1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: What would become quite clear through letters that would be 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: published was that they'd been very very good friends. Reading 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 1: between the lines, everybody believed they were homosexual, and that 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: was what made this an absolute scandal. 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 2: I'm Jen Kelly from the Herald Sun and this is 6 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 2: in Black and White, a podcast about some of Australia's 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 2: forgotten characters. Today we return to a strange murder case 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 2: from Melbourne in the eighteen seventies. After having their photos 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 2: taken holding hands and pointing pistols at each other, Ned 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 2: Feenie and Charlie Marks headed for the Treasury Gardens, but 11 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 2: only one man emerged alive to tell us the story. 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 2: We're chatting today with historian Michael Adams, host of the 13 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 2: Forgotten Australia podcast, and Michael's latest book is called The 14 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 2: Murder Squad. We'll listen to part one of the story 15 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 2: today and part two on Thursday. Just a warning, this 16 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 2: episode contains disturbing content, including discussion of self harm. If 17 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 2: you or anyone you know needs help, you can contact 18 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 2: Lifeline on one three double one one four and you 19 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 2: can find more helplines in the show notes to this episode. 20 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 2: Welcome back to the podcast, Michael. 21 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: Jen thanks so much for having me again. 22 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 2: Yes, it's always wonderful to have you come back again 23 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:37,479 Speaker 2: and again and again. 24 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: Michael, you are too kind. 25 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 2: Now this story begins with possibly the most bizarre photoshoot 26 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 2: that was ever seen in colonial Melbourne. So set the 27 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 2: scene for us. 28 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: These photographs are incredibly haunting. They were taken on the 29 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: fifth of March eighteen seventy two in a photographic studio 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: in Melbourne. So these two men, one in his mid thirties, 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: one in his mid twenties, came in and they said 32 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: that they wanted to have their portraits taken. Now, these 33 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: were postcard size photographs, so were very popular. It was 34 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: a very popular format at the time. They were quite 35 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: simple and they could be reproduced and people would, you know, 36 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: hand them out to their friends as like mementos of themselves. 37 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: So we're talking eighteen seventy two. Photography is still relatively new, 38 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:25,959 Speaker 1: so it's a big deal to have your photo taken. 39 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: These two men want to have their photos taken together, 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: which in this little portrait size postcard format is quite 41 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: a tricky option. And not only that, they also want 42 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: to pose with these giant horse pistols they've brought with them, 43 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: and the photographer says, you know what like bush rangers. Okay, well, 44 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: you know, take off your coats, take off your tires, 45 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 1: and the idea is that you're, you know, these two 46 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: men will look kind of you know, I guess threatening, 47 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: pointing the guns at the camera. Instead. In the first photograph, 48 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: the men stand facing each other and they put the 49 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: muzzle of each gun against the other one's heart, so 50 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: it's a sort of you know, it's a death pose 51 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: to some extent. And then in the next photograph, the 52 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: two men stare into each other's eyes and they hold 53 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: hands with no guns at all. So these photographs are extraordinary, 54 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: and they weren't actually meant for the men. The men said, 55 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: you know, they paid a deposit and said we'll come 56 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: back in a few days to collect the photos when 57 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: they're ready. But they knew they were never going to 58 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,399 Speaker 1: go and pick those photos up. They weren't for them, 59 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: They were for us. That they were for posterity. They 60 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: were basically an indication of what they were about to 61 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: do just an hour later. 62 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 2: Now, I've never seen photos like this from this era, 63 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 2: but this was the era of bush rangers. So was 64 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 2: this a thing at the time? Was this something that 65 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 2: young men would do, that they would go into photography 66 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 2: studios and ask to pose like this as bush rangers. 