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Trove Tuesday: Convicted of manslaughter

Today's Trove article follows on from last weeks posting (see here) and involves the outcome of the trial of James Waldron for the murder of his 'wife' Catherine.  I still need to do more research to see whether or not these are my 4th great grandparents or not but I definitely have more leads for my research now!


Source: Summary of Mining Intelligence. (1855, March 24). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1866; 1914 -1918), p. 5. Retrieved September 2, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113013246

Transcript:

The trial of James Waldron, for the alleged murder of his wife, came off at the Melbourne Criminal Sessions ; the result was a conviction for manslaughter, and the sentence two years imprisonment.  The presiding Judge in summing up, made a remark, which we consider anything but decorous from such quarter, viz.; that if the prisoner had killed his wife's seducer, instead of his wife, he should have been disposed to have taken a more lenient view of the matter.


I also found the following involving the case, with more coming soon!


Source: Local and Domestic. (1855, February 17). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1866; 1914 -1918), p. 5. Retrieved September 2, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113013096

Transcript:

MANSLAUGHTER.- On the 15th instant, Dr. Stitt held a post mortem examination on the body of Mrs. Worldon, a gold digger's wife, who was supposed to have been murdered on the 14th instant.  The body was found very much disfigured, apparently by blows inflicted with a stick, and had also other marks of violence.  William Worldon, the husband, has been committed to stand his trial for manslaughter.

Comments

  1. http://johnwellsmurals.com.au/author/index.php/james-baker-waldon-murder-or-manslaughter/
    Follow this link to read a full transcript of the trial of James Baker Waldon for the murder of his wife, Catherine Rhall.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks John, I had already found this article (if you look on Trove you can see I made corrections to it back in early September 2014) and used it on my blog on the same day http://allwynds.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/james-baker-worldon-guilty-of.html
    It was amazing to find but it is a very tragic story for all concerned. I am sure other readers would be fascinated in your website and novel and recommend they follow your link and have a look! Best of luck with the novel, I hope that it is very successful for you.

    ReplyDelete

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Brickwall knocked down at last!  Catherine Rhall was murdered by her partner James Baker Worldon on the 14th February 1855 at Beechworth.  The Trove articles do involve my 4th Great Grandparents James Baker Worldon and Catherine Rhall!  I guess the family tree book will need updating now ;) I looked up the following record from the Public Record of Victoria and bingo the details match my ancestors records.  Catherine Rhall's fate is now known at last, she was murdered by her partner and he was only sentenced to two years imprisonment for it and by the look of it was released early in 1856!  I also found out he used the alias Milbank, which will give me new avenues for future research. Public Record Office of Victoria Series title: Central Register of Male Prisoners Sub-Item title: Worldon, James; (Milbank); (Jas Baker Worldon): No. 2265 Sub-Item number: Page 199 Date range: 1854 Public access: Open Format: Digital Source: Public Record Office Of Victoria.