0:00

This podcast is proudly sponsored

0:02

by ancestry.com.au. From

0:05

birth, death and marriage indexes to

0:07

military records, passenger lists and police

0:09

gazettes, ancestry.com.au helps me find a

0:11

lot of the personal details that

0:13

bring to life the people you

0:15

hear about in each episode of

0:18

Forgotten Australia. And by joining these

0:20

genealogical dots, you could bring your

0:22

family history alive too. For more

0:24

information, go to ancestry.com.au because

0:27

there could be more to your story.

0:35

It's Saturday the 26th of December 1896 and

0:38

Sydney's side is all looking to have fun

0:40

on this hot boxing day, a spoiled for

0:43

choice. As

0:45

the evening news remarks, quote, The

0:48

attractions offered to pleasure seekers today

0:50

are numerous and the arrangements for

0:52

the transit of passengers by rail,

0:54

tram, bus and steamer are most

0:57

complete. Starting at

0:59

9.30 in the morning there's a

1:01

big march from Martin Place of

1:03

mounted troopers, a brass band and

1:06

splendidly guard members of various orders

1:08

of oddfellows, droods, foresters and free

1:10

gardeners. At the Sydney

1:12

Cricket Ground it's the first day

1:15

of the inter-colonial test between Queensland

1:17

and New South Wales. While not

1:19

far away at Randwick Racecourse, punters

1:21

can enjoy the Australian jockey club's

1:23

summer meeting. Those craving

1:25

indoor entertainments on this hot summer's

1:27

day are also catered for, especially

1:29

now that the moving pictures have

1:32

arrived. The city's Lumiere

1:34

Cinematograph is showing films from the

1:36

other side of the world and

1:38

patrons can see the recently crowned

1:40

Russian Tsar Nicholas II, touring Paris

1:42

and the marriage of Princess Maud

1:44

of Wales to Prince Karl of

1:46

Denmark at Buckingham Palace. Yet

1:49

the cinematograph has competition in something

1:51

called the panther scope, unveiled for

1:54

the first time this Boxing Day

1:56

at the Sydney School of Arts.

2:00

promise, quote, the cinematograph is

2:02

dwarfed into insignificance by the

2:04

powerful, unwonderful effects of the

2:06

panther scope. In

2:09

truth though, that's in the eye of the

2:11

beholder. Despite its impressive sounding

2:13

name that's meant to cash in

2:15

on the cinema craze, the panther

2:17

scope isn't actually one of the

2:19

marvellous newfangled moving picture machines. Instead,

2:22

it's an old-fashioned Latin show, comprising

2:25

colourful paintings on glass slides that

2:27

are projected against a screen, scenes

2:29

fading one into the other, with

2:32

the story narrated dramatically by a

2:34

lecturer. Although it's

2:36

a bit old hat, what draws a

2:38

continuous stream of customers to the panther

2:40

scope all day today is the story

2:42

that's being shown and told. Rather

2:46

than seeing far off royalty in

2:48

all their glory, visitors are to

2:50

behold grimmer and gorier scenes from

2:52

far, far closer to home. Called

2:57

the Mountain Mystery, the program shows

2:59

the recent murders committed just an

3:01

hour west of Sydney. These

3:04

are crimes that have been headline news ever

3:07

since the first man was reported missing a

3:09

month ago. To step

3:11

inside the School of Arts and

3:13

Behold the Panther Scope is to

3:15

be taken beyond the black and

3:17

white newspaper headlines and articles with

3:19

their line drawings, portraits, landscapes and

3:21

search maps. Ancient

3:24

oil painter Patrick William Maroney

3:26

prides himself on his research,

3:28

visiting the locations of Australian

3:30

crimes to reproduce them in

3:32

glorious colour, and now he's

3:34

outdone himself with the chilling

3:36

mountain mystery. The

3:39

program begins with a reminder of

3:42

mankind's first murder case, Caine Killing

3:44

Abel, in surroundings not dissimilar to

3:47

the landscape we see next, Rugged

3:50

Bush, Deep Gullies and Glittning

3:52

Waterfalls. Themed seeing established

3:54

we see Lee Weller, a stocky

3:56

retired sea captain of nearly 40

3:58

years of age. signing a contract

4:00

to go looking for gold in the Blue

4:03

Mountains. His new prospecting

4:05

partner is Frank Butler, a slightly

4:07

younger man, who's tall, solidly built,

4:09

has brown eyes, black hair, and

4:11

a big dark moustache that only

4:14

partially hides the scars across his

4:16

face. A

4:19

new lantern slide shows us, by

4:21

stark moonlight, the men's tent and

4:23

their camp, beside the Glenbrook Lagoon.

4:28

We see Lee Weller dreaming of returning

4:30

home, and then he hears the whisper

4:32

of death. The scene

4:34

transforms to show his foul murder

4:36

at the hands of his mining

4:38

partner. New

4:42

Latin scenes now show Frank Butler

4:44

taking another young man, named Arthur

4:46

Preston, into these same mountains and

4:49

then doing away with him in

4:51

similar fashion. Despite

4:55

the crime chronology being jumbled, Preston

4:57

actually met his fate before Weller,

4:59

the Daily Telegraph newspaper says the

5:01

program gives a good idea of

5:03

quote, one of the blackest

5:06

crimes in Australian history. And

5:10

what adds to the thrill of this

5:12

boxing day is that everyone visiting the

5:14

panther scope knows that this story's most

5:16

exciting moments are yet to take

5:18

place. That's

5:21

because Frank Butler, who almost certainly

5:23

killed another man before he lured

5:25

Preston and Weller to their death,

5:27

is right at this moment, halfway

5:29

across the Pacific, trying to make

5:32

his escape to San Francisco. What

5:35

he doesn't know is that three Sydney

5:37

policemen are trying to get there first,

5:39

so they can arrest him before he

5:41

disappears into the vastness of the Americas

5:43

he knows so well. One

5:48

of those officers, he knows Frank

5:50

Butler better than anyone. He

5:52

should because he was nearly one of

5:54

his victims. I'm

6:02

Michael Adams and this is part

6:04

one of the three-part forgotten Australia

6:06

episode Australia's first serial killer manhunt.

6:12

Colonial Australia had its share of

6:14

savage murderers who could be classified

6:16

serial killers. A few examples.

