It has been a long time since my last post here, but after a long period working on the letters of Charles and Emma Atkin, I have now returned to rebuilding the family tree and am currently looking at the Phelan side. I have just revisited possibly the saddest discovery I have made in my 8+ years of research - the tragic death of Ada Shearwood in Benalla in 1890. And it's a discovery I might not have made had I not been contacted back in 2011 by a third cousin through the ancestry.com website. Jackie Shearwood of Sydney was curious as to how the 5-year old Ada Mary Shearwood, buried in Horsham, had come to die accidentally in Benalla, as was written on her gravestone (see below).
Ada had been born to George and Margaret Shearwood (nee Gasperino) in Horsham. Some in the family will be familiar with the Gasperino name: Margaret was the older sister of Mary Agnes Gasperino, my great-grandmother. The Gasperino family were from Sandford near Casterton in western Victoria but in the late 1880s both Mary and Margaret lived on the North Brighton station, north of Horsham, where Margaret's husband George was a farmer. Around this time Mary met Joseph Phelan, my great-grandfather, who was employed on the railways at Stawell. After marrying in Horsham in 1889, the couple began their married life in Benalla, as Joseph's work with the railways had taken him there. So when Jackie contacted me I was immediately able to inform her of this connection. And sure enough when looking up Ada's entry in the Victorian death indexes, there was a note that an inquest had been held into her death. It's hard to describe the feeling when I got my hands on the original 1890 inquest at the Public Records Office and read the account of the harrowing tale. The following are the words of my great-grandmother Mary herself:
"Ada Mary Sherwood was my niece... and was here staying with me for about five weeks. Yesterday morning, 17th December I was washing clothes in the yard. I had a fire in the yard with a boiler upon it containing boiling water. The deceased was playing about and following me whilst I was washing and hanging out the clothes. I had just returned from hanging out the clothes and had taken some more articles from the boiler to rinse, when I heard a scream from the deceased who had followed me up. On looking around I saw the deceased in the boiler, and struggling to get out. She had been playing with a cart walking backwards dragging the toy after her, and it appeared to me she stumbled over a log at the fire and fell into the boiler backwards. I ran immediately to her assistance [and] puller her out, taking her to the shed, and took her clothes off and called my neighbour Mrs. Heyer. I at once poured oil on the burns and sent for Dr. Nicholson... she was crying and screaming so much that I did not think to ask her any questions as to how she fell into the boiler."
The doctor reported "severe scalds over the greatest part of the surface of the skin, especially over the back, the thighs & the right arm... the cuticle was detached in many places, and was removed altogether from the arm. I dressed the scalded parts & the child appeared to be somewhat relieved although evidently suffering from severe shock, and was constantly calling out for water. I saw her again at about half-past eight in the evening [this was about nine hours after the accident] and she was then in a state of collapse, nearly pulseless at the wrist & with cold extremities." Ada sadly passed away at about 10.30pm that night.
The inquest found naturally enough that the death was accidental, but it is hard to comprehend how traumatic it must have been for Mary, knowing that her sister's child had died in her care, and how awful it must have been to have to pass on the news. One can only wonder what affect it might have had on the sisters' relationship and the families in general. It is certainly not a story that ever made its way down to today's Phelan generation, or evidently the Shearwoods either.
Grave of Ada Mary Shearwood in Horsham Cemetery
"Ada Mary Sherwood was my niece... and was here staying with me for about five weeks. Yesterday morning, 17th December I was washing clothes in the yard. I had a fire in the yard with a boiler upon it containing boiling water. The deceased was playing about and following me whilst I was washing and hanging out the clothes. I had just returned from hanging out the clothes and had taken some more articles from the boiler to rinse, when I heard a scream from the deceased who had followed me up. On looking around I saw the deceased in the boiler, and struggling to get out. She had been playing with a cart walking backwards dragging the toy after her, and it appeared to me she stumbled over a log at the fire and fell into the boiler backwards. I ran immediately to her assistance [and] puller her out, taking her to the shed, and took her clothes off and called my neighbour Mrs. Heyer. I at once poured oil on the burns and sent for Dr. Nicholson... she was crying and screaming so much that I did not think to ask her any questions as to how she fell into the boiler."
The doctor reported "severe scalds over the greatest part of the surface of the skin, especially over the back, the thighs & the right arm... the cuticle was detached in many places, and was removed altogether from the arm. I dressed the scalded parts & the child appeared to be somewhat relieved although evidently suffering from severe shock, and was constantly calling out for water. I saw her again at about half-past eight in the evening [this was about nine hours after the accident] and she was then in a state of collapse, nearly pulseless at the wrist & with cold extremities." Ada sadly passed away at about 10.30pm that night.
The inquest found naturally enough that the death was accidental, but it is hard to comprehend how traumatic it must have been for Mary, knowing that her sister's child had died in her care, and how awful it must have been to have to pass on the news. One can only wonder what affect it might have had on the sisters' relationship and the families in general. It is certainly not a story that ever made its way down to today's Phelan generation, or evidently the Shearwoods either.
Comments
Post a Comment