday, 24 March 1892; Northern Territory Times
and Gazette, Friday, 25 December 1891; Friday 25 March 1892; The West
Australian, Monday, 2 May 1892 <citing Northern Territory Times of 25 March
1892>)
25 April
1892
Donald (age:
29 / Aborigine) Queensland
Brisbane
Rape victim: Mrs. T. Scott committed on ? sentenced on 23 March 1892
Donald, a Cangooloo Aborigine, pleaded guilty on 14 January 1892
to having committed a rape on Mrs. T. Scott, of Hornet Bank. He was committed
for sentence and escorted to Roma, where he was sentenced to death at the
Supreme Court by Mr. Justice Real, on 23 March 1892. Donald was
hanged at Brisbane
at 8 a.m.
on 25 April
1892. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 20 January
1892; Thursday, 24 March 1892; Tuesday, 26 April 1892; Wednesday, 4 May 1892)
29 April
1892
Sin Cho Chi
(age unknown / Asian) Western
Australia Fremantle
Murder victim: George Fairhead committed probably
in September 1891 sentenced on 3
March 1892
Sin Cho Chi (or Chan An / Lin
Chi Chew) murdered George Fairhead at Millstream. Fairhead was said to have
been a good natured man who lived at an camp on
Millstream Station. Sin Cho Chi attacked him with a tomahawk and butcher's
knife and hacked him to death. He hid in the bush for two months before he was
arrested and charged. He stood trial at Roebourne before Commissioner Roe and
was sentenced to death on 3
March 1892. He was hanged at Fremantle at 8 a.m. on 29 April 1892,
along with Chew Fang. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western Australia, p. 39-40;
The West Australian, Friday 27 November 1891; Monday, 7 March 1892; Saturday,
30 April 1892)
29 April
1892
Chew Fang
(age unknown / Asian)
Lyee Nyee
(age unknown / Asian)
Young Quong
(age unknown / Asian) - Western
Australia Fremantle
Murder victim: Ah Ping committed on 23 December 1891
sentenced on 14
March 1892
Young Quong (or Yang Turk), Chew Fang (or Choo Fong /
Chow Yang) and Lyee Nyee (or Hing Nye / See Nigee) murdered Ah Ping (or Pang) at
Mekka station on 23
December 1891. They were observed arguing on that
day, and a short time later, Peter Gibbons, the assistant manager of the
station, found Ah Ping lying in a pool of blood. He had a deep gash on his
temple and his right foot was almost severed. Both blows had been inflicted
with a heavy axe. The three were sentenced to death at Geraldton on 14 March 1892,
and were hanged at Fremantle on 29
April 1892. Chew Fang was hanged with Sin Cho
Chi (who had murdered George Fairhead), and Lyee Nyee and Young Quong were
hanged half an hour later. (Purdue, Legal Executions in Western Australia, p.
40; The West Australian, Tuesday, 15 March 1892; Saturday, 30 April 1892)
23 May 1892
Deeming,
Frederick Bayley (age: 38 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Emily Mather Deeming committed on 24 December 1891
sentenced on 2 May 1892
Frederick Bayley Deeming (born at Birkenhead,
Cheshire,
England)
married Marie James on 28
February 1880. The couple had three daughters,
Bertha, Marie, and Martha, and a son, Sidney. Deeming was working under
different names in different places in Australia,
England
and South Africa,
and several times served prison terms for fraud. In Beverley, Yorkshire,
he married Miss Helen Matheson on 18 February 1890, and was
convicted of fraud, but not of bigamy. On 22 September 1891 at St. Anne's,
Rainhill, Deeming married Emily Lydia Mather, under the name of Williams, and
rented a cottage at 57 Andrew Street, Windsor (Victoria), where on 24 December
1891 he battered his wife round the head, cut her throat and buried her under
the second bedroom hearthstone, cementing her body in with materials he had
bought a week earlier. On 3
March 1892 a disagreeable smell at 57
Andrew Street led to the
discovery of Emily Mather's body. Deeming was arrested on 11 March. Further
investigations led to the discovery of the bodies of his wife Marie and their
four children, who had been buried under the cemented floor of the Dinham Villa
kitchen, at Rainham, Lancashire,
on 10 August
1891. Deeming had strangled to death his wife and
Bertha and cut the throats of his younger children, to get rid of evidence of
his first marriage. He was charged with the murder of Emily Mather and stood
trial at the Melbourne Criminal Court, where he was convicted and sentenced to
death on 2 May 1892.
