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Mary Doris Forsyth
1900 - 1909

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• Birth	19 May 1900	Cootamundra
  Gender	Female
  Died	11 Feb 1909	Cootamundra
  Person ID	I071	Riverina Forsyths
  Last Modified	4 Dec 2017

  
  

  Father	Lucius Patrick Forsyth,   b. 5 Dec 1856, Belfast, Port Fairy Victoria ,   d. 21 Jun 1927, Murrrumburrah Reg No 10204/1927
  Mother	Emily Susannah Corby,   b. 5 Sep 1871, Berrima Reg No 7328/1871 ,   d. 5 Oct 1948, Cootamundra. Bowral Reg No 30166/1948
  Married	3 Sep 1890	Cootamundra Reg No 3183/1890
  Family ID	F01	Group Sheet

  
  

• Notes

  Cootamundra Herald (NSW : 1877 - 1954) Tue 16 Feb 1909 Page 3 Inquest. On Saturday last the Deputy Coroner (Mr. W. W. Lookwood, J P. held an inquiry at the Federal Hotel, Wallendbeen, into the cause of death of Mary Doris Forsyth, which occurred near Wallendbeen the previous day. The following evidence was taken : ?Sen. constable Kilner deposed : At about 9 a.m. on Thursday, 11th instant, from something I heard I went to Effgrave's railway crossing, and saw a train which was pulled up there ; I saw in Effgrave's house the deceased, Mary Doris Forsyth ; I saw that her left arm and right leg were completely severed; first aid was being administered to her by Mr. Walter King; I then went to the scene of the accident on the railway line, eighteen yards from Effgrave's crossing on the north side, I picked up the hand and arm ; forty yards from the crossing I picked up the foot and leg ; the deceased died at 12 noon on same date ; Dr. Florence was then in attendance ; I at once communicated with the coroner by wire, and subsequently furnished a report, which I produce. Eliza Effrave deposed : I am gatekeeper at level crossing 244 miles 41 chains from Sydney ; on the morning of llth instant I was down the yard taking in clothes, I heard the train whistle and I came up to look if everything was clear and safe for the tram, the gates were securely shut ; I also noticed both signals were down for the train both the home and the distant; I saw the tram approaching; I am quite sure it was not a quarter of a mile away. I turned round and went back to the house after seeing that all was clear ; I just went into the room and over to the table when I heard as I thought a boy call out ; I stepped outside the door again, and just as I did so I saw a pony attached to a sulky over the gate, its hind legs being on top of the gate ; I noticed there were two children in the sulky ; I remember nothing more until I saw the train passing with the sulky in front of it ; the train was slowing down when it passed me, and when it stopped the brakevan was at my house ; I saw the deceased lying underneath the breakvan; she was then taken out by the guard, and was brought into my house, where she was attended to until she died; the gates were in perfect order. Roy Alton Forsyth, who is not of age to understand the nature of an oath, made the following statement : On the morning of the 11th February I left home about 8.10, driving a sulky coming to school ; my sister Mary and Tory Wicks were with me; when we got about 100 yards of the railway crossing the pony shied at a cart with a tarpaulin over it, which was standing in the middle of the road ; she started to bolt, and went straight along the road, towards the gates ; I stuck to her until the wheel hit a stone and I fell out ; the pony then went on towards the gates without any one holding the reins ; my sister and Tory Wicks were still in the sulky ; I am 10 years of age. Joseph Ogilvie deposed : I am an engine driver on the railway in the employ of the Commissioner for Railways ; on the morning of the 11th February I was running a special goods train from Cootamundra to Harden; on approaching the Wallendbeen up distant signal I challenged it with a whistle and found all the signals off, and coming in sight of the level crossing, which is between the home and distant signals, I found the gates allright for the train to proceed through them ; when about forty yards from the gates I noticed a horse in a sulky on the left hand side, about 70 yards away from the gates give a jump, and immediately rush towards the gates ; the lad that was driving appeared to pull the horse as though he were going to pull him into the fence, but the horse swerved down the hill again and the lad fell out and the sulky ran over him ; the horse rushed on at full gallop for the gate, jumping clean over it, and the sulky wheels caught the top bar of the gate and splintered it ; when the horse rose at the gate the engine was ten or twelve feet away from it ; the last time I saw the sulky it was when it disappeared in front of the engine ; there were two children in it ; I was doing all in my power at this time to bring the train to a stand-still by applying the air brake with full force, reversing the engine and opening the sand ; there was a 1 in 40 down grade at this point, and it took longer to bring the train to a stand than if it had been a lesser grade or on the level ; I never thought at anytime that the horse would attempt to jump the gates ; on bringing the train to a stand I immediately went back to find out what damage had been done, and I saw a little girl lying at the back door of the gatehouse; I saw that the right leg and left arm were taken off; I picked her up and carried her into the house and put her on a couch; I have no doubt but deceased was run over by the train; after passing the crossing I noticed apart of the sulky hanging to the left buffer of the engine ; the load I was drawing behind the engine was 511 tons, which was a full load ; the brakes were all in good working order ; after apply in the brakes with full force I brought the train to a standstill in about its own length. Arthur Picton Thomas deposed : I am acting fireman in the employ of the Railway Commissioners on the morning of 11th instant I was firing on a train running from Cootamundra to Harden; on approaching the up distant signal at Wallendbeen the driver blew his whistle and challenged the distant signal ; the line was all clear for us, and the gates at the crossing were closed; the driver called my attention to a horse bolting on the left hand side of the engine; when I looked over I saw a boy thrown from the sulky on to the road leading to the gates about 30 or 40 yards away ; I saw that the driver was applying the air break, and I went and applied the hand break; I would say that the train was brought to a stand in about a train length; the driver left the engine to ascertain if anything had happened, and gave me instructions what to do in his absence; it was 9.5 a.m. when the accident occurred ; after seeing the boy thrown out of the sulky I saw nothing further. Thomas King deposed : I am a guard in the employ of the Commissioner for Railways; on the morning of 11h February, 1909, I was in charge of a special goods train running from Cootamundra to Harden ; on approaching Wallendbeen I looked out to see if all the signals were off ; seeing them off I went into the van again ; immediately the brakes were applied hard; I looked out and could see what afterwards turned out to be portions of a sulky ; I knew by the manner in which the brakes were applied that something was seriously wrong. I saw nothing further until the train stopped ; I got down out of the van and saw a little girl outside the rails partly on her knees ; I assisted her on to her feet ; she told me to go and look for Mollie; I found deceased lying between the brake van and the last truck ; I lifted her out and car tied her to the gatekeeper's house ; I noticed that a leg and an arm had been severed ; I have no doubt but that she was run over by the train ; the accident happened at 9.5 a.m. Louis Patrick Forsyth deposed: I am a farmer residing at Bonnie View Wallendbeen ; the deceased, Mary Doris Forsyth, is daughter; on the morning of the 11th she proceeded to school, a distance of five miles, in a sulky driven by my son Roy Alton Forsyth ; this was their usual method of going to school; the deceased was aged eight years. The Coroner found that Mary Doris Forsyth died from injuries caused by being accidentally run over by a train near 'Wallendbeen ; and he also found that no blame attached to the railway department.