The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 2/Chapter 62
CHAPTER LXII.
A MORTUARY GROUP.
IN the course of the retrospective excursion in which I have employed myself, innumerable
incidents have cropped up to amuse and instruct; but, here and there, an occasional shadow intrudes which one cannot meet with without a feeling of regret. From time to time a colonist well-known in his day, drops out of existence, from natural or accidental causes, and in the crowding spectres of the past, such events are marked with a prominence that induces a consideration of the circumstances under which the void occurs. Several of such ghastly memorials are disentombed in raking up the dead past of a country or community, and in wading through the debris necessary to be examined in the compilation of these Chronicles, I have met with a few such reminders well meriting a passing notice.
John Batman.— First, and not least in the obituary scroll, is John Batman, by some designated the founder, and by others (more correctly) the pioneer or prospector of Melbourne and its surroundings. From 1836 to 1839, the period of his residence here, Batman, before that a robust and vigorous man, fell into bad health, and was so much of a valetudinarian as to be wheeled in a bath-chair about Batman's Hill and the adjacent then unformed streets. The Port Phillip Gazette of 8th May, 1839, thus announces his death:— "At his residence, on Monday, 6th May, after a protracted illness, John Batman, Esq., aged 39 years. His remains will be interred this morning at 11 o'clock." In the same paper there is this reference to the occurrence. —"Mr. Batman, at all times distinguished for his activity as a bushman, on the occasion of his last adventure, it is understood, exposed himself to an injurious degree, violent cold working on mercury previously dormant in his physical system, hurried him to a premature death. He has left a numerous family, all very young, and chiefly girls. Unfortunately for them his affairs are not in a settled state." This is a frigid notice of the demise of certainly the person of most consequence in the then small settlement. Though, in Batman or Fawkner, there was little of the faculty that would entitle them to anything savouring of hero-worship, their names are so historically entwined with the fortunes of Victoria, that, early or late, their memory ought not to be referred to in other than a feeling of meet consideration.
Batman's funeral took place as indicated, and in the presence of nearly all the adult population. His mortal remains were consigned to the earth in a portion of the now Old Cemetery, where they remained in a nameless grave, and with an unwritten epitaph, for more than forty years, when, on the suggestion of Sir W . Mitchell, the late President of the Legislative Council, a public subscription was set on foot to mark by some lasting monument the spot where so remarkable a man was buried. The project was taken zealously in hand by Mr. John J. Shillinglaw, Hon. Secretary to the movement, and worked with such success, that there would be little difficulty in obtaining for the purpose much more money than was required. It was at length completed, and on the 3rd June, 1882, was unveiled by Mr. C. J. Ham, the Mayor of Melbourne, surrounded by a gathering of old Colonists,
and prominent amongst them were Mr, William Weire (Town Clerk of Geelong), and his son (Batman's 
John Batman,
Born at Parramatta, N.S.W., 1800.
Died at Melbourne, 6th May, 1839.
He entered Port Phillip Heads
29th May, 1835,
As leader of an expedition which
He organised in Launceston, V.D.L.,
To form a settlement, and founded one
On the site of Melbourne, then unoccupied.
This monument was
Erected
By public subscription in Victoria,
1881.
Circumspice!
John Batman, Junior. —Batman, though blessed with a family of eight children, had only one son, and through a strange fatality, this boy was drowned in the Yarra some six years after his father's death. Unable to find any printed particulars of the manner in which he met his untimely end, I applied through the Hon. G. F. Belcher, of Geelong, to the Mr. William Weire before mentioned, to supply so important an omission, and through his courtesy, I append an account of the melancholy occurrence in Weire's own words: "The particulars of the boy's death, as often told to me by Mrs. Batman, her daughter (my late wife) Elizabeth Mary, and her youngest daughter Pelonomena (Philemena?)—born 11th July, 1834, and died in July, 1859, and, indeed, by every member of the family, are as follow:— The family, after Batman's death in May, 1839, resided in the large two-storey brick house then, at the corner of William and Collins Streets, on the site now occupied by the Australian Mutual Provident Society and other offices. On the day—11th February, 1845—when the boy was drowned, his sister Pelonomena took him down to the Yarra at the "Falls," as she had done many times previously. He had a little fishing rod with him, and got on the stones at the "Falls" for the purpose of fishing, when, owing to the stones being slippery, he fell off into the river, striking his head against a stone, and was drowned before assistance could be given. It was said that Pelonomena was a short distance away from the place where her brother went on to fish,and she was much blamed by the family for her apparent carelessness and neglect for not better looking after him. It was also said that the lad took off his shoes and stockings to go on the stones to fish. If such was the case it would cause him to slip off more readily than otherwise. This is a brief outline of the death of 'John Charles Batman'—John Batman's only son and heir! Had he lived, the fortunes of the small remnant of the family now left might, perhaps, be of a brighter character."