6:19

Convict Alexander Pierce claimed to have killed

6:21

and eaten eight of his fellow fugitives

6:24

in Tasmania during two separate escapes in

6:26

1822 and 1824. Right

6:32

at the end of 1825, also in

6:34

Tasmania, convict Thomas Jefferies escaped with three

6:37

other men and they went on a

6:39

three-week rampage that left six people dead,

6:41

including a baby, a policeman and one

6:43

of the gang who was killed for

6:45

his flesh. In

6:50

1841 in New South Wales, John

6:52

Lynch, the so-called Berrima axe murderer,

6:54

was charged with and convicted of

6:56

one murder and before he was

6:58

hanged, confessed to another eight. Then

7:03

there was Frederick Deeming, who murdered his wife in Melbourne

7:05

in late 1891 and, when arrested

7:08

in Western Australia in March the following

7:10

year, was found to have killed his

7:13

first wife and their four children back

7:15

in England. While

7:18

all four of these men are now

7:21

called serial killers, in each case there

7:23

are grey areas. Alexander

7:25

Pierce was only confirmed to have killed

7:27

and eaten one man. As

7:29

for the others, we rely on his confession

7:31

because nothing was ever found of them. Thomas

7:35

Jefferies was no doubt a sadistic monster,

7:37

but he also committed the murders as

7:40

part of a bush-ranging rampage. John

7:43

Lynch really does fit the bill, but

7:45

again, we rely mostly on his confession.

7:48

Frederick Deeming's first five murders took place

7:50

in England and, as they all took

7:52

place at once, they might more correctly

7:54

be classified as a spree or mass

7:57

killing. magnitude

8:00

of the crimes or the confessed

8:02

crimes only really became clear once

8:04

they were captured. The

8:06

usual definition of a serial killer is

8:09

someone who commits three or more murders

8:11

with an interval between each crime. Typically,

8:14

though not always, the killer

8:16

acts alone and employs the

8:18

same modus operandi. Frank

8:23

Butler checks all of these boxes.

8:26

With the evidence against him and

8:28

his confession, a strong claim can

8:30

be made for him being Australia's

8:32

first confirmed serial killer. What

8:38

is certain though is that Frank

8:40

Butler was the subject of Australia's

8:42

first serial killer manhunt because his

8:44

crimes were known while he was

8:46

still at large. This

8:50

is the story of crimes and a

8:52

chase that had spanned from Sydney and

8:54

Glenbrook to San Francisco and the Golden

8:56

Gate, that would involve Australian

8:58

and American police and celebrities and

9:00

that would make Frank Butler a

9:03

figure of international infamy. It's

9:06

also a story of crazy coincidences

9:08

and close calls, of some

9:10

men heeding their intuition and others

9:12

ignoring it with tragic consequences. Frank

9:19

Butler wasn't just infamous in 1896 and 1897.

9:21

He was also intriguing because his identity couldn't

9:23

be confirmed then and it still remains shrouded

9:26

in mystery today. That's understandable because

9:29

Butler, as I'll call him for clarity and

9:32

continuity, specialized in stealing people's identities

9:35

and convincingly spinning tales that spirited men

9:38

to their deaths. In the few accounts

9:40

there are of this case, the most

9:42

notable being Robert Travers' 1972 book, Murder

9:46

in the Blue Mountains, it's claimed that Butler's

9:49

real name was Richard Ash and he was

9:51

born in Dorset,

9:53

England in 1858. This

10:01

version however discounts as untrue

10:03

a lengthy newspaper statement that

10:05

Butler made about his origins.

10:08

Yet records are now available that suggest

10:10

Butler was probably telling the truth when

10:12

he said his real name was John

10:15

Newman. He said he was

10:17

born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, England on the

10:19

20th of June 1858 and that his

10:23

parents for many years kept a tavern called

10:25

The Boat's Inn. Butler

10:27

said he'd been a wayward boy of a

10:29

hard and callous nature whose main aim

10:31

in life was to be independent. At

10:34

age 14 he was apprenticed to an iron

10:36

worker and over the next three

10:38

years he twice tried to run away to

10:40

sea but was brought home both times by

10:43

the police. At age

10:45

17 he successfully absconded, went to

10:47

Liverpool and soon after joined the

10:50

Navy and was drafted to the

10:52

vessel HMS Industry under a Captain

10:55

Dyer. So

10:57

how much of this is true? Records

11:00

at ancestry.com.au confirm that a John

11:02

Newman was born in Staffordshire at

11:05

this time and that his father

11:07

was a licensed victualer. Further,

11:10

the 1871 census shows

11:12

this Newman family living at West

11:14

Bromwich with the father Thomas working

11:17

as a publican at the Canalside

11:19

Boat Inn and son John engaged

11:21

as an iron worker. Meanwhile,

11:24

naval records in the British Archives show

11:26

that a John Newman born in Warwickshire

11:28

enlisted in the Royal Marines in 1875

11:30

aged about 18 and Captain Dyer did

11:32

indeed command the

11:37

HMS Industry. Of

11:39

course, John Newman is a common name

11:41

so it's possible this was another John

11:44

Newman whose identity Butler simply assumed at

11:46

some point. But much of

11:48

the rest of his story checks out in

11:50

terms of the names and movements of people

11:52

and ships. According to

11:55

Butler, HMS Industry went to Zanzibar

11:57

where it conveyed the great explorer

12:00

Stanley to the west coast of Africa.

12:03

After that Butler was transferred to HMS

12:05

Flora and served aboard the vessel until

12:07

he volunteered for service in the Zulu

12:09

War, with him saying this was in

12:12

late 1878. Butler

12:15

would say that he was honourably discharged

12:17

after five years service and, to the

12:19

best of his recollection, this was in

12:21

August 1880. Those

12:24

naval records in the British Archives

12:26

show that the John Newman of

12:29

Warwickshire was discharged in 1879. So,

12:31

it's pretty close. After

12:34

a brief stint as the police comes to

12:36

war Butler said he enlisted in the British

12:38

Army when the Egyptian war broke out and

12:40

was part of the force that landed in

12:42

Alexandria after it was bombarded in July 1882.

12:44

He said he saw much action in

12:48

Egypt and his descriptions were detailed,

12:50

specifying superior officers and campaign movements

12:52

before he was sent home with

12:54

a minor wound in March 1883.

12:56

Butler said he worked for seven

13:01

months in a coal mine and when the war

13:03

in Sudan began in 1884 he enlisted in the

13:05

army yet again.

13:08

Instead of going back to Africa to

13:11

fight he was stationed at Edinburgh Castle

13:13

where he was busted for being drunk

13:15

and disorderly. Discussed that it

13:17

being demoted in rank Butler said

13:19

he deserted and sailed to New

13:21

York City arriving in March 1884.

13:24

Here he enlisted in the

13:26

US cavalry but believing himself overworked

13:28

and underpaid he deserted to Canada

13:30

where he joined the mounted police

13:32

in Manitoba before being discharged by

13:34

a superior who learned of his

13:36

checkered past. Various

13:38

misadventures ensued. He helped defend

13:41

the Canadian government against a

13:43

rebellion, spent time with the

13:45

Royal Canadian Artillery and headed

13:47

back to the United States

13:49

where he enlisted in the

13:51

army under the name of

13:53

Anderson only to desert again.

