Robert Turnbull (1856 - 1861)

Born 1856 in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Died 14 Jan 1861 at about age 5 in Colo, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Report of inquest into death:^[1]

INQUEST.—An inquest was held on Saturday last, at the residence of Mr. William Bligh Turnbull, at Colo, before Mr. Laban White, and a jury, on view of the body of a male infant, named Robert Turnbull, son of Mr. W. B. Turnbull. Sarah Turnbull, deposed: I am the daughter of William Bligh Turnbull, and reside with my parents ; my age is nineteen years; between three and four o'clock on Friday afternoon, I had occasion to pass from the house over a creek to drive some cattle off the corn-field ; the passage over the creek consists simply of a log placed to answer the purposes of a bridge ; when crossing on this log, I observed my brother's hat floating in the creek, and on looking in the water saw his body lying at the bottom ; I plunged into the creek, but the depth of water was too great for me to get to the body : I cannot form any idea of the depth ; I immediately made an alarm, but no one heard my cries ; observing a pole lying at hand, I took it up, with which I lifted the body to the top of the water, and secured it ; he was then quite dead ; I was carrying the body up to the house when I met my father ; I believe he was playing about or on the top of the log, and fell into the water ; he was seen about half an hour before the accident ; he was four years of age. Verdict, accidentally drowned.

Sources

1. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Thu 20 Jun 1861 Page 5

• NSW BDM birth record 8197/1856
• NSW BDM death of TURNBULL, ROBERT, reg. no. 5154/1861, showing parents WILLIAM B and SARAH, registered at WINDSOR
• 'Turnbull, Robert (1856–1861)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/turnbull-robert-17192/text28991, accessed 20 April 2019.