Was he really dead or legally on that date?

[Pheno]

Hi, just read through this interesting thread and one thing strikes me as an anomaly for what its worth.

The OP says that Effie believed he was brought before the Children's Court in Inverell re maintenance.  Don't know anything about the Australian legal system but would a Children's Court deal with wife maintenance?  Elsewhere it is suggested that there were no children.

Pheno

[majm]

Hi, just read through this interesting thread and one thing strikes me as an anomaly for what its worth.

The OP says that Effie believed he was brought before the Children's Court in Inverell re maintenance.  Don't know anything about the Australian legal system but would a Children's Court deal with wife maintenance?  Elsewhere it is suggested that there were no children.

Pheno

Yes, at that time in the New South Wales judicial system, when a wife sought maintenance from her husband, the hearing was conducted within what was commonly referred to as the 'Children's Court' system, as usually the hearing would also be considering the figure to set in orders to cover  each child.    That same system also heard judicial separations, even when there were no children of the marriage.    The Child Welfare Act dates from 1939.   The application Effie sought for wife maintenance was much earlier in that same decade. 

JM 

[McGroger]

G’day Pheno, welcome to the puzzle!

There was a (NSW) Deserted Wives and Children Act 1901-1964, and the Children’s Court (of NSW) was established in 1905 with courts set up in Sydney, Newcastle, Parramatta, Burwood and Broken Hill.

An educated guess: Perhaps, although there were no children involved in Effie and Donald’s case, it came under the jurisdiction of the 1901 Act, so was tried in the Children’s Court. I doubt there would have been a dedicated court set up in Inverell, but perhaps there was a travelling Special Magistrate and the next convenient sitting was to be in Inverell. (In those days I think Inverell as a country centre loomed much larger than it does today.)

Thanks, Pheno.

JM, sorry to duplicate some of your advice. You learn so many things you never thought you’d be interested in, stimulated by the thrill of the chase!


To other Rootschatters following this case, Pheno also PM’d me some personal details of a relative of theirs, regarding army paybooks and why they could be carrying one around many years after leaving the army (identity proof/medical record etc). Thanks again, Pheno.

I think the verbal history in this case is a two-edged sword. You don’t know what parts of remembered detail are facts and what parts are red herrings. An example is the reference to the Riverina. All documentary evidence suggests he moved around the north-west of NSW (Wauchope/Inverell).

My current thoughts/speculation (!) are, considering all the evidence that’s come to light so far:
Donald either accidentally or suicidally drowned in a river near Inverell.
That a badly deteriorated body was found.
That an army pay book was found either in clothes on the body or nearby.
That the body was officially not identified but the family were informed that they’d also found Donald’s pay book pay book and that it could be him.
That someone in the family, unfamiliar with Inverell, heard the words “river near Inverell” but reinterpreted this as “in the Riverina”.

Cheers, Peter

[majm]

Yes,  Circuit Magistrates operated within the "Children's Court" system in the rural districts for many years, right up until the 1970s when the Federal legislation came in re Family Courts.

The hearings were often held 'in camera' (so a closed court session) in the court rooms of the "District Court".   Just 'googled' photos of NSW Inverell Court House and yes, Inverell's court house would definitely have been 'around' in the 1930s.      

When a body is found, the police become involved.  That was also the procedure back in the 1930s.   An inquest is held, or at least a coroner determines the cause of death.  But both those administrative functions, back in the 1930s, could occur AFTER the coroner issues an authority for the body to be buried.   In any of the rural districts of NSW in that era, the local newspapers would have reported on the discovery, and appealed to the general public.   Many of those rural newspapers are still being digitised and then will be uploaded to Trove.  Trove has funding issues at present. 

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/search?adv=y

and

http://trove.nla.gov.au/gazette/search?adv=y

JM

[rosball]

Here's an obit for Donald McIntyre Gower McGregor - just in case we were desperate enough to reconsider the man who was bankrupt in Inverell http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139876376
Definitely not him.

I think we need to move the search to Inverell - physically - and chat among the locals.  I hear there is a big bash on this weekend and luckily Peter has told us where he lives and welcomed us to the party

[sparrett]

This is certainly the kind of search which lends itself to speculation.
So here are my speculative thoughts.

It is sad to think that the only identification for the deceased was an army pay book.  The 1930s were tough times and it is possible the item could fall into the wrong hands and, in fact not be connected to the deceased man.  In other words, the man was not Donald, though the pay book was his.

On the other hand if the deceased was him, I think it is entirely plausible that he had promptly left the Inverell district after the order was issued for payments, and may well have drifted to the Riverina, as stated in the family story. 
He was a carpenter and, as an itinerant, may have picked up work wherever he found himself.

Sue

[McGroger]

Thanks JM, Ros and Sue - all good ideas welcome.

Ros, just let me know any special dietary requirements. I’ll put the cat to work removing any meat from the snags and excess water from the beer.

Cheers, Peter

[Rena]

I think we need to move the search to Inverell - physically - and chat among the locals.  I hear there is a big bash on this weekend and luckily Peter has told us where he lives and welcomed us to the party

 

[rosball]

I'm on a strictly champers-only diet Peter.  And I like to open the bottles myself (no offence to the cat ).  Good luck with the function  .

By the way I have been slowly browsing through the image of the microfilm provided by ancestry of
the coroner's inquests and am well past the indexes and onto the actual chronological inquest records. (Not that I mistrust ancestry but there is scope for scribbled notes in margin or remarks etc)

However after a few hours I am only on page 247 of 906 (July 1935)   If anyone wants to start from the other end ....?   Or the middle ...?