Grisly Gawler - Part I
Felo-de-se
In 1879, Gawler was dealt a double blow when two very well known gentlemen, Ernest Neville and John Adamson, decided to end their lives in their home on the banks of the North Para River.
Ernest Neville was a well-educated man, he could speak French fluently and was also a very well studied Botanist. His friend, John Adamson was also very well educated and was a very talented musician.
Before coming to Gawler, the two men had worked at Anlaby Homestead near Kapunda as gardeners. Prior to that, they had lived together in Victoria.
Neville took a job with the Town of Gawler Corporation. He was later fired for 'incompetence' and was accused of embezzling funds from the Town of Gawler.
Neville didn’t take the accusations well and blamed the local Methodist community, who he believed had a particular aversion to him and his friend John. With both men unemployed, their mortgage went unpaid, and a Bailiff was appointed to collect their property.
From that time forward, it seemed as though the two men had already decided that suicide was their only option, and in studying how to end their lives painlessly, they undertook research in a business-like manner.
Firstly they got hold of a bottle of chloroform, under the pretence of suffering from Neuralgia ( A painful nerve injury). They tested the drug on their much believed Bull-Terrier “Mammy”, who the two men referred to as the third part of their “trinity”; the three of them being inseparable. Mammy passed away from a drug overdose.
John, the next day, took Mammy's puppies into town and distributed them amongst their friends.
The following day, Sunday, Ernest did not appear for breakfast. Usually, they ate breakfast with other gentlemen on Sunday mornings. John accounted for Ernest's absence by telling those present, that Ernest had been up all night and was very tired, and had decided to sleep for most of the morning.
Ernest had, however, been running more experiments, and described some of what he had been up to in a letter to the local medical authority, Doctor Popham, which came to light after their deaths.
In that letter Ernest described taking large amounts of “Laudanum” (also known as Tincture of Opium - it is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium), up to an ounce in one sitting – its effects were not very dramatic on him, sending him off to sleep for about an hour.
When Ernest awoke, he opened up a wound in his arm and drew three pints of blood (3.5 pints of blood loss can cause organ failure). Ernest passed out, and when he awoke he removed another pint of blood. That did not conclude his experiments, and he expressed to John that he regretted not owning a pistol.
Ernest nursed himself through to Tuesday night. The two men decided to proceed to the wine cellar below the house. There, they suspended two ropes from the ceiling: “The ropes which the men used were suspended from the ceiling, and were originally used as ring trapezes. They cut off the rings, tied loop-knots, soaped the ropes, then got on a case together and jumped off it, leaving their bodies about eighteen inches apart.”
The Bailiff, who was residing in the house with the men until the monies were paid, heard a dog whimpering at about 3 am, and went outside to see what the noise was about, but could not see anyone. He found the two men the next morning after they didn’t come down for breakfast, and he began to search for them.
Doctor Popham brought forward the letter that had been addressed to him at the Inquiry into the two deaths and stated, that he could not find a reasonable explanation for why John Adamson would kill himself as well as Ernest Neville, other than the extreme regard he felt for his companion, spoken about in his letter.
The suicide was one of passion, two men who loved each other so much, that they could not live a day without each other's company.
As stated at the inquest: “The affair is altogether most mysterious, and one of the most remarkable occurrences that has ever happened in the colony. At an inquest, on Wednesday the Jury returned a verdict of felo-de-se.”
Neville didn’t take the accusations well and blamed the local Methodist community, who he believed had a particular aversion to him and his friend John. With both men unemployed, their mortgage went unpaid, and a Bailiff was appointed to collect their property.
From that time forward, it seemed as though the two men had already decided that suicide was their only option, and in studying how to end their lives painlessly, they undertook research in a business-like manner.
Firstly they got hold of a bottle of chloroform, under the pretence of suffering from Neuralgia ( A painful nerve injury). They tested the drug on their much believed Bull-Terrier “Mammy”, who the two men referred to as the third part of their “trinity”; the three of them being inseparable. Mammy passed away from a drug overdose.
John, the next day, took Mammy's puppies into town and distributed them amongst their friends.
The following day, Sunday, Ernest did not appear for breakfast. Usually, they ate breakfast with other gentlemen on Sunday mornings. John accounted for Ernest's absence by telling those present, that Ernest had been up all night and was very tired, and had decided to sleep for most of the morning.
Ernest had, however, been running more experiments, and described some of what he had been up to in a letter to the local medical authority, Doctor Popham, which came to light after their deaths.
In that letter Ernest described taking large amounts of “Laudanum” (also known as Tincture of Opium - it is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium), up to an ounce in one sitting – its effects were not very dramatic on him, sending him off to sleep for about an hour.
When Ernest awoke, he opened up a wound in his arm and drew three pints of blood (3.5 pints of blood loss can cause organ failure). Ernest passed out, and when he awoke he removed another pint of blood. That did not conclude his experiments, and he expressed to John that he regretted not owning a pistol.
Ernest nursed himself through to Tuesday night. The two men decided to proceed to the wine cellar below the house. There, they suspended two ropes from the ceiling: “The ropes which the men used were suspended from the ceiling, and were originally used as ring trapezes. They cut off the rings, tied loop-knots, soaped the ropes, then got on a case together and jumped off it, leaving their bodies about eighteen inches apart.”
The Bailiff, who was residing in the house with the men until the monies were paid, heard a dog whimpering at about 3 am, and went outside to see what the noise was about, but could not see anyone. He found the two men the next morning after they didn’t come down for breakfast, and he began to search for them.
Doctor Popham brought forward the letter that had been addressed to him at the Inquiry into the two deaths and stated, that he could not find a reasonable explanation for why John Adamson would kill himself as well as Ernest Neville, other than the extreme regard he felt for his companion, spoken about in his letter.
The suicide was one of passion, two men who loved each other so much, that they could not live a day without each other's company.
As stated at the inquest: “The affair is altogether most mysterious, and one of the most remarkable occurrences that has ever happened in the colony. At an inquest, on Wednesday the Jury returned a verdict of felo-de-se.”
1879 'THE GAWLER TRAGEDY.', Port Adelaide News (SA : 1878 - 1883), 13 September, p. 4., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article195863028
1879 'No title', The Illustrated Adelaide News (SA : 1875 - 1880), 1 November, p. 12., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224815005
1879 'THE TRAGEDY AT GAWLER.', South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), 4 September, p. 5., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43098356
