The night was dark on the 3rd
of February 1896 when a splash was heard on the Wairoa River, and then a hat
and arms were seen to rise above the water. Mr Langley a passenger of the SS
Waitoa plunged into the deep and held the victim up above the water until a
dinghy was lowered to retrieve the pair. The rescued man was taken to Mr Barters
house for revival, and although he appeared to be breathing, did not regain consciousness
and passed away more than ¾ of an hour later.
Thursday 17 November 2016
Saturday 5 November 2016
The Anguish of Alcohol and the Asylum - The Bible family
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| The Bible family grave Photo: Cathy Currie |
The words ‘Erected by his sorrowing mother’ inscribed on the leaning headstone of John William Bible, haunted me until I began to probe into the death of this man, who passed in what one would expect to be the prime years of his life. He rests with his family in a grave surrounded by kauri fencing that has stood the ravages of time in a heritage area of the cemetery.
Early newspapers indicate that William had built up a reputation in both the Hawkes Bay and Auckland for being a drunkard. It was obvious the man had suffered an alcohol addiction for many years. The seriousness of his illness was reported through his repeated court appearances from 1888 onwards. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Newspaper reporters made light of Williams illness when his concerned mother took out a prohibition order in November 1890 to prevent people from suppling her son with spirits [8] [9]. The more I read of charges brought against him and the penalties imposed including fines [10] and incarceration with periods of hard labour, [11] [12] [13] medical treatment,[14] injury suffered while intoxicated,[15] his begging [16] and effects after drinking including Delerium Tremens; the more I realised the significant impact his illness must have had on his loved ones, and wondered what part it may have played in his death.
Early newspapers indicate that William had built up a reputation in both the Hawkes Bay and Auckland for being a drunkard. It was obvious the man had suffered an alcohol addiction for many years. The seriousness of his illness was reported through his repeated court appearances from 1888 onwards. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Newspaper reporters made light of Williams illness when his concerned mother took out a prohibition order in November 1890 to prevent people from suppling her son with spirits [8] [9]. The more I read of charges brought against him and the penalties imposed including fines [10] and incarceration with periods of hard labour, [11] [12] [13] medical treatment,[14] injury suffered while intoxicated,[15] his begging [16] and effects after drinking including Delerium Tremens; the more I realised the significant impact his illness must have had on his loved ones, and wondered what part it may have played in his death.
 |
| Daily Telegraph, Issue 6741, 25 April 1893 |
Thursday 3 November 2016
Vera Baker - Illegal operation
Vera Baker a young unmarried woman of 23 years of age had been employed as a domestic servant in Mt Eden, her Mother and Father had passed away.
Vera had fallen pregnant and with little means, and with no possibility of having the child and surviving on her own, she would have been desperate. She faced the loss of employment when her pregnancy became evident, and with this her lodgings. She also faced the very real stigma associated with unmarried women who found themselves in the family way.
Vera told her lover Percy Norman Henry in the hope that he could help her. Henry told her that he was in no position to marry her, that he was unable to support Vera and a child, but he did suggest Vera have an abortion.
Henry knew of an elderly nurse, a Mrs Hannah Dalton, who may assist them, and on 23 October he accompanied Vera to Mrs Dalton's house to discuss matters .It was arranged that Vera was to go back to Mrs Dalton’s the next day for an abortion.
Vera telephoned Henry on the evening of the 24th of October and asked him to come over to Mrs Dalton’s that night as everything was all right. Henry saw Vera and paid Mrs Dalton £10 for the operation and £1.10s for extras. He visited the house to see Vera on several subsequent occasions.
There were problems with infection following the abortion and Mrs Dalton made an appointment on the 1st of November 1917 for Vera to be examined by Dr. Florence Keller at the Doctors house. Dr Keller having examined Vera, told her that she had better go home and go to bed.
Vera visited Mrs Dalton on the 2nd and 3rd of November and Dr Keller was again asked to examine her. Dr Keller found Vera in a very grave condition and suffering from acute peritonitis. She told Mrs Dalton that the girl would have to go to the hospital right away, but Mrs Dalton asked why the necessary operation could not be performed there. Vera allegedly said, "I don't want to leave the nurse; I want to stay here.”
