Friday, March 21, 2014

THE LAST GRUESOME ACT PLAYED OUT IN COLONIAL AUSTRALIA


  

 A  bizarre    colonial   murder - suicide    which     shocked  Australia  and    the    London     theatrical     world  is  revealed  in  an  old  scrapbook  which  once  belonged to  a  man  given  the  task  of   reviving   the   Anglican  Church   in     Darwin .
By  Peter  Simon   

I  found the  battered    scrapbook ,  kept   by    Thomas  Anstey    Parkhouse,    on   the  floor   beneath   a   pile   of    books    in   a  dark  and   jumbled    shop  during   a  trawl  through   South Australia’s  Barossa  Valley,   looking  for  oddities ,  old  photographs   and   assorted  ephemera . 

Back   in   England    in    the   l870s ,   Parkhouse  had  been  involved  in  the  printing  and   book  selling   industry.   He   came     from  a   well  connected  family  involved  in    law,  civic  affairs , religion   and   one   which    had   been  in  the  bookselling   trade   for     l60  years.     Members   of   the   family    made   their   mark  in   New Zealand,  South  Africa,   Australia ,  Canada     and     Samoa .

The    horrific  event   involved   two      British actors ,    husband  and    wife ,  with  the   stage  names  of   Arthur   Dacre  and   Miss    Nellie  Roselle.  The  husband, Arthur    James ,  was  a  stage -  struck   doctor   with   dubious  acting  talent,  excitable   and  given  to   wild  outbursts .  From  a   theatrical  family , his  wife ,  nee  Amy   Adams  ,  apparently  Parkhouse’s  second  cousin ,   had    been   a   competent   actress .  Once  he  married  his  wife , the  doctor  made  unreasonable  demands  in  terms and conditions  of   her  theatrical contracts ,  which  often  insisted  he  be  given  a  part  in  her  plays . As  a  result , entrepreneurs  were  reluctant  to   employ  her  and   their   income   suffered.   

With  the   death  of    their  only  child ,  she  had   gone  downhill    physically and   withdrew  from  life   for   many  months.    In   financial   difficulties,  she  and  her  husband  came  to  Australia in  l895    on  a   theatrical  tour   in   the  twin   hope  of  improving  their  finances   and   reviving   their   stage    reputations.   Unfortunately,  the   plays in  which  they  appeared   in   were   poorly received in  Melbourne  and    Sydney .      Dacre   became involved  in  a   bitter  dispute  with  theatre   management   over  his   part  in  the  play The  Silence  of   Dean   Maitland   ,  and   other  matters.

 A  valet  was   summoned  to  the  boarding  house   where the  actors were  staying  and   Dacre    gave  him   letters  to   post  and   notes  to   deliver.  His wife  was  noticed   lying  on  a  couch with   a  hanky over   her  face.   While  the valet  was  leaving   the  premises  he  heard  a  crash  of crockery,  but did  not return to  investigate.   A  servant, however,   heard the  noise , followed  soon  after  by   what  sounded  like  a   pistol  shot.

A  man  gained entry  into  the  locked room   via  the  balcony and   Dacre,   his  throat slashed,   stumbled  towards   him  moaning, "Oh,God!  What  agony! What agony!"-words said  to  be  curiously   like  the lines  used   by   Dean   Maitland  under  the  strain  of  mental  torture.   Dacre     then  fell  down  on  the floor.  His wife  was stretched out  with  two  bullet  wounds  to   the  heart.  On a  table , written in a shaky hand , was a note   from Dacre : Thank   the   Lord  we  died together  . There  is  one  more  shot  left.

Instead  of  shooting   himself,   he  went  to  the  bathroom and cut  his  carotid artery   with a  razor,   it  being  found  at  the  bottom   of   the  blood-filled   basin.

 One of    Dacre’s    notes    was   delivered   to  the  Theatre  Royal  where  the actor, playwright  and   theatre  lessee  ,  George Leitch,     was  announcing   details for the next  performance  of   the  play.  The  note  instructed  Leitch   to    forward  all  the money due  to  the  couple   for  a   performance  next   Monday   be   paid  to   a  young actress,  Mabel  Hardy ,   in   Melbourne,   who  was said to be “   in  very   distressed  circumstances” .   That    distress , he  wrote, was due    mainly  to    him  (Dacre)  because  he  had   brought her  to   Australia. 
COLLAPSED  IN A  FIT
 While  Leitch   was  puzzling  over  the  letter,   a  man   ran  in  and   screamed  out  the horrific  news  that   Mr  Dacre   had   murdered   his   wife and  cut  his  throat, then the  messenger    collapsed  on  the stage in  a   fit .  Miss  Hardy   issued a statement   saying  the  couple had  been   great  friends   of  hers  and  she  had come  to  Australia under their chaperonage.  Dacre, she said, had  been  under a   misapprehension  as she  was by no means  in want  .  Eccentric of  late, she  said   he  been greatly worried about  financial  matters.  A newspaper account  of  the   event  said  it had  caused a  sensation  in London  theatrical circles .  It  also  claimed   the   murdered woman  may  have been a consenting  party. Medical    evidence   indicated  she  had  been  sleeping  at the time she  was shot.  A short   time  before the event,  it  was reported that  she   told  a   friend  that  she  was  a  British woman  and   would  like to die like  one.  While   travelling   abroad,  she  carried  a   packet  of   British   soil .  NEXT :  Thomas  Anstey    Parkhouse’s   Northern   Territory   and    Adelaide   involvement .