Don Roulston Buzzard

4.1
Daughter Alice Sara Smith

Tragedy was to strike the Smith family again on 23rd August 1911. The second eldest daughter Alice Sara took her own life. (There are 3 reports from the newspapers, each giving details not repeated in the other accounts.)

The coroners registered his findings in the Register of Inquests:

Coroners Register of Inquests [29]

Transcript:

Number and Date of Inquest: 276 - 31st August 1911
Name of Doctor and Amount of Fees: L. Sheldon £3 3s 0d
Name of Coroner and Clerk: H. S. Hawkins, M. B. O’Connnor
Whether Inquest of Inquiry, and whether intemperance directly
or indirectly contributed to the cause of death:
Inquest No temperance
Name, Age, Birth-place, Where held, Verdict
Alice Smith, 32, Eng., Autopsy, City Coroner’s Court
“I find that the said Alice Smith at 57 Victoria Street, Petersham,
on the 23rd day of August, 1911, died of the effects of a certain
deadly poison called strychnine administered by herself at the
same place on the same day”.

Soon after, one of Don’s aunties, Kate Smith, married Dick Collett on 29th June 1912 at the Holy Trinity Church, Dulwich Hill, Sydney. Kate’s sister Nellie was the bridesmaid.

On 24th April 1913, John Roulston died suddenly at his home of “Wyoming” at 57 Victoria Street, Lewisham in Sydney and he was buried next day at the Rookwood Cemetery. His probate showed he left £50. It is stated in his funeral notice that he arrived in Sydney in 1880, however in the England and Wales Census of 1881, he was still residing at Dugdale Street in Nuneaton, England.

John Roulston death and funeral

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[29] Ancestry