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Robert Turnbull (1856–1861)

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.

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Citation details

'Turnbull, Robert (1856–1861)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/turnbull-robert-17192/text28991, accessed 21 November 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

16 August, 1856
Colo, New South Wales, Australia

Death

14 June, 1861 (aged 4)
Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

drowned