Accidentally Drowned - Lawrence Peter McCarthy (1879-1881)
The son of Irish immigrants living at the Kyeburn Diggings in Central Otago, New Zealand
' … the deceased Lawrence Peter M'Carthy was drowned accidentally in the Kyeburn River on the 10th August, 1881, being swept down the river about eighty yards, after falling from the crossing'.
Verdict of the 14 person Jury - 12 August 1881 - Inquest into the death of Lawrence Peter McCarthy, Kyeburn Diggings.
Lawrence Peter McCarthy was born on 24 March 1879 at the Kyeburn Diggings, Central Otago, New Zealand1 to Peter and Margaret (Ruddy) McCarthy. Peter and Margaret had emigrated to New Zealand from County Down in Ireland2 a few years before. At this stage, I am not sure exactly when.
Lawrence was just 2 years, five months old when he died tragically by drowning, on 10 August 18813. At that time the family was living at the Kyeburn Diggings in an area known as the Middle Kyeburn. Like other dwellings in the area, their home would have been small and most probably made from sod and iron4.
Everything I have been able to find out about Lawrence's death, so far, comes from the findings of the Inquest into his death, as reported, in detail, in the Mount Ida Chronicle on 18 August and 20 August 18815.
Inquest into Lawrences’ death
An inquest into Lawrence’s death was held on 12 August 1881. It was conducted by Mr L.W. Buseh J.P., Acting-Coroner. He was supported by a Jury of 14 men. Thomas Forgie, miner, was the Foreman of the Jury. He had been involved in the search for Lawrence immediately prior to the discovery of his body at the river.
No medical evidence was heard at the Inquest. The Doctor had been summoned but he declined to be present on the grounds that he was too busy attending to the living. Instead, the Inquest relied on the testimony of Lawrence's Mother, Margaret, and William Bisson, a miner who, by his own account, was the first person to find Lawrence's body.
When the Acting-Coroner addressed the Jury prior to their reaching a verdict, he expressed regret at the lack of medical evidence but said that he didn’t consider it absolutely necessary as it seemed to be a clear case of drowning by accident.
Circumstances of Lawrence's Death
On 10 August 1881, the day that Lawrence died, Margaret had left the house at midday. When she left, she told her two oldest children, Thomas and Felix, to go to school, and she told Lawrence not to leave the house. At that time, Thomas was 8 years old6 and Felix was 5 years old7.
It isn't clear how long Margaret was away but, when she returned to the house later, she found her oldest son, Thomas, in bed. She asked him where Lawrence was and he told her that Lawrence was in the creek. I can't help wondering how Thomas knew his brother was in the creek and whether he could have thrown more light on how Lawrence came to be there but this, it seems, was not a line of inquiry pursued.
On hearing from Thomas that Lawrence was in the creek, Margaret rushed outside and called out to two miners working nearby. Those miners were Samuel Veale and William Parker. At that time, Samuel and William were mining for gold on six acres of land they had leased together on the east side of the Kyeburn River. Information relating to their mining licence tells us that this was nearly opposite to the location of the Post Office Hotel in Middle Kyeburn8. The hotel has long since gone.
In response to Margaret's call for help, Samuel and William immediately stopped work and ran to the creek to look for Lawrence. Other men working in the area soon joined in the search. One of those men was Thomas Forgie who was later to be the Jury Foremen at the Inquest. Another was William Bisson who gave testimony at the Inquest.
When William Bisson saw Margaret crying and several men running towards the creek, he joined them. It was William who found Lawrence and pulled his body to the beach where, with the help of Thomas Forgie and William Parker, he tried to revive him but without success.
In his testimony, William said that Lawrence's body was lying in the river in a shallow place, with its back to the stream, about eighty yards from the crossing. All of the body was out of the water, with the exception of the legs.
Lawrence's Resting Place
Lawrence was buried in the Kyeburn Diggings Cemetery
When I visited there in 2021, the plaque marking Lawrence's resting place looked like it may have been replaced relatively recently.
The plaque reads:
'Sacred to the memory of LAWRENCE PETER McCARTHY Died 10 August 1881 aged 2 years 5 months'
The information in this post is drawn from my one-place study - Kyeburn Diggings One-Place Study on the WeAre.xyz platform
His birth was registered in Kyeburn - Registration No. 1879/5379. The index can be found at Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [digital index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs. Accessed 1 November 2024 - https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
At the time of writing this post, what little I know so far about Peter McCarthy and Margaret Ruddy can be found here and here. I hope to add to this over time. If you are a descendant of Peter and Margaret and/or have information you can contribute to my Kyeburn Diggings One-Place Study project, please contact me at: jane.chapman@one-place-studies.org
Death Registration No. 1881/704. The index can be found at Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [digital index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs - https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
To date the only description of the housing at the Diggings that I have found is from the 1875/76 Electoral Roll but the basic housing of miners probably hadn't changed much by 1881 [1875-1876 Electoral Roll for Mt Ida - BAB Microfilming; Auckland, New Zealand; New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 - District: Mount Ida via Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010].
The report on 18 August is identical to the report on 20 August. The same Volume/Issue (XI/620) of the newspaper was reported on both days:
'Inquest' in Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 620, 18 August 1881, Page 3 via PapersPast [Website]. Accessed 19 December 2022 - https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MIC18810818.2.13
'Inquest' in Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 620, 20 August 1881, Page 3 via PapersPast [Website]. Accessed 19 December 2022 - https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MIC18810820.2.13
Birth Registration Number 1873/34396. The Index can be found at Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [digital index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs. Accessed 1 November 2024 - https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Birth Registration Number 1876/13903. The index can be found at Births, Deaths & Marriages Online [digital index], New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs. Accessed 1 November 2024 - https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Samuel and William had applied for this lease on 29 June 1881, two months before Lawrence drowned - https://app.weare.xyz/public/kyeburn-diggings-one-place-study/occasions/jpx2g02l7e7z
This is a sad story Janet. It brings up many questions, using today's standards. But as we know, they were different times. The AI mage of the little boy is so realistic.
What a horrible thing to experience. I agree that it would be interesting to know what Thomas had to say. The way it struck me was Thomas's being in bed might have been a reaction of fear and not knowing what to do when Lawrence fell into the water.