The sad demise of Dr Charles McClintock MD FRCSE

The monument pictured below, lays broken and unforgotten in the grounds of the Richmond Presbyterian Cemetery, in Jersey Street. The inscription reads:

Sacred to the Memory of 

CHARLES McCLINTOCK MD FRCSE

Fourth Son of the late 

ROBERT McCLINTOCK JP. DL. 

OF DUNMORE. Co. DONEGAL IRELAND 

WHO DIED 27TH OCTOBER 1885 ~ AGED 35 YEARS.

McClintock headstone, Richmond Presbyterian Cemetery. Photo: M. Nichols, 2020

I have noticed it in on a number of occasions and decided to see what I could find out what had happened to Dr Charles McClintock.

Born in Ireland on 15 June 1849 at Dunmore House, Carrigans, County Donegal. Charles was the youngest son of Robert McClintock, a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant and Margaret Elizabeth Macan. In 1859, when Charles was only 10 years old, his father passed away.  

After he finished his schooling, he studied medicine and in 1872, he was certified at the Royal College of Surgeon, Ireland, in later years.

In 1873, sometime after finishing his studies, he joined the crew of the ‘Menelaus’ as the Surgeon which departed from Liverpool in England. He was paid £10 and was discharged three months later, along with other crew members. Not much is known about Charles in the next few years until 1880 when he was recorded as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.

Charles was listed as the surgeon and as part of the crew of ship ‘Hawkesbury’ on the shipping lists coming from Adelaide arriving in Sydney in 1881. He apparently returned to Gladstone in South Australia and for a period during 1882, he was recorded as the medical officer of the gaol.

By 1883 he was listed in the Australasian Medical Directory as residing in Quorn in in the Flinders Ranges. In 1884 he was the Medical Officer in the small town of Quorn  and was still recorded there until early 1885. 

 

Hawkesbury Chronicle & Farmers Advocate, 22 August 1885 p. 1

Charles succeeded Dr Prothero of Richmond by mid-August and advertised his business in the Hawkesbury Chronicle and Farmers Advocate  and was available to consult in Dr Prothero’s old residence and he also offered outreach services in Agnes Banks and Wheeny Creek weekly.

In the same issue it was reported that Thomas Wilson’s son from Kurrajong was taken into Mr. Hughes, apothecary “with a frightful gash in calf of left leg” after falling on a glass bottle. Fortunately Dr. McClintock was called and he sewed up the wound. The journalist reported that “Dr. McClintock is a surgeon, not an aristocrat, nor an apothecary.” 

The young doctor settled himself in Richmond, which must have been a vastly different experience compared to his previous post, located about 40km NE of Port Augusta in South Australia. Establishing his business, advertising, and settling into a new routine were some of his tasks. His servant William Stewart had been with Dr McClintock for about six years, and Stewart’s family was originally from Quorn in the Flinders Ranges, where Charles was employed for several years.

After only a short time living and practising in Richmond, on Tuesday 27 October 1885, the Charles returned home after his daily rounds, saying he felt unwell. His servant, William said the doctor had twice before been attacked with fits, once in South Australia and once on the said passage round to Sydney. 

On the following day, an inquest was held, as the Doctor’s death was so sudden. It was held at the Black Horse Inn on the corner of Windsor and Bosworth Streets in Richmond and conducted by the District Coroner, James Bligh Johnston. However the evidence provided was very meagre. He appeared to have arrived home at about 12.45pm “and had gone up to his room, called William Stewart, his servant and told him he was going to die, he then went into a fit from which he never recovered.” He died within 30 minutes in the presence of Dr. Jockel. A post mortem showed that deceased died of congestion of the brain and disease of the heart.  A post mortem examination was made by Drs. Jockel and Hozier, and the newspaper reported that the deceased died of congestion of the brain depending on the deceased state of the heart, the actual inquest just states “disease the heart".  

The jury in attendance were W. D. Stewart, J. W. Hill, Henry Turner, William Reid, H.H. Henderson, Alfred Perry, Edwin Stevenson, Edwin Young, W. Mitchell, Thomas Horan, Matthew Hughes and Edward Robinson.

Charles was laid to rest in the Presbyterian Cemetery, at 5 o'clock, on Wednesday afternoon, on the 28 October. The Rev. Dr. Cameron officiated at the burial. Later a marble headstone was erected, possibly paid for by his family, his Mother Margaret was still alive at the time, she died in 1893.  