Since the foregoing was written, I regret to add that Mr. Weire has followed the Batmans to the world beyond the grave.
Captain Chesser.— A funeral was witnessed in Melbourne on 14th February, 1840, when Captain Chesser, of the barque "Mary Ridgway," was buried, and all the ship-masters, officers, and most of the seamen in port were in attendance. The deceased died of consumption, and during a short stay in the province came to be much thought of.
Mr. Alexander Jolly.— A sad accident occurred two months after at a station of Mr. Yuille, at Buninyong. There had recently arrived as surgeon of the barque "Caroline," from Leich, Mr. Alexander Jolly, who made a trip to the country, and one day whilst bathing was drowned. He was a young man of the highest professional promise, and, as he purposed remaining in Melbourne, his loss was regarded as a serious one as matters then stood.
Mr. Alexander Scott, an Edinburgh gentleman of considerable means, arrived with his wife and family, to invest largely in cattle breeding, and he secured a tract of depasturing country some fifty miles from town. He was looked upon as a valuable acquisition, but in May he was carried off by death in his forty-third year.
Mr. William Kerr., in 1841, took his family for a change during the hot weather after Christmas to the beach at Sandridge, and thought it would not be a bad plan to rig a tent as a summer residence half-way towards St. Kilda. On the evening of the 15th January, he was found dead on the sand. His death had been sudden, and its cause as disclosed by a post mortem enquiry, was tubercular disease of the brain, accompanied by serous effusion. Mr. Kerr was much regretted, and the Sunday after his death was "improved" at the Independent Church, where the Rev. Mr. Waterfield delivered a suitable discourse upon the lamentable event.
David Henry Wilsone, M.D.— The first death of a medical practitioner in Melbourne occurred in August, when David Henry Wilsone, M.D., was gathered to his fathers. During a brief sojourn in the district the deceased evidenced an active interest in public matters, and had he lived would have made his mark professionally and otherwise.
Mr. Henry F. Gisborne. was during his short stay, as light-hearted and well-liked as any individual in Port Phillip. The son of a member of the British Parliament, he ventured out to Sydney, and after officiating for some time as Private Secretary to Governor Sir Richard Bourke, he proceeded to the newly-found southern country as its actual first Crown Land Commissioner. Equally at home as a bushman and as a sportsman, he rendered valuable assistance in developing an early taste amongst the people for the great English sport of horse-racing, and was one of the half-dozen primitive Nimrods who selected the present Flemington course as the proper place for the amusement to which it has been since applied. Along with riding a race, he was just as smart a hand at writing about one, and his ability in this line was such as would admirably qualify him for the modern post of Sporting Editor. The first Petition transmitted from Port Philip praying for separation from New South Wales was from his pen. In 1841 he started on a visit to England, but in September intelligence was received of his death at sea, between the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena.
Mr. Arthur Kemmis was a native of Queen's County (Ireland), and, in 1839, entered into mercantile pursuits under the style of Kemmis and Co., in a brick store in Flinders Street. Kemmis was a man of scholarly attainments and unspotted integrity; the founder and chief-manager of the Port Phillip Steam Navigation Company, and the doer of many kindnesses in a private and unobtrusive manner. On the 8th February, 1842, he died at the early age of 36, of water on the brain, after a ten days' illness, leaving a widow and five children to mourn over their bereavement. The regret for what was not unreasonably regarded as a public loss, was universal.
Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Walshe.— October of the same year was saddened by two very sudden deaths, with only a day or two intervening, two estimable ladies having disappeared from a society so limited as to be badly able to spare them. The former was the wife of an Assistant Protector of Aborigines. A few months previously a brother of the latter—a very fine young man—was accidentally drowned by the upsetting of a boat on the Yarra, and such a blow was too much for the sister. The events spread a gloom over the small town, which was not dissipated by the use made of them in more than one pulpit on the ensuing Sunday, and they formed the ground-work of two or three impressive sermons.
