Mary (Hicks) Johnson (1866 - 1925)

Born 1866 in Dungog, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Died 4 Feb 1925 at about age 59 in Wallarobba, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Mary was born in 1866. She was the daughter of John Hicks and Mary Head. She passed away in 1925.

Sources

• *NSW BDM

• BIRTH 8150/1866 HICKS MARY JOHN MARY DUNGOG

• MARRIAGE 4724/1888 JOHNSON JOHN A HICKS MARY DUNGOG

• DEATH 4526/1925 JOHNSON MARY A JOHN MARY A DUNGOG

• Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931) Wednesday 4 February1925 p 8

BROTHER & SISTER VIOLENT DEATHS WEST MAITLAND. Wednesday. WHILE going to Dungog to at- tend the funeral of her brother, Mr. Thomas Hicks, who was killed on Monday afternoon, Mrs. Leslie Johnston, of Wyong, was killed on tha railway early this morning Mr. Hicks had his head crushed in a sulky aaccident , and was killed in- stantly. Mrs. Johnson was proceed- ing by the Kempsey mail, and alight- ed at Wallarobba Station about 2 a.m Just as the train was leaving the platform. she slipped backwards and fell between the carriages .Her head was severed.

• Dungog Chronicle : Durham and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW : 1894 - 1954) Tuesday 17 February 1925 p 2 Article

DEATH OF MRS. JOHNSON. NO NEGLIGENCE. An inquiry into the death of Mary Ann Johnson which occurred on February 4 at Wallarobba railway station, was held at Dungog on Frl day by W. H. Green, Esq,. J.P., dls- trict coroner. Evidence was ten dered by Constable W. Parker, Dr. J. J. Gilchrist, Messrs. J. A. John son (husband), Chas. L. Royle (guard) Cons T. Strong (Night Officer, Wallarobba), S. A. Saville (Nignt Officer, Martin's Creek) and M. P. Haggarty (a passenger), The finding was that deceased died from effects of injuries acci- dentally received on fourth day of February, 1925, through falling from a train at Wallarobba.. The evidence did not show any neglig- ent on the part of the railway au- thorities. A detailed report of the evidence will appear next issue.

• Dungog Chronicle : Durham and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW : 1894 - 1954) Friday 20 February 1925 p 2 Article