Deeming was hanged at Melbourne
gaol at 10 a.m.
on 23 May 1892.
(The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 24 May 1892; The West Australian, Tuesday, 24
May 1892, p. 4-7; Wednesday, 25 May 1892; Australian Dictionary of Biography)
26
September 1892
Horrocks,
Frank Charles (age: 17 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Rudolph Weissmόller committed on 5 April 1892
sentenced on 2 September
1892
20-year-old Rudolph Weissmόller arrived in Queensland
on 31 March
1892 aboard the R.M.S. Tara. He had no personal friends nor relatives in the colony, but had a
quiet and amiable disposition and had assisted the surgeon-superintendent on
the voyage, receiving an allowance of £5. Weissmόller took up his quarters at a
boarding-house on the south side of the river at Brisbane,
kept by Mrs. Mόhl, where he became acquainted with Frank Charles Horrocks.
Horrocks had left his parents' home and was living a "precarious kind of
existence". On 5 April Weissmόller left the boarding house and was last
seen alive in the company of Horrocks at Mooraree railway station.
Weissmόller's body was found with deep gashes in the back of his head, a little
way from the station. Horrocks was arrested on 9 April near Tallebudgera.
Bloodstains were found on his clothes, stemming from the wounds he inflicted on
his victim with a tomahawk. Horrocks stood trial at the Brisbane Supreme Court
and was convicted and sentenced to death on 2 September 1892. Horrocks
was hanged at Brisbane
at 8 a.m.
on 26 September
1892. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 27 September
1892; The West Australian, Wednesday, 28 September 1892)
24 October
1892
Gleeson,
Charles (age: 27 / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Patrick McKiernan committed on 11 May 1892
sentenced on 23
September 1892
Charles Gleeson (a Eurasian of Calcutta) killed
24-year-old diver Patrick McKiernan on 11 May 1892 at Prince
of Wales Island, situated a little to the southeast
of Thursday Island. Before the
murder an unhappy difference arose between Gleeson and one of the owners of the
pearl shelling stations at which he was employed, and which belonged to the
brothers Cussens. Gleesons was angered by a reprimand and did not seem to have
got over it by the next morning. He expressed his determination to go over to Thursday
Island but was forbidden to do so by Mr. Cussens. This
did not improve matters, and after a short absence from the station he returned
wth a gun. Patrick McKiernan and a second man met Gleeson on the veranda,
retreated when they saw the nasty disposition which Gleeson manifested, and
McKiernan took up an old but unloaded revolver, with which he confronted
Gleeson, who at once fired twice, one shot passing through McKiernan's neck and
the other through his heart. Death was instantaneous. Gleeson immediately after
committing the murder expressed his horror at what he had done, as he didn't
really harbour any bad feelings against the man he had just killed. Gleeson was
charged with murder and stood trial at Cooktown, where he was convicted and
sentenced to death by Mr. Justice Noel. Gleeson was hanged at Brisbane
at 8 a.m.
on 24 October
1892, along with Leonardo Moncado. (The Brisbane
Courier, Thursday, 12 May 1892; Saturday, 24 September 1892; Monday, 3 October
1892; Tuesday, 25 October 1892)
24 October
1892
Moncado,
Leonardo William (age: 42 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Bob committed on sentenced on 23 September 1892
Moncado (a native of Chile)
was engaged as a cook on board the barque Sketty Belle, a vessel engaged in the
Northern coasting trade, and his victim, Bob, an aboriginal boy from South
Australia, was also on board as a
cabin-boy at the time of the murder. The newspapers stated that it was
"impossible to speak of the nature of the relations which existed between
Moncado and Bob" , and that it was "equally
impossible to speak of the crime for which Moncado paid the last penalty of the
law." After murdering his victim on 24 May 1892 he chopped
the remains to pieces. The hacked portions of the body were thrown overboard,
with the exception of some pieces afterwards found in Moncado's bunk. At first
it appeared as if Moncado would escape the penalty as the pieces of Bob's body
could not be retrieved from the sea. But awaiting his trial he was incarcerated
with Charles Gleeson, to whom he confessed the murder and the reasons for
committing it, "which were perhaps more horrible than the murder
itself." Moncado was convicted and sentenced to death after a two days
trial at Cooktown He was hanged at Brisbane
at 8 a.m.
on 24 October
1892, along with Charles Gleeson. (The Brisbane
Courier, Thursday, 26 May 1892; Monday, 30 May 1892; Saturday, 24 September
1892; Tuesday, 25 October 1892; The West Australian, Thursday 9 June 1892)
29 November
1892
Jimmy Tong
(age unknown / Asian) - New South
Wales Armidale
Murder victim: Harry King committed on or about 8 November 1892
sentenced on ?
