‘the inquest on the death of a man found dead in a gully on the (Rhodes) Wadestown Estate failed to disclose the name of the deceased’.
The body was found on the morning of 14th September 1906 by a young man named Valence Hardie.
The body of the man was described as 5ft 4in in height, slight build, long grey hair, a ginger moustache and a large carbuncle on the side of the left nostril. The body was clothed in a blue serge sac coat, dark grey check waistcoat, dark grey saddle tweed trousers, blue and white stripped cotton shirt, light salmon coloured knitted singlet, white woollen scarf with the initials ‘I.M’ worked in red on it, dark brown woollen socks and blucher boots ‘very much worn’. There was evidence that the man had ended his life.
Dr Fyffe made a post-mortem examination on the body and said he thought that the man was aged between 55 and 60 years. On the neck was the tattoo of an anchor, heart and cross on the left arm and a thistle on the other. There was also an anchor on the back of the left hand. The man had been dead between three and four weeks but it could be twice that, he couldn’t be certain.
Arthur Penny of the Willowbank Boarding House on Plimmer Steps identified the body as that of John Malling who he last saw alive on 19th May. He said he recognised some of the clothing and the carbuncle on his nose.
Henry Starr and Robert Costello thought the body was that of Fred Brown (aka Fred Hedgelong), a fellow seaman. They recognised the clothing on the body and said Fred had been missing from the Otago Buffet for about a month. Henry had seen Fred working with his arms bare but couldn’t recall any distinguishing marks.
Constable Hawke’s evidence depended the mystery. When Fred Brown was reported missing from the Otago Buffer, he went there and examined his room and belongings. There was a ship’s crew discharge paper that made his age to be 39 years. And on an outpatient hospital ticket, which gave Fred’s age as 46. A pocket book among his possessions had the address of Weybridge, Surrey.
The jury were unable to do more than arrive at an open verdict.
‘The mystery will probably only be cleared up by Brown or Malling , whichever of the two still be living, declaring himself’.
The body is interred in an unmarked plot:
Plot: *Ch Eng/X/192
There is a second burial in this plot: Henry Brairley, a labourer aged 60, died 1908.
By Julia Kennedy
Clipping from the Burial Register
Plot: *Ch Eng/X/192 courtesy of FindaGrave