Death by Brick

 

E. S. Wigg & Son stationers and adjoining buildings in Grenfell St, Adelaide, 1922
SLSA: [B 10365]

  It was August 1921, when Arthur Leonard Brown of 166 Carrington Street, Adelaide, went to work like any other day. On this day he was employed as part of the work gang building known as Wigg’s Building at 63-69 Grenfell Street, Adelaide.

  E.S. Wigg & Son Limited began on Rundle Street in 1849, established by Edgar Smith Wigg. The company produced stationery, which it just so happened, that a law had passed in 1849 requiring records to be kept for councils, religious congregations, licenses and taxation. In the 1870’s Wigg & Son also offered school supplies. A new building was erected on Rundle Street in 1880 – which was subsequently demolished during the Myer Centre rebuild in the 1990s.
 With a growing business in South Australia and Western Australia, the company bought land on Grenfell Street to meet its storage requirements. They moved into the Grenfell Street building in December 1921.[1]

 Mr Brown was going about his business as a bricklayer on that fateful day. Another bricklayer, Harold Gordon O’Reilly, was also working at Wiggs. O’Reilly was stationed on the third floor of the building when he the cry of “Under below!”  O’Reilly noticed two bricks falling from the floor above.
 Gordon Scroop, another bricklayer was working on the third-floor landing, winching up bricks in a barrow. A load of bricks came up on the winch but was an inch too short to be swung onto the landing, because of this there was a slight jerking motion to the barrows which caused two bricks to come loose and fall. Scroop called out several times with a warning: “Under below!”[2]

 Brown had hooked the barrow of bricks onto the winch that was to go to the third floor. Richard Williams, the winch driver, set the winch in motion, and both men watched it go up from below. Williams heard the cry of “Under, Below,” but it was too late, he watched as one brick hit Brown in the back of the head, and another slid across his shoulder.  Brown was rushed to the Adelaide Hospital where he died later the same day.

An inquest was held a week later at the Education Building on Flinders Street, under City Coroner, Dr Ramsey Smith. Dr Wentworth R.C. Mainwaring deposed that the brick had hit Brown in almost the centre of the back of his head. It had left a slight cut but had fractured Brown's skull from the top middle of his head to the base of his skull – this is what killed him.[3] The Coroner found the death to be accidental.

Arthur Leonard Brown was just 29 years of age when the accident occurred. Brown was buried at the West Terrace Cemetery.[4]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller ©2024

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[1] ‘Wigg’s Building’, Heritage of the City of Adelaide, City of Adelaide, (2001), p. 1., https://d31atr86jnqrq2.cloudfront.net/heritage-places/heritage-place-information-sheet-63-69-grenfell-street.pdf.

[2] 'Killed By A Falling Brick', The Express and Telegraph, (29 August 1921), p. 2.

[3] 'Killed By Falling Brick.', The Journal, (29 August 1921), P. 1.

[4] 'Family Notices', Daily Herald, (26 August 1921), p. 2. 

 Lightning Strikes - Bagot's Head Station

On November 22^nd, 1860, a thunderstorm blew through the Kapunda region in South Australia’s mid-north. Three young men were cutting grass at Bagot’s Head Station (Koonunga). At about 11am the thunderstorm grew in intensity. The three young men, Rody Young, his younger brother James and Thomas Ryan were all killed by lightning.[1]
Thomas Ryan was 26 years old, he was married with three children. Rody Young was aged 22 years old, and married with two children. James Young was aged just 14. Thomas Ryan had married a sister of the Young brothers; the family lost three men that day.[2]

 John Hill delivered the sad news to the people of Kapunda. He reported that the men's clothes were stripped from their bodies by a lightning bolt. Hill had been standing near the men at the time of the lightning strike and had been thrown to the ground by the force of the lightning strike.
  According to the South Australian Weekly Chronicle, when the bodies were recovered, they were ‘found to be quite black, and all the clothes were burnt to cinders.’[3] Rody Young and James Young were almost naked, with just strips of clothing covering their burned bodies. The men’s beards had been burned from their faces, and James’s boot had a small hole where the lightning exited into the ground through his boot nails.
Dr Blood gave his opinion that the death was caused by lightning. An inquest stated that ‘Death by the visitation of God, through lightning,’ was the official cause of death![4]

© 2025 Allen Tiller

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[1] 'DEATH BY LIGHTNING AT KAPUNDA.', South Australian Register, (23 November 1860), p. 3.