It was reported that Charles had a “quiet, non-obtrusive gentlemanly demeanour” which “won the respect of every one who had the good fortune to know him” and his sudden death “cast quite a gloom over the town”. 

At the time of his death, Charles was aged 35 years, unmarried and although it was stated that he died intestate, without a will, in 1887 it was published in the South Australian newspapers that Probate was granted for the late Charles McClintock, of County Donegal, Ireland for the amount of £350.  It is not known what happened to William Stewart, whether he stayed on in the area or if he returned to his family in South Australia. 

A somewhat dramatic interpretation of the last hours of Charles McClintock’s life was published in the local Gladstone newspaper in South Australia. William Stewart had written to his father and told him in details what had occurred. It is well worth reading the full article on Trove [NB In the above article Mrs Holbron should read Holborrow; Dr Hosier should read Hozier and Dr Jocket should read Jockel].

Charles came from a well-known Irish family who had lived at Dunmore House, Carrigans, County Donegal from the mid-1700s, for over 200 years. The Georgian style house, is located along the Derry to Dublin Road, close to the Donegal and Derry border. It was built in the 1740s on the site of an early building. The house has impressive gardens. 

Further to the tragic death of Charles, is another tragedy associated with the McClintock’s in Ireland. Charles nephew, Robert Lyle McClintock inherited Dunmore House in 1912. Born in 1874 in England, he was the son of Charles’ brother William McClintock 1841–1912, and his wife Elizabeth Esther Lyle.

Robert was a Major who served in the Boer War and WW1. While he was stationed in India he met Jennie Margaret Casson-Walker, daughter of Sir George Casson Walker. They married in 1908. They had the one son, William George McClintock born in 1913 in India. They returned to Ireland in 1920.  William McClintock was a lieutenant with the British Army. Sadly in April 1938, he fractured his neck and was severely paralysed at Sandown Park as a result of a horse riding accident. He was hospitalised and spent the next three months in England. Eventually he returned home, by plane, with two nurses and girlfriend Helen Mackworth, aged 24 years, from Devon.

Wedding plans were underway for William and his fiancé Helen, although Jennie apparently did not approve of the relationship. 

On the day of the wedding, 26 September 1938, William was resting outside in the garden. Jenny joined her son, then shot him. She then went to a garden shed and took her own life.  

Helen heard about the accident and when she saw William’s body, she retuned to her bedroom and shot herself. Instead of a wedding ceremony, a triple funeral service was held in the Church of Ireland in the nearby village of Carrigans. Mother and son were buried in the McClintock family grave in the churchyard and Helen was buried nearby.

Below is a transcript of an article about the tragedy from the Irish News 27 September 1938:

TRAGIC DONEGAL BRIDE-TO-BE IS BURIED IN HER WEDDING DRESS
LIEUTENANT William George McClintock (24), his fiancé, Miss Helen Macworth (22) of Sidmouth, Devon, who were to be married yesterday and Mrs McClintock, his mother, were buried in the parish churchyard at Carrigans, near Derry yesterday. Mother and son were interred in the McClintock family grave and Miss Macworth close by. Miss Macworth was in her bridal gown and the bridal bouquet was placed on her coffin. Mrs McClintock shot her son, who had been crippled in a hunting-field accident, and then herself. Miss Macworth, finding her fiancé dead, shot herself. Quietly and with only a few people as mourners, apart from the half dozen family members, the funeral took place from Dunmore House, Carrigans, Co Donegal yesterday. Mr McClintock and Miss Macworth were to have been married yesterday afternoon at Dunmore House.                 

The wedding cake, prepared for the celebration, was given back to the family cook who had made it and all signs of festivity had been removed.  The coffins, which were conveyed in Individual hearses to the parish church at Carrigans, were carried up the aisle by estate workers. In a seat close to the remains were Colonel McClintock, the 65-year old veteran of the Boer War and Great War, with bowed head, and District Inspector Landale, Antrim. His wife's nephew.
Women present wept as the coffins were carried out of the church to the burial ground, the organist playing How Brightly Those Glorious Spirits Shine.  The colonel, who had kept up bravely during the last couple of days, broke down and wept as the coffins were being lowered into the graves.  No member of the family of Miss Macworth attended.  Other mourners included Mr Bertram Barton (cousin), Mr James Stevenson DL. Banagher (relative) and Lt Col Gledstanes DL.

