Remembering a Policeman and a Brave Engineer

Tomorrow will mark the 100th anniversary of a sad event in our area's history. On 9 March 1924, an arrested man shot and killed two men in a car that was transporting him from Cordeaux Dam to Campbelltown Police Station. Both brave men's lives were cut tragically short, and the perpetrator was ultimately hanged that same year.

The incident that lead to the double murder was a break and enter at the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board at the settlement at Cordeaux Dam by William George Gordon Simpson. Work on the now heritage-listed Cordeaux Dam began in 1918 and was completed in 1926. Simpson had stolen two revolvers. After his arrest, Simpson was conveyed to Campbelltown by Constable James Flynn and dam engineer Guy Chalmers Clift. Clift's car was used for the operation, and he was the driver. As the car was one mile (1.6kms) from Appin, Simpson drew his revolver, and shots were fired. Constable Flynn was shot through the stomach. Following the fatal shot, Clift immediately pulled the car up and sprang at Simpson. After a struggle, Clift was then shot in the groin. Despite this, he was able to wrench Simpson's revolver from his grasp. He then punched Simpson in the jaw, got him out of the car, and drove towards Appin for help, despite heavy bleeding. A man named Gibson who was on his way to work at the dam, came across the scene just after the shooting. Clift told him to ride back to Appin as fast as he could and tell the police and that he would attempt to follow him in the car. Clift got there first and pulled up at the Appin Police Station where the brave hero struggled up on the police veranda on hands and knees to get help, where he was eventually found by a Constable Porter. On hearing Clift's account, the constable then set out to reach the prisoner Simpson. Flynn and Clift were soon transported to hospital, where the Constable died soon after. Simpson had boarded a car from the scene of the shooting and was later located at the Appin Hotel by Constable Porter. He found him in the backyard and then overpowered him with the help of another man. He was then arrested and taken to Campbelltown where he was charged with murder and other charges the following Monday. Clift was conveyed to Camden Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries the following morning. He was buried in Camden General Cemetery.

The opening of Cordeaux Dam in 1926 (Wollongong City Library)

Constable James Flynn was unmarried. He was known as 'Porky', aged 23 and had been a policeman for two and a half years. He was from Lithgow and his body was transported back there for burial. He joined a long list of policemen that have died in the line of duty in Australia.

Guy Chalmers Clift's hometown was Maitland in the Hunter Valley. Aged 37 at the time of his death, he was described as having some grey hairs that made him look older. In his boyhood while at Maitland Public, he was remembered for creating some amazing inventions. This creativity passed on to his adult years and he became proficient and later qualified in engineering. He obtained his degree from the University of Sydney. He used this qualification soon after when he became employed at Cordeaux Dam. He lived in a cottage at the site with his wife Muriel and his four children. Guy was described as quiet, retiring and competent. He would later have bravery added to these qualities.

Guy Clift's grave in Camden General Cemetery

William George Gordon Simpson was a motor mechanic and aged 37. When younger he was noted as a good footballer and first-class boxer. But it appears that there were deep underlying issues with William Simpson. He was reported as being kicked in the head by a horse as a child and thrown off a tram and fell on his head. These injuries were thought to have contributed to his personality. This claim was provided by his family to the Executive Council in an attempt to save his life.

It was claimed by Simpson's defence that he was drunk on the day of the murders. One witness described him as drunk from whiskey. It therefore appears as though alcohol was a contributing factor however, comments made by Simpson after the murders provide an insight into his mental state and probably therefore make a stronger argument for poor mental health as the cause of his actions. On hearing of Clift's death, Simpson said "This is terrible. I must have gone mad. I don't know what made me do it." He claimed that Clift and Flynn were his best friends and the last men in the world he would injure. He also stated that they were killed because they were preventing him from committing suicide. His father had committed suicide 16 years previously and he had tried twice. At his trial Simpson claimed that he took his revolver out to shoot himself.

William Simpson's 1924 Long Bay Gaol photograph

It was thought by a number of people that the real reason Simpson had acquired a revolver was to rob the Cordeaux Dam pay car. The car was supposed to have carried an enormous amount of money and would have been an easy target on the area's quiet roads. Simpson had previously driven the car. Cars were an unusual site around Appin and the dam. A 14-year-old Syd Percival wrote later in life that he remembered seeing Clift's car pass while picking pears at Cordeaux on his brother-in-law's farm. 