13:55

This could all be the work of a

13:57

fabulous with a passing knowledge of 18. But

14:02

his account also contained details like

14:04

this one about his next stop

14:06

San Francisco. Quote, I

14:09

was in that town only three days

14:11

when I shipped on the British ship

14:13

Balclutha Captain Constable in command. This

14:16

was September 1888. Checking

14:19

the San Francisco Examiner newspaper confirms

14:21

that this ship indeed left that

14:23

port on the 2nd of September

14:26

under the command of Captain Constable.

14:29

From here Butler said he wound up

14:31

in Chile where he worked in a

14:34

silver mine before heading back to Antwerp

14:36

and then Liverpool where he sailed to

14:38

Sydney on the British ship Ullidia under

14:40

Captain Patey arriving in August 1891. Again

14:45

these details check out. From

14:48

Newcastle Butler sailed back to San

14:50

Francisco aboard the Star of Russia deserting

14:52

when the ship arrived at the end

14:54

of October 1891. For

14:58

several months in San Francisco he worked

15:00

as a fireman in a laundry before

15:03

returning to England under the name Richard

15:05

Ash. Under this name

15:07

he sailed for Santos Brazil before

15:09

going overland to Rio de Janeiro.

15:12

There again as Richard Ash he

15:14

got a job as a naval seaman

15:16

aboard the four mastered bark olive bank

15:18

which was bound for Newcastle in New

15:20

South Wales. A crewmate would

15:23

recall him as always talking about how he

15:25

could make money. The crewmate

15:27

said that Butler was surly and

15:29

bad tempered with a domineering spirit

15:31

that made the other men wary.

15:34

On one occasion he argued with the ship's cook

15:36

and had to be stopped from bashing him. This

15:39

crewmate whose account must be taken with

15:41

a grain of salt also claimed that

15:44

Butler had spoken of doing dark deeds

15:46

in the South American backcountry. What

15:50

is known for certain though is that the

15:52

olive bank arrived in Newcastle on the 23rd

15:55

of April 1893 and Butler wanted

15:57

to leave the ship and so

15:59

he feigned rheumatic pains in his leg.

16:02

He was seen by a doctor who

16:04

ordered soap liniment. The Olive

16:06

Bank's captain, John Petrie, brought this

16:08

remedy to Butler. Angry that

16:10

he wasn't about to be let off

16:13

the Olive Bank, Butler threatened the captain's

16:15

life and used, quote, fearfully indecent expressions.

16:18

Captain Petrie had the police flag hoisted

16:20

and Newcastle's finest came aboard and took

16:23

Butler from the ship and to the

16:25

lockup. Coming before the court,

16:27

the man who gave his name as

16:30

Richard Ash was sentenced to one month

16:32

in Maitland jail. Upon

16:34

his release, Butler boarded a steamer

16:37

for Sydney and then sailed west

16:39

to Fremantle in June 1893. On

16:42

the West Australian goal fields, he

16:44

set about a spectacularly unsuccessful career

16:47

as a thief. His

16:49

MO was to steal from miners' tents,

16:51

though on one occasion he also tried

16:53

to sell three horses that belonged to

16:56

the police. Butler didn't

16:58

get away with much. He was

17:00

mentioned in the Western Australian newspapers

17:02

for his various larcenies and he

17:05

served five separate sentences in Fremantle

17:07

prison between August 1893 and

17:10

January 1896. Punishment

17:13

wasn't any sort of deterrence for Butler

17:15

and in July 1896 at Coolgardi,

17:18

he raided the tent of a

17:21

young mining engineer from Victoria. This

17:24

man's name, Frank Butler-Hawwood.

17:30

This time, Richard Ash, aka John

17:32

Newman, struck what he considered to

17:34

be gold, not the

17:36

actual precious metal, but rather

17:39

valuable professional certificates. These

17:41

documents confirmed that Frank Butler-Hawwood had

17:43

graduated the Ballarat School of Mines

17:45

and worked as an assayer at

17:47

Broken Hill. With

17:50

these papers in his possession, the thief

17:52

sailed for Sydney, arriving on Sunday, the

17:54

2nd of August 1896. From

17:58

now, he'd become Frank Butler. Butler

18:00

Hallward, though he'd also mixed it up

18:02

by using the variant Harwood and saying

18:04

his name was just plain Frank Butler.

18:10

He took accommodation at Gillam's restaurant in

18:12

Pitt Street and told the proprietor that

18:15

he'd arrived from Western Australia to do

18:17

some prospecting. Butler appeared

18:19

a light-hearted, prosperous chap. He whistled and

18:21

joked, shouting whiskey for the waiters and

18:24

giving a girl who worked at Gillam's

18:26

a photo of himself. Butler

18:29

also took out classified advertisements

18:31

in the Sydney newspapers. One

18:33

such ad in the Daily Telegraph would read,

18:36

quote, prospector, certified

18:38

metallurgist, once agreeable young

18:40

fellow, mate, prospecting rough

18:43

country, equal shares. Butler

18:48

impressed respondents by showing them his certificates

18:50

and talking a good game about how

18:52

he owned mines that were worth thousands

18:54

of pounds. One interviewee

18:57

was a man named Wendon who said

18:59

he was already going prospecting around Aubrey

19:01

with two other fellows, and he asked

19:03

if Butler would like to join them.

19:06

Butler said that he would, but he

19:08

couldn't leave immediately, and so he'd meet

19:11

them there at their hotel in a

19:13

few days' time. Before

19:15

he was due, though, Butler sent a

19:17

letter saying he'd no longer be able

19:19

to join Wendon because he'd made arrangements

19:21

to go mining out in western New

19:24

South Wales. That

19:26

was because by then he'd chosen

19:28

another prospecting partner. This

19:30

man was Charles Burgess. Very

19:33

little is known of his background, other

19:35

than he was said to be from

19:37

Norway, that he'd done well on the

19:39

Western Australian gold fields and had recently

19:41

come to Sydney and was staying at

19:43

a boarding house in Wynyard Square. Burgess

19:45

was about 27 years old, stood

19:48

5'8 or 5'9, was a fair

19:50

complexion and had a slight fair

19:52

moustache. But his most notable

19:54

features were his high cheekbones and

19:57

prominent teeth, one of which was

19:59

capped with gold. For

20:02

a few days from the 8th of August, Butler

20:05

and Burgess shopped in Sydney for what they needed

20:07

for their trip west. Although

20:09

it was Butler who boasted of his wealth,

20:11

it was Burgess who paid 12 pounds for

20:13

a wagon at Maccati's Horse Bazaar in

20:15

the city. Burgess also

20:17

bought from a Mr Hill of

20:20

Camperdown two distinctive branded horses and

20:22

harnesses for these animals. He

20:24

then paid to have them stabled at Maccati's.

