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

---

[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

 Chicago – South Australia

Did you know that South Australia once had a suburb named Chicago?

 Chicago was an industrial area 5 miles from Adelaide, which had a school and its own football club.[1] The Yatala South District Council decided that the name needed to be changed due to confusion with Chicago South Australia mail being mistaken for Chicago, Illinois, USA mail.
 The Chicago Post Office, South Australia, stated it did not matter that the name was changed, as it was to avoid confusion.[2] However, there was conjecture in local newspapers that the real reason the name change was first suggested was that the ‘name reminded them too much of gangsters, daylight hold-ups, and "Scarface" Al Capone.’[3]

Names suggested for the renaming included Booth and Makinville (in honour of Mr. Norman Makin Speaker of the House of Representatives), Killarney, Northview or Suburbia.[4] Mawson was suggested but rejected due to the name being used in Western Australia.[5]  Braeville and Mapleton were also suggested but were vetoed by the Nomenclature Committee, owing to similar place names in Australia.[6]
While new name suggestions were considered some members of the public believed the area should be absorbed into nearby suburbs, such as Islington, Kilburn, SunnyBrae, and Islington Park. and Braeville. Ultimately, the Yatala District Council of the day, overseen by chairperson, R.A. Thompson, would have the final say on the name.[7]

A name was chosen by the council and debated in Parliament. Kilburn was chosen as it complied with official requirements, ‘inasmuch, as it is a wholesome word; and does not clash with any existing place names in the Commonwealth.’ [8]   The News reported on the name transition the following,

Kilburn is the designation of a private subdivision adjoining Chicago. Hitherto the name has not been recognised officially in the Lands Titles Office. There is a suburb of London called Kilburn, and the name also occurs in Yorkshire and Derby Shire. In an earlier form: it is mentioned in Domesday Book, and its roots have reference to church and stream. Chicago is a Red-Indian word for "wild onion."[9]

The Mail, not long after the announcement of the name change from Chicago reported,

'Kill— Burn'

'What's in a name?' asked Shakespeare. Residents of Chicago will find that there is more in one than meets the eye. For the new name for Chicago, near Port Adelaide, is Kilburn. And Kilburn, according to the residents, sounds much more aristocratic than Chicago, which is reminiscent of battle, murder, and sudden death.
Kilburn, they say, suggests the emerald isle, with ruined castles dreaming by moonlit lakes and moss-covered walls and leprechauns.

But the Fates have conspired against Kilburn for latest cables from Chicago, America, state that gangsters after killing off their victims are suspected of burning the bodies.

Thus— Kill-burn.

It seems that Adelaide's Chicago cannot escape association with us shady namesake.[10]

 

Also changed at the same time, announced by Governor Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven, was the suburb name Mellor Park, which was changed to Lockleys.[11]

 

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2025

Photos:

Gregory's  Street Directory of Adelaide and Suburbs, State Library of South Australia, Map 36 (1936), https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/2108#idx12271

---

[1] 'Chicago Club', News, (25 February 1925), p. 5.

[2] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (15 February 1930), p. 3.

[3] 'Name of Suburb Changed', The Standard, (23 March 1960), p. 7.

[4] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (15 February 1930), p. 3.

[5] 'Chicago Renamed', News, (26 April 1930), p. 3.

[6] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (7 April 1930), p. 4.

[7] 'Renaming Chicago', News, (15 February 1930), p. 3.

[8] 'Exit Chicago!', News, (3 May 1930), p. 3.

[9] Ibid.

[10] "Kill-Burn"', The Mail, (24 May 1930), p. 3.

[11] 'Kilburn Vice Chicago', The Advertiser, (13 August 1930), p. 10. 

J.P. McGowan: “The Railroad Man”

J.P. McGowan: “The Railroad Man”

John Paterson McGowan was a South Australian born pioneer in Hollywood. Born in Terowie, South Australia, John was known professionally as J.P McGowan and acted in over 235 movies. He also directed 257 movies, wrote 31 movies and produced with his company, ‘Signal Film’ 22 movies.
 McGowan is the only Australian life member of the Screen Directors Guild.

 McGowan was born on  February 24, 1880, in the mid-north town of Terowie. His father worked on the trains there, but the family soon moved south to Islington to the railyards where his father worked as a locomotive fire-stoker and labourer.

 McGowan fought in South Africa during the Boer War, and from here was plucked to work in films in America. His first film appearance was in a 1910 silent movie called ‘A Lad From Old Ireland’. McGowan worked for Kalem Studios at this time and went on to star in and direct 33 episodes of the serial adventure movies series ‘The Hazards of Helen’.

 McGowan married Helen Holmes, and together they started their own production company ‘Signal

Films’. They had one child together before their relationship fizzled out. They divorced in 1925.

