Elizabeth Walsh

I recently came across the following newspaper article from the Sydney Morning Herald dated December 9, 1859: An inquest was held at noon on Tuesday, at the house of Mr Fieldhouse, sign of the Jolly Miller, by Dr Bell, the coroner, on the body of an infant named Elizabeth Walsh, aged one year and eight months. It appeared that on Saturday, the 20th November, the child, who was able to walk about the house, went to the table, and pulled a plate with hot flour and milk, food prepared for her, off it, when the contents went over her face and chest, causing an extensive scald. The burns were deep and they turned gangrenous. Poor Elizabeth died 15 days later on December 5. Dr Bell's verdict was that she "Died from the effects of accidental scalding." Elizabeth would probably have survived today but in the middle of the nineteenth century there was little that Dr Bell could have done to save her life.

Elizabeth was the first of 7 children to John and Mary Walsh. They were married in 1856 at St David's Presbyterian Church in Campbelltown. They later moved to Berrima in the early 1860s.

My next blog post will feature The Jolly Miller Hotel referred to in the inquest above.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 9 December, 1859 page 3