20:27

There, Burgess got to know an assistant

20:29

named William Kalman. On

20:32

the 12th of August, Burgess and Butler slept

20:34

at Gillums. At quarter past

20:36

6 the next morning, Burgess turned up

20:38

at Maccati's. He saw William Kalman

20:40

and paid him a couple of shillings to take

20:42

out the horses and wagon. Asked

20:44

what he was doing, Burgess told this stable

20:47

worker he was going it alone. When

20:50

Butler arrived at Maccati's two hours

20:52

later and asked where Burgess was,

20:54

William Kalman told him, quote, oh,

20:56

he does not like the look of you

20:58

and has cleared out. Butler

21:01

apparently replied, quote, well, I must be

21:03

after him. He's too good a thing

21:05

to lose. Butler

21:09

caught up to Burgess with the men

21:11

reportedly seen together at Parramatta and he

21:13

talked him around. After

21:16

that, they put their wagon, horses

21:18

and themselves on a train bound

21:20

for parks. They traveled

21:22

with rifles and other firearms along

21:24

with their tents and swags. In

21:27

their carriage, Butler made the acquaintance of

21:29

a Mr. Lawrence who was a mining

21:32

man from Orange. Butler

21:34

and Burgess got off in Orange and stayed at

21:36

a hotel for a few days. They

21:38

were next seen on the 21st of

21:41

August when they drove their wagon into

21:43

Merrenburn, a tiny outpost halfway between Orange

21:45

and Parks. Here, Butler

21:47

acquainted himself with a miner named Robert

21:49

Ray. He even gave

21:52

this man a book about mining that

21:54

was inscribed Frank B. Hallwood. Butler

21:57

ingratiated himself with other Merrenburn residents

21:59

too. who, particularly those involved with

22:01

a local mine, which he told

22:03

them he was interested in purchasing

22:05

on behalf of the syndicate he

22:08

represented. Oddly, for

22:10

a man of supposed resources

22:12

and connections, Butler wasn't only

22:14

interested in buying. He

22:16

was also in the mood to

22:18

sell, specifically the wagon and horses

22:20

that were owned by Burgess. He

22:23

asked Mr. Ray for 15 pounds for

22:25

these. Mr. Ray said he couldn't

22:27

because he didn't have that much cash. Finding

22:30

out about this, Burgess was angry and

22:32

pointed out that they weren't his to

22:35

sell. Yet Butler again

22:37

managed to talk him around and back

22:39

onto friendly terms. Speaking

22:42

to Mr. Ray, Butler said that his

22:44

young companion was prone to grumbling and

22:46

they'd likely go their separate ways when

22:48

they reached parks. Butler

22:51

and Burgess remained in Marrenburne until the

22:53

24th of August, saying they were heading

22:55

for an area of sandstone hills known

22:57

as the dungeon. The duo

22:59

was next seen at Bumbry, which was another

23:02

fly spec in this district known as the

23:04

Black Range. There, they set

23:06

up their camp by the roadside. A

23:09

maintenance man named George Woodford came

23:11

upon them on the 25th of

23:13

August and saw Burgess standing in

23:15

a hole he was digging while

23:17

Butler sat nearby and issued instructions.

23:21

Butler was pleased to make Mr. Woodford's

23:23

acquaintance and invited him to have biscuits

23:25

and cocoa at their camp. While

23:28

having these refreshments, Mr. Woodford noted

23:30

that Butler had a martini rifle.

23:33

As men were prone to do in these

23:35

parts, at this time, they talked mining. Mr.

23:38

Woodford pointed to where Burgess had been digging

23:40

and said, quote, I don't think

23:42

you'll find anything there. You're not going the right

23:45

way about it. You won't be able to tell

23:47

whether there is gold there or not. At

23:50

this, Butler became indignant and blasted,

23:52

quote, you'll allow me to know

23:54

better. I know what I'm about. When

23:57

Butler walked away to get something, Burgess said to Mr.

23:59

Woodford, quote, I don't Don't take any

24:01

notice of him, he's a queer sort of

24:03

fellow, he does not say much, he's an

24:05

asear as well as a mining expert and

24:07

he is paid partly by the government and

24:09

partly by a Sydney syndicate, and if he

24:11

strikes a good thing, it's the better for

24:13

us all." Butler and

24:15

Burgess were next seen on the 28th

24:18

of August by Thomas McDonald, who was

24:20

travelling from Bogan Gate, a little village

24:22

west of Parks. He saw

24:24

the wagon and Burgess washing dirt in the

24:26

creek. Mr McDonald had some

24:28

dinner with the men and got a good look at

24:30

both of them. They later overtook

24:33

him on the road and Mr McDonald

24:35

saw Burgess use his rifle to shoot

24:37

a duck flying up from a swamp.

24:40

He last saw the men on the road to

24:42

the Black Range. The

24:48

next day, a man named Alexander

24:50

Evans saw Butler count at Yarra

24:53

Bundy Creek. He was now alone.

24:56

And while he had been garrulous with Mr

24:59

Woodford and Mr McDonald, he was no longer

25:01

in the mood for talking to strangers. That

25:04

afternoon, the 29th of August, Butler counted

25:06

on the property of a selector named

25:09

John Williamson and two days later he

25:11

sold him the wagon and the horses

25:14

for 15 pounds. Butler

25:16

even wrote him a receipt that he signed in

25:18

the name of Horwood. A

25:20

condition of the sale was that Mr Williamson

25:22

drive Butler into Parks in time to catch

25:25

the train to Sydney on the 1st of

25:27

September. At Parks, Butler

25:29

went to Tatlesall's hotel and there, in

25:32

a hallway, he passed none other than

25:34

Mr Lawrence, who he and Burgess had

25:36

met on the train from Sydney. Pretending

25:39

not to recognize the man, Butler evaded

25:42

him and went into a downstairs dining

25:44

room. Upstairs, Mr Lawrence

25:46

thought this so strange that he

25:48

mentioned it to his luncheon companions.

25:51

He also made a remark to a

25:53

hotel employee, who then went to Butler

25:55

and said that Mr Lawrence was asking

25:58

after him, not wanting to

26:00

answer. awkward questions, Butler hurried out and

26:02

went to the railway station a full

26:04

hour before the train to Sydney

26:06

was due. Back

26:10

in Sydney, Butler returned to Gillums

26:13

and advertised for a new mining

26:15

mate. This time though

26:17

he found a potential prospecting partner

26:19

right there at his hotel.

26:22

This man's name was Michael Conroy

26:24

and he was or at least

26:26

had been a minor colonial celebrity.

