Mary Hoadley is an interesting character in the story of my family tree. She became the benefactor of my Great-great-great Grandmother - Elizabeth Clark who married Joseph Creighton in 1832.
Mary Hoadley came to Australia as Mary Stafford, a convict onboard the "Speke" in 1808.
Mary had been a servant to a surgeon called Richard Lane who lived at 24 North Audley Street. She was indicted for feloniously stealing on the 28th of February, two silver tea spoons, value 4 s. part of a pair of scissars, value 6 d. three shirts, value 5 s. three neck handkerchiefs, value 3 s. two pair of stockings, value 6 d. a tablecloth, value 5 s. and one shilling. She was aged 39 at the time. She was tried at the Old Bailey in Middlesex for grand larceny and received a 7 year sentence for transportation to Australia on 8th April, 1807. She arrived in Sydney in March 1808.
In 1813 she married Thomas Hoadley at St Phillips Anglican Church in Sydney. He had come to Australia in 1810 as a convict on board the Indian, having been given a Life sentence in Wiltshire. Two years later, Thomas was dead - buried 24 March 1815 in the Old Sydney burial ground. Mary did not remarry and remained single as a widow until her death. In later years, Mary's wealth was attributed to her inheritance from her husband - but this is very unlikely. Thomas seemed not to have much progress in his 5 years in Sydney. There is no record of him receiving a Ticket of Leave nor of his assignment to anyone his footprint in the records is very small indeed. Mary appeared to be based in the heart of Sydney for most of her life - although she kept horses in the Windsor area at at least two different farms. An advertisement was placed in The Australian on 30 March 1826 by a James White of George Street outlining a dispute over the ownership of some horses. It reads,
NOTICE
I HEREBY CAUTION ALL PERSONS FROM purchasing of Mrs. Mary Hoadley, without my sanction, any of the Horses or Mares claimed as her property exclusively, the above belonging to me and the said Mary Hoadley jointly. The .Horses and Mares are those mentioned in the following Advertisement, very improperly published at the instance of the said Mary Hoadley. March. 24, 1826. . James White.
WHEREAS JAMES WHITE, of George-street, Sydney, has threatened to make sale of my several Horses and Mares, without any authority whatever from me, the same being about fourteen in number, and, branded with the letter H, some of which are now running on the farm of Archibald Bell, Esq. at Richmond ; and the other part on the farm at Wilberforce, known by the name of Robinson's Farm ; — now, I do hereby caution all persons from purchasing any such Horses or Mares,' they being my sole and absolute property, and that he the said James White has no right or interest to them, or any or either of them. Mary Hoadley. Sydney, March 16, 1826.
Archibald Bell was an influential contact for Mary to have. The Australian Dictionary of Biography states that he was the Chief Police Magistrate in the Windsor area and was also on the Committee for the Native Institution from 1819.
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| Archibald Bell |
Not withstanding Mary's mention of a sister - there is no existing record for another Clark(e) girl at the Parramatta Orphan School in the same period of time.
26 November 1827 - Mary Hoadley applies for Elizabeth to be apprenticed to her. Her letter to the Board is quite telling of the level of interest Mary had in Elizabeth. She writes:
" Honorable Gentlemen, There being a young girl of the name of Elizabeth Clark in the Female Orphan School - Parramatta, I in the year 1822 out of charity obtained permission for her to educated in that Benevolent Institution - her sister also - I pay 10 pounds a year to the School of Industry for her bringing up added to this I have further extended my benevolence to these two sister orphans with each four head of horned cattle for an improvement of their circumstances when they arrive to Maturity. I should now wish to take the above girl from the Orphan School under my care and protection as I am enabled to do so being Independent in circumstances - by the Honorable Corporation's permission. I remain your honorable serv. Dutifully, Mary Hoadley Proprietor and Resident King Street, Sydney. "
Elizabeth would seem to have remained with Mary Hoadley until she married Joseph Creighton in 1832 at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. Mary Hoadley (spelled 'Oadley' in the registery) was a witness at the ceremony. Mary's benevolent interest in young women of reduced circumstances appeared to continue once Elizabeth was married. In 1845, Mary had a young girl called Rosina Wilson living with her. We know this because Mary was the victim of a sensational murder and Rosina was a principal witness to the night's gruesome events. There were numerous reports in the papers about the murder, the inquest and the trial of the accused murderer.