Dr. E. V. Drier was quickly called in to perform an urgent abdominal operation but Vera died on the 5th of November 1917 whilst at the home of Mrs Dalton.
Post mortem examination would find the cause of death to be acute septic peritonitis.
The Doctors were to testify in Court that very serious internal
injuries had been caused by the introduction of a foreign instrument which had been the probable cause of the acute peritonitis.
Dr. Ezra N. Drier went on to testify that the condition of peritonitis discovered at the operation indicated the probability of infection within five or seven days previously.
There was sufficient evidence to warrant Hannah Matilda Dalton being charged with having unlawfully used an instrument to procure an abortion on Vera Baker, and Percy Norman Henry was charged with aiding abetting Dalton in the commission of this offence. They were jointly charged with murder.
Lengthy trial notes have been condensed and summarised for this article .
Dalton was charged with manslaughter in respect to the girl, Vera Baker, but the jury disagreed, and an additional indictment had been laid charging her with performing an illegal operation. However, when this charge was heard, the jury failed to agree. The same evidence was tendered again at the retrial on Wednesday. This time the jury agreed on a verdict of not guilty 20 February 1918.
Percy Norman Henry was charged at the Supreme Court with having on or about October 24 1917 counselled and procured a young woman named Vera Baker to submit to the unlawful use of an instrument for the purpose of procuring an abortion. He was also indicted with being a party to manslaughter in connection with the death of Vera Baker, but this count was withdrawn on the application of the Crown Prosecutor. After a retirement for 20 minutes the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, and the accused was discharged 22 February 1918.
Anglican Division D, Row 9,
Plot 68: Vera Martha Baker (23) 1917 – unmarked
Sources:
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
Auckland Star vol XLIX issue 45 21/2/1918
Evening Post 10/11/1917
Evening Post 30/11/1917
Evening Post 20/02/1918
Evening Post 21/02/1918
NZ Truth, Issue 648, 17 /11/1917
NZ Truth, Issue 663, 2 /03/1918
Collection: Wellcome Images Library reference no.: Museum No A626202, A626932, A640607, A606384
Presented by Susan Reid, Discover Waikumete
Vera had fallen pregnant and with little means, and with no possibility of having the child and surviving on her own, she would have been desperate. She faced the loss of employment when her pregnancy became evident, and with this her lodgings. She also faced the very real stigma associated with unmarried women who found themselves in the family way.
Vera told her lover Percy Norman Henry in the hope that he could help her. Henry told her that he was in no position to marry her, that he was unable to support Vera and a child, but he did suggest Vera have an abortion.
Henry knew of an elderly nurse, a Mrs Hannah Dalton, who may assist them, and on 23 October he accompanied Vera to Mrs Dalton's house to discuss matters .It was arranged that Vera was to go back to Mrs Dalton’s the next day for an abortion.
 |
Page 9 Advertisements Column 4,
New Zealand Herald, Volume
LIV, Issue 16669,
13 October 1917. paperspast
|
Vera telephoned Henry on the evening of the 24th of October and asked him to come over to Mrs Dalton’s that night as everything was all right. Henry saw Vera and paid Mrs Dalton £10 for the operation and £1.10s for extras. He visited the house to see Vera on several subsequent occasions.
There were problems with infection following the abortion and Mrs Dalton made an appointment on the 1st of November 1917 for Vera to be examined by Dr. Florence Keller at the Doctors house. Dr Keller having examined Vera, told her that she had better go home and go to bed.
Vera visited Mrs Dalton on the 2nd and 3rd of November and Dr Keller was again asked to examine her. Dr Keller found Vera in a very grave condition and suffering from acute peritonitis. She told Mrs Dalton that the girl would have to go to the hospital right away, but Mrs Dalton asked why the necessary operation could not be performed there. Vera allegedly said, "I don't want to leave the nurse; I want to stay here.”
Dr. E. V. Drier was quickly called in to perform an urgent abdominal operation but Vera died on the 5th of November 1917 whilst at the home of Mrs Dalton.