On or about 8 November 1891 a Chinese fruiterer named
Harry King, who had the reputation of being quiet and inoffensive, was found in
his hut at Walcha with his head terribly battered in, apparently with a
tomahawk. The police arrested another Chinese man, Jimmy Tong, who had numerous
marks of blood on his clothing. Jimmy Tong was charged with wilful murder,
stood trial at the Armidale Circuit Court and was convicted and sentenced to
death. He was hanged at Armidale gaol on 29 November 1892.
(The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 10 November 1891;
Tuesday, 17 November 1891; Evening Post, Wellington, N.Z., 20 November 1891;
Wednesday, 30 November 1892; The West Australian, Thursday, 1 December 1892)
20 March
1893
Cooperabiddy
(age unknown / Aborigine) - Western
Australia Roebourne
Murder victim: James Coppin committed on 12 August 1892
sentenced on 8
December 1892
Cooperabiddy (alias Billy) was charged, together with
Midderabing, Cuggerubing (alias Georgie), and Chulba (alias Mick) with the
murder of James Coppin, a "half-caste", at Hamersley
Range,
on 12 August
1892. Although witnesses stated that all four were
directly implicated in the murder, Chulba, who set up an alibi, was found not
guilty, and the other three guilty and sentenced to death at the Special
Sessions at Roebourne on 8
December 1892. Cooperabiddy was hanged at
Roebourne at 8 a. m. on 20
March 1893. (Purdue, Legal Executions in
Western Australia, p. 40; The West Australian, Friday 9 December 1892 and
Wednesday, 22 March 1893)
13 June
1893
Smedley,
Edward (age unknown / White) - New South Wales -
Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Phoebe Smedley committed on 20 February 1893
sentenced on 13
April 1893
On 20
February 1893, Edward Smedley, a cook at the
Volunteer Arms Hotel in Quirindi, stabbed his wife death. He suddenly and
apparently without provocation attacked his wife, Phoebe Smedley, who was engaged
in the kitchen washing up, with a carving knife, and stabbed her in the back.
She immediately rushed from the kitchen into the dining room, followed by her
husband, who, seizing her, placed her neck across his knees and cut her throat.
The scuffle attracted the attention of some people who were standing outside
the house, and one of them, John Johns, a blacksmith, felled Smedley with two
large stones, rendering him unconscious. Smedley was immediately arrested and
charged with murder. He stood trial at the Tamworth Circuit Court and was
convicted and sentenced to death on 13 April 1893. Smedley
was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9 a.m.
on 13 June
1893. (The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 23 February
1893; Thursday, 13 April 1893; Wednesday, 14 June 1893; The West Australian,
Wednesday, 22 February 1893; Friday, 14 April 1893; Thursday, 15 June 1893)
11 July
1893
Archer,
George Martin Walter (age unknown / White) - New South
Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Emma Harrison committed on 26 March 1893
sentenced on 10
June 1893
The body of 36-year-old dressmaker Emma Harrison was
found in her bedroom at the residence of John Osborne at Burton
Street, Woolloomooloo, on 26 March 1893.
George Archer, Mr. Osborne's son-in-law, who was also living in that house, was
arrested the next day. Blood stains were found on his shirt and trousers. He
had raped Miss Harrison and strangled her to death. He stood trial at the
Central Criminal Court and was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death on
10 June
1893. He was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9 a.m.
on 11 July
1893. When his body fell, the rope had slipped, and
the knot came directly under the chin. Archer struggled for several minutes,
groaning and violently kicking about, before he died. (The Brisbane Courier,
Tuesday, 28 March 1893; Wednesday, 29 March 1893; Saturday, 8 April 1893;
Tuesday, 11 April 1893; Wednesday, 12 April 1893; Thursday, 13 April 1893;
Saturday, 15 April 1893; Tuesday, 13 June 1893; Wednesday, 12 July 1893; The West
Australian, Monday, 24 July 1893)
15 July
1893
Charles
Flannagan (age unknown / Aborigine) Northern
Territory Darwin
Murder victim: Samuel B. Croker committed on 19 September 1892
sentenced on 16
February 1893
Charles Flannagan (or Flannigan), alias McManus, an
Aboriginal "half-caste" from Queensland,
killed Samuel Croker, manager of Auvergne Station. On 10 September 1892,
Flannagan rode up to the station in quest of a job. He was subsequently
employed as a hand on the station, and all went well until 19 September. In the
evening of that day Croker, John PcPhee, Joe Ah Wah and Flannagan spent some
time playing cribbage; after playing three games, Flannagan rose from the table
and went to get a drink of water from a cask on the verandah. The next thing
heard was a rifle shot, and Croker staggered, being shot. The other two ran to
shelter and heard a second shot, Flannagan finishing Croker. Flannagan was
tried at the Circuit Court at Darwin
on 16 February
1893 and was sentenced to death. He was hanged at Fannie
Bay
gaol near Darwin
at 9 a.m.