67 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: Not as far as I know, no the reaction of 68 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: the photographer, he was quite a well known guy named 69 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: William Davies. He was quite surprised by this. He was 70 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: sort of a little bit taken aback. But he thought 71 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: that they were sort of, you know, just wanting to 72 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: big note themselves and look tough for the camera. So 73 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 1: he went along with it. But during the photo shoot, 74 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: they were both mildly intoxicated, mildly drunk. They were sort 75 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,359 Speaker 1: of you know, one of them, the older one, was 76 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: quite melancholy. The other guy was almost manic. One of 77 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: the younger guy actually pointed his pistol at the photographer 78 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: and sort of went and said die as a joke 79 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: and pulled the trigger. It wasn't loaded, so that it was 80 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: quite an unsettling sort of experience for the photographer. After 81 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: the the photos of the two men had been taken together, 82 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: the younger man said to the older man, why don't 83 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: you have a solo photo. The older man wouldn't have 84 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: a bar of it. He sort of sat and was 85 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: quite melancholy. The younger guy then posed by himself for 86 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: a photograph and after that then they you know, paid 87 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: their deposit and left. So it was a very unusual occurrence. 88 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 2: Now, as you say, it became pretty obvious soon after 89 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 2: this photo shoot what it was all about. Where did 90 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 2: the two men head to next? 91 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: They next went to a wine bar in Burke Street 92 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: two forty five Burke Street. So Burke Street at this time, 93 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: East Burke Street was just sort of, you know, the 94 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: sort of entertainment capital of Melbourne. You had restaurants, you 95 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: had theaters, you had bars, you had billiard parlors, you 96 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: had the Waxworks, which is you know, the biggest sort 97 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: of attraction in Melbourne. And then in the back alleys 98 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: were sort of you know, vice gambling, den sex workers, 99 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: that sort of stuff. So it was a really sort 100 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: of heaving little environment. They went to Abraham Briscoe's wine bar, 101 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: and this was actually a fairly quiet destination. These guys 102 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 1: were regulars, they'd been going there for about a year. 103 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: They knew the proprietor, Abraham Briscoe and his wife very well, 104 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: and they took pens and papers and their drinks and 105 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: they went into a back room and they started writing letters, 106 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,840 Speaker 1: and Abraham Briscoe and his wife were sort of a 107 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: little bit curious about what they were doing in there. 108 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: It seemed that the younger man was sort of standing 109 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: over the older man, sort of giving him an idea 110 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: of what to write in these letters. Then after they'd 111 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: done that, they'd written the letters, they came into the 112 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: front bar and they started behaving quite strangely. The older 113 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: man pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the roof. 114 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: Abraham Bruscoe was really taking her back and was like, hey, 115 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:30,359 Speaker 1: what's going on, And he said, you know, don't worry, 116 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: it's not loaded. I know, I know how to handle guns. 117 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: I've been in the army. The older man wanted to 118 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: give a morning ring, and that's m O U r 119 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: n I n G a ring that people used to 120 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: wear in memory of people who died. He just had, 121 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: He just bought one, and he wanted to give it 122 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: to the bar owner's wife. The bar owner's wife was 123 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: sort of didn't know whether she should accept this gift, 124 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: and there was a bit of a sort of disagreement 125 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: between the two men about making a gift of this ring. 126 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: Then the older man said, look, I bought it. It's 127 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: my gift to give. What about if I have it 128 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: in scribe, you can get it inscribed in memory of us. 129 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: And this was really sort of you know, awning signs 130 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: to the bar owner and his wife. Then as they 131 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: were leaving, the older man said, I'll see you again, 132 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: and the younger man said, no, you won't. The two 133 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: men left, the bar owner and his wife went into 134 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: the back room. They found the letters that they'd left, 135 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: and they were letters that indicated they were going to 136 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: go and commit suicide. And from previous conversations, the bar 137 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: owner believed they were heading to the Treasury gardens. So 138 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: the bar owner ran outside, saw a constable and said, look, 139 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: there's two men heading to the Treasury gardens. I think 140 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: something terrible is about to happen. The constable said, look, 141 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: you know, I can't leave my post. Not my problem. 