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| Albert Park 1903. Winkelmann, Henry. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1-W1030 |
AUSTRIAN HANGS HIMSELF".
"A little before seven o'clock this morning, as Mr. William G. Walker, of Newton, was passing through the Albert Park, he noticed a man lying under a tree in what struck him as a peculiar position. Stepping across to investigate, his suspicions were confirmed by finding that the man was dead, lying face downwards with a leathern belt drawn tight round his neck, and the frayed ends of a broken fibre rope attached to it. The other part of the cord was hanging from the limb of the tree above, while near by stood a box which the dead man had evidently used, in effecting a drop.
The police were immediately communicated with, and Constables Lilley and Kelley proceeded to the spot, and in a search, found that the body was yet hardly cold. In the pockets were threepence in money and sundry articles, including an unpaid hospital account of £17 odd to Mate Boksich. The man's neck was broken, the back of the neck having a wound where the band had cut into it. The body was conveyed to the morgue to await an inquest.
The deceased man, Mate Boksich, was an Austrian of about 35 years, and of medium build, and had on several occasions come in conflict with the police authorities, having not long since been prosecuted for sly-grog selling in Grey street. Evil days had of late evidently befallen him, as the hospital account showed, and the desperate act which ended his life was apparently the dernier resort of despondency.
An inquest is being held at Gleeson's Hotel this afternoon".
15/2/1904 Auckland Star
"INQUEST".
"An inquest was held before the City Coroner (Mr T. Gresham) yesterday afternoon, touching the death of Mate Boksich, aged about 33 years, and unmarried, who was found dead in Albert Park at 7 a.m. yesterday morning. Sergeant Ramsay represented the police. Evidence, of identification was given by Matthew Andrew Ferri (Austrian interpreter), who deposed that deceased was a native of Daimatia. Boksich had resided in New Zealand for about eight years, and, at the time of his death, was employed as a labourer. When witness last saw him, two months ago, he was complaining of ill-health, and of the fact of being in needy circumstances. He had never threatened his own life in witness' presence. Dr. S. A. Bull, under whose care deceased had been as an inmate of the hospital, stated that Boksich had been a sufferer from several ailments, and had been somewhat low-spirited. A post-mortem examination of the body showed that deceased had suffered from pleurisy and other ailments, and cause of death had been suffocation, probably self-in-flicted. He had evidently not partaken of food for 24 hours previously. The jury returned a verdict of suicide whilst of unsound mind".
Roman Catholic Division C, Row 11,
Plot 13b: Mate Boksich (35) 1908 – Labourer – unmarked
sources: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ Auckland Star, 14/2/1904; 15/2/1904
Image: Albert Park Winkelmann, Henry Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1-W1030
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