on 15 July
1893. This was the first hanging in the Northern
Territory (The Brisbane Courier,
Tuesday, 21 February 1893; West Australian, Monday, 17 July 1893; Northern
Territory Times and Gazette, Friday, 9 December 1892; Friday, 21 July 1893)
25 July
1893
Wandy Wandy
(age unknown / Aborigine) Northern
Territory Malay
Bay
Murder victims: six unidentified Malays committed
in May 1892 sentenced on 14
February 1893
Wandy Wandy, an aged Aborigine, played a leading part
in the massacre of the captain and five members of his crew of a shipwrecked
proa at Mandool, Malay
Bay,
on an unspecified day about May 1892. The Malays had asked the Aborigines to
direct them to Tingha's camp at Port Essington, and after walking a long distance, the Aborigines suddenly turned on the six Malays
and killed them. They returned to the proa, which they looted and burnt. Eight
Aborigines were tried for the murder at Palmerston Circuit Court, Wandy Wandy,
Goolarduo, Capoonda, Minaedge, Ingeewaraky, Dooramite, Angareeda, Marakite,
Mangerippy and all were sentenced to death on 14 February 1893. The
Executive confirmed the death sentences of the first four men, but on 19 July
decided that only Wandy Wandy should hang. The Deputy Sheriff left Port Darwin
by steamship on 23
July 1893 with Wandy Wandy to be hanged at Malay
Bay.
The portable gallows was landed and erected at a camp much frequented by
Aborigines. The execution took place on the evening of 25 July in the presence
of about 30 Aborigines. (Northern Territory Times and Gazette, Friday, 17
February 1893; Friday, 7 July 1893; Friday, 21 July 1893; Friday, 28 July 1893;
Friday, 11 August 1893; Friday, 15 January 1904)
15 August
1893
Makin, John
(age: 48 / White) - New South
Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Murder victim: Horace Murray and a second
unidentified infant committed on 29 June 1892 sentenced
on 30 March
1893
Baby farmers John Makin and his wife Sarah came to
police attention in October 1892 when workmen uncovered the bodies of two
children at Burren Street,
Macdonaldtown. John and Sarah Makin, who were charged with their teenage
daughters Blanche and Florence,
swore that there had been only one infant in their care while there and it had
been returned to its parents. A coroners jury returned
open verdicts. But five more bodies were found at Burren
Street and police dug in eleven
backyards were the Makins had lived since 1890, recovering thirteen bodies in
all. In December inquests were held into the deaths of four more of the
infants, one of whom was Horace Murray, born on 30 May 1892, the
illegitimate son of Amber Murray, who advertised for someone to adopt the baby.
After Makin accepted £3, his daughter Blanche collected the healthy baby on 27
June, two days before the family departed suddenly for Burren
Street. Horace was obviously
poisoned and died on 29
June 1892. John and Sarah Makin stood trial
at the Melbourne Criminal Court and were found guilty of the murder of Horace
Murray and another baby on 9
March 1893 and were sentenced to death on 30
March. Sarah Makin's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the
Executive Council on 11 April. John Makin was hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
at 9 a.m.
on 15 August
1893. (The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 5 November
1892; Tuesday, 8 November 1892; Wednesday, 9 November 1892; Thursday, 10
November 1892; Friday, 11 November 1892; Tuesday, 15 November 1892; Thursday,
17 November 1892; Friday, 18 November 1892; Tuesday, 29 November 1892;
Thursday, 22 December 1892; Tuesday, 7 March 1893; Saturday, 11 March 1893;
Wednesday, 16 August 1893; Saturday, 19 August 1893; The West Australian,
Saturday, 1 April 1893; Thursday, 13 April 1893; Wednesday, 16 August 1893;
Australian Dictionary of Biography)
28 August
1893
Conder, John (age:
58 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Kaiza Singh committed on 22 January 1893
sentenced on 27
July 1893
John Conder, a selector at Gippsland, was arrested on 14 April 1893,
charged with larceny of the horse and goods of Kaiza Singh, an Indian Hawker,
who had been missing since 22
January 1893. On the following day charred bones
were discovered at Conder's house at Buchan, along with buttons and a belt
buckle, which were also identified as belonging to Kaiza Singh by his former
travelling mate J. J. Mahommet. The Police Court at Bruthen charged Conder with
the murder of Kaiza Singh, and he stood trial at the Sale Criminal Court and
was found guilty sentenced to death on 27 July 1893. Conder was
hanged at Melbourne
gaol at 10 a.m.