142 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: Go to the detective office. Abraham Briscoe, the wine bar owner, 143 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: went to the detective office. They kind of, you know, 144 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: didn't really take him terribly seriously and said, look, you know, 145 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: we will send someone to go and check. But as 146 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: someone was going to the Treasury gardens, a gunshot rang 147 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: out and a tragedy had occurred. 148 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 2: Not exactly fine police work, there was it. 149 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: Not at all. No, they didn't really take it very seriously. 150 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: They soon did, however. 151 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 2: Okay, And what did they find once they got to 152 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 2: the Treasury gardens. 153 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: Well, as it would happen, a constable had been walking 154 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: about one hundred yards away from the Treasury Gardens and 155 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: had heard the shot, and he'd started running. He ran 156 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: into a little glade there by which stage other sort 157 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: of men who worked in the gardens, gardeners, landscapers had 158 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: converged on this spot. They found two men laying about 159 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 1: six feet apart. Between them was an unfired pistol, and 160 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: one of the men had his chest blown open, his 161 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: clothing was actually smoking, part of it was still on fire. 162 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: He was dying. The other man was laying back smoking 163 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: a cigar. And the constable said to the guy, who 164 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: was still alive and seemingly fine, what happened here? And 165 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: he said, we were meant to shoot each other, but 166 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: he couldn't. All will be explained, but all would not 167 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: be explained. The other young man died and they arrested 168 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: the older man. Now he was reported to be smoking 169 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: a cigar coolly. Other reports would actually indicate that he 170 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: didn't so much smoke it as it was just in 171 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: his mouth it was lit, and that he seemed quite dazed, 172 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: in shock or perhaps drunk. Anyway, he was taken to 173 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: the police stationed in Melbourne and he was charged with 174 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: the murder of his friend. 175 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 2: We'll be back soon to hear what happened next, so 176 00:09:52,040 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 2: stay with us. So what do we know about these 177 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 2: two men? 178 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: Well, what would become quite clear through letters that would 179 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: be published was that they'd been very very good friends. 180 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: Reading between the lines, everybody believed though, were homosexual, and 181 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: that was what made this an absolute scandal. Now I 182 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: went to the Public Records Office of Victoria. They have 183 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: the Capital Case file there, which is about an eighty 184 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 1: page original handwritten document from the time, which is a 185 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: transcription of all the evidence that was given in the 186 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: trial that was to come and other documentation. Now, one of. 187 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 3: The pages in this file was a police memo that 188 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 3: had been written giving the background to one of the men, 189 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 3: and it actually contained an address. 190 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 1: And this address had never been made public in any 191 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: of the newspapers, but it was an addressing Dublin and 192 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:00,559 Speaker 1: it allowed me using ancestry, using electoral roles found that ancestry, 193 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: military records and so on to get into the background 194 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: of one of these men to an extent that had 195 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: never never been done before. So his name was Edward Feeney. 196 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: He was born in Dublin in eighteen thirty four. His 197 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: father was a fancy bread man. He basically sold, He 198 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: sold confectionery. They had a sweet store, so you know, 199 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: he was little. Ned was like a kid in a 200 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: candy store, except his dad actually owned the thing. So 201 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: they were middle class in Dublin. Ned appeared to have 202 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: gotten a good education. His father was a radical as well. 203 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: He was a supporter of Irish nationalist Daniel O'Connell, who 204 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: wanted to throw off the British yoke. So Ned grew 205 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: up in a sort of, you know, a reasonably well 206 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: to do family. The fancy bread shop was quite prominent. 