The service was conducted by the Rev David Kelly BA, rector of Glendermott who was to have officiated at the wedding.  As the coffins were carried out by estate workers to the burial ground adjoining, the organist played The Sands of Time Are Sinking.  The graves had been lined with asters, sweetpea, laurels and ivy, a service voluntarily performed by tenants of Carrigans village which is on the Dunmore estate. In a reference at the service, Rev Mr Kelly referred to Mrs McClintock's work for the Protestant Orphan Society and foreign missions, and added in reference to the triple deaths: "This was a tragedy. A triumph of love. The bond of love was stronger than the thread of life".

Colonel Robert McClintock, the last of the male line of the family, died in 1943 and the house was sold, several times since. Dunmore House has in recent years, had a new lease of life as a function centre with accommodation. 

Another curious connection to Dunmore is that Dame Agatha Christie visited the house and gardens as a guest of the McClintock family on several occasions. Jennie McClintock’s younger sister, Ethel Dorothea Walker married Campbell Christie, brother of Archie Christie, the first husband of the prolific author. Ethel and Campbell were well-known screenwriters.

Sources:

Belfast Newsletter 9 Dec 1859 p. 2. Retrieved from Ancestry

Boards of Health. (1884, February 2). Adelaide Observer, p. 32. Retrieved from Trove 

Casualties at Quorn (1885, April 7). The Express & Telegraph, p. 3. Retrieved from Trove 

Advertising (1885, August 22). Hawkesbury Chronicle and Farmers Advocate, p. 1. Retrieved from Trove 

Richmond. (1885, October 31). Hawkesbury Chronicle and Farmers Advocate, p. 3. Retrieved from Trove

Miscellaneous (1887, June 13). South Australian Register, p. 3. Retrieved from Trove

Late Dr McClintock. (1885, December 29). The Areas' Express, p. 3. Retrieved from Trove

Memories of Nurse, Dorothy Trotter, St John’s and Carrigan’s history

St John’s and Carrigan’s history Triple death and Triple Death 1938 and Irish News Dunmore

Ann Butler nee Elkin 1805-1833

Ann Elkin was born in 1805 in Parramatta, the daughter of Matthew Andrew Elkin and Mary Moss. In 1822 she married Sylvester Butler at St. Matthew's Church of England, Windsor.

Ann Butler died 24 September 1833 at Lower Portland Head,  four days after the birth of twins. The twins were named Matthew Andrew and Matilda Ann and only survived a few days after their birth.

The headstone of Ann Butler, who died in 1833. 
Photo: M. Nichols, 2023

Ann Butler nee Elkin, was buried at the Wisemans Ferry Cemetery. Her son Joseph Richard Butler died 26 August 1905 at Maroota, aged 77 years, is buried in the adjacent plot, pictured below. Joseph's wife was Emma Matilda nee Delander.

 

The headstones of Ann Butler and her son Joseph Richard Butler.

Photo: M. Nichols, 2023

Wisemans Ferry Cemetery was established in the 1820s, and definitely in use by 1833. 

Funerals may have been held at any of the churches in the area between Lower Portland and Wisemans Ferry followed by a procession of boats, travelling to the cemetery. The boat carrying the coffin was draped in black, then carried from the water’s edge. Some of the Lower Hawkesbury pioneering families including members of the Books, Butler, Cross, Douglass, Greentree, Laughton, Leet and Rose families are buried in this cemetery.

Logan headstones relocated to Ebenezer Cemetery

Pictured are 2 headstones of the Logan family relocated to Ebenezer from Sydney's  Devonshire Street Cemetery  (also known known as Sandhills) which was established in Sydney in 1819. The Old Sydney Burial Ground operated between 1792 to 1820. The cemetery in Devonshire Street closed in 1867. The cemetery became dormant and was neglected. In 1901 Central Railway Station was expanding and the cemetery was resumed, with over 30,000 burials exhumed and reinterned.

Logan family headstones from Ebenezer Church. Photo: M. Nichols

John Logan was born in Scotland and married Ann in the 1840s. Their children were born approximately James 1847, George 1849 and Ann 1853. George was a baker and they lived in Sussex Street Sydney. 

Tragedy struck on the 16 July 1851, when it was reported in the newspaper that 2½ year old infant George was struck with a cart wheel and he died 2 hours later. According to the Inquest the boy’s death was caused by the cart and the driver George Burnett, was charged with manslaughter.

Further heartbreak was to follow when just two years later, John's wife Ann died 25 September 1853 aged 32.  John and Ann's 12 week old daughter died 10 December 1853. It is quite possible that Ann died from complications, giving birth to Ann, who was born in late September. 