The Sydney Morning Herald, dated Wednesday, 21 May 1845 reported the following story:
INQUEST ON MARY HOADLEY.A Coroner's inquest took place yesterday, at noon, in the Royal Hotel, George-street, for the purpose of inquiring into the cause of the death of Mrs. Mary Hoadley, of King-street West, when the following Jury was impannelled:-Captain Daniel Nesbitt Monro, fore-man ; Messrs. John Meredith, Henry Keck,junior, Henry Thomas, Henry Tebbutt, Samuel P. Hill, Patrick Irwin, John Sands, Peter McKew, Louis Moore, Thomas Carrighan, Samuel Phillips, John F. Clement, William Smart, John Morris, and John Carney.
After the Jury had been sworn in, the Coroner briefly addressed them on the subjects which were to be brought before them, and which required their most serious attention, especially as they involved matter affecting the lives of some persons then in custody, and who would be brought forward to hear the evidence which was to be adduced. If he had been rightly informed, the attention of the Jury was also particularly necessary on another account, which was, that the whole of the evidence was of that description called circumstantial, and therefore their verdict would have to be formed on the conclusions which they arrived at, from comparing and weighing the whole of the facts and points which the witnesses would place before them. Various reports had been in circulation respecting the manner in which Mrs Hoadley had come by her death, as well as the cause of her being destroyed ; and there was too good reason to believe that it had been by violence, with which one of the parties present was charged as a principal, and the other as accessory before the fact; but whatever these reports had been, the Jury, in forming their verdict, were to be guided entirely by the evidence about to be laid before them.The Jury then proceeded to view the body, and the premises where it lay. The room where the body of the murdered woman lay was a small apartment, to which the only access from the street is through the cottage in King-street, situate between the premises occupied by Mr. Heydon on the one side, and Mr. Pattison on the other, the south side, or yard behind the cottage, being secured by a high brick wall. There is a side door from the same apartment, entering into the front cottage, but this internal door was generally kept closed by a bolt in Mrs. Hoadley's room ; in the small yard behind the cottage there is a water-cask standing at the north-east corner, and from which any person could easily get on to the roof of the cottage, and drop into the street close to the western window of Mr. Heydon's sale room ; the track pointed out is that by which the murderer is supposed to have entered and effected his escape. While the Jury were viewing the premises, John Skinner, the accused principal, was taken into the room where the murdered woman lay, and shown the body ; he seemed to endeavour to give a vacant stare at it, and on being told to touch it, laid his hand on that of his victim, while doing so his lips quivered several times, and a faint whisper of " Oh God, oh God," escaped from them. The Jury then returned to the inquest room, when John Skinner and his mother, Ann Cadman, were placed at the bar, and informed that the Jury were about to enquire into the death of Mary Hoadley, of which one of them, John Skinner, was charged as a principal cause ; and the other, Ann Cadman, was charged as being an accessory before the fact. They were told that they would hear the evidence, and if they thought proper, might cross-examine the witnesses. The following evidence was then adduced :
Rosina Wilson deposed: I lived with Mrs. Mary Hoadley ; I was adopted by her ; she lived in King-street ; I knew Ann Cadman for a short time ; I also knew John Skinner for a short time ; Ann Cadman at one time lived in a room at Mrs. Hoadley's ; John Skinner was there for about a week or a fortnight ; they left this day week, on account of William and Ann Cadman's drunkenness ; the female prisoner used to make the bed, clean out the room, wash, and do all the servant's work for the deceased ; John Skinner had no opportunity of knowing anything about the room where the deceased slept ; he had only an opportunity of knowing the yard and outside room ; I recollect a pane of glass being put into the bedroom window last Sunday fortnight by William Cadman ; John Skinner was out that day, but came home just as the glass was put into the window. Mrs. Cadman had an opportunity of knowing where Mrs. Hoadley kept her money, and has seen her take money out of it ; she usually kept her money under her head in bed ; I used to call Mrs. Hoadley mother ; I never heard Mrs. Cadman say anything about, my mother having money ; the money was | sometimes taken out from below the pillow by myself, sometimes by my mother, I and sometimes by the female prisoner, who gave it to my mother. "I had a little black dog ; Mrs. Cadman used to feed it ; last Tuesday, when I came home from school, I heard Mrs. Cadman saying she wanted neither cats nor dogs ; on Wednesday I missed the dog ; on last Saturday, when Mrs. Cadman came in to see Mrs. Hoadley, I taxed her with having the dog, and she promised to bring it back that night or Monday morning, but she did not bring it. The last time I saw John Skinner at the house, was on Tuesday week ;he was chopping wood; he saw William Cad- man puttying the outside of the pane of glass ;Mrs. Cadman went for the pane of glass, and the putty to put it in. I did not see any of the prisoners at the house last Sunday. The deceased and witness was at home all last Sunday ; the deceased was in her usual health, but complained of her leg; deceased went to bed that night about half past nine o'clock, and I went after her; I was awakened in the night by a gurgling in the throat of the deceased ; there was a little floating-light in the bedroom which the deceased always kept there; when I awoke I immediately touched the deceased, and said " what ails you mother?" and at that moment I saw a man come from behind the little door leading from the parlour into the bedroom where the hammer was found, and jump out of the bed-room window ; he had on white trousers; his head and arms were out of the window before I saw him ; nothing struck me at that moment who that man was ; I fastened the window on Sunday night myself; I immediately jumped out of bed and opened the door, and awakened Mr. Cassidy ; I did not return, but went to call Mr. Pattison, while Mr. Cassidy called his wife, and went to call Mr. Heydon. I saw the blood before I left, and when I went to Mr. Pattison's, I called out murder, murder ; I saw a watchman and told him to go into the yard and see if the man was there, as my mother was murdered. He was rather timid, and waited till Mr. Pattison came. I then went back to the bedroom, and saw my mother's head bleeding. I know the hammer now produced ; it belonged to deceased, and used to lie in the coal-hole so that any one in the yard could get it ; I see blood on it [The hammer with which the murder was perpetrated is a polished tinsmith's hammer, and a truly formidable weapon. The head is about four inches in length, having two flat circular ends, of at least one inch and a half in diameter ; the ends are both polished, and the handle appeared to be about ten inches in length.] I know the handkerchief now produced ; it belonged to the female prisoner ; she had a headache one day, and I saw it bound about her head ; I saw it also about her neck. It had not these holes in it then. I saw it found in the yard yesterday morning, near the water butt. It was not there on the Sunday, or I should have seen it, as I did all the work, as we had no servant ; when I saw the handkerchief and the hammer, they led me to suspect the prisoners ; I used the hammer myself about seven o'clock on Sunday evening, and left it either in the coal-hole or on the ledge; I am sure it was not left by me in the house ; I said to some of the persons present that Mrs. Cadman or her son had committed the murder, as the legs and size of the body of the man I saw agreed with his ; I think it was about four o'clock yesterday morning when the murder took place ; it was about four o'clock, as when I went to give the alarm the watchman was done calling four o'clock ; I saw Mrs. Heydon pick up the hammer ; I heard Dr. Nathan saying there was blood on the hammer, and I saw it ; Mrs. Hoadley died about half,past seven on Monday morning. Mrs. Cadman and her son were frequently together in the yard; Ann Cadman told me that the other prisoner was a son of hers ; there was a quarrel between William Cadman and his wife, and the son refused to give her any more drink, and kept William Cadman from striking her ; my mother also interfered, and told them she did not want to have any quarrelling there. The trousers worn by the man I saw leaving the window were of the same appearance as those now worn by the prisoner. [Those on the prisoner were common white duck trousers, somewhat soiled.]
The male prisoner stated, that on the day when the pane of glass was being put in, he only found out his mother, he having just arrived from the country.
The female prisoner merely asked if ever witness had known that she stole money from deceased, and was answered in the negative. The female prisoner then denied knowing where deceased kept her money; but immediately after, stated, that when she found it on making the bed, she always gave it up.