207 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 1: It featured in a number of news stories at the time. 208 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: So he got an education. He got an education and 209 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: what it meant to be an irishman and also be 210 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,720 Speaker 1: oppressed by the British. In eighteen forty five, everything in 211 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: Ireland changed. The potato famine began. So you know, we 212 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: know this from history that you know, the Irish population 213 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: was eight and a half million at the start of 214 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: the famine. It was five point five million about seven 215 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: or eight years later. So a million people died, two 216 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: million people emigrated, hundreds of thousands of people went to 217 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: the poorhouse. Conditions are absolutely terrible. It's still one of, 218 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,120 Speaker 1: you know, the greatest sort of tragedies, historical tragedies of 219 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,680 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, and it changed Ireland forever. So young 220 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: Ned Feeni was about nine years old when it started 221 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:42,440 Speaker 1: and by the time it ended he was about sixteen, 222 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: so it would have been extremely formative for him in 223 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: terms of, you know, seeing people on the streets starving 224 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 1: to death. We don't know what happened to his father, 225 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: Andrew Feeni, but there was a report of an Andrew 226 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: Feeni begging in the streets in eighteen fifty two. And 227 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: there's also no further mention in the newspapers that I 228 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 1: could find of the fancy bread store, so it would 229 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: appear that the family fell on hard times. I mean, 230 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: you know, people were starving to death, they weren't able 231 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: to afford fancy bread, is my guess. What I did 232 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,319 Speaker 1: find out was that Ned was employed in a commercial 233 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: house in Dublin in the mid eighteen fifties. By eighteen 234 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: fifty eight, however, he joined the Royal Irish, which is 235 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:30,359 Speaker 1: the eighteenth Royal eighteenth Regiment. Now this is a military 236 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: regiment of the British Army. That was you drew on 237 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: Irish people, to Irish men to serve in it. It 238 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: was legendary. I mean, the Royal Irish as they were known, 239 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: had fought in the American War of Independence, the Opium Wars, 240 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 1: in the Crime Maya, in the Second Afghan War. So 241 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 1: the Royal Irish had been everywhere throughout history and NED 242 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 1: had just signed up in eighteen sixty three. They had 243 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: a new mission, and that was to go to New 244 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: Zealand and to prosecute the war against the Maori. So 245 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: you know, for the past twenty years, from eighteen forty 246 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,680 Speaker 1: three to eighteen sixty three, the Maori resistance to British 247 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: rule had been sort of sporadic. It really heated up 248 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty three. NED arrived in July of eighteen 249 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: sixty three and almost immediately was involved in one of 250 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: the first major battles, which saw five of the Royal 251 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: Irish killed and eleven wounded. And this was a really 252 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: sort of graphically horrible conflict battle. I mean, the descriptions 253 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: at the time say that you know, these these Irish soldiers, 254 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: you know, were hacked to pieces, so it must have 255 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: really like, you know, left a mark on all of 256 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: them that this was the fate that they might endure. 257 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: And over the next seven years, Ned and the other 258 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: members of the Royal Irish would be in a lot 259 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: more bloody battles, including one where they faced three hundred Maori, 260 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 1: including you know, one hundred women and children. And this 261 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: battle went for three days. It ended up with eighty 262 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: of the Maori being killed, seventeen of the Royal Irish 263 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: being killed, and fifty one wounded. And this was at 264 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: a time when a wound, you know, a minor wounds 265 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: could still kill you weeks or months later due to infection. 266 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: So a really horrible experience. So my conclusion on my 267 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: speculation is that Ned has been he suffered through the 268 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: potato famine for seven years, and then you know, he 269 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: suffered through a bloody war in New Zealand for the 270 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: next seven years that he's deployed there in the eighteen sixties, 271 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: So we don't know at the time, obviously it wasn't 272 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: called this, but there's a very good chance he was 273 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. So he then when 274 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: the Royal Irish left New Zealand, he came to Melbourne 275 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: and he got a job at Melbourne Hospital. And Melbourne 276 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: Hospital at the time was a huge complex. It was 277 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: on the corner of Lonsdale and Swanston Streets. It had 278 00:15:58,000 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: grown up in sort of you know, the past twenty 279 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: five I've used to be a major institution. And as 280 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: far as medical care at the time it was top notch. 