on 28 August
1893. Up to his last hour he protested his
innocence. (Tuapeka Times, N.Z., 3 May 1893; 16 August 1893; The West
Australian, Friday, 28 April 1893; Saturday, 29 July 1893; Tuesday, 29 August
1893; The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 11 May 1893; Tuesday, 29 August 1893)
23 October
1893
Blantern,
George Thomas (age: 35 / White) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Flora Macdonald committed on 7 May 1893
sentenced on 21
September 1893
George Blantern killed Flora Macdonald on 7 May 1893
with an axe, fracturing the skull of the young woman while she was sleeping in
her room at Marlborough
station, in the Central district. Her clothes and bed-sheets showed marks of a
fire extinguished with water. Blantern was at once suspected and arrested
several hours later. He readily admitted the murder, but stated that he didn't
know what possessed him to do it. Miss Macdonald had told him shortly before
she was killed that she had changed her mind and would not marry him. He stood
trial at the Rockhampton Supreme Court, first pleaded guilty but on the advice
of his solicitor alter the plea to one of not guilty.
He was convicted and sentenced to death on 21 September 1893. Blantern
was hanged at Brisbane
at 8 a.m.
on 23 October
1893. (The Brisbane Courier, Friday, 19 May 1893;
Tuesday, 24 October 1893)
24 November
1893
Hoy, Jimmy
(age unknown / Asian) - New South
Wales Mudgee
Murder victim: Ah Fook committed on 4 July 1893
sentenced in October 1893
Ah Fook, a shopkeeper in Lewis
Street, Mudgee, and Jimmy Hoy (a
converted Chinese Christian) had lived together for three months, when on 4 July 1893
Hoy attacked Ah Fook with an American axe and struck him in the throat,
knocking him down. There were great gashes on the check and also on the neck.
The body lay in a pool of blood for some hours, and was then dragged by Hoy
into his own room, where it was discovered on the next day. Ah Fook was
generally respected, while Jimmy Hoy was called "a little eccentric".
He stood trial at Mudgee Criminal Court and was convicted and sentenced to
death sometime in October 1893. Jimmy Hoy was hanged at Mudgee gaol at 9 a.m. on 24 November 1893.
(The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 8 July 1893; Saturday, 25 November 1893; The
West Australian, Thursday, 9 November 1893)
29 November
1893
Glasson,
Edwin Hubert (age unknown / White) - New
South Wales Bathurst
Murder victims: John William Phillips and Frances
Letitia Cavanagh committed on 24
Sept. 1893 sentenced on 21 Oct. 1893
Edwin Hubert Glasson, a stock and station agent at
Carcoar, being short of money and having overdrawn his account at the City Bank
of Carcoar for more than £49, entered that bank by a back window which had been
left unfastened, on the night of Sunday, 24 September 1893, with a mask over
his face. His object was robbery but he had provided himself with an axe which
had a razor-like edge. He was confronted by the manager, Mr. John William
Phillips, who had a revolver, accompanied by his wife. Glasson knocked the
candle out of her hand and began striking heavy blows on Mr. Phillips, killing
him. Mrs. Phillips fled to her bedroom, but was also struck a violent blow on
her head, wounding her severely. Glasson demanded the keys of the safe, but
they were not in the house. He spared Miss Stoddard (Mrs. Phillips's sister),
but Miss Frances Cavanaugh, who also lived in the house, had met Glasson on the
staircase with a baby on her arms, and was killed in the same way as Mr.
Phillips. Mrs. Phillips had been able to pull the mask from Glasson's face,
recognized him and gave evidence to identify him. He stood trial at Bathurst
Circuit Court and was convicted and sentenced to death on 21 October 1893.