Michael Cassidy, wine storekeeper, living in the front cottage of the deceased, had been alarmed early last Monday morning, by the preceding witness ; the first thing he heard her say was, " my mother is dying or dead," he saw deceased, and then he went and looked if the front door was open or closed, and found it closed, it was the only way from the street to Mrs. Hoadley's ; he then opened it and gave an alarm, and went for Dr. M'Crae; when he asked the preceding witness who had done it, she said she never saw any person more like Ann's son, than the man she saw going out of the window. This was before he went for Dr. M'Crae ; after the murder, witness saw a pane of glass which had been cutout of the window.
J. K. Heydon, Auctioneer, King-street, was called out of bed on Monday morning by a violent knocking at the door by the last witness, who said Mrs. Hoadley was dying and a light was wanted, on giving the light he was told that she had been murdered, and on going in he saw Mrs. Pattison supporting her in bed ;the assistance of Mr. Harpur, surgeon, was obtained, and other medical aid was sent for ; he saw the hammer found, and the blood on it appeared then much the same as at present ; the putty on the hammer is a part of that which the pane was cut out of, and the pane selected was the most distant from the catch of the window, and would not have been selected by a stranger ; a will made by the deceased had been found on Monday ; it had since then been lodged with Mr. Norton, one of the executors named in it ; witness identified the body viewed by the jury as that of Mrs Hoadley; witness was present when a constable found the handkerchief produced ; it was found in the yard of deceased, and was then tied as if it had been rolled round the head of some one. [The handkerchief was here tried on the male prisoner's head, so as to allow the holes in it to be opposite his eyes, when it was evident that they were so made in it that thehandkerchief might, and probably was, used as a mask by the murderer ]
Sergeant Thomas Burrowes, of the Sydney Police, went to the house of the deceased on Monday morning, saw what had been done, and from information received went to Paddington, where he found William and Ann Cadman at breakfast, and Skinner up stairs in bed ; witness took the three into custody. After the men had been sent on to the Police Office, the woman was asked, when did Skinner come home ? and she said he must have returned about one ; that he had gone out about five o'clock on Sunday evening.Burrowes here added that Skinner himself said he had been at home since between ten and eleven o'clock on Sunday evening, and had been there, up till the time he was taken into custody, there was a pair of white moleskin trousers hanging at the fire very wet and very much dirtied around the bottom part of thelegs, [which were here produced ;) on arriving at the watch-house, the prisoner's boots were also examined, and found to be very wet and muddy ; there was something like blood near the bottom of the right-hand pocket there was also blood on the right-hand, round the nail of the fore-finger, also across the inside of the fingers of the same hand, from the second joint of the fore-finger; on being asked to state how the blood came to be on his hand, he stated that, he had been picking his nose and it had bled. [A glove which had been placed on the prisoner's hand to prevent him from rubbing off the blood, was now taken off by the constables, and the hand examined by Burrowes,] who afterwards deposed that the marks of blood were nearly all gone, except a little on the fore-finger. The femaleprisoner owned the black handkerchief with the holes in it as her property, when it was first shown to her; the handkerchief had been taken out to Paddington and shown as if found in the prisoner's bed ; she described it before it was opened up, and said it had holes in the middle of it, which had been eaten by the rats in Mrs Hoadley's house, when Skinner was apprehended, he never asked for what he was taken, but William and Ann Cadman repeatedly wanted to know if there was anything wrong.The female prisoner here stated, that she and her husband were in bed by seven o'clock on Sunday evening.Mr. Charles Nathan, surgeon, deposed : That he was called about five o'clock on Monday morning to see deceased, and found her lying on her bed, breathing very hard from pressureof the brain, the skull being fractured, and surely in about half an Inch, and the pillows saturated with blood. Dr. M'Crae was then sent for, and arrived with the trepanning instruments, and that operation was commenced ; but, as it appeared the deceased was sinking fast, it was given up. There were three wounds on the left hand side the head, viz. an anterior wound, made apparently by a blow with the end of the hammer produced, and to which the end of the hammer fitted. The posteriorwound was one apparently inflicted by , a stroke from the side of the same hammer, and very likely that part of it on which blood is now seen ; there was a third wound,about half an inch in diameter, and