Mr. Armyne Bolden.— On Sunday, 9th July, 1843, died suddenly at the residence of Mr. S. Raymond, his brother-in-law, Mr. Armyne Bolden, who had been staying there for some days. Both gentlemen, after dining at the Melbourne Club, went home about 10 o'clock. When Bolden was retiring to rest he told the servants to call him at daylight, as he wished to proceed early to the Saltwater River. Some time after Raymond was alarmed by hearing moans issue from the direction of Bolden's room, and to his astonishment he found Bolden lying upon his back, with his mouth open, and gasping for breath, though the bed-covering did not appear in the least disturbed. Dr. O'Mullane was at once sent for, but before he could arrive Bolden was dead. Deceased had drank not more than a half-pint of wine, and the death was traced to apoplexy.
Mr. J. L. Beswicke, a resident of the Western Port District, was killed 6th April, 1844. He was returning home in a chaise-cart from Melbourne, having under his charge a female servant and a bag of flour. When near Brighton a wheel of the vehicle catching in a tree-stump, the concern was turned over, and Beswicke came under with the flour over him. His death was instantaneous. The woman was severely injured, and her life was saved owing most probably to her extrication from danger by Mr. A. R. Cruickshank, a Melbourne accountant.
Mr. J. D. L. Campbell, a gentleman of some note, and much social influence, died somewhat unexpectedly on the 1st June. Though indisposed for a fortnight, the medical attendants did not anticipate any serious consequences. During the night of the 31st May, Mr. Campbell slept continuously, and towards morning he passed unnoticed into the sleep of death. He was the centre of a large circle of private friends, and amongst the staunchest adherents of the first Resident Judge (Willis), by whom he manfully stood amidst tribulation of no ordinary kind.
Mr. George Hyde, who resided at Green Hills, beyond Keilor, died suddenly on the 1st June, en route to Melbourne. Taken ill in the conveyance by which he travelled, he was removed to the Keilor Inn, and received there every possible attention, but expired in little more than an hour. A post mortem examination was made by Dr. Hobson, and a coroner's inquest attributed death to the "visitation of God in a natural way, and not otherwise."
Mr. J. H. Gaull, a well-known commission agent, accompanied by Mr. Matthew Harland, left town on the 25th January, 1845, for Gardiner's Creek. In a part of the Survey Paddock they found a flat-bottomed dingy, and in this they proposed to cross the Yarra. Before they had proceeded twenty yards the dingy went down, and strange to relate, Harland, who was but an indifferent swimmer, paddled with much difficulty to dry land, whilst Gaull, who was quite the reverse, sank head-foremost, without a cry or struggle and never re-appeared alive. On the third morning the body was fished up from below where the dingy had disappeared. Gaul was a fine specimen of mature manhood, and as he was exceedingly well-liked, his interment took place in the presence of an unusually large attendance.
Mr. W. P. Greene. —A very regrettable death occurred at Woodlands, beyond Broadmeadows, on 5th March. Mr. W. P. Greene, resided there, and he was a gentleman much appreciated by all who knew him. His demise was somewhat unexpected; and his last public appearance in Melbourne was attending a complimentary meeting convened to do honour to the second Resident Judge (Jeffcott) on his departure from the province. Mr. Greene was the seconder of a flattering valedictory address, which was adopted for presentation to the retired ex-functionary.
Mr. James R. Stewart, Mr. Adam Pullar, and Mr. Robert Donaldson. —July witnessed two blanks in the commercial circle not soon filled. On the 22nd Mr. James R. Stewart, a popular commission agent, left Melbourne to attend a sale at Mr. A. M'Callum's, at the Darebin Creek. The Merri Creek was flooded, and the rider was swept out of the saddle and drowned. Great exertions were made to recover the body, and though his coat, minus a sleeve torn off, and his pocket-handkerchief were fished up in a few hours, the corpse was not found for two days. Mr. Adam Pullar, of the firm of Pullar, Porter, and Co., died after a severe illness on the 29th. He was a member of the Town Council, an influential Presbyterian, and his funeral was numerously attended. Later on in the year (November) Mr. Robert Donaldson, of the well-known Collins Street drapery firm (Donaldson and Budge), died suddenly from rupture of a blood vessel.