Glasson was hanged at Bathurst
gaol at 9 a.m.
on 29 November
1893. (The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 26 September
1893; Wednesday, 27 September 1893; Friday, 29 September 1893; Saturday, 30
September 1893; 20 October 1893; Saturday, 21 October 1893; Monday, 23 October
1893; Thursday, 30 November 1893; The West Australian, Thursday, 30 November
1893)
15 January
1894
Knorr, Frances Lydia Alice
(age: 26 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: unidentified baby girl committed on
or about 11 April
1893 sentenced on 15 December 1893
Frances Knorr (also known as Minnie Thwaites) was
arrested on 6 September
1893 following the discovery of the corpses of three
infants in premises in Moreland
Road at Brunswick,
Melbourne, that she had occupied. She had
turned to "baby farming", without being licensed, during the
financial depression in 1892, while her husband, Rudolph Knorr, was serving a
gaol term in Adelaide for selling off the family's partially paid-for
furniture. It was impossible to find out the accurate number of children she
had taken in care, but police estimated the number at twelve to thirteen. She
stood trial for the murder of one female baby at the Melbourne Criminal Court
and was convicted on 2
December 1893. After the Full
Court rejected her appeal, she was
sentenced to death on 15 December. Mrs. Knorr was hanged at Melbourne
at 10 a.m.
on 15 January
1894. The normal hangman for Melbourne
committed suicide on 6 January as he could not bring himself to execute a
woman. (The Brisbane Courier, Thursday, 7 September 1893; Friday, 8 September
1893; Saturday, 9 September 1893; Saturday, 23 September 1893; Friday 13 October
1893; Tuesday, 9 January 1894; Tuesday, 16 January 1894; The West Australian,
Wednesday, 29 November 1893; Friday, 1 December 1893; Saturday, 2 December
1893; Monday, 4 December 1893; Saturday, 16 December 1893; Monday, 18 December
1893; Tuesday, 16 January 1894; Thursday, 25 January 1894; Australian
Dictionary of Biography)
19 March
1894
Knox, Ernest
(age: 21 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Isaac Samwell Crawcoar committed on
12 January
1894 sentenced on 17 February 1894
In the early morning hours of 12 January 1894,
two burglars entered the house of Mr. Michael Crawcoar, a pawnbroker and
financial agent, in Nelson
Place, Williamstown. Mr. Crawcoar
was alarmed by electric burglar alarms in his bedroom and came downstairs with
a bulldog revolver to catch the burglars. One of the men, Charles Jent, managed
to escape, the other one, Ernest Knox (alias Walter Jamieson) had a fight with
young Isaac Crawcoar in which the latter was wounded by one bullet. Knox was
arrested immediately and Jent shortly afterwards. Young Crawcoar died of his
wounds on the next day, and Knox and Jent were charged with murder. They stood
trial, and were convicted, Knox being sentenced to death and Jent to three
years imprisonment with hard labour, on 17 February 1894. Knox was
hanged at Melbourne
at 10 a.m.
on 19 March
1894. (The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 17 January
1894; Friday, 16 February 1894; Tuesday, 20 March 1894; The West Australian,
Monday, 19 February 1894; Tuesday, 20 March 1894)
28 May 1894
Abe, Hatsuro
(age: 31 / Asian) Queensland
Brisbane
Murder victim: Omatzie committed on 27 January 1894
sentenced on 24
April 1894
Hatsuro Abe, a Japanese sailor and diver, killed a
young Japanese widow named Omatzie on Thursday
Island. Abe had become very much smitten on her and
made overtures to marry her, but these she resolutely declined to listen to. He
pestered her but she steadily declined his advances and finally on 27 January 1894,
he took a Japanese dagger and killed the young woman, stabbing her in the
breast. He tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide, but his wounds were not
severe. He stood trial at Cooktown and was convicted and sentenced to death on 24 April 1894.
Abe was hanged at Brisbane
at 8 a.m.
of 28 May 1894.
(The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 29 January 1894; Tuesday, 24 April 1894;
Wednesday, 25 April 1894; Tuesday, 29 May 1894; Boggo Road Gaol Historical
Society)
31 May 1894
Montgomery,
Charles (age: 30 / White)
Williams,
Thomas (age: 21 / White) - New
South Wales - Darlinghurst gaol
Attempted murder victim: Constable Bowden
committed on 2 February
1894 sentenced on 3 April 1894
In the early morning of 2 February 1894, Constables
Ball, McCourt, and Lyons saw three men leaving the Union Company's offices in Bridge
Street, Sydney,
and being suspicious of their appearance, they followed the men. When the
constables got close in them the men suddenly turned round. Drawing heavy iron
jimmies, they each aimed terribly effective blows a the
heads of the constables. Constable Ball was the only one escaping severe
wounds, and he continued pursuing the men, crying for the help of other
policemen. In Phillip
Street, at the Water Police
Station, Montgomery and Williams were captured after severe struggles with the
policemen, several of whom were inured, and two men suffered severely from
fracture of the skull, including Constable Bowden. The third man escaped and
was never captured. Montgomery and Williams were charged with wounding
Constable Bowden with intent to murder. They stood trial at the Central
Criminal Court and were convicted and sentenced to death on 3 April 1894.