John remarried in 1854 at Sydney’s Scots Church, to Matilda Isabella, a member of the Grono-Books family, daughter of Alexander Books and Margaret nee Grono of Bear’s Hip Farm on the Hawkesbury River.

John’s eldest son James, died 21 June 1866 aged 19 years. His cause of death is not known. The following year, John Logan died 5 November 1867 aged 46 years. It is transcribed on his headstone that John was originally from Dunkeld Scotland and died at his residence, Woodland Cottage in Ryde but formerly of Bathurst Street in Sydney. Although is headstone states he was from Dunkeld, his death notice states he was a native of Kinross, Scotland. There is 50km between the locations.

Matilda Logan was living in Balmain when she passed away on 7 March 1901, aged 74. Her obituary notes that her casket was taken from Balmain to Mulgrave by train and then transported by Mr Primrose, the local undertaker to Mr A. Books at Pitt Town. The “casket was then taken by boat to Ebenezer burial ground & interred in the family vault alongside the deceased mother and father.” Her death notice says she was interred at Ebenezer Church but there is no marker recording Matilda’s burial other than the mention in the Books vault. By 1904, the newspaper records two Logan headstones (with remains) had been exhumed and relocated from the Devonshire Street Cemetery to the Ebenezer Cemetery. The exhumation permit was issued to John Carmichael, from Balmain. Carmichael was in fact the brother-in-law of Matilda Logan, as he was married to her younger sister, Jane nee Books.

Obituary from the Windsor & Richmond Gazette 30 Mar 1901

Murphy monument at Windsor Catholic Cemetery

Several members of the Murphy family are buried under this amazing Celtic cross at Windsor Catholic Cemetery. 

The earliest mentioned is John Murphy who died 5 December 1899 aged 40. His youngest son was born only 2 weeks prior.

Obituary of John Murphy from the Windsor & Richmond Gazette 16 Dec 1899 

The patriarch of the family, James migrated from Ireland, following the death of his wife around 1886, with his children John, Martin, Peter and Mary, all born in County Carlow, Ireland. He settled in Kurrajong and established an orchard but following the death of his son John, he sold up and moved to Richmond, residing with his daughter Mary Davenport. James Murphy died 4 July 1913 aged 85. His obituary appears in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette 12 Jul 1913.

Murphy monument, Windsor Catholic Cemetery
Photo: M. Nichols

Martin Joseph Murphy, brother of John, died 11 July 1905. He was only 33 years old.  Also mentioned on the headstone is Margaret Eliza Murphy, wife of John, who died 15 June 1932 aged 72. The monument was more than likely sculpted by John Charles O'Kelly 1849-1907 who worked for Windsor stonemason George Robertson. 

More information on the Windsor Catholic Cemetery is available on our Hawkesbury on the Net site.

Side by side at Sackville Cemetery

The Stephens and King families, two well-known surnames in the Ebenezer/Sackville district, share a plot at the Anglican Cemetery on Tizzana Road, Sackville. The two families were connected by marriage, when Walter King married Elizabeth Stephens in 1874. 

The Stephen & King headstones at Sackville Cemetery

Photo: M. Nichols, 2017

Walter was born in Glebe in 1849, the son of James Kelsey King, a tailor, and his wife Mary nee Baker. James and Mary with their three daughters, arrived in Sydney in 1838. The couple had an additional six children after arriving, including Walter.  The family settled in Sydney and appeared to prosper in their new surrounds. 

In the 1860s, a Provisional School consisting of a slab building was established at the junction of the Colo and Hawkesbury. Walter was appointed as a teacher and taught at the Lower Portland School from 1869 until 1872. The teacher was given a boat to row pupils to & fro across the riverways. He was noted as “an upright and a very conscientious teacher.”

A school was also established at Portland Head, but became known as Ebenezer Public School in 1887. King taught at Ebenezer from 1872 and was appointed as the Schoolmaster in the mid-1880s. Classes were originally held in the Ebenezer Church until a new weatherboard building was built on Coromandel Road. This building was destroyed by a bushfire in 1901 and the school was eventually relocated to its present site on Sackville Road with new buildings opening in 1902. King retired in 1912.

John Stephens was born in England in about 1806 and by his mid-20s was recorded as a Mason and Master Builder. He had lived in the Cornwall area for many years and was noted as a builder. John was sentenced to Life in 1833 after being caught forging a bill, and arrived on the ‘Neva’ in 1833. John married Elizabeth Brown in 1843, whilst living in Maitland, and shortly after they moved to Windsor. John and Elizabeth had six children including Elizabeth. They also raised Elizabeth’s niece from birth.  