281 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: You know, they did everything you know by the book. 282 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: Everything was supposed to be clean, well ventilated, all of this. However, 283 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: of course, this is you know long almost a century 284 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: before antibiotics. Germ theory was in its infancy, disinfectant was 285 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: in its infancy, an esthetic was in its infancy. So 286 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: you know, in eighteen sixty nine, for instance, there was 287 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: that year about three four hundred patients and something like 288 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: six hundred of them died. So if you went in 289 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: for anything like you know, a minor infection or you know, 290 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: if you've been a victim of an accident, anything at all, 291 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: you basically stood a one in five chance of dying. 292 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: In hospital. 293 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 2: What was Ned's job at the hospital. 294 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: Ned was a wardsman, So what that meant was he 295 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: was responsible for moving patients. He was responsible for taking 296 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: soiled bedclothes and bandages to be washed or destroid, to 297 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: collect and wash surgical instruments in some instances, to administer medicine, 298 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,640 Speaker 1: and also of course to take bodies to the morgue 299 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: to be you know, or to be subject to post 300 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 1: mortem because at the time, you know, doctors were very 301 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,119 Speaker 1: keen to get their hands on fresh corpses because you know, 302 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,040 Speaker 1: they'd cut them open for you know, medical students to 303 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: further their knowledge of how the body worked. So again, 304 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: my theory is that this is, you know, for a 305 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 1: guy who's been through the potato famine and then seven 306 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:36,119 Speaker 1: years of war, he's now working in another place, another 307 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: environment where he's seeing an awful lot of suffering all 308 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: the time. I mean, at this stage he's thirty six, 309 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: he's drinking, and the other big stressor in his life. 310 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: I believe, and I hope I can supply the evidence 311 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: for this was that he was homosexual, and homosexuality at 312 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: the time was punishable by death. Now Victoria, to that point, 313 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,399 Speaker 1: no one had been hanged after a sodomy conviction. If 314 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: you were convicted of sodomy, it was an automatic death sentence, 315 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 1: but the death sentence would more than likely be commuted 316 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: to life in prison. But it was still a terrifying prospect. 317 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:20,159 Speaker 1: And they were also flogging men convicted asodomy. So you know, 318 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: you can imagine what it was like to be secretly 319 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: gay at this time. You would have lived your life 320 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: in absolute terror of exposure. 321 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 2: And has he met the other man at the hospital. 322 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: He met the other man, Charlie Marx in February of 323 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy one. So Ned had been at the hospital 324 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,160 Speaker 1: working as a wardsman for about six months by this stage. 325 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: Now as awardsman, he lived in the hospital in quarters. 326 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: There he was free to roam in his leisure time, 327 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,560 Speaker 1: but he needed to be back into the hospital by 328 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: curfew at ten pm. So Charlie, we don't know a 329 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: lot about him. I was unable to find his background. 330 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: I mean, Charles Marx is a fairly common sort of name. 331 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: Reports at the time said that he'd been a sailor. 332 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 1: It would seem that he had relatively recently arrived in Melbourne. 333 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 1: He was about twenty five or twenty six, and from 334 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: the photos we know that he was a very good 335 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: looking man. So they became very good friends, very fast friends. 336 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,919 Speaker 1: They were working together, Charlie was an assistant wardsman. They 337 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: were living in the same quarters, and they spent every 338 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: spare moment together, usually at Abraham Briscoe's wine bar in 339 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,959 Speaker 1: Burke Street. So Melbourn's Daily Telegraph said quote they had 340 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: a friendship so strong that it was noticeable to the 341 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: most casual observers they also had. The paper also said 342 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,359 Speaker 1: they had a strange bond of affection and this was 343 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: their greatest peculiarity, and that their best shared pleasure was 344 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: quote the enjoyment of each other's society. So you didn't 345 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: have to read too far between the lines get the 346 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: idea that these guys were very very good friends, intimate. 