Mark Twain famously said reports of his death were greatly exaggerated . In the case of John Brady , believed to have been born in Ireland , who became an expert horseman and drover in Western Australia and the Northern Territory , known as Boomerang Jack , the cause of his death on the Barkly Stock Route on December 25,1926 is unclear.
According to a report in the Townsville Daily Bulletin of December 19,1941 , the police officer who buried Brady stated the deceased , on horseback , feeling unwell, suffering from beri-beri, went totally blind and had to be led for four days by a " black boy. " After asking the boy to help him down from the horse, he collapsed and died as soon as he reached the ground.
However, another account of his demise, in the Centralian Advocate , Alice Springs , said he had died from malaria.
Yet another version , in the North Australian Monthly of January 1957, claimed Brady had died after he was thrown from his horse , dragged by the leg , kicked .
This intriguing story is another great yarn from Progenitor, journal of the Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory, Darwin. .
The nickname Boomerang Jack is also something of a mystery as the article puzzlingly states that it is " presumably a reference to his body shape."
In 1918 he had been arrested at Wave Hill Station and charged with the attempted murder , by shooting, of the manager, Hunter Loder . After two trials, he was found not guilty .
His grave is in an area fenced off from stock on the main Barkly Stock Route ,25km past the turnoff to Eva Downs Station . In his will , Brady left his estate to a sister -Mrs Dellar Whittaker, known as Della Ross c/-Ruth Thorman, San Francisco, USA. She in turn had a headstone erected on the grave.
