William Norman St. John MAULE
William Norman St. John MAULE
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ‘Q’ 3939
NSWPF – ‘Q‘ represents those Police joining between 1862 ( commencement of NSWPF ) – 23 February 1915 ( Commencement of NSWPF current numbering system )
Rank: Mounted Constable
Service: From 6 June 1881 to 8 December 1881 = 6 months Service
Stations: Goulburn ( only six weeks )
Born: 23 October 1853 in England
Died: Thursday 8 December 1881
Age: 28 old
Cause: Accident – Thrown from horse – On Duty
Funeral: Saturday 10 December 1881
Buried: at St Saviour’s Cemetery,
Cemetery St, Goulburn ( opposite the gaol )
GPS of grave: -34.74095, 149.74291
The Pointer on the below map is the exact point of the grave
NSW Deaths Registration # 4783/1881
On Thursday 8 December 1881, the Mounted Constable who had only been stationed at Goulburn for about six weeks after leaving the Police Depot ( Redfern Police Academy ), was riding his Police Mount with Mounted Constable Pritzler to Mummel ( an area nth west of Goulburn ) to fetch a person suspected to be of unsound mind.
Maule was riding ahead and Pritzler was behind, when Maule‘s horse shied and plunged forward over a log, causing Maule ( an inexperienced rider ) to lose one of his stirrups. The horse jumped a second log and Maule lost his second stirrup iron and was unseated and fell with his head violently against a tree.
Maule, unconscious and bleeding from the nose, was later loaded into a buggy, with the assistance of the messenger and the prisoner, and taken into Goulburn Hospital – arriving there about 5.30pm.
Maule died from his injuries about 10.30pm as a result of his injuries, including a smashed lower jaw, a split lip, broken nose and severe cut over the temple & concussion of the brain.
Maule was not married.
An Inquest was held on Friday 9 December 1881 with a verdict that Maule was killed by being thrown from his horse accidentally, and added as a rider that they think that more discretion might be exercised in the Sydney depot as to the horsemanship of the men they send out for duty in the country.
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Maule joined the New South Wales Police Force in June 1881. He left England and came to Australia, though it appears his siblings remained in England. We don’t know why he chose to come to Australia and join the NSW Police Force. Two of his brothers served in the military, as did his father, and one of his brothers was a solicitor. His grandfather was a chaplain and his great-grandfather – mayor, alderman and burgess of Huntingdon.
[alert_red]WILLIAM is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_red] * BUT SHOULD BE
( This incident was discovered, by accident, in September 2014, by Cal, whilst searching Trove. This Constable is NOT mentioned in any documentation or recognised as having been killed ” on duty ” by the NSW Police Force, at this time, or mentioned on any official Wall of Remembrance. Shortly, this matter will be brought to the attention of those who have the ability to have this Constable officially recognised as being killed ” on duty “. )
Upon checking npm.org.au on 2 May 2018 – William is NOW mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
[alert_green]WILLIAM IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
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Southern Argus ( Goulburn ) Friday 9 December 1881 page 2 of 4
Saturday 10 December 1881
page 2 of 4
Saturday 10 December 1881
page 2 of 4
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/102061905
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Southern Argus ( Goulburn ) Saturday 10 December 1881 page 2 of 4
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/102061907
Inquest.
An inquest was held last evening at the Goulburn Hospital by the coroner, Mr. Betts, on the body of William Norman St. George Maule, who had died from the effects of injuries received on the previous day. The jury having been sworn and the body viewed, the following evidence was taken: — Simon Pritzler, a mounted policeman stationed at Goulburn, deposed: The body just viewed was that of constable Maule, of the N.S.W. police ; he had been in the force since last June; the deceased was single and 28 years of age ; on Thursday afternoon last he and witness were going to Mummel and got along all right for about 13 miles, when the deceased’s horse shied to the right of a tree and Maule had pulled him to the left; then he had lost one of his stirrup-irons, when the horse bolted, and about 20 yards away witness saw the horse jump a log, when the deceased lost his other stirrup-iron ; witness then saw the deceased lying on the horse’s neck ; the horse took another bound and the deceased fell off; witness, on galloping up, found him lying on the ground insensible; the deceased’s face was all knocked in ; he sent for assistance and fetched him into Goulburn Hospital in a buggy ; he never recovered consciousness and died five hours after the accident occurred ; witness thought deceased must have been dashed against a tree by the horse just after falling off as it rushed on. Deceased was not a good horseman, having no control over his reins.
Dr. Gentle deposed that he had been asked to see the deceased on the previous evening and found him in a comatose condition with nose broken also lower jaw. He found in addition a wound over left eve about 2 inches in length exposing the bone; blood flowed from his right ear. He believed concussion of the brain to be the cause of death. The jury returned a verdict that the deceased met his death by being accidentally thrown from his horse and they would like to add a rider to the effect that they think more discretion might be exercised in the Sydney depot as to the horsemanship of the men sent out for duty service in the country.
Goulburn Evening Penny Post
Saturday 10 December 1881
page 3 of 8
Saturday 10 December 1881
page 2 of 4
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Grave location
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( On Tuesday 7 October 2014, I attended the Mortis Street General Cemetery, Goulburn, in an attempt to locate the grave of this Constable. Unfortunately, this historic cemetery is in an extremely poor state with most of the head stones having fallen and most of the graves heavily overgrown with weeds.
There are hundreds of graves at this location, dating back to the early – mid 1800’s. I had to attend the local library where I obtained the attached ‘ plan ‘ of the cemetery in order to find plat CE79 – the recorded location of the Constables grave.
I returned to the cemetery but, at this stage, could not find CE79 at the location as there are many unmarked graves and fallen head stones in this, Goulburns second oldest cemetery which was established in the late 1830’s. )
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Some records have him buried at Goulburn Anglican Cemetery, Cemetery St, Goulburn ( near the gaol ) plot CE79 but his grave is located at the St Saviour’s Cemetery, Cemetery Rd, Goulburn, OPPOSITE the Goulburn Gaol & NOT in the Mortis St Cemetery.
Mortis St General Cemetery – Goulburn
Mortis St General Cemetery 2 – Goulburn
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On Tuesday 24 April 2018 I attended the St Saviour’s Cemetery, Cemetery Rd, Goulburn, opposite the Goulburn Gaol where I located the grave of MAULE.
The below images are what it presented like on that date.
GPS of grave: -34.74095, 149.74291
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On Tuesday 21 October 2014 I attended the St Saviour’s Cemetery, Cemetery Rd, Goulburn, opposite the Goulburn Gaol where I located the grave of MAULE.
The below images are what it presented like on that date.
GPS of grave: -34.74091, 149.74289
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note:
Email sent:
G’day Bundy,
During my research for my website, I have come across another NSW Mounted Constable who was killed ‘ on duty ‘ at Goulburn on Thursday 8 December 1853 as result of horse accident.
See the link for further details and photos of the grave: https://police.freom.com/william-norman-st-john-maule/
This man is NOT mentioned on any official documentation in relation to the Wall of Remembrance and, according to the paper’s, was ‘ on duty ‘ at the time of the horse accident which resulted in his death.
Can you forward this information so that he may be officially recognised to be included in the Wall of Remembrance.
Cheers mate
Greg ‘ Cal ‘ Callander www.AustralianPolice.com.au 23 October 2014
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