347 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: Even so, did. 348 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 2: Ned tell police that he was in a homosexual relationship 349 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 2: with Charles. 350 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: Absolutely not. Any admission of homosexuality would get you a 351 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: long prison sentence, perhaps even life in prison. So being 352 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:25,479 Speaker 1: homosexual was not a crime in colonial Victoria if you 353 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: didn't actually act upon it, if you weren't caught, you 354 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: were okay. I mean, you would still be I guess 355 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 1: you know, looked at sideways by people. You'd be treated 356 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,399 Speaker 1: badly if people suspected you of homosexuality. But unless you 357 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: actually were convicted of sodomy, it wasn't actually a crime. 358 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: To be convicted of sodomy, however, was a very serious 359 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: capital offense. So I'll give you a few examples. In 360 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, a man named John Wilson used to 361 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: dress up as a woman, and he was a sex worker. 362 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 1: And the nickname that he used was the Great Eastern 363 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: and he operated around Fitzroy and Collingwood. Now he for 364 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: eighteen months was you know, walking the streets. You know, 365 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 1: had male customers who would take back to his house. 366 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: They would engage in sex and you know he'd be 367 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: paid for it. So have you a sting operation In 368 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three court John Wilson, and he was prosecuted. 369 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 1: So he was taken into custody, he was searched, he 370 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: was body cavity searched. The customers that he had had 371 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: all lined up to testify against him, and they all 372 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 1: claimed they hadn't known he was a man, which is, 373 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: you know, absolutely ridiculous, and was commented upon at the 374 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: time how very strange that all of these men didn't 375 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,200 Speaker 1: know they were having sex with another man. Of course 376 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,439 Speaker 1: they did, but this is the circumstances here were that, 377 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: you know, men who were thought of as being less 378 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: participants would testify against the major participant and thereby save 379 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: their own skins. So this John Wilson Chap stood at 380 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: his trial and he was convicted and sentenced to death. 381 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: The judge said he would not recommend mercy. He actually 382 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,360 Speaker 1: wanted this guy to hang. The executive did, however, community 383 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: sentence to life in prison, and he died in Pentrid 384 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: six years later, so in effect it was a death sentence. Nevertheless, 385 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: and this was at a time when if a woman 386 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 1: had been convicted of being a sex worker, she might 387 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: have been looking at a fine or six or twelve 388 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: months in prison. So you know, there was a very 389 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:45,880 Speaker 1: different standard for male homosexuality. In eighteen seventy, a guy 390 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 1: called Robert Morrison was convicted of consensual homosexual activity. He 391 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: was sentenced to a decade in prison, the first three 392 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: years in heart, in chains with hard labor, and moreover 393 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,959 Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty lashes. So this was the maximum 394 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: sentence for a flogging. He got fifty lashes in three 395 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: sets space two months apart, so it really gave you 396 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,159 Speaker 1: plenty of time to suffer from the lashes you just 397 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: had and anticipate the next lot. And Redmond Barry was 398 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: the judge in this case, I mean he would most 399 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: famously go on to be the judge who sentenced ned 400 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: Kelly to death. So it was an absolutely vicious punishment 401 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: for consensual homosexual sex. At the time, the newspapers thought 402 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:46,199 Speaker 1: that this sentence was not severe enough. They provided a 403 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: literal blow by blow description of these floggings as well. 404 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: Like you know, there was absolute homophobic hatred extant in 405 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: Melbourne at this time. As another example, in eighteen seventy one, 406 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: Redmond Barry had a man in his courtroom who had 407 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: bash who had beaten his brother to death with a 408 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: clawhammer in front of a witness. And this guy had 409 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 1: actually threatened his brother previously. He was sentenced to four 410 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: years in jail and he only served two and a half. 411 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,639 Speaker 1: Redmond Barry actually directed the jury to a manslaughter verdict, 412 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: so you know it was a very you beat someone 413 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: to death