Montgomery and Williams were hanged at Darlinghurst gaol, Sydney,
on 31 May 1894.
On falling through the trap, Williams' arm became caught in the rope, which
caused severe struggles. The assistant hangman had to shake the rope violently
to release it from the arm. Williams slowly suffocated, while Montgomery's
death was instantaneous. (The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 3 February 1894;
Wednesday, 4 April 1894; Friday, 1 June 1894; The West Australian, Thursday, 5
April 1894; Tuesday, 6 February 1894; Friday, 1 June 1894;
20 July
1894
Cummins,
John (age unknown / White)
Lee,
Alexander (age unknown / White) - New
South Wales Tamworth
Murder victim: W. C. McKay committed on 18 April 1894
sentenced on 21
June 1894
John Cummins and Alexander Lee killed the manager of
the branch bank of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney
at Barraba on 18 April
1894. During the dinner hour they rode up to the
bank, entered the banking room and called fort 38-year-old Mr. W. C. McKay.
They induced him to take £800 out of the safe and then tried to seize the
money, which McKay resisted. After a short, but fierce struggle they shot him
dead. They were proceeding to rob the bank when they were disturbed and fled.
Cummins was arrested on 20 April, Lee on 26 April. At their trial at Tamworth
Lee stated that Cummins was innocent, as he had no part in the bank robbery and
murder, but Cummins was convicted by circumstantial evidence. They were both
found guilty of murder and sentenced to death on 21 June 1894. Efforts
were made in vain to postpone Cummins' execution. Cummins and Lee were hanged
at Tamworth at 9 a.m. on 20 July 1894.
(The Brisbane Courier, Monday, 23 April 1894; Friday, 27 April 1894; Thursday,
21 June 1894; Friday, 22 June 1894; Saturday, 23 June 1894; Monday, 25 June
1894; Saturday, 21 July 1894; The West Australian, Friday, 20 April 1894;
Saturday, 21 April 1894; Monday, 25 June 1894; Tuesday, 3 July 1894; Friday, 20
July 1894; Saturday, 21 July 1894)
20 August
1894
Jordan, Frederick
(age 30 / Black) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Minnie Hicks committed on 6 July 1894
sentenced on 21
July 1894
On 6
July 1894 Frederick Jordan (an African
American wharf labourer) reported to the police at Port Melbourne that he found
his common-law wife, 21-year-old Minnie Hicks, dead on her bed. The police
discovered that the woman had been murdered. Her body was dreadfully mutilated,
and she had presumably died from suffocation. On the previous evening, Jordan
had found Hicks in a neighbouring house after a quarrel, and, she being
disinclined to go home, dragged her there by her hair,
also kicking and beating her. He was charged with wilful murder and stood trial
at the Melbourne Criminal Court. Jordan
was convicted and sentenced to death on 21 July 1894. He was
hanged at Melbourne
at 10 a.m.
on 20 August
1894. (The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 7 July 1894;
Wednesday, 11 July 1894; Monday, 23 July 1894; Tuesday, 21 August 1894; The
West Australian, Saturday, 7 July 1894; Tuesday, 21 August 1894)
24 August
1894
Brown,
William (age: 39 / White) - South
Australia Adelaide
Murder victim: George Morowsky committed on 12 April 1894
sentenced on 27
July 1894
William Brown (alias Allen, alias Lane, an immigrant from Ireland)
killed his mate George Morowsky (or Moriski) at Lovely Gully or Wankaringa on 12 April 1894.