Post mortem examination would find the cause of death to be acute septic peritonitis.
 |
Abortion methods were varied and items
were re purposed to perform
the task so as not to
arouse suspicion during a police search.
Enema syringes were
commonly used by
abortionists to inject fluid into the uterus
to induce
miscarriage.
L0036376 Credit: Wellcome Library, London
Brass, ivory, ebony and pewter enema syringe
Photograph 17th - 19th century
Collection: Wellcome Images
Library reference no.: Museum No A626202,
A626932, A640607, A606384
Creative Commons Attribution only
licence CC BY 4.0
|
injuries had been caused by the introduction of a foreign instrument which had been the probable cause of the acute peritonitis.
Dr. Ezra N. Drier went on to testify that the condition of peritonitis discovered at the operation indicated the probability of infection within five or seven days previously.
There was sufficient evidence to warrant Hannah Matilda Dalton being charged with having unlawfully used an instrument to procure an abortion on Vera Baker, and Percy Norman Henry was charged with aiding abetting Dalton in the commission of this offence. They were jointly charged with murder.
Lengthy trial notes have been condensed and summarised for this article .
Dalton was charged with manslaughter in respect to the girl, Vera Baker, but the jury disagreed, and an additional indictment had been laid charging her with performing an illegal operation. However, when this charge was heard, the jury failed to agree. The same evidence was tendered again at the retrial on Wednesday. This time the jury agreed on a verdict of not guilty 20 February 1918.
Percy Norman Henry was charged at the Supreme Court with having on or about October 24 1917 counselled and procured a young woman named Vera Baker to submit to the unlawful use of an instrument for the purpose of procuring an abortion. He was also indicted with being a party to manslaughter in connection with the death of Vera Baker, but this count was withdrawn on the application of the Crown Prosecutor. After a retirement for 20 minutes the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, and the accused was discharged 22 February 1918.
Anglican Division D, Row 9,
Plot 68: Vera Martha Baker (23) 1917 – unmarked
Sources:
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
Auckland Star vol XLIX issue 45 21/2/1918
Evening Post 10/11/1917
Evening Post 30/11/1917
Evening Post 20/02/1918
Evening Post 21/02/1918
NZ Truth, Issue 648, 17 /11/1917
NZ Truth, Issue 663, 2 /03/1918
Megan Cook, 'Abortion - Who and how', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/abortion/page-2
Museum of Contraception and Abortion http://en.muvs.org/abbruch/instrumente/klistierspritze-id1020/
Image: Page 9 Advertisements Column 4, New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16669, 13 October 1917. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19171013.2.59.4
Collection: Wellcome Images Library reference no.: Museum No A626202, A626932, A640607, A606384
Presented by Susan Reid, Discover Waikumete
Tuesday 1 November 2016
Ronald Morris - Orphanage fire
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| St Joseph's Industrial School and Orphanage, Takapuna, Auckland. Morrison, John M, fl 1883-1951 : Photographs of Takapuna and Milford. Ref: 1/2-C-021066-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22761810 View of St Joseph's Industrial School and Orphange for boys, Takapuna, Auckland. Photographed by an unknown photographer in 1924. Date of photograph and sources of information relating to date and the history of this building supplied by John Webster, January 2009. The two storied wing was built as St Mary's School which opened in 1849. This was built of localy quarried bluestone. St Mary's school closed in the late 19th century, and reopened in 1894 as St Joseph's Industrial School and Orphanage for boys under the care of the Sisters of Mercy. In 1923 a fire gutted the building leaving the walls standing. It was rebuilt and a three storied wing was added, both the old and the new buildings were faced with a plaster finish. It reopened in 1924 which was when this photograph was taken. What are possibly builders huts can be seen at the near left hand corner of the new wing. The building still stands today (2009). (Information from John Webster of Takapuna, and from Auckland-Waikato Historical Journal September 1989 page 4-5, and September 1992 page 40.) |
following a fire at St Joseph's Orphanage, Takapuna in the early hours of Sunday the 4th of March 1923.