26:29

Originally from Springfield, Victoria this 25

26:31

year old stood 5'10 and

26:34

was gracefully but solidly built at

26:36

190 pounds. Until about five

26:39

years ago he'd been a professional

26:41

athlete. His biggest claim to

26:44

fame was that on Boxing Day 1891

26:46

at the warehouse man's cricket

26:48

ground in St. Kilda, Conroy had set

26:50

the world record for a high jump

26:52

when he'd cleared six feet five inches.

26:55

During his career he'd won thousands

26:58

of pounds in various pole vaulting,

27:00

discus, sprinting and hurtling events and

27:02

he was also known as a

27:04

speedy and agile oarsman, boxer and

27:07

wrestler. A sporting

27:09

champion for sure but Michael

27:11

Conroy was no sport and

27:13

no champion. Back in

27:16

March 1891 he'd met and wooed

27:18

a 17 year old girl named

27:20

Jessie White who lived in Carlton with

27:23

her parents. Conroy seduced

27:25

her with a promise that he'd

27:27

marry her. In July 1892 when

27:31

she was pregnant with his child

27:33

they had an argument opposite Flagstaff

27:35

Gardens in Melbourne. He threw her

27:37

to the ground and then he thrashed

27:39

her. After this Conroy spirited

27:41

Jessie away from Melbourne and her parents

27:44

to the country. He gave

27:46

her a few pounds, ordered her to

27:48

live under an assumed name and said

27:50

she was to have no contact with

27:52

her mother and father who had no

27:54

idea where she was or even that

27:56

she was pregnant. As a

27:58

result of her injuries Jesse had the

28:01

baby prematurely in August. The

28:03

child survived and she wrote to Conroy with

28:05

the news. He replied

28:07

in endearing terms, warning her against

28:10

letting her parents know anything and

28:12

promising to send her money. Conroy

28:15

then cut her off and didn't

28:17

pay her a penny. Despite

28:19

the shame is no doubt brought, Jesse

28:21

and her father brought the case to

28:23

the court in October of 1892. Michael

28:27

Conroy was too much of a coward

28:29

to show and defend himself, or

28:32

even to send a lawyer in his stead.

28:35

In his ruling, the judge described

28:37

Conroy as a quote, mean, contemptible

28:39

villain and ordered him to

28:41

pay sureties of 50 pounds, 6 pounds

28:44

and 6 shillings in costs and

28:46

ongoing maintenance of 12 shillings, 6

28:48

pence a week. It's

28:51

worth noting that while the judge

28:53

accepted Conroy had thrashed his pregnant

28:55

lover, there was no criminal punishment

28:57

issued for this. Similarly,

29:00

being recorded as a mean, contemptible

29:02

villain didn't rule Conroy out of

29:04

pursuing his later career in law

29:07

enforcement. By

29:10

early September 1896, Michael

29:13

Conroy was in Sydney, staying at Gillums

29:15

and had applied to be a constable

29:17

with the New South Wales police. While

29:21

he was waiting to hear if he'd

29:23

been accepted, he heard about his fellow

29:25

boarder Butler planning a prospecting trip to

29:27

Aubrey. Conroy knew something

29:29

of Aubrey and so he made himself known.

29:32

The two men met on the 10th of September. Butler

29:35

told Conroy he owned a mine 30 miles

29:37

north of Aubrey and that he was going

29:40

to sell it and realise 5,000 pounds. If

29:44

Conroy agreed to go mining with him

29:46

in Aubrey, he'd give him half of

29:48

his sale price. Butler asked

29:50

if he wanted in. Conroy said

29:52

he did, but he also had other business

29:55

to attend to and so he'd let Butler

29:57

know for sure in a few days time.

30:00

Butler's response was, quote, All

30:02

right, I'm going to buy a couple of horses

30:04

and a wagon and we will have a fun

30:06

time. They met a few days

30:08

later and had a drink in George Street. Conroy

30:11

said he couldn't go. Try

30:13

as he might, Butler wasn't able to talk

30:16

him around. Later Conroy would

30:18

say that he'd tumbled to Butler being

30:20

suspicious because that mining deal had seemed

30:22

just too good to be true. Later

30:26

after Conroy's rejection, Butler linked up with

30:28

a man named David Yates, who was

30:30

well known in Sydney mining circles. Mr

30:33

Yates was going to Grafton on behalf

30:35

of a syndicate and he'd advertised for

30:37

a metallurgist and a sare. Butler

30:40

offered his services and they met at

30:42

Gillums. Calling himself Frank Hallward,

30:44

he showed Mr Yates his certificates, and

30:47

he said he had all the necessary

30:49

equipment and was also looking forward to

30:51

the chance to do some shooting up

30:53

in the country. Butler

30:55

told Mr Yates that he didn't want

30:58

payment and he'd handle his own expenses.

31:01

In return, he'd expect a share of

31:03

whatever gold they found. These

31:05

terms agreed, Mr Yates and Butler caught

31:07

a steamer up the New South Wales

31:09

coast on the 15th of September. On

31:12

this vessel, they met three other miners

31:14

and the men decided to join forces

31:17

for this prospecting expedition. At

31:19

Grafton, they heard of a potential gold reef 20

31:22

miles north at Coldale. Butler

31:24

and one of the gentlemen from the boat went out

31:26

to inspect it. Finding

31:28

that it actually had gold bearing potential,

31:31

Butler told his companion they should keep

31:33

it to themselves. This other

31:35

fellow refused and he returned to Mr

31:37

Yates and the others. When

31:40

Butler came back, they told him to

31:42

get lost. Butler's response

31:44

was to try to get Mr Yates

31:46

alone on the pretense of doing a

31:48

bit of shooting and goldfossicking in the

31:51

mountains. Mr Yates refused,

31:53

which was why he was able to

31:55

later tell this story. Butler

31:58

returned to Sydney and to Gilliams on the 7th of September. of

32:00

October. He ran into Michael Conroy

32:02

a few more times. On the

32:04

last occasion the men spoke, Butler said he'd

32:07

sold that mine down near Aubrey and Conroy

32:09

had missed out on £2,500. He

32:13

also said he was now going prospecting

32:15

around Springwood in the Blue Mountains. On

32:19

the 14th of October, Butler moved

32:21

from Gillums to the Railway Refreshment

32:23

Rooms operated by Elias Thompson. Butler

32:27

again advertised in the Daily Telegraph.

32:29

This time he's noticed saying that

32:31

a prospective young mining mate would

32:33

need to be ready to start

32:35

work the following Monday, the 19th

32:37

of October. A dozen

32:40

men responded, and the one

32:42

that Butler liked best was named Arthur

32:44

Thomas Osborne Preston. 20 years

32:47

old Preston was a serious and religious

32:49

fellow from a good family in Brisbane.