[2] 'CORONER'S INQUEST AT KAPUNDA.', South Australian Register, (24 November 1860) p. 3.

[3] 'KAPUNDA.', South Australian Weekly Chronicle, (24 November 1860), p. 2.

[4] 'CORONER'S INQUEST AT KAPUNDA.', South Australian Register, (24 November 1860) p. 3.

 Lightning Strikes – Brooks Family

 

  In February 1889, a severe thunderstorm blew in over Brookside, near Eudunda. Mrs Brooks decided to send her son to Dutton with two horses to retrieve his sister from school. The teenager (17) saddled the horses and rode towards Dutton immediately. He reached his destination safely and helped his 12-year-old sister onto her horse, and together they began the ride home.
 
  Another daughter of Mrs Brooks was sitting inside the house out of the storm. Thunder cracked overhead and lightning flashed outside. She sat looking out the window wondering how here sister and brother were faring in the weather. Lightning lit the fields nearby again, and this time, she noticed lying in a field two horses and what seemed like to people. She alerted her parents; Mrs Brooks ran to find her two children and their horses dead.
 A very powerful bolt of lightning hit the pair as they neared their home. The young male was severely charred from the lightning strike and a hole was burned through his horse's saddle, as fired by a gun. He took the severity of the lightning bolt with his sister's only visible injury being a black mark on her breast.  The horses were found a few yards distance from the teenagers, lying upon each other. The bodies of the teenagers were disfigured in the fall of the horses, the girl still holding the reigns of her horse.[1]
  William and Charity Brooks buried their teenagers, William Junior and Ellen at the Truro Cemetery.[2]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

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[1] 'STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.', Kapunda Herald, (1 March 1889), p. 2.

[2] 'Family Notices', South Australian Register, (7 March 1889), p. 4.

 Lightning Strikes – The Death of Mr Carey

 It was a Friday afternoon January 25 1901, Thomas Carey, a farmer near Templers, was returning home after visiting Gawler. He was riding in a wagon with six horses. His brother, Jeremiah Carey, an employee of Mr Flett, had also been in Gawler that day, and rode with his brother as far as Flett’s farm near Roseworthy.
 Thomas waited with his horses and wagon while his brother went into his lodgings and found an overcoat that he gave to Jeremiah. Mr Flett invited Thomas to park his wagon at the farmhouse and stable his horses as a fierce storm had settled in. Thomas declined the invitation.  Jeremiah then changed his clothes and went with Mr Flett to check on an overflowing drain. The men walked for a little while but noticed Thomas's wagon was sitting idle alongside the road. They walked over to it and found all six horses and Thomas dead.[1]

Authorities were alerted, with Mounted Constable Grosser the first on the scene. He found Thomas Carey sitting in an upright position, his body leaning back on the hay frame. His feet were resting on the shafts. Thomas’ left leg was scorched above the ankle, as was the left side of his neck and face. His moustache and hair on the left of his body was badly singed.  Thomas’ body had many small burn marks, especially across his torso. His hat had been blown off his head and was lying 200 yards away.
 The horses were lying dead where they had stood, with no apparent electrical or fire damage. The wagon was also unscathed.
Mr A.G. Both, J.P. stated that an inquest was not required and approved for the burial of the man and his horses. The horses were buried in a 10-foot-deep, former waterhole on the property of James Dingle.[2]

Thomas Carey was buried at the Willaston Cemetery. The Bunyip newspaper reported that the funeral procession was one of the longest ever seen in the district at the time, with over 100 vehicles following the hearse. [3]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

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[1] 'STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.', Border Watch, (30 January 1901), p. 1.

[2] 'Killed by Lightning.', Bunyip, (1 February 1901), p. 2.

[3] 'Killed by Lightning.', Bunyip, (1 February 1901), p. 2.