Mr. Cole, Junior. —Few events ever produced more regret in Melbourne than a singular case of drowning off Sandridge on the first day of 1846. Mr. Luke Ward Cole, accompanied by Messrs. Allison, Hussey, and a sailor, shoved off from Liardet's pier in a small boat, which, bent on a fishing excursion in the Bay, filled and went down. Cole had sank before any help could be given, and was drowned, whilst the others were rescued from their perilous position. The body was removed to Liardet's Hotel, where an inquest was held, and a verdict of accidental death returned. It was next brought to Melbourne to the residence of the young man's father, Captain G. W. Cole, of William Street, and on the 3rd January the funeral took place, when the coffin was borne by six tars attached to the Wharfinger's establishment of the Captain. The sympathy for Captain Cole, one of the original merchant townsmen, was sincere and widespread.
Allan Kenny Rennie. —On the 11th March, 1846, there died at the residence of Mr. H. N. Cassels, the Collector of Customs, Allan Kenny Rennie, accountant of the Union Bank, a young man of affability to the public, and gifted with considerable financial ability. Though his death was caused by consumption, no one thought the end so near.
Miss Coghill, Mrs. Meek, and Mrs. Hollingshead. —Towards the close of the year 1846, the deaths of three much-esteemed ladies occasioned profound regret. On the 26th October the daughter of Mr. William Coghill was cutting some bread, and, the knife slipping, she was gashed between a finger and thumb. Not much account was taken of the accident for five days, when unfavourable symptoms commenced; inflammation supervened, and on the eighth day death ensued from tetanus. Mrs. Meek, wife of Melbourne's first Solicitor, returned to England in 1846, and had an exceptionally rough passage, which she survived only until she arrived in London. A Mrs. Hollingshead, also re-going homeward, died at sea on the 11th April.
Dr. George Imlay, R.N. —Boxing (or, as it should be more properly called, St. Stephen's) Day was remarkable for the suicide of a settler well known and of extensive connexion. Dr. George Imlay, R.N., resided at a place known as Brago, in the Twofold Bay District, and early one morning he set forth, taking blankets and ratious, but declining any attendance, even so much as a dog. In a few hours his horse returned riderless, and Mr. Peter Imlay, fearful of some mishap, started at once with a few of the station hands, taking the direction in which the Doctor had gone. After a four days' hunt they found the unfortunate gentleman dead, and in a frightfully battered condition. It was surmised that he fastened the trigger of his gun to his foot, and shot himself. Temporary insanity was assigned as a reason for the tragical act.
Mr. C. L. Hussey. —The New Year (1847) was shocked by the accidental death of Mr. C. L. Hussey, the Teller of the Bank of Australasia. Mr. Hussey resided at Collingwood, and started on horseback about 6 p.m. of the 7th January for a suburban ride, and not returning at his usual time his servants became alarmed. Next morning Sergeant Rose, of the Mounted Police, noticed a horse saddled but unbridled straying near Pentridge, which, coupled with Hussey's unaccountable absence from the bank, led to the supposition that some mishap had occurred. A mounted search party hastily started from town, and Hussey was found dead in the bush, near Main's Bridge, at Flemington. It was inferred that the deceased had jumped his horse, and the animal falling threw the rider. After the usual inquest, there was a very large funeral, for the deceased was regretted as widely as he was known. It is remarkable that Hussey was one of those who providentially escaped drowning by the sinking of a boat on the occasion of the drowning of young Cole off Sandridge in January, 1846.
Mr. Fitzherbert Miller Mundy. —On the 1st March is recorded the death of Mr. Fitzherbert Miller Mundy, aged 36, of Shipley, County of Derby, and of the Red Bluff, Western Port. His brother was for many years Colonial Secretary of South Australia. They were relatives of Governor Sir Charles Fitzroy.
Mr. Willaim Jones, Clerk of Petty Sessions to the Mount Macedon Bench, was drowned whilst attempting to cross the Campaspe on the 5th July. His dog remained barking on the river bank, which attracted the attention of some passers-by. The horse was saved with much risk, but Jones' body was not recovered for hours. The deceased was interred in the garden of the Carlsruhe Inn.