32:52

A bright lad with a love of

32:54

earth sciences, he'd hoped to get a

32:56

position on the Geological Survey staff in

32:58

Queensland. For that he'd need

33:01

qualifications, so he'd come to Sydney

33:03

in February that year to study

33:05

Geology and Mineralogy at the Technical

33:07

College. Preston boarded

33:09

in Darlington and he wrote home

33:11

frequently. He attended the

33:14

Baptist Church in Newtown, taught Sunday

33:16

School and made friends in the

33:18

congregation. Preston's father,

33:20

a draper, sent him money regularly,

33:22

but this wasn't much more than

33:24

a living allowance, totalling just £60

33:26

or so over the past eight

33:28

months. In the company

33:31

of one of his friends, Robert Fielding, Preston

33:33

met with Butler at the Railway Rooms on

33:35

Saturday the 17th of October. Butler

33:38

showed his Frank Hallward qualifications and

33:40

spun his story about having recently

33:42

sold a mine for thousands of

33:44

pounds. Impressed, Preston agreed to accompany

33:46

him to the Blue Mountains on

33:49

the following Monday. While

33:51

he decided quickly, this young fellow

33:53

did harbour doubts, so

33:55

much so that he went to Sydney's mining

33:58

museum to ask about Frank Hallward. Frank

34:00

Butler Horwood. Museum official

34:02

Mr Harper knew someone who knew

34:04

him. Charles Panton, a young journalist

34:06

at the Australian Star newspaper who

34:09

a few years back had studied

34:11

with Horwood at the Ballarat School

34:13

of Mines. Mr

34:15

Harper gave Preston a letter of

34:17

introduction to Charles Panton. In

34:20

the meantime Preston talked to his

34:22

Reverend William Coller of New Towns

34:24

Baptist Church. The

34:26

Reverend later said that he'd told

34:29

Preston not to go. In response,

34:31

Preston said that his new mining

34:33

partner had excellent credentials along with

34:36

testimonials from when he'd worked at

34:38

Broken Hill. Bazzali, according

34:40

to the Reverend, Preston didn't

34:43

mention Frank Butler Horwood by

34:45

name. If he had,

34:47

a striking coincidence might have changed

34:49

his fate. As the Reverend

34:51

would later say, quote, had he

34:53

mentioned to me that the man he was

34:55

going with claimed to be Horwood of Broken

34:57

Hill and that he was about 40 years

34:59

of age, I could have contradicted him because

35:01

I was in Broken Hill when Horwood came

35:03

to the Hill and I knew him to

35:05

be a young man, I suppose, of about

35:08

23. On

35:10

Monday afternoon, Arthur Preston took his

35:12

letter of introduction and met with

35:14

Charles Panton of the Australian Star

35:17

newspaper. Mr Panton expressed

35:19

surprise that Frank Horwood had abandoned

35:21

his lucrative profession in Western Australia

35:24

to come to New South Wales

35:26

and take on such a hazardous

35:28

prospecting expedition. The Australian

35:30

Star, presumably Charles Panton writing, later

35:32

reported, quote, Preston agreed that it

35:34

was peculiar but did not say

35:36

whether they were going to a

35:39

claim previously tested or whether they

35:41

trusted to luck. He merely spoke

35:43

of the venture as a trip

35:45

out West. Charles Panton

35:47

told Preston that Frank Horwood was about

35:49

25, was fair and tall, those

35:52

slightly built. Preston replied, quote,

35:54

oh, this man appears to be about 35

35:56

and is the opposite to

35:59

slight build. Alarm should

36:01

have been sounding. Instead,

36:03

Charles Panton said that, well, perhaps

36:05

the Western Australian desert conditions had

36:08

aged and darkened the man he

36:10

knew. He said to Preston,

36:12

quote, I suppose it is Haward

36:14

as he has all his credentials and certificates,

36:17

which I know he got at the School

36:19

of Mines. Preston replied,

36:21

oh well, I'll go, but I'll take good

36:23

care that he does not take me for

36:25

any money. Mr. Panton

36:27

volunteered to come to the railway

36:30

station that night to ensure it

36:32

was the real Frank Haward, but

36:34

he didn't end up making it

36:36

because circumstances intervened. But

36:38

Preston did take a friend

36:40

named Arthur Fenton. This

36:43

Mr. Fenton didn't like the look of

36:45

Butler at all and said, quote, Arthur,

36:47

I would not go. Preston

36:49

replied, oh, he is a

36:51

bit bushy looking just now. You can't expect

36:54

a city gentleman to go prospecting in his

36:56

best clothes. I've heard of Haward before. He'll

36:58

be all right. In Mr.

37:00

Fenton's presence, Preston said he wanted to

37:03

buy a rifle. He was

37:05

pretty flush because he'd sold his bicycle

37:07

for 20 pounds and borrowed another 10

37:09

pounds from a friend. Butler

37:11

said there was no need to spend his

37:13

money. That was because he already had a

37:15

rifle and he was a good shot. And if

37:17

they saw wallabies or kangaroos, he'd be sure to

37:19

pop one for their dinner. Preston

37:22

promised to write to Mr. Fenton, but

37:24

as he and his mining mate boarded

37:26

the 8 p.m. train to Glenbrook, Frank

37:28

Butler said, quote, we are going

37:30

a long way back and it might be six weeks

37:32

before you hear from us. Elias

37:35

Thompson, who owned the railway refreshment

37:37

rooms, happened to be on the

37:39

same train and in the same

37:41

carriage. As they headed

37:43

west, the three men had an animated

37:46

conversation about the possibility of striking it

37:48

rich. Butler and Preston

37:50

got off at Emu Plains at the foot

37:52

of the Blue Mountains. And for

37:54

the next three days, they walked up into

37:56

the lower mountains. The Bush Telegraph

37:59

meant that many low-speed, The locals were aware

38:01

of this duo and they were mystified

38:03

by anyone would faucic in these parts

38:05

which had never been known to be

38:07

gold bearing. On the

38:09

evening of the 22nd of October, a

38:11

laborer named George Campbell saw Butler and

38:14

Preston near Linden, which is about 20

38:16

miles west up the mountains from Emu

38:18

Plains. Mr Campbell said

38:20

hello and told them they were the first

38:22

men he'd ever known of to look for

38:25

gold in this area. Butler

38:27

got his back up and claimed he'd found

38:29

traces in the grass. Strangely, Preston

38:32

backed him up on this, perhaps because

38:34

he didn't want to look foolish. Mr

38:37

Campbell said they'd be better off in

38:39

Korgati, to which Butler responded, quote, damn

38:41

Korgati, it's not what it's cracked up

38:43

to be. As had

38:45

been the case with Burgess, a passerby

38:48

had questioned the basic mining

38:50

knowledge of supposed expert Frank

38:52

Butler Hallwood. After

38:54

this got Preston wondering all over again,

38:56

we can't know. Mr

38:59

Campbell saw the men again later and this

39:01

time he asked Butler about his rifle. Butler

39:04

said he was looking for a shot

39:06

which presumably meant native game. Gazing

39:09

out on Martin's gully, Mr Campbell

39:11

commented on the wilderness saying that

39:13

if Butler shot anything in there,

39:16

he'd never find it. After

39:19

this innocent remark, Butler said that

39:21

he and Preston were tomorrow heading

39:23

by train farther up the mountains

39:25

to Katoomba. The

39:33

next day, on the 23rd of

39:35

October, a railway carpenter named William

39:37

Willis saw Butler alone.

