[Editor: This obituary, regarding Weston Phillips, was published in the Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate (Newcastle, NSW), 30 January 1883.]
Death of an Australian explorer.
We regret to record the death of Weston Phillips, an old colonist and explorer, well-known in the western districts, the manner of which formed the subject of a coroner’s inquest recently.
From the evidence of John Garland, a wool-scourer, and Frank Sutter, a labourer, it appeared that they met the deceased on Thursday, at Campbell’s Hotel, near Mulga Valley, which he entered whilst they were at lunch. At the time he was intoxicated, though it did not appear from the evidence where he got the liquor. He took a glass of beer, and when they started to ride to Dry Lake, he mounted his horse and joined them.
After riding some distance, he started into a gallop and fell off. Garland raised him and bathed his head, whilst Sutter caught the horse. He continued insensible for half an hour. When sufficiently recovered they again placed him on the horse, which Sutter led. After going a little further deceased dropped his whip, and Sutter let go his hold of deceased’s horse to pick it up for him. Whilst he was thus engaged, deceased galloped off.
About a quarter of a mile further on he left the track, and in cantering through the scrub, struck a dry mulga tree, and was thrown from his horse with great violence. On riding up his companions observed blood pouring from his mouth and ears and also that he had a severe wound on the head. They poured water down deceased’s throat and bathed his face, and as he still remained unconscious, one of them fetched a buggy from Campbell’s. They both attended him to the hospital, which they reached about 6 p.m. Deceased never regained consciousness, but gradually sank until the time of his death, which occurred about 2 a.m. on Friday.
Dr. Wilkie, the hospital surgeon, having given it as his opinion that death had resulted from a fracture of the base of the skull, the jury brought in a verdict of “accidental death.”
Phillips was one of the original members of McIntyre’s exploring party, which started on an expedition into the interior towards the middle of the year 1861, some ten months after the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition. He was originally a pharmaceutical chemist, and for some time carried on business at Dandenong, Victoria, but during the latter part of his life he had been acting as a drover and doing anything that came to hand.
Trained to observation by early habit and by the bias of a mind of usual power and attainments, Phillips was an acknowledged authority upon the customs and manners of the aboriginals, and up to the day of his death corresponded with distinguished ethnologists in different parts of Australia.
At all times of a somewhat reticent nature, towards the close of his career, when grief and misfortune had overtaken him through the death of his nearest and dearest, and through money losses, Weston Phillips became absent-minded and reserved, and few recognised beneath the rough exterior which met the eye the cultivation and research which lay beneath.
Deceased was a Past Master of the Masonic body, and his funeral on Saturday was attended by many members of the craft.
— Wilcannia Grazier.
Source:
Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate (Newcastle, NSW), 30 January 1883, p. 4
Also published in:
The Express & Telegraph (Adelaide, SA), 17 January 1883, p. 3, column 5 [reprinted from the Western Grazier]
The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA), 17 January 1883, p. 5, column 2 [reprinted from the Western Grazier]
The South Australian Weekly Chronicle (Adelaide, SA), 20 January 1883, p. 11 [reprinted from the Western Grazier]
Editor’s notes:
This article was copied from the Western Grazier (Wilcannia, NSW); however, in this article, that newspaper is referred to as the Wilcannia Grazier.
See: “The Western grazier” (catalogue entry), National Library of Australia [The Western Grazier was published in Wilcannia, NSW]
Masonic body = Freemasons (