Dr. Hobson, an early physician, died on the 4th March, 1848, at Bonavista, South Yarra, after five days' illness. As a physician he would have won much eminence had he lived twenty years longer, and even as it was, his premature death was viewed as something akin to a public loss. Measures were taken to raise funds for the erection of a monument over his grave, in the Old Cemetery, and on the 22nd March, a public meeting was held. A sum exceeding £100 was soon raised. On a pedestal of blue-stone, eight feet square, stood a free-stone obelisk, on which was lettered the following scroll:—
THIS MONUMENT,
In Memory of
EDMUND CHARLES HOBSON, M.D.,
Born at Parramatta, 10th August, 1814; Died at Melbourne, 4th March, 1848,
IIas been erected by public subscription, in honour of a distinguished fellow-colonist,
who was pre-eminent in his profession, and whose skill and attention were
never solicited by the poor or distressed in vain. He united with
rare medical and other attainments, dispositions, and virtues,
which endeared him as a man and a Christian to his numerous friends.
He died universally regretted
in the thirty-fourth year of his age.
The artist of the Hobson monument was Mr. William Candy, of George Street, Fitzroy. He may, therefore, be justly esteemed the Founder of Monumental Masonry in Victoria.
Cain and Porter.— On the 27th June, Captain James Cain, who had built for him the first large brick store in Flinders Street, died aged 45; and on 7th July Mr. George Porter, aged 48. The latter was an extensive land purchaser at the old Melbourne town lot sales. His son (Mr. J. A. Porter) was the so long well known Prothonotary of the Supreme Court, who died, as was said, "rolling in wealth," in 1882.
John Simson. —On the 21st November, 1848, as Messrs. D. C. Simson and John Simson, settlers at Charlotte Plains, were endeavouring to save the life of John Barrett, a bullock-driver, who got into deep water while crossing a ford, the two Johns were drowned, and D. C. with difficulty escaped a like fate. John Simson being a capital swimmer, the mishap in his case was believed to have been occasioned by a fit. He left a wife and six children, and his death was very much regretted. The double burial was witnessed at Charlotte Plains on the 23rd by persons who travelled many miles, and the sad ceremony was, under the circumstances, one of deep emotion.
Mr. James Ballingall was one of the first appointed batch of Corporation Rate-collectors, and in January, 1849, he was the object of deep commiseration by the drowning of his son in the Yarra.
Dr. Patrick Cussen has already figured in these sketches, and the present will be the last appearance of his name. On 22nd May, 1849, when 57 years of age, he died after a protracted illness from disease of the heart. His career was neither uneventful nor useless, for he had been an efficient public officer since 1837. He was obituarily complimented by a large funeral on the 23rd.
Mrs. L. M'Kinnon. —In June was announced the death of the wife of Mr. Lachlin M'Kinnon, Mr. and Mrs. M'Kinnon were in then a District Member of the New South Wales Legislature. Sydney where the former was attending his Parliamentary duties, and the lady died. Her remains were conveyed for burial per the "Shamrock" steamer from Sydney to Melbourne. Mr. Henrie Bell. —A substantial mercantile house in old times was one kept by two well known brothers, W. M. and Henrie Bell. The former acquired some public consequence from a connection with the Corporation, and he was one of Melbourne's early Mayors. They were both staunch and influential Presbyterians of the Free Church branch. Henrie Bell died on the 25th November, and his remains were taken to John Knox Church, whence, on the 27th, a large funeral procession set forth, and he was placed to rest in the not distant cemetery.
Mr. F. Wight. —A singularly fatal accident occurred on 6th April, 1850, to Mr. F. Wight, brother of a member of a widely-known firm of Watson and Wight. One night previously deceased on awaking felt a soreness on his face. Mr. Wight was staying some miles from town. Medical aid was summoned, and Dr. Ford started without delay to render any assistance in his power; but on his arrival the sufferer had expired. The death was believed to have originated from the bite of a scorpion or centipede, terminating in what is medically known as phlegmonous erysipelas. The deceased was of amiable and Christian disposition and much regretted.
Mr. J. J. Peers, a notable colonist, and one of the earliest propagators of Wesleyanism, died at the age of 45 in Sydney on 21st August, 1850. The corpse was brought to Melbourne for interment.
Mr. J. W. Cowell, the proprietor of the Royal Hotel, in Collins Street, an establishment of much note for years, was found dead in his bed in October, from disease of the heart. For some time he had a fixed premonition that his death would be sudden.