 Lightning Strikes – Penola Shepherds

 In January 1907, James and his older brother Alex Patterson were mustering sheep on their uncle's farm near Penola in the southeast of South Australia. They counted the sheep they had mustered and realized the count fell short, so they went to look for the lost sheep.
 As they rode their horses through the paddocks, a storm blew in. The two boys took shelter under the tree. The tree proved to be insufficient to shelter both boys and their horses, so Alec rode on a little further to find another tree to shelter underneath.[1]
 James could see his brother when a flash of lightning filled the gloom of the storm. James watched his brother’s horse fall. He ran to his brother to find him sitting upright with his pocketbook in his hand, as he had been counting sheep when the lightning struck. Next to him was his dead horse and his dead dog. He then ran to the nearest house and alerted them to the tragedy.

 Mounted Constable Carter, William Patterson (Alex’s uncle) and Dr Magee from Penola made their way to the site of the tragedy.[2] They discovered Alex’s body, his clothes were torn, his right trouser leg was entirely split, and his boots torn to shreds. His body had been seared in some places and his hair singed.[3] They loaded the body onto a cart and brought it back to Penola.

A report on the incident was published in the Border Watch newspaper as follows,

"I have the honor to report that William Patterson, J. P. reported to me at 5.30 p.m., on the 26th inst., that his nephew, Alexander John Patterson, son of James Patterson, of Suthledge, was killed by lightning on the Victorian border, near Lake Mundi. I left immediately in company with Dr. Magee and Mr. W. Patterson, and found that, the deceased, his horse, and his dog were all killed near a gum tree, under which they had taken shelter from the storm.
  The horse had evidently fallen where struck, and it was bleeding from the ears and was dead. The sheep dog was lying dead close to the deceased, and its hair was singed. The ground was torn up round where the deceased lay. He had the body brought into Penola.
   James Andrew Patterson, aged 13 years, stated that between 3 and 4 o'clock on Saturday, he was mustering sheep with his deceased brother, who was 17 years of age. They found they were short in number, and were searching for the missing ones when a heavy storm came on, and they both took shelter under trees. The deceased was sitting under one tree about a chain away from the one he was under. He had his horse close to him, holding it by the bridle, and his pocket book in his hand counting up the number of sheep. A flash of lightning came; and he saw his brother's horse fall. He ran over, and found his brother sitting as before with his pocket book in his hand. He spoke to him, but got no answer. He spoke to him again, and found he was dead, and also the horse and dog. He immediately went to the nearest neighbours, told the, what had happened, and asked for help.
  Dr. C.C. Magee reported on the evening of the 26^th inst. He, in company with M.C. Carter of Penola, inspected the body of Alexander John Patterson, aged about 17 years, found dead under a tree, 114 miles from Penola, on the Casterton Road.
 He found the right leg of the trousers badly torn from the middle of the thigh downwards. The right boot was completely torn off the foot, only the heel and sole of the boot being. left. The toe of the left boot was torn open. About half a dozen holes were burnt in the singlet, and a small hole was burnt in the soft felt hat.
  On examination of the body he found the hair on the back of the head and ears singed, about half a dozen small burns on the back between the shoulder blades corresponding with the holes in the singlet, a bruise about an inch square between the eighth and ninth rib on the left side, the pubic hair singed, a burn about the size of the palm of a hand on front of the right leg between the knee and ankle, a small burn under the right big toe, and the hair singed on the right leg up to the knee.
 From these appearances he considered death to have been caused by lightning stroke, and to have been instantaneous.[4]

 

Alexander was buried in the Penola cemetery, with the Reverend D.A. Souter ministering over the procession.[5] Alexander is buried alongside his uncle, Thomas MacDonald, who died just two weeks prior.[6]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

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[1] Youth, Horse, And Dog.', The Register, (28 January 1907), p. 5.

[2] 'TRAGIC DEATH AT PENOLA.', The South Eastern Times, (29 January 1907), p. 2.

[3] 'KILLED BY LIGHTNING.', The Register, (29 January 1907), p. 4.

[4] 'THUNDERSTORM HEAR PENOLA.', Border Watch, (30 January 1907), p. 2.

[5] ‘Patterson’, Cemetery Search, Wattle Range Council, (2025), https://www.wattlerange.sa.gov.au/living-here/cemeteries/cemetery-search?action=grave&id=254374.