39:40

He was sitting opposite a disused

39:42

railway platform at New Mantiar. The

39:45

men made small talk about the weather and

39:47

Butler said he was hot as hell because

39:50

he'd been down in the gully prospecting for

39:52

gold. William Willis said,

39:54

quote, you might have had better luck

39:56

if you'd gone after Cole. Butler asked

39:58

for directions to the nearest platform. form

40:00

where the train to Sydney was going

40:02

to stop. He

40:05

was back in the city that night and

40:07

returned to the railway refreshment rooms. On

40:10

the 25th of October he ran into

40:12

Elias Thompson who said, hello, are you

40:14

back again, what's the matter with you?

40:17

Butler said, oh, that young fellow got

40:19

knocked up, which meant out of breath.

40:22

He also lamented that that young fellow

40:24

had been useless in the bush, so

40:26

he was back, wrote, to look for

40:28

another mate. Butler

40:30

checked out and under the name

40:33

of Frank Butler, checked into a

40:35

boarding house called the Metropolitan Hotel

40:37

on Pitt Street. He ran his

40:39

newspaper advertisements again and again, he

40:41

had numerous applicants. Lee

40:45

Weller was born in London in 1858 and he'd been

40:47

a sea captain. Short,

40:51

stout, with dark hair, curly whiskers

40:53

and a thick beard, he certainly

40:55

looked apart. Lee Weller's

40:58

career had taken him all over the globe.

41:01

Even so, he wasn't as worldly as he

41:03

might have been. His solicitor

41:05

in London would later tell the

41:07

UK Sun newspaper that Lee Weller

41:09

was a thorough English gentleman, open-hearted

41:12

and affable, yet he was also

41:14

a man who would believe almost

41:16

anything that was told to him.

41:19

Lee Weller's maritime career had been cut short

41:21

around 1890 by an eye condition. After

41:26

that, he and his wife Dorothy left England

41:28

for South Africa. According

41:30

to the solicitor, they lived in Johannesburg

41:33

where they lost a considerable sum of

41:35

money. The Wellers visited

41:37

England in 1893 and British

41:39

Columbia the following year before

41:41

returning to South Africa. Even

41:44

though they'd lost money, they were still

41:46

materially comfortable and in early 1896,

41:50

they sailed with a friend for

41:52

Australia from Cape Town aboard the

41:54

bar South-esque. After

41:56

arriving in Sydney, they met via their friend,

41:58

a man named Robert Luckham

42:00

who worked on the business side of

42:03

things for the bulletin magazine. The

42:06

Weller sailed with the South esque for Newcastle

42:08

and they were supposed to continue with the

42:10

ship to Chile where it was to deliver

42:12

a load of coal but a minor strike

42:15

saw it stuck in port for months. Mrs.

42:18

Weller decided to remain living in

42:20

their quarters aboard the vessel but

42:22

Lee Weller went to stay in

42:24

Manly at Robert Luckham's house. On

42:27

the 11th of August Weller got word

42:29

that his wife was sick aboard the

42:31

South esque and he made a mercy

42:33

dash to Newcastle. Mrs. Weller

42:35

was dead by the time he got there. The

42:38

news was broken to Lee by

42:40

Detective James McCatty of the Newcastle

42:42

police. This officer had

42:44

also taken Mrs. Weller's jewelry into

42:46

safekeeping and he now returned these

42:49

valuables to the grieving widower. The

42:52

inquest a few days later would conclude

42:54

that Mrs. Weller had died of heart

42:56

disease. Back in Sydney

42:58

Lee Weller mired himself in drink.

43:01

He took lodgings in Phillips Street in

43:04

Sydney and during one misadventure his wallet

43:06

and his master's ticket was stolen. Going

43:09

to the police Weller's case was

43:12

handled by veteran city detective John

43:14

Roche who successfully recovered these belongings.

43:19

So in the course of just a

43:21

few weeks Lee Weller's life had been

43:23

turned upside down. A direct

43:25

result of this was that he'd

43:27

been put into close contact with

43:29

two New South Wales detectives who

43:31

knew not only his name, face

43:34

and manner but who'd also seen

43:36

his documents and his valuables. By

43:38

October 1896 Lee

43:40

Weller was looking to make a change.

43:43

The newspaper advertisement he saw promised

43:46

an adventure out in the fresh

43:48

air of Australia's wild landscape. On

43:51

the 25th of October he went to

43:53

the Metropolitan Hotel and spent two hours

43:56

there talking with Butler. It

43:58

was decided Lee Weller was accompany

44:00

him to the Blue Mountains. On

44:03

the 27th of October, Robert Luckam went

44:05

to lunch with Weller at the commercial

44:07

Travellers Club. He'd later tell

44:09

the Australian Star newspaper, quote, I

44:12

could not persuade him against the trip, nor could

44:14

I induce him to let me see his mate.

44:16

He was very confident. That afternoon

44:18

I met him and helped him pack his box.

44:21

This box was a big sea chest,

44:24

and into it went most of Lee

44:26

Weller's possessions, including books, sheet music and

44:28

clothes. He was going

44:30

to take with him watches, some jewellery

44:32

and the cash from his most recent

44:34

remittance from London. Weller

44:36

would also take away two going away

44:38

gifts that Robert Luckam gave him, a

44:41

bulldog revolver and a pocketbook

44:43

inscribed with Robert's own name.

44:46

Mr Luckam would later say his friend

44:49

was acting oddly, quote, He

44:51

then seemed a different man and wanted to

44:53

quarrel. It appeared to me as if

44:55

he had been drugged. He said he was

44:57

going to catch a train and then said he had missed

44:59

it. I got a cab and he

45:01

had a row with the cabman. He

45:04

did not go to the train, but I have heard

45:06

since that he went to the hotel where Butler was.