which had been produced by a portion of the fractured skull projecting through it, and from which the brain protruded ; any of the three wounds were sufficient to cause death.Dr. M'Crae corroborated Mr. Nathan's evidence in all its details.John Hope, private watchman, was standing speaking to watchman Morgan, at Woolley's corner, a little after four o'clock, on Monday morning, when a man ran past, up King-street, very quick and very light ; he was running from the direction of Mrs. Hoadleys, towards Pitt-street ; he was like the man witness had picked out at the Police Office, a few hours ago, and he believed the prisoner was the man he had picked out. The man he saw running up King-street was dressed like the prisoner.Edward Hobbs, licensed hawker, residing at the south end of Elizabeth-street, proved that the prisoner was at his house from five till about eleven o'clock on Sunday night; he then asked for and obtained some lucifer matches, and left, saying he was not going home directly, but was going up the town for an houror two.Henry Gardiner, assigned messenger to the South Head Stockade, was coming into Sydney on Monday morning, and about ten minutes to five he met a man running along towards the new gaol, a little beyond Lyons's buildings ; witness called to him, but he returned no answer ; the male prisoner appears too tall for the man witness met ; he was dressed in a blue jacket, white trousers, and white straw hat,like the prisoner.Constable Carroll found the handkerchief produced, and spoken of by Mr. Heydon ; when witness showed it to the female prisoner she stated that it belonged to her, and that she had had it since the death of her first hus- band ; when the handkerchief was found lying at the water cask, it was quite dry, whereas, if it had lain there all night it would have beenwet, or at least damp.
William Cadman, shoemaker, and husband of the female prisoner, who had told him she was the mother of John Skinner, the male prisoner, deposed, that John Skinner had lived in the same house with them since they removed to Paddington ; when he went out on Sunday evening it was about five o'clock; he was dressed in dirty white moleskin trousers, a blue jacket, and cabbage-tree hat; when he returned home witness asked him what o'clock it was, when he said it was near five ; his mother asked him where he had been till that time of the morning, when he gave her a very surly answer and said, " Don't be blowing me up, to let the people hear you." He then went to his bed, after taking the candle from witness's bedside and getting a light with some matches he had in his pocket; as an excuse for his being so long out, Skinner stated that he had fallen into a water-hole. Witness spoke to William Nixon, a neighbour, about an hour after.William Nixon, a dealer, living at Paddington, recollected speaking to the preceding witness on Monday morning, and by his watch it was then about six o'clock. William Moore, Acting Inspector of the Sydney Police, had searched the house of the deceased about one o'clock, after her death, and under the bolster he found her pocket containing one £10 note, one £5 note, two half sovereigns in gold, eighteen shillings in silver, and 4½d. in copper.Sergeant Peter Coyle, of the police, found the pane of glass produced, on Monday morn- ing, in the yard of the deceased ; it was care- fully placed at the side of the yard, and the putty in the sash, from which it had been re- moved was quite fresh ; the glass fitted the aperture from which it had been taken.This closed the evidence.In putting the case to the jury, the coroner stated that he felt it due to the Police to state, there never was an instance in which they had given greater proof of their activity and vigilance : within an hour or two of the death of the unfortunate woman all the parties that, by the evidence, were in any way implicated in the transaction were secured, and avast mass of facts, all tending to detect the really guilty persons, collected ; and, as far as the nature of the case admitted, brought to bear on the subject. He had no hesitation in saying, that but for the promptness with which the police had acted on the present occasion, many of the most material parts of the evidence would have been obliterated, and rendered unavailable for carrying conviction to the guilty in another Court. Such activity when successfully exerted as in the present instance, tended greatly to increase the security of the public,as it showed the lawless that however well laid their plans might be, they could not escape detection. He was also happy to say that no diligence had been wanting on the part of those in his own department, whose duty it was to second the efforts of the police, in getting the case put in as clear a light as possible, for the consideration of the Jury. He then went over the material parts of the evidence, as it affected Skinner, as a principal, and particularly called the attention of the Jury to the evidence respecting the woman's previous knowledge of the deceased being in the habit of keeping considerable sums of