... February, 1926

DEATH OF MARY ANN JOHNSON J An inquiry was held at Dungogon Friday last by W. H. Green, Esq., J.P., district coroner, into the death of Mary Ann Johnson, who ,it will be remembered, was killed at Wallarobba railway station on February 4. A short account of the inquiry appeared in last issue. Following report contains fuller details: - Constable William Parker, stationed at Dungog, deposed that at .2.15 a.m. on 4th Inst., in consequence of a telephone message from a railway official, he caught the train at Dungog and with Constable Flanagan, went to Wallarobba station. At the northern end of the platform, just opposite the approach of the platform he saw the body of a woman. She was lying on her, right side with her head across the first rail. The head was almost severed from the body. The right hand was crushed and the left leg broken just above the ankle. He removed the body to Dungog morgue by the goods train. The body was lying with the feet towards the platform, not between the rails. The body was not examined by a doctor before it was removed. Dr . J. J. Gilchrist outlined the injuries received and stated that death was instantaneous. The injuries could have been caused by being run over by a railway carriage wheel. John Alexander Johnson, Farmer, residing at Wyong, husband of deceased woman, said he was married in Dungog about 38 years ago and resided with his wife at Wyong for 26 years. A family of three girls and two sons survive. The youngest was 21 or 22. This was the first time he had been in Dungog since the train came. They left home on February 3 by the 9.20 p.m. train for Newcastle Intending to travel to Dungog to attend the funeral of his wife's brother. They boarded the second division of the Kempsey mail at Newcastle and were in a big corridor carriage. There were others in the carriage. At Martin's Creek a passenger got out and witness asked how many more stations to Dungog. A railway official said Dungog was next stop. The train, however, stopped at Wallarobba. He and his wife got up; the wife walked on the landing and said they could not get down there, but they might get down at the other end towards the engine. He followed her. They came to a compartment with a lot of men in it, with a glass door. She opened that glass door and stepped out and seemed to swerve all at once and fell out. The door she fell out opened on to the platform. She did not open that door. It was open. The train did not give any warning whistle. The carriage they were in had not reached the southern end of the platform when it stopped. He saw his wife swerve and fall, the train was just on the move without any alarm. He called out 'My God. my wife has fallen out of the train ‘ Witness looked back and saw his wife lying as he thought on the platform. The train had not then cleared the platform. Some men came and asked what was the matter. He told them and asked them to break the glass and stop the train. Someone did so and the train was stopped. After investigation by the officials he was told that the worst had happened. He was questioned by the officials and the police regarding the details of the accident , He saw his wife’s body at the morgue and identified it. To Sergeant Hamilton: He did not tell the police at Dungog of having been told at Martin's Creek that Dungog was next stop. The passenger who alighted there was a man. He could not estimate the speed of the train when his wife fell. To Mr. Theyer: They sat in the last compartment of the carriage. On looking through the window they saw they were off the platform. They opened the glass door. He noticed there were folding doors, they were not closed. He saw no brass rail on the carriage. He did not hear any whistle. No one called out Wallarobba. He did not hear the name of any station called out from when he left Newcastle. He did not recognise the train was moving till his wife fell. To Mr. Borthwick: He had some doubt as to where Dungog station was. (Had the name , Wallarobba been called out he would not have attempted to move off the seat. Charles L. Royle, guard on the Kempsey mail said he remembered the train stopping at Wallarobba. The train was tabled to stop at Wallarobba. The door of the breakvan was about 90ft' from the northern end of the platform when they stopped. It was part of his duty ,to call out the name of the station. He called out Wallarobba at the front portion of the train. His duty did not take him hack behind the van on this occasion. The night officer attended to the rear portion of the train. He received the signal to start and did not see any passengers alight. They had gone about a mile when he received a ring on the intercommunication bell He applied the brake and stopped the. train. On learning what occurred he and the booking clerk walked back and searched the line. He .discovered the body or a woman lying at the northern end of the platform at the ramp which is the sloping approach to the platform. The head was across the down rail nearest the platform. Later, witness examined the carriage it was an M.C.X. car. The doors of this carriage are one at each end and one in the centre. To Mr. Borthwick: The train was tabled to stop one minuate.at Wallarobba to allow passengers to alight .He remembered calling out Wallarobba he remembered the night officer also calling out Wallarobba. At Martin's Creek he heard that station's name called out. Two blasts were given of the whistle, one to acknowledge his right away and the second one when the train pulled away from the platform. To Mr. Theyer: It was the customary thing for a passenger of one platform to indicate to the officer, in the carriage rge that they wished to alight . 'The officer in charge would signal the guard to move the train forward after people had alighted from the front portion, There was, i regulation to see that the .doors of carriages must be closed before the train proceeded on its journey. Charles Thos. Strong, night officer at Wallarobba, gave evidence that he called out the name of the station at the rear ot the train. He could not say whether the driver acknowledged the guard's signal he examined the spot where the accident occurred, There were no marks to indicate that any thing been dragged along, no marks whatever . there was no bloodmarks on the platform or ramp. To Mr. Borthwick: There were no set by-laws regarding closed doors. He did not know of any such law. If he found doors open they should be closed. He always looked at the doors. He did not remember seeing any open and he would say that the doors were closed. There were no doors open when he went down the platform. He did not remember whether the train whistled out. To Mr. Theyer: It would be unusual for the driver to omit the blast of the whistle. He could not say whether the whistle was given, but the omission would have drawn his attention to it. To Mr. Theyer: He did not remember hearing the whistle. He could not recollect any definite case of this having occurred. He had never known, day or night, for train to go out without whistling. Stanley Alfred Saville, relief night officer at Martin's Creek, Said he called out the name of that station. He could not see if any passengers alighted. No one had conversed with him. He had no recollection of anyone asking him how far Dungog was. Michael Patrick Haggarty, laborer, Wauchope, who was a passenger in the same carriage, also gave evidence. The coroner found that Mary Ann Johnson died from the effects of injuries accidentally received on the fourth day of February, 1926, through falling from a train at Wallarobba. The evidence did not show any negligence on the part of the railway authorities.

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/184854631/mary-ann-johnson

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