William Simpson's trial was on 6 June 1924 at the Criminal Court. He pleaded not guilty. Simpson was found guilty by the jury and Justice Ferguson passed a sentence of death. An appeal was lodged on the ground that the murdered man's dying depositions were wrongly admitted in evidence. The appeal was upheld, and a new trial ordered on September 2. The jury had to consider whether there had been deliberate murder. After only 45 minutes, the jury again found Simpson guilty. The media reported that Simpson had made an outburst of obscene language against the judges while he was being removed to the cells. He later made an appeal to the High Court that was refused. A letter written to the Minister for Justice by Simpson was never made public. 

On the morning of December 10, after he slept well through the night, William George Gordon Simpson ate a hearty breakfast and smoked a last cigarette. At 9am he was led to the scaffold. When asked if he has any last words, he did not reply. Death was instantaneous. 

I was initially intrigued over why Simpson was allowed to carry a revolver with him in the car. After further reading it was revealed that Constable Flynn did not regard him as dangerous but also that Flynn had searched Simpson, but the revolver was hidden in his sock and on the side of the boot.

A plaque dedicated to the memory of Guy Chalmers Clift on the Cordeaux Dam wall.

Update

I have received feedback from Deidre D'arcy about this story. Deidre wrote that her father Norman Percival heard the shots and that it all played out on Wilton Road, across the paddock from Northampton Dale (outside the entrance to what is now the turkey farm). She explained that Ellen D'arcy was driving her sulky into town from her family farm when Simpson tried to jump into the sulky. She "took off at the gallop towards the police station in Appin".

Written by Andrew Allen

Sources:

Whitaker, Anne-Maree 2005

Appin: The Story of a Macquarie Town

Adelaide Chronicle 15 March 1924, The Sun 11 March 1924, The Herald (Melbourne) 27 November 1924, Evening News (Sydney) 11 March 1924

Remembering the Victims

On Friday morning November 25, I  had the privilege of presenting a talk on the Richardson-Lack massacre on the front lawn of the Council building. The presentation was combined with a convoy against domestic violence. Campbelltown Council today installed two purple benches as part of its 16 days Activism Against Gender-based Violence- one on the site of the massacre and one at Koshigaya Park. The Purple Bench Project honours all victims of family based domestic violence.

If you haven't already, I recommend you read our post from some years ago on the massacre at the following link:

https://campbelltown-library.blogspot.com/search/label/Lack%20Sarah%20Sophia

The above photograph was taken on the exact site of the 1849 massacre. Seated on the purple bench are Alan Jarman and his daughter. Alan is a descendent of the victims and pinpointed the site from original police records.

Written by Andrew Allen

The Murder of Ellen Hyndes

On the afternoon of Friday January 22, 1847 a man by the name of James Fitzgerald was walking towards a house on the Campbellfields Estate at Minto when he noticed a number of cattle gathered round in the scrub with their attention focused on something on the ground. Thinking that it might be the saddle and bridle that he came to look for he suddenly realised to his horror that it was the body of a young woman. The woman was lying on her back with the face and upper part of the body smeared over with clotted blood, which had recently flowed from a long and deep gash across the throat. He recognised the woman as 20 year old Ellen Hyndes.

Ellen had been married to a man by the name of Thomas Hyndes. He was killed the year before at the age of 33 when he fell from his horse. Although the devastation of her loss of her beloved husband and father of her two children was obvious to the locals, it didn't stop one particular admirer from making advances to the young widow.

John Kean was a ticket-of-leave man living in the same neighbourhood as Ellen Hyndes. Kean had become a frequent visitor to Ellen's house ever since the death of Thomas six months previous. After much persistence, Kean obtained her consent to become his wife, in return he would have to buy her some furniture and put it in her house. For reasons unknown she later refused to have the marriage solemnised, and returned his furniture to him which he sold off. Some time later they reconciled and he repurchased some of the furniture and returned it to her in the belief that she would accept his proposal. She expressed no interest this time which greatly upset Kean.