Morowsky was a prospector, and Brown shot him to death as the result of a
quarrel. Brown was not arrested until 15 May after the publication of a full
description of him. He was convicted of wilful murder at the Gladstone Criminal
Court and sentenced to death on 27 July, being hanged at Adelaide
gaol at 8 a.m.
on 24 August
1894. Shortly before his execution, Brown made a
full confession to the gaol chaplain, saying that the murder was committed
under great provocation. (Towler & Porter, The Hempen Collar, p. 79-81; The
West Australian, Thursday, 17 May 1894; Monday, 21 May 1894; Saturday, 28 July
1894; Saturday, 25 August 1894; The Brisbane Courier, Saturday, 25 August 1894)
22 October
1894
Needle,
Martha (age: 30 / White) Victoria
Melbourne
Murder victim: Louis Juncken committed on 15 May 1894
sentenced on 27
September 1894
Martha Needle, a widow, residing at 137
Bridge Road, Richmond,
was arrested on 13
June 1894, charged with having administered
poison to Herman Juncken, with intent to commit murder. Herman Juncken's
brother, Louis Juncken, had commenced business as a saddler in the front of a
two-story building at 137 Bridge Road, and sublet the remainder of the house to
Mrs. Needle in 1892, who kept boarders, among them Louis Juncken and his
brother Otto, both unmarried. Otto Juncken and Martha Needle became engaged to
be married, but his brother Louis and the entire family in Adelaide
objected to the marriage. On 26 April Louis became ill, suffering from severe
abdominal pain and violent retching. He died on 15 May 1894. After his
funeral, Herman Juncken returned to Melbourne
to settle the affairs of his deceased brother. Although being in excellent
health at that time, he became ill three times several days later after
partaking of meals cooked and served by Mrs. Needle. Upon examination, arsenic
was found. Louis Juncken's body was exhumed in early July, and arsenic was
found as well. Arsenic was also found in the bodies of her husband and two
daughters, Henry, Elsie and May Needle, upon exhumation. Mrs. Needle was
charged with wilful murder of Louis Juncken and stood trial at the Criminal
Court at Melbourne.
She was convicted and sentenced to death on 27 September 1894 and was hanged at
Melbourne on 22 October 1894.(The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday, 19 June 1894;
Wednesday, 20 June 1894; Wednesday, 4 July 1894; Friday, 6 July 1894;
Wednesday, 11 July 1894; Friday, 13 July 1894; Saturday, 14 July 1894; Tuesday,
17 July 1894; The West Australian, Friday, 20 July 1894; Wednesday, 26
September 1894; Saturday, 29 September 1894; Wednesday, 24 October 1894)
12 November
1894
Cockcroft,
Elijah (age 20 / White) Victoria
Ballarat
Murder victim: Fanny Mott committed on 2 September 1894
sentenced on
Fanny Mott, aged 19, daughter of a farmer at Darragan,
near Horsham, was found dead on 3
September 1894 near her brother's farmhouse. She
had gone out the night before with Elijah Cockroft, a jockey, to whom she was
engaged, and never returned. Her throat was cut from ear to ear, and there were
signs of a very severe struggle. Cockroft was arrested three days later, and fully admitted the crime on the next day. The
motive behind the murder was not clear. He stood trial at Stawell Criminal
Court, and was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death on 16 October 1894.
Cockroft was hanged at Ballarat gaol on 12 November 1894. (The West Australian,
Wednesday, 5 September 1894; Friday, 7 September 1894; Saturday, 8 September
1894; Thursday, 18 October 1894; Tuesday, 13 November 1894; The Brisbane
Courier, Tuesday, 13 November 1894)
11 December
1894
Dennis, Frederick
(age unknown / White) - New South
Wales Bathurst
Murder victim: John E. Hall committed in May 1894
sentenced on 4
October 1894
Hall, with some other men, forced his way into a shop
owned by a man named Metcalf, which had been broken into. Frederick Dennis was
seen near the counter. He fired two shots from a revolver and hall was struck
by a bullet and died. Dennis took to the bush, but was arrested one day later.
He stood trial at the Bathurst Criminal Court and was convicted and sentenced
to death on 4 October
1894. Dennis was hanged at Bathurst
at 9 a.m.
on 11 December
1894. (The West Australian, Friday, 5 October 1894;
Thursday, 13 December 1894; The Brisbane Courier, Wednesday, 12 December 1894)
17 January
1895
Moolooloorun
(age unknown / Aborigine) - Northern
Territory Crescent Lagoon
Murder victim: an unidentified Chinese man
committed in June 1894 sentenced on 7 August 1894
Moolooloorun and Nyanko, two Aborigines, were
sentenced to death on 7
August 1894 at the Palmerston Circuit Court by
Justice Dashwood for the murder of an unidentified Chinese man near the Roper
River
about two months before. Moolooloorun killed the man after asking him in vain
for tobacco with a nulla nulla. He talked about his deed at a corroboree, at
which Nyanko talked about a similar murder, except that his victim survived and
managed to escape. Parts of the body of one Chinese man was
found by the police in the surrounding indi