The body was lying face downwards on the wire mattress in what remained of the boy’s dormitory, and was not far from where the fire originated. Ronald had been a fit and able bodied boy, and it was presumed that he was overcome by the flames before he could respond to the alarm.
When the alarm was given, the Sisters and older boys had roused the younger boys and carried out the babies. The Sisters had then arranged for the boys to be taken to local homes, where people had kindly offered to take the children.
At the first roll call, authorities at the Orphanage were initially quite confident that the lives of all the boys had been saved. However, when the Sisters checked on Monday and Tuesday at each of the “foster” homes, Ronald could not be located. Exhaustive inquiries were made, and it was discovered that another little boy, Frank Brett, aged 10, was also found to be missing.
Both boys were reported missing on Tuesday night the 6th of March, and an appeal was made for anyone knowing the whereabouts of either boy to communicate with Father Holbrook, Roman Catholic Presbytery, Grey Lynn. Happily, Frank was found safe and well at the home in Mt Eden where he had been temporarily billeted but sadly, on Wednesday the 7th of March the Police found Ronald’s remains.
An inquest was held, and the coroner found that Ronald had accidentally burned to death in the fire that destroyed the orphanage. From witness accounts, no one was considered to be, nor held responsible for the boy’s death, and there “was no reason why he should not have come away with the others.”
The origin of the fire could not be determined and was held to be “purely accidental”.
There followed an urgent need to rebuild the Orphanage and a committee was formed to collect subscriptions. Sadly, whilst many contributed, a warning had to be issued to the public after “bogus collectors” tried to cash in on the enterprise.
Roman Catholic Division C, Row 2
Plot 18: Ronald Morris (9) 1923 – Schoolboy – unmarked
Sources:
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
ORPHANAGE FIRE Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 57, 8 March 1923
TAKAPUNA ORPHANAGE FIRE. Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 56, 7 March 1923
Image: Ref 1/2-C-021066-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22761810
Compiled by Susan Reid, Discover Waikumete
Frank McGann - Road death
 | |
|
The police arrived at the scene, and soon after Dr. Williams of Remuera Road, but Mr McGann had died before his arrival and the Doctor could only pronounce life to be extinct.
The victim of the accident had last been seen going down Khyber Pass Road, and was thought to be returning home with a few groceries when he was hit. Mr McGann was a widower, and understood to be a little hard of hearing. He had lived in Mountain Road near the old quarry, and had been well known in the area as was one of the few surviving stonebreakers.
An inquest was held, and the Court heard from the taxi driver, Mr Hunt, and a number of witnesses, including passengers in the taxi at the time of the accident.
Mr Hunt, who had the reputation of being a careful driver, said he had been travelling at a slow “eight to ten miles an hour” at the time of the accident. Mr Hunt said that he “was keeping a good look out” and his taxi lights were said to cast a bright beam straight ahead, although the sides of the road in total darkness. Mr Hunt had first seen Mr McGann when he appeared directly in front of the car, about a yard away and he “did everything possible to avoid colliding with the old man”.
A number of witnesses attested to the accident spot being “very dark and badly lighted”. The road was being repaired near the accident spot and a pile of metal lay in the middle of the roadway with only “lighted hurricane lamps ….to act as warning signals”.
The Court also heard that this was “the identical spot where the man Ballan was knocked down by a motor car and killed by a passing tramcar just a few weeks ago”
The death of Mr McGann was found to be accidental, the deceased had crossed the road on an angle, with his face averted to the oncoming car and the driver had done all he could to avert the accident. The jury returned a verdict to the effect that Frank McGann met his death by being struck by a motor-car in Khyber Pass. They considered that all possible care had been taken to avoid the accident, and therefore they exonerated the driver of the car from all blame.
A rider was added that more lights should be placed in the vicinity.
Roman Catholic Division C, Row 2,
Plot 42a: Francis (Frank) McGann (75) 1913 – unmarked
Sources:
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
KNOCKED DOWN BY MOTOR. New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15241, 3 March 1913
KILLED IN KHYBER PASS. New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15249, 12 March 1913
KILLED BY A TAXI. Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 53, 3 March 1913
Image: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-RIC52
Presented by Susan Reid, Discover Waikumete
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