[6] 'THUNDERSTORM HEAR PENOLA.', Border Watch, (30 January 1907), p. 2.

 Lightning Strikes – The Death of Bertha Cook.

 On Monday 4 February 1929, 25-year-old Bertha Cook was doing her washing in her backyard, while her son Lloyd played nearby. Her husband Fred, a returned soldier and fruit grower, was working in the front yard. The sky was overcast but did not look threatening. As thunderstruck a bolt of lightning struck Bertha in the head. Lloyd was struck by the shockwave that followed, but through his daze, managed to get into the front yard of the property and alert his father that something was wrong with Bertha.[1]

 Fred came into the backyard to find Bertha’s clothes ablaze.  He put the fire out and tried to revive his wife, but she was dead. He then ran for medical help. Lightning had struck her on the shoulder, her shoulder and legs were ‘charred to cinders,’ and her shoes were ‘torn from her feet like tissue paper.’[2]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

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[1] 'Latest News.', West Coast Recorder, (7 February 1929), p. 2.

[2] 'WOMAN KILLED.', The Advertiser, (7 February 1929), p. 13.; 'Woman Killed by Lightning.', The Narracoorte Herald, (15 Feb 1929), p. 4.

 Lightning Strikes – Islington.

In December 1895, sisters, Mrs King and Mrs Daly were walking along the North Road near the Reepham Hotel at Islington when lightning struck. The two ladies were thrown to the ground unconscious. When both ladies were roused, neither could use their legs. Mrs King was taken into the Reepham Hotel where it was revealed she had been severely burned across her body, her hair had been singed, and her boots blown from her feet.[1]
Mrs Daly was far more fortunate, escaping with a severe shock only. A horse that was standing not far from where the two women were struck, was killed instantly.[2]

The ladies were attended by well-known Adelaide Doctor C.G. Lermitte. Dr Charles Gower Lermitte was born in Canada in approximately 1862. He was educated in medicine at Richmond England.[3]
 On 28 May 1889, Charles married Augusta Katherine Winifred Scott at Walkerville, South Australia.[4]

In 1890 the couple moved to Deloraine in Tasmania where Charles worked as a Doctor.[5] In 1900, Dr Lermitte was working from Olive House, Gilberton, South Australia.[6]  In October 1920 it was reported in the Adelaide Observer that Doctor Lermitte had committed suicide at his home in Kent Town. He was found dead in his bed by his wife. It was concluded he had taken prussic acid, what we know today as hydrogen cyanide.
During an inquest into the doctor’s death, it was shown that he had been in a suicidal state for some time prior. A letter was produced at the inquest in Dr Lermittes hand, which stated he had previously taken 43 grains of sulphate of morphia, enough to kill 3 or four men, but he had barely felt affected.
 The coroner was surprised at the ruling of temporary insanity and questioned the jury. Several of the Coroner's own friends were intimately acquainted with the doctor and did now think he would take his own life. [7]

Charles Gower Lermitte, M.R.C.S. Eng. & L.S.A. Lond. was 40 years old at the time of his death. He owned medical practices at Gilberton, Kent Town and Norwood.[8] Dr Lermitte was buried at Nailsworth Cemetery.[9]

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

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[1] 'The Sunbeam Society.', Evening Journal, (7 December 1895), p. 4.

[2] 'STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.', The Advertiser, (7 December 1895), p. 5.

[3] Charles Gower Larmitte, District 14, Richmond, Surrey, Class: RG11; Piece: 844; Folio 844, GSU roll: 1341200. England Census, (1881), p. 29.

[4] Lermitte – Scott, Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1949, Vol. 159, (1889), p. 1130.

[5] Medical Directory, Tasmania PO Directory, (Wise), (1890-91), Australia, City Directories, (1891), p. 390.

[6] Lindsay, Practitioners Resident Abroad, The Medical Directory (1900), p. 1799.

[7] 'THE LATE DR. LERMITTE.', Adelaide Observer, (25 October 1902), p. 31. 

[8] 'DR. C. LERMITTE.', The Express and Telegraph, (17 October 1902), p. 1

[9] Dr Charles Gower Lermitte, Find a Grave, (1902), https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/227319684/charles_gower-lermitte