money in her possession ; and also, where that was usually placed when she had it not on her person ; the principal part of the evidence, however, which affected her was that given about the handkerchief, and it was for them to find whether she had given it to the male prisoner to be used as a mask, or had it been innocently lent to him, or had he taken it without her knowledge. If she had counselled or advised him to commit the deed,she was equally guilty with him ; but if he did it of his own design, without her knowledge, then they were bound to acquit her. The Jury retired for about a quarter of an hour, when theCoroner stated that there was one part of the evidence he had omitted to call their attention to, which he felt it his duty to mention before receiving their verdict, as it might bear on their opinion respecting the conduct of one of the parties in custody. He then mentioned the evidence respecting the little dog being taken away and not being returned, and told the Jury if they choose to take that circumstance into consideration, they might again retire. One of the Jurors said, as it was stated that the woman sometimes fed the dog, it might have followed her. After asking the question as to whether they would again retire, and none appearing inclined to do so, the Foreman returned a verdict of willful murder against John Skinner, who was remanded to Sydney Gaol to take his trial for the same. Ann Cadman not guilty, on which she was discharged.The enquiry lasted for about five hours, and appeared to excite great interest, the jury room being crowded to excess during the whole time,and hundreds waiting outside to hear the result.
The murder was still a sensation some 50 years later with one newspaper printing the most incredible allegations (presumably because all those named had since passed away. On the 17th December, 1904 The Newsletter, an Australian paper for Australian People published the following story:
WHO MURDERED MARY HOADLEY ?
In King-street, at the back of the Joint Stock Bank, George-street corner, thereare some shops which are known as Hoadley's Buildings. The entablature is still intact, and the year of their erec tion is set forth as 1842. Enough! Here there was committed a crime which for sensational involvements, connecting us with people high in position even to this day in Sydney, throws every previous or subsequent tragedy right in the shade. It was Mary Hoadley who was mur dered here. She was a widowed woman,whose husband had left her well off. The crime was committed while she layasleep in bed, at the dead hour of night. And no eyes were witness to the tragedy but those of a young girl — a child too young to give evidence of identification who was sleeping in the same bed. This girl was an adopted daughter of Mary Hoadley's. The child, as far as she could observe in her fright, stated that the man (partly describing him) came into the room, leaned over her, and with fierce blows murdered the unfortunate woman in her slumber. There was no robbery accompanying the tragedy, so speculation turned in other directions for the motive. Here came in the mystery,and it remains unsolved to this day. It centred all upon the little girl; She was a beautiful girl, with rare good breeding stamped on her every feature. Some said she was the daughter of a rich South Sea Island captain, whose wife was dead, and who himself, just prior to the tragedy, was reported to be lost in his vessel on the reefs of Malicolo. Others said she could claim romantic relationship with Archbishop Polding. Gossipers said one had only to look, at the child to see the family genealogy. Doubtless this was all gossip. What, however, was certain was this — she was the diamond in a big estate— Hoadley's, as well as somebody else's. All inquiries into the murder failed to fix the commission of the offence on any one, but in the squabble that ensued as to who should be the guardian of the beautiful and now wealthy child, most extraordinary allegations were made against well known people. The child's description of the man who committed the midnight deed was made to apply to a well-known citizen connected with the case, and to this day the old Sydney residents who were interested in the mat ter will not have it that their suspicions may have been wrong. ' No,' they say, ' there's the motive — and see how So and So soon became possessed of a lot of property.' No doubt, however, this was all mere suspicion, and since then the family have become one of the most prominent in Sydney. As for the beautiful girl who was witness, and the probable cause of the murder — she was brought up in the religion desired, and was well educated. She married a well known citizen, and the family became wealthy and occupied a high social posi tion. The children — the issue of this marriage — are remarkable for their beauty, and some of them were noted for their ability as well. Yet the murderer of Mary Hoadley has not yet been brought to punishment,and the crime still remains a romance and a mystery. JH.
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