By coincidence a Constable McAlister was at Campbellfields with a warrant for John Kean for horse stealing, when Fitzgerald made his gruesome discovery. Whilst at the house of a man named Thomas Sharpe, he heard the voice of James Fitzgerald call out from the bush. He went over to investigate and an examination of the scene was carried out. The body lay about a half a mile from her house.

Later that day John Kean made his way to Reeve's Public House at Narellan with intentions to leave the district the next day. He knew the police would be on his trail. Constable Charles Bamford of Campbelltown made a statement "I had information that he (Kean) had been charged with horsestealing and murder; I went on Saturday morning, the 23rd, to Reeve's public house at Narellan; Kean was sitting under the verandah, the moment he saw me he ran through the house into the bush."  After running about a mile, Kean was apprehended and brought to the watch house at Campbelltown.

John Kean made a confession to the murder of Ellen Hyndes on the 29th of January. He declared:

 I murdered the woman and wish to suffer for it. I came to Campbelltown on Thursday, and went to James Hogan's house in which his mother resides. I arrived there about two or three in the afternoon. We began talking about Ellen Hyndes, and about a brother of his named Michael Hogan marrying her. We talked about nothing else that evening. I remained there that night, and next morning pretty early James Hogan and I left the house together, taking different roads, and we both met in the bush, not far from Ellen Hyndes house, and after waiting some time we saw her coming towards us. James Hogan first took hold of the woman and threw her down, and tore her shawl ; she got up and ran away, and I got hold of her and threw her down again, and James Hogan then gave me the razor that he had purposely brought to kill the woman; I then cut her throat. The night previous we had arranged how we were to murder her—that one was to hold the woman, while the other cut her throat. The reason for Hogan joining with me to murder the woman was, that he did not wish his brother to marry her. After we had murdered her we both returned by different roads to Hogan's house; I got to the house first, and he about ten minutes after; this was about 11 a.m.; after I had cut her throat with only one cut of the razor, I gave the razor back to Hogan; no blood came on my clothes; the mother of Hogan came into Campbelltown that day, and on her return, said there was a report about my stealing a horse; I then left the house and went over to Reeves's public house on the Cowpasture road, and remained there until the next day, when I was taken and brought into Campbelltown by constable Charles Bamford; no one knew of the murder but our two selves; Mrs. Hogan did not know of it, and Michael Hogan was not at home; I was aggravated to the deed by the jeering of the ogans (sic) and others.

James Hogan was initially taken into custody on the suspicion that he aided and abetted in the murder. He was later cleared of any involvement as the only evidence against him came from the confession of John Kean. He was later put on trial for misleading the police. The charge was proven and he lost his ticket of leave.

During Kean's trial it was brought up that he became jealous when he received word that Ellen was about to marry a man by the name of John Cremer. This was the real reason behind her refusal to marry John Kean.

A number of witnesses were called up at the trial and each gave damning evidence against Kean. One stated that he had heard Kean make several threats as to what he would do to Ellen if she did not marry him. One such threat was that before he was humbugged any longer by her, "he would go on the Sydney gallows". Another witness claimed that Kean came to her shop the day before to buy a knife and a handkerchief- the same patterned handkerchief that was at the scene of the murder and presented in court.

John Kean made no other defence other than the assertion of his innocence, declaring that the confession attributed to him was made while he was in a state of excitement from drink, so that he did not remember anything about it.

The jury, after having retired for a few minutes, found a verdict of guilty. The judge addressed the prisoner "solemnly as to the heinous nature of the crime which he had been proved, beyond all manner of doubt, to have committed."

John Kean was executed at Darlinghurst Gaol on April 30. He was reported to be penitent, and his conduct and demeanour uniformly pious. Since his confinement he became very corpulent. His appetite never failed him right up to the day before his execution.

Ellen Hyndes was buried in the same grave as her husband at St John's Catholic Cemetery, Campbelltown. The grave can be seen in the photograph below.