and you get you know, you serve two 414 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: and a half years. You're convicted of consensual homosexual sex. 415 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,120 Speaker 1: You get one hundred and fifty lashes and ten years 416 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:37,920 Speaker 1: in jail. So this is the sort of environment that 417 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: ned Fennie and Charlie Marx lived in, the regime they 418 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: lived under. And the thing was that there were not 419 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,920 Speaker 1: a lot of prosecutions for sodomy at this time. I mean, 420 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: they weren't rare, but they also weren't that common because 421 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: the absolute fear that people lived in meant that, you know, 422 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,679 Speaker 1: homosexual men had to live in the shadows and stick 423 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: to the shadows under risk of you know, literally death, flogging, torture, 424 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 1: long periods incarceration, social ostracism and so on. So a 425 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: very difficult time in Melbourne's history. 426 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,360 Speaker 2: So after Charlie was killed at the Treasury Gardens, did 427 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 2: the photos that ned and Charlie had taken at the 428 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,200 Speaker 2: photo studio come to light straight. 429 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: Away very quickly afterwards? Yes, the photographer was reported to 430 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: have you know, because photographers retained the copyright, so he 431 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: was selling them, yeah, making a tidy profit. You know, 432 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: he didn't get the full payment for the photographs from 433 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,639 Speaker 1: Neddin and Charlie, but he certainly would have made a 434 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,199 Speaker 1: motza selling copies to sort of the morbidly curious. So 435 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: in February of eighteen seventy two, Charlie left the hospital. 436 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:51,200 Speaker 1: He joined a ship called the Edena. As a stewart. 437 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,199 Speaker 1: The Adena applied the route between Melbourne and Morningbull. It 438 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: was a three day return trip, so, you know, obviously 439 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,359 Speaker 1: a much more pleasant job to have than being a 440 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,239 Speaker 1: wardsman in Melbourne Hospital. Two days after he left the 441 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:10,000 Speaker 1: hospital and joined the ship, Ned tried to commit suicide. 442 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 1: So inside Melbourne Hospital, while just after starting a shift, 443 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:20,080 Speaker 1: he took an overdose of chloroform. They barely saved his life. Now, 444 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: at this time, attempting suicide was a crime. If you 445 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: didn't succeed, you would have to go to a magistrate 446 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,199 Speaker 1: and they would assess your mental state. Often you'd be 447 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,720 Speaker 1: sent to a lunatic asylum. Charlie Ned's sort of statue 448 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: within the hospital was such that they believed his explanation 449 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 1: that he'd accidentally taken an overdose because he was you know, 450 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,160 Speaker 1: he had a stomach complaint. It's very clear from letters 451 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: between Charlie and Ned that this is not the case. 452 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: Need was obviously very upset. Again, I think it was 453 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: you know, probably a combination of his post traumatic stress, 454 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: his fear of being exposed as a homosexual, and also 455 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: he was drinking increasingly heavily, so he tried to kill himself. 456 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: It didn't work. He was allowed to keep his job 457 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: at the hospital. They in effect had him under observation 458 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: because he was working there and living in the quarters. 459 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: Now at this time, Charlie was saying to Ned, why 460 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,400 Speaker 1: don't you quit the hospital joined me on the Adena 461 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: as a steward, and Ned had said, no, I can't 462 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: do that. The hospital has been very loyal to me. 463 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:33,440 Speaker 1: I need to repay them. But Ned was increasingly melancholy 464 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: and had threatened that he would commit suicide. He would 465 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: try again. At this time, Charlie, apparently on the basis 466 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,919 Speaker 1: of fearing that he was going to lose Ned, also 467 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: supposedly attempted suicide on the Adena. So things were really 468 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,439 Speaker 1: coming to a head for these two men. And on 469 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:55,199 Speaker 1: the last day of February eighteen seventy two, Ned was 470 00:27:55,280 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: fired from Melbourne Hospital for his drinking. That weekend, Charlie 471 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: came back on one of the voyagers, went to the 472 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 1: wine bar, couldn't find Ned there and was worried that 473 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: his friend had gone off to kill himself. So Charlie 474 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: went out looking for him in the city and he 475 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: actually said to Abraham Brisko, if I find that he's dead, 476 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 1: I'll kill myself as well. So it was a very 477 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: you know, passionate, heated, sad relationship at this point. And 478 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 1: it appears that Ned was intent on