45:09

Weller's landlady, Mrs. Trennan, also

45:11

thought something was off, quote,

45:14

I quiet a person I have never met,

45:16

until the day he left, and then he

45:18

appeared to be very wild. I

45:20

asked him where he was going and he said he was

45:23

going with a man to Cobar. He was

45:25

so out of sorts that I did not speak to

45:27

him further. The next night,

45:29

Lee Weller wrote to his solicitor

45:31

in London, quote, I

45:33

leave Sydney tomorrow and am going upcountry

45:36

with a man prospecting for gold. I

45:38

can't tell you our definite destination, but

45:40

our first move will be to Glenbrook

45:42

and from thence to Lithgow and Bathurst.

45:45

I have nothing at stake where money. Should

45:47

we do any good work, we go equal

45:50

shares. Perhaps fortune will

45:52

do me a turn. It

45:54

is about time. It is a

45:56

wild, free, open life. Despite

46:03

the strange circumstances of their farewell, Weller

46:05

had promised to write to Mr. Luckam

46:07

as soon as he was able. On

46:11

the morning of the 29th of October,

46:13

Butler and Weller had breakfast at the

46:15

Metropolitan Hotel and then went to Redfern

46:17

Railway Station. Here Weller

46:19

put his sea chest into storage. They

46:22

then took the 10.15am mountains train,

46:24

riding in a carriage with a

46:26

railway worker named John McMiles. Butler

46:29

and Weller got out at Glenbrook at

46:32

11.50am that morning, their tickets collected by

46:34

station master Louis Beatty. A

46:36

man named James Coxen who was repairing

46:39

a railway fence also saw them arrive.

46:42

Carrying their swags, picks and shovel

46:44

with Butler shouldering a rifle, they

46:46

headed half a mile to Glenbrook

46:48

Lagoon, where they set up their

46:50

tent and made camp. Later

46:53

that day, in the Little Mountain Village, Lee

46:56

Weller bought bacon for their dinner. There

46:59

was a thunderstorm the next afternoon. Around

47:03

5 or 6 in the evening,

47:05

near his camp, railway worker James

47:07

Coxen saw Butler again. Butler

47:09

told him that he'd left his mate back

47:12

at the lagoon camp because his friend was

47:14

sick from alcohol. At

47:16

around 4 the following morning, James

47:18

Bunyan, a butcher down the mountain

47:20

at Emu Plains, heard two gunshots

47:23

a few seconds apart, though on

47:25

reflection he thought it might have

47:27

been one, followed by an echo.

47:30

Later that morning, an old Glenbrook

47:33

resident named J.J. Wood saw Butler

47:35

come up out of the gully

47:37

behind his house. Asking

47:40

another local who the man was, Mr. Wood

47:42

was told he was one of those prospectors.

47:45

Mr. Wood thought the man must be a

47:47

bit daft, but he didn't think any more

47:49

of it because he was about to head

47:51

out west himself with a mate to go

47:53

prospecting in real gold country. In

47:56

the early afternoon, Frank Butler was back

47:59

at Emu Plains. Here,

48:02

he gave a swagman named Peter

48:04

Farrell a bag containing bacon, tinned

48:06

meat and candles. Butler

48:09

told this man there were more things

48:11

he might find useful, including a tent

48:13

at the camp he'd just broken in

48:15

Glenbrook, and he even handed him a

48:17

rough map where X marked the spot

48:19

that he'd find these goods. At

48:22

Emu Plains Railway Station, Butler, who was

48:24

soaked from the waist down and carrying

48:26

a carpet bag and a rifle, spoke

48:29

to a porter named Anderson. He

48:31

told this man that he and his mate had

48:33

sold a mine out west and pocketed 2,000 pounds

48:36

each. He said that this friend

48:39

had gotten sick and that he'd also gone

48:41

to Burke. Explaining why his

48:43

pants were wet, Butler said he'd been shooting

48:45

in Glenbrook in the rain. When

48:48

the Sydney train arrived, Butler got into a

48:50

second class carriage. Here, he

48:52

must have wondered why he was

48:54

being plagued by coincidence. That

48:56

was because he was sharing this

48:59

carriage with Joseph McMiles, the railway

49:01

carpenter who'd travelled with him and

49:03

Lee Weller on the way out

49:05

from Sydney, and also in the

49:07

carriage was railway worker James Coxon

49:09

who he'd encountered the previous evening.

49:12

Both of these men noticed Butler, clocked that

49:14

he was alone, but neither of them spoke

49:16

to him. Back

49:22

in Sydney, on this last night of

49:24

October 1896, Frank

49:27

Butler Horwood, aka Richard

49:29

Ash, aka John Newman

49:31

was in the clear. No

49:34

one knew anyone was missing. No

49:37

one knew he'd had anything to do

49:39

with anything. Yet on

49:41

the other side of the world in

49:43

Norway, family and friends of the man

49:46

who called himself Charles Burgess might have

49:48

been wondering how their loved one was

49:50

getting on in the Australian gold fields.

49:53

Certainly in Brisbane, Arthur Preston's

49:55

family was increasingly anxious because

49:57

the Boys' Letters Home had

50:00

suddenly ceased and none of his Sydney

50:02

friends had heard from him either. In

50:05

Manly, Robert Luckham wasn't worried yet,

50:08

beyond his reservations about Lee

50:10

Weller's mysterious mate. But

50:13

as days became weeks without a

50:15

letter arriving, Robert Luckham became more

50:17

and more concerned. While

50:20

he was fretting at his home in Manly, 100 miles

50:22

north, on the 17th of November, a

50:26

man went into the office of

50:28

the Newcastle Herald and Miners Advocate

50:30

and wrote out a three-line classified

50:33

advertisement, quote, Metallurgist

50:35

wants agreeable mate, prospecting,

50:37

mining experience unnecessary, equal

50:39

shares, Butler this office.

50:44

Three days later, on the 20th

50:46

of November, Robert Luckham set pen

50:48

to paper himself, writing to

50:50

Sydney's Inspector General of Police to

50:52

say that he feared for the

50:54

safety of a missing friend, Lee

50:57

Weller, who'd responded to a

50:59

newspaper ad and gone west looking for

51:01

gold with a man who called himself

51:04

Frank Butler Hallward. I'm

51:10

Michael Adams and you've been listening

51:12

to part one of the three-part

51:15

forgotten Australia episode, Australia's first serial

51:17

killer manhunt. The next instalment

51:19

will be out soon, so make sure you're subscribed

51:21

to get it as soon as it's released. If

51:24

you've enjoyed the show, please leave a rating

51:26

and review at iTunes or wherever you get

51:29

your podcasts because it really helps other people

51:31

find the show. Forgotten

51:33

Australia was written, produced and presented by

51:35

me in the Blue Mountains of New

51:38

South Wales on land traditionally owned by

51:40

the Darug and Gundungurra people. As

51:42

always, thanks for listening.