 In his later career, McGowan directed John Wayne in The Hurricane Express, a 12-movie series produced by Mascot Pictures.

McGowan served as the executive secretary to the Screen Directors Guild from 1938 until 1951 (known later as the Directors Guild of America).

McGowan suffered from heart disease in his later years. He died on 26 March 1952, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States. His ashes were interred in a niche at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, California.

J.P. McGowan impressive resume on IMDB; https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569645/

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019

Bibliography

Donaldson, D., ‘The First Australian in Hollywood’, NFSA (2019), https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/first-australian-hollywood

Jaunay, G., JP (John Paterson) McGowan, (2019), http://www.jaunay.com/mcgowan.html

Worden, L., ‘J.P. McGowan, SCV Film Pioneer’(2013), https://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lw2355.htm

7 Minutes to 3: The Tragic Deaths of Roy Ayling and Eugenie Armstrong

7 Minutes to 3: 

The Tragic Deaths of Roy Ayling and Eugenie Armstrong.

 June 19th, 1919 was just another ordinary day for engine driver and fireman, John James O’Shea and Harold Sutherland. They went to work at the Islington Train Yards. They fired up Engine 88 to pull Goods Train 72 and set off on route from Mile End out to Hamley Bridge, north of Gawler.
 The train passed through Gawler and out onto the Roseworthy line to Hamley Bridge, then back through Roseworthy heading toward Gawler.
 As the train approached the crossing on what is now Redbanks Road between Roseworthy and Gawler, the engine driver sounded his whistle. As the whistle was sounded, he noticed a motorcycle with sidecar speeding along the road.  The train whistle was sounded again as a warning. The motorcycle appeared to slow down, then suddenly as if racing the train to the crossing, sped up.
 O’Shea sounded the train's whistle again and Sutherland applied the tender brake.

  Due to the incline of the rail line, the airbrakes and tender brakes had already been partially applied, so when the train approached the crossing it was already decelerating.
 The train entered the crossing at 20 miles per hour pulling a 300-ton load. It struck the centre of the motorcycle, dragging it under the cowcatcher and under the train.

 Fireman, Harold Sutherland stated of the incident; “I saw the motorcycle, about a chain away, on the driver's side of the engine. Saw nothing further until the bodies flew out from the under wheels of the engine onto the right side of the line.”

 There were many witnesses to the accident. Farmers on properties around the train line had been out in the fields working had seen the whole event as it occurred. Farmer Hugo Twartz, Martin Twartz, Theodore Bartsch, all gave testimony that confirmed the train driver and train fireman’s testimony.

 Roy Ayling was a quiet young man described as quiet and thoughtful, with a gift for motor mechanics. The 20-year-old was well known and liked around Willaston. He was a successful poultry breeder who made his own incubators and breeders. He had been riding a motorcycle for over a year, and many local people knew the sound of his bike as it came and went from Willaston.

 Eugenie Armstrong was a student at the Gawler Technical School. At only 18 and half she had made her mark assisting at various businesses in Gawler’s main street. She was a valued member of the Gawler’s Congregational Church. Her father, Mr A.P, Armstrong was a well-known Labor Party Member in South Australia. Miss Armstrong was described by friends as; “A sterling and reliable companion, who was very popular among her peers.”

 On June 19^th, Roy picked up Eugenie in his sidecar. He had only had the bike for two months and enjoyed showing it off. They headed out toward Roseworthy to catch a late afternoon football match between the Willaston Football Club and the Roseworthy College students’ team.
 It’s not known exactly what happened on that fateful day. The par sped along Redbank’s road toward the crossing, the train blew its whistle, and Roy slowed down but didn’t stop. He sped up, the train blew a second, longer warning whistle, but Roy didn’t stop, he pushed ahead to the crossing, where the bike was hit, and two young adults were flung from the bike under the train.

 Was Roy overconfident his new bike could beat the train? Was he showing off to Eugenie, or perhaps trying to scare her? Or was he distracted by the young woman in the sidecar, not noticing the noise of the trains whistle over the blare of his bike?

 We will never truly know the exact circumstances of the accident that claimed their lives…

 The police attended the scene after the accident. The young adults’ bodies were badly mutilated, so much so that they were buried before their funerals were held.

At the scene, Miss Armstrong’s watch was picked up by Sergeant Adamson. It read 7 minutes to 3, about the time of the accident.

Roy and Eugenie are buried at the historic Willaston Cemetery near Gawler.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019.

Bibliography

'AWFUL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.', Bunyip, (27 June 1919), p. 3.
'THE INQUEST.', Bunyip, (27 June 1919), p. 3.
'DETAILS OF THE TRAGEDY.', Chronicle, (28 June 1919), p. 13.
'RUN DOWN BY A TRAIN.', Chronicle, (28 June 1919), p. 13.