James McGuirk’s Death

By Lyn Forde – President/Research Officer of St Marys & District Historical Society Inc.

In January 1914 the Penrith District Coroner held an inquest into the death of James Hugh McGuirk who was born in December 1874 at Lithgow. Present at the inquest was Joseph Patterson who was alleged to have inflicted injuries causing the death. James’s deposition was taken before he died at the nepean Cottage Hospital, stating that he was a labourer on the railway and lived in Jane Street in Penrith and he was in full possession of all his reasoning faculties and knew that he was about to die due to his injuries. He was currently at home from work as there was nothing for him to do for a couple of days. He said that one night he and his wife had a bit of an argument because he wanted to write a letter but his wife took the pen upstairs, so partly in fun he followed her to get it back and while she tried to throw the pen over the balcony they started wrestling and he accidentally hit her with the back of his hand that gave her a black eye. He said that his wife is very hot tempered and she took the blow as if it were meant to inflict bodily harm. Her brothers Joe and Albert Patterson came to the house in the afternoon and Joe noticed that his sister’s eye was a bit black and he asked her what had happened. At this time James said he was not present to their conversation but was upstairs and of course did not hear the question, but his wife told him afterwards saying she was still serious about the fight. She said that she told Joe that he had punched her in the eye, and without waiting for any explanation Joe punched him in his head, face and body but James said he did not retaliate in any way being unable to, because two of the blows were on his side and he was suffering from that. James said he had not taken any drink during the day and there had been no unpleasantness between him and his wife, even though she was very cool towards him. He said he did not fall against anything when Joe struck him and Joe held him with one arm and struck him with the other. James then said that he believed that Albert heard the punch from Joe and came and parted us. At the inquest Dr Higgins said that he was summoned to James’s residence and found him in a critical condition. There was a fresh wound on his cheek that was bleeding and another on his forehead that wasn’t recent and he was suffering considerably from shock and a fracture of his left rib, so he strapped James’s chest to ease the pain that indicated haemorrhage and he had considerable pain over the kidney and he advised James’s immediate removal to the hospital. Later on in the evening he consulted with his colleague Dr northcott and they came to the conclusion that the left kidney was ruptured and the haemorrhage was from the rupture and also at the same time about one ounce of blood was passed through the urethra as they found that James was suffering from a faulty heart and there was every indication the other kidney was diseased. They decided that if they operated on James he would probably die on the table, so they decided not to. James died the next morning and they both performed a post-mortem examination. They found that both lungs smelt very foully of stale beer and the heart showed fatty degeneration, the right kidney was small and diseased, the left kidney was large and very soft and completely split in two, and all of James’s organs showed indications of chronic alcoholism of long standing and the probability was that James would not have lived long under any circumstances. The splitting of the kidney could have been done by a blow but he did not think it was likely, and death was undoubtedly due to a ruptured kidney and the state of the organs was likely due that he struck something in falling backwards. James’s wife Mary stated that they were married at Blayney in 1904 and had five children together and she saw James at the Hospital before and after death. She said that James returned home that night at 10 pm and the first question he asked her where was his tea and she told him she hasn’t got any and how did he expect her to have his tea when he did not leave her any money and he struck her first on the head and then in the eye. After that she didn’t see him because he went to bed. The next day when he asked again for food she said again how did he expect her to get food when she had no money and after that he stayed at the house but went out most of the day. On Thursday night he told her he was going to work in the morning but he went somewhere on Friday coming home at night. He went again on Saturday morning and came home asking again for his tea and she told him she had enough of him because he left their little children here to starve as they had nothing to eat nearly all day and she told him that she intended taking another maintenance order out against him. Joe had advised her previously to take out a maintenance order and her husband knew that she did take out a prohibition order 18 months previously that had expired six months ago, and she said she didn’t see him until Sunday morning when her brothers came. She said that only one blow was struck by Joe that was on the side of the head and James fell on the bed and his side fell against the spring mattress that was exposed. She said her husband was a shunter in the railway service and finally dismissed all on account of drink, the last twelve months the average amount of money she received from him was 10 shillings a week and with that she had to keep the house and pay the rent when she could and she could not keep things going if her brothers did not come to her assistance. Sergeant Thorncroft said that Joseph Patterson surrendered himself and he charged him with inflicting grievous bodily harm but since James’s death he withdrew that charge preferring a more serious charge of feloniously slaying. Joe was remanded to the Coroner’s Court from the Penrith Police Court. After all depositions were taken the Sergeant said he deemed it advisable to have a further deposition taken from James but they arrived at the hospital too late. He knew that Mrs McGuirk had taken out a prohibition order against her husband who, at all accounts, was a man of intemperate habits and he had been informed that James was not too kind to his wife. The Coroner’s finding was that James Hugh McGuirk died from rupture of the kidney in January 1914, the injury caused by a blow struck by Joseph on the previous day that feloniously killed James who was buried in the Penrith General Cemetery at Kingswood. Later at the Parramatta Quarter Sessions, Joseph on bail appeared in answer to a charge of feloniously slaying James Hugh McGuirk at Penrith but after all the evidence it was found there was no case to answer and Joseph was liberated.

Sources: Nepean Times, Family Search (Mormon website), Ancestry, Trove.