Ebenezer School circa 1904

Photo: State Archives (NSW)

John Stephens senior is attributed as building Buttsworth’s Mill at Wilberforce, in the late 1840s. Their sons, James Brown (1849) and John Gross (1850) were also well-known stonemasons and worked alongside their father, eventually taking over the business. 

Some of the structures built in Ebenezer and Sackville include Rockleigh ca 1870; Coromandel ca 1890; Girrawa Park (now Pickwick Park); Stonehill; Ebenezer Villa; St Thomas Anglican Church, Sackville completed in 1871; Sackville North School built in 1878, now known as Brewongle Field Study centre. They also built Tizzana Winery in 1887, the Sackville Methodist parsonage and the St Albans Court House which was completed in 1892. These surviving properties, built by remarkable craftsmen, are important examples of sandstone construction, and contain outstanding heritage features.   

John Stephens senior died in 1890 aged 84 and is buried at Sackville cemetery, with his wife Elizabeth who passed away twelve months earlier. Son John died in 1922 aged 71 and James died a few months later, aged 73.  Both are buried at Sackville Cemetery.

 The Stephen home on Tizzana Road Ebenezer

Photo: M. Nichols, 2018

Walter and Elizabeth King built their own residence on Sackville Road, called ‘Twyfordville’. Walter was a popular teacher, well-like by the students and the local community. In 1912, after a career spanning over thirty years, he retired from teaching.

Report of Walter’s death in Windsor& Richmond Gazette 26 Oct 1934

Walter passed away near Gosford, aged 86 years, in 1934 and was buried at Sackville Cemetery. As a mark of respect, the local school children stood and saluted as the cortege passed Ebenezer School. Elizabeth died two years later and their headstone is side by side John and Elizabeth Stephens, in the Anglican Cemetery at Sackville.

Hawkesbury's oldest headstone

The oldest known surviving headstone in the Hawkesbury belongs to John Howorth and is located at Wilberforce.

On the 8 October 1804, eleven year old John Howorth died from a snake bite in Wilberforce. The circumstances were published in the Sydney Gazette and outlined how how he was tending sheep.

The Sydney Gazette 14 October 1804 p. 4

The following week a fuller version of the situation was published in The Sydney Gazette 21 October 1804 p. 2. Here is an extract:

The following are the particulars of the unfortunate circumstances attending the death of the child at Hawkesbury last Monday se'nnight in consequence of the bite of a snake. Two sons of Mr. John Howorth, settler, went together among some standing and fallen timber, to look after a small flock. The eldest boy, sitting near a large tree in which three apertures had been cut for the purpose of searching after the bandycoot, unhappily stretched on of his arms within the hollow, and suddenly withdrawing it much terrified, acquainted his brother that he had received a bite from a black snake. The poor little fellow, conscious of his danger, with an air of despondency remarked that he should soon die; and complaining of sudden illness, made an effort to return homeward. But his faculties yielding to irresistible lethargy and stapor, he lost his way before he had proceeded many paces, and was observed by a neighbouring settler, who enquiring what ailed him, received in a feeble tone the information of his illness, but without assigning any cause of complaint. The good man took him into his house, and lay him on his bed. The parents were made acquainted with the state the child was in, and immediately attended him; but he was then wholly insensible, and continued so during the short remaining period of his existence. About four in the afternoon the doleful accident occurred; and at about the same hour the following morning he expired, to the extreme regret of his parents, who were totally unacquainted with the cause of his death until after the event had taken place; when the other disclosed the above circumstance, and the body being examined, a wound appeared upon the left arm, thro' which the noxious viper had poured the contaminating fluid.

The sad details of the unfortunate event are carved on his headstone:

It was the subtile surpent's bite he cride

then like A Rose bud cut he drup'd and died

in life his Fathers glorey

and his mothers pride.

John Howorth's headstone, the oldest surviving in the Hawkesbury, at Wilberforce.

Sometime in the 1930s, local historian, George Reeve, arranged to have the stone re-cut. On the 5 December 1960, when the Hawkesbury was celebrating 150 years of the naming of the Five Macquarie Towns, the headstone was moved from its original location on the Hawkesbury riverbank to the St John's Anglican Church complex at Wilberforce by the Hawkesbury Historical Society. Siblings of John's Elizabeth and Catherine, who both died in infancy, are also mentioned on the headstone. The article can be viewed on Trove in the Windsor & Richmond Gazette 7 December 1960 p. 11.