Edward Curr, "The Father of Separation," breathed his last on Saturday, 16th November, 1850, the third day of the public rejoicings held in honour of the advent of the great boon for which he had so long and ardently laboured. It was sad to think that he should go out of the world at a time when the whole colony was celebrating the victory which Curr had done so much to gain. Though it was indisputably known before that the Independence of Port Phillip had been ratified by the Imperial Parliament, intelligence of the actual giving of the Royal assent to the Constitution Act was only received in Melbourne on the day and almost at the hour of Curr's death. He had been ill for five months, and was 52 years of age. The mortal remains were removed in the afternoon from St. Helier's (now Abbotsford), the residence of the deceased, to the Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis, where they remained during the night. At 11 a.m. of the 17th, a Requiem Mass was celebrated by the Rev. G. A. Ward, assisted by the Revs. V. Bourgeois and J. Madden. In the afternoon the funeral took place, and the Rev. Mr. Ward pronounced a well-deserved eulogy at the grave. Frequent references have been made in other chapters to the distinguished public career of Mr. Edward Curr.
The Rev. James Forbes. —This single-minded and highly estimable divine died at the Manse of John Knox Church on 12th August, 1851. He was first minister of the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria, and had only entered upon his 38th year. He was buried on the 15th, and his funeral was one of the largest up to that time in Melbourne, and was attended by the Lieutenant-Governor (Latrobe), all the chief officers of Government, nearly every clergyman in town of other denominations, and an immense concourse of all classes of the population. On the following Sabbath Bishop Perry made the event the theme of a sermon of much feeling and eloquence. The Rev. James Forbes was born in 1813, the son of a farmer at Kilbrae, Parish of Lochiel Cushnie, 24 miles from Aberdeen, and in course of time he became an M.A. of King College (Aberdeen). After joining the Presbyterian Ministry he proceeded to New South Wales in 1837 with the Rev. Dr. Lang and others. In 1843 there was a secession of Port Phillip Presbyterianism, and on the 25th October, 1846, Forbes, as an enthusiastic Free Churchman, threw in his lot with the Seceders. One of the most affecting incidents ever written of occurred at his death-bed on the 4th August, after his medical attendants declared they entertained but faint, if any hope, of his recovery. He had an infant son only three weeks old, and it was the father's desire that he should baptize the baby in the presence of the several members of the family. Whenn the child was brought, the dying minister was unable to speak louder than a whisper, and after the ceremony was with difficulty gone through with much effort, he wrote down the event in a family Register kept in his pulpit Bible. When this was done, he languidly lay back in the bed and calmly said, "I have performed the last act of my ministry."
The Rev. Daniel Newham.— This gentleman was a curate with Dr. Perry in England, and when the latter was appointed Bishop of the Anglican See of Melbourne, Mr. Newham accompanied him to the scene of his episcopal labours. On their arrival in Melbourne, A.D. 1848, Mr. Nweham was nominated to the parochial charge of St. Peter's. He died at his Parsonage on the 27th August, 1851, then only 35 years of age, and on the 29th his funeral was attended by a large concourse, including the Lieutenant-Governor, and most of the leading residents of Melbourne. Two affecting panegyrics were preached on deceased that day, viz., by Bishop Perry, at St. Peter's, in the morning, and at St. James's, by the Rev. Mr. Strong, in the evening.
Mr. Gilbert Robertson.— An editorial casualty, the only instance of the kind, occurred near Geelong on the morning of the 5th September, when Mr. Gilbert Robertson, the editor of the Victoria Colonist, a Geelong newspaper, was proceeding on horseback to attend an electoral meeting at Colac, and on reaching about a mile beyond the South Geelong Bridge, the animal he rode shied, and threw him off. After lying helpless on the ground for some time, he was found by a wayfarer. He was speechless, and evidently much internally shaken, and on removal to a tavern some distance off he neither rallied nor spoke, and died the following day.
Mr. Stanley Docker.— Ten days after, Mr. Stanley Docker, son of the Rev. Joseph Docker, of Bontherambo, was with a stockman crossing the Ovens in a state of high flood, when the horses came in collision, the two men were dismounted, and Docker was drowned. He was only twenty years of age, transacted all his father's business, and had already established a high reputation for being straightforward and honourable in all his dealings.
Mr. John Bear, Senior.— This Necrological catalogue ends with the death of the brusque, active, wideawake, widely-liked individual known as Mr. John Bear, senior. For several years the stock and station-selling firm of Bear and Son was as well-known as Bourke Street, where at the south-east corner of Queen Street their vending-mart was established. "Old Bear," though only two years more than the half century, took his last illness in 1851, and after being laid up for four months, died on the 30th November. At half-past four of 2nd December he was buried from St. Peter's Church, and escorted to the grave by a large town and country gathering.