Written by Andrew Allen

Campbelltown's Day of Horror: the Richardson-Lack Massacre

Campbelltown is famous as the murder scene of Fred Fisher in 1826, however the 1849 murder of three people and the ferocious attack on another was one of the most brutal ever seen, not only in Campbelltown, but the entire colony. The murders appear to have been forgotten by the town as if it wanted to erase the whole episode from its collective memory. With the help of Trove and the research of Alan Jarman, a descendant of the victims, I have attempted to recount the story of one of Campbelltown's most infamous events.

At 4.00am on the morning of January 20, 1849 James Richardson murdered his wife Elizabeth and step-daughter Sarah Sophia Lack. He also murdered Sarah Sophia's infant child and attacked her 4 year old niece Sarah Lack who, although she survived, was left with terrible injuries. Newspaper reports of the day and official documents from State Records help build a picture of what happened.

James Richardson had been married to Elizabeth for a number of years. She had been married twice before: firstly to a John Frazier and then to Robert Lack. James Richardson was her third husband. Elizabeth and James had an unhappy marriage and for about 6 weeks had been living apart. During their separation James became jealous due to a number of persons visiting his wife and children. For a succession of nights he had kept a watch on the cottage.

Richardson had decided to go to Adelaide on the day of the murders, probably to get away from his troubles but changed his mind. On the morning of January 20 he stated that he'd been watching the house armed with a gun-barrel when a man was let in by his wife. After hearing conversations from inside that made his blood boil he broke open the door of the house with an axe that he had retrieved. According to the Sydney Morning Herald report he "struck at the man with the gun-barrel; that the man struggled with him and threw him down, and took the gun-barrel from him and ran away with it".

Elizabeth Richardson, Sarah Sophia Lack and her infant were killed instantly with the axe. Four year old Sarah Lack had her head stove in by a heavy candlestick that Richardson had brought with him. She survived the attack but was to suffer both physically and mentally for the rest of her life.

Richardson quickly buried the murder weapons in a nearby paddock. Then at about 4.30am he went to the house of the Chief Constable of Campbelltown and gave himself up. After locking Richardson up the policeman proceeded to James Graham's house and together they proceeded to the scene of the murder. Receiving no answer to their calls, they went in and saw two women and a child lying dead, and a great quantity of blood about the floor. They later located another 4 year old girl with a large wound behind the left ear.

An inquest was held at 3 o'clock that same afternoon with a jury of twelve. After seven hours of investigation, a verdict of wilful murder was recorded against James Richardson. He was then committed for trial at the Criminal Court in Sydney.

James Richardson was executed on the morning of Monday May 7, 1849 at Darlinghurst Gaol. He was described in Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer as a "slight-built mild-looking man, about 5 foot 2 inches in height, and always had an irreproachable character up to the time of the murder for which he committed".

It appears however from witness statements that Richardson's character was questionable. A local man John Keighran, who was foreman of the jury on the inquest, gave a character description in a letter. He refers to comments made by a Thomas Rixon who mentions that he had taken liberties with his step-daughter Sarah when she was 14 years old. There is also a theory passed on through the generations that the infant belonging to Sarah Sophia was in fact James Richardson's child. Perhaps it was this inappropriate behaviour that caused the conflict between Elizabeth and her husband? It was reported that Sarah Sophia Lack screamed to Richardson "please don't hurt me on account of the baby".

The story of the man entering the house is debatable. Was Richardson lurking because of his wife's infidelities, or because if he wanted to see if young Sarah was entertaining other men?

Elizabeth, Sarah Sophia Lack and her infant child were all buried in St Peter's cemetery in unmarked graves. Four year old Sarah Lack lived a long life despite the scarring from the events of that morning.

Using original drawings made by the Chief Constable, Alan Jarman was able to accurately pinpoint the exact locations of the sites involved. The stone cottage where the murders took place was located where the front garden of today's Campbelltown Council Civic Centre is located. There is also a drawing made of the cottage that shows where each body was found.

Thanks to Alan Jarman for sharing his research with me.

This is the scene of the murders today in front of Campbelltown Council's Civic Centre.

Update: After further advice from Alan Jarman this site above is the exact spot where the murders occurred.

This is the plan of the cottage where the murders took place made by Chief Constable McAdam (click on the image for a larger version)

Written by Andrew Allen