killing himself and 479 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: Charlie said, well, if you go, so do I. So 480 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: what we'll do is we will rather than shoot ourselves, 481 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: we'll shoot each other and we'll let the world know 482 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: who we were and why we were going to do it. 483 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:43,719 Speaker 1: And that's what the letters were for. I mean, they 484 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: wrote letters to their families saying, you know, we're going 485 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: to go to the gardens and kill ourselves or kill 486 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: each other. And obviously those photos, I mean it picture's 487 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: worth a thousand words. I mean, it left no doubt 488 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: as to what the plan had been. So they went 489 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: to the Treasury Regard. They overstuffed their pistols with gunpowder. 490 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: They stood there, pointed the guns at each other, pulled 491 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: the triggers. Ned's gun exploded in his hand. It fired 492 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 1: the bullet, but it also exploded, so a piece of 493 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,800 Speaker 1: the actual gun flew back and pierced his own coat 494 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:23,440 Speaker 1: and grazed his chest. The bullet hit Charlie in the chest. 495 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: He was mortally wounded. Charlie for whatever reason, didn't pull 496 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:29,959 Speaker 1: the trigger of his gun, so that was the loaded 497 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: gun that was found unfired between them. So when the 498 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: police arrived, when the constable arrived, Ned's initial statement was that, 499 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: you know, he Charlie couldn't fire, couldn't couldn't pull the trigger. 500 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 1: And he said, you know, all will be explained. But 501 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: after that Ned would not say another word. So he 502 00:29:54,120 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: was tried for murder, and his legal defender argued in insanity. 503 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: So obviously, you know, there was on the record that 504 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: Ned had, you know, attempted suicide and this was at 505 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,959 Speaker 1: the time regarded as being a symptom of insanity. If 506 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: if Ned had succeeded in his suicide bid, the coronial 507 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: inquest almost certainly would have concluded a committed suicide while 508 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: laboring under insanity, which is what they typically found. So 509 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: he hadn't succeeded, it hadn't been reported, he hadn't gone 510 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: to a magistrate who similarly would have found this. So 511 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: at his murder trial, his defender tried to argue that 512 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 1: he was insane. However, because Ned would not submit to 513 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,640 Speaker 1: an examination from a medical man, would not give an interview. 514 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: There was no medical evidence of his insanity, and it 515 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: hadn't been reported to the police previously this suicide attempt, 516 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 1: so there was nothing on the record. So the only 517 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 1: way that the defender could try to argue it was, 518 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,080 Speaker 1: you know, well, why would a man who was sane, 519 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,880 Speaker 1: you know, go to the Treasury gardens in broad daylight, 520 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: having made this photograph, make no attempt to get away, etc. Etc. 521 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: But the judge would not allow and insanity defense. He 522 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: directed the jury they were not to consider insanity. So 523 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: the question was had Ned shot Charlie and if that 524 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: was the case, then he was guilty of murder and 525 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: the sentence would automatically be death. If he was not 526 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,480 Speaker 1: guilty of that, then he gone to the gardens to 527 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 1: help Charlie kill himself. If Charlie was supposedly able to 528 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,280 Speaker 1: have shot himself somehow, and it took the jury fifteen 529 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,720 Speaker 1: minutes to find him guilty, we'll. 530 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 2: Leave the story here for now. Make sure you come 531 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 2: back on Thursday for part two to find out what 532 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,960 Speaker 2: happened to Ned Feenie. Thanks for listening. This has been 533 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,000 Speaker 2: in black and White a podcast about some of Australia's 534 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 2: forgotten characters, written and hosted by me Jen Kelly, edited 535 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 2: by Nina Young, and produced by John Tipper. You can 536 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 2: find all the stories and photos associated with our episodes 537 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:10,160 Speaker 2: at haroldsun dot com dot au slash ibaw. If you've 538 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 2: enjoyed this podcast, we'd love you to leave a five 539 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:16,440 Speaker 2: star rating on Apple Podcasts. Even better, leave a review. 540 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 2: Any comments or questions please email me at in Black 541 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 2: and White at haroldsun dot com dot au. Any clarifications 542 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,640 Speaker 2: or updates will appear in the show notes for each episode, 543 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 2: and to get notified when each new episode comes out, 544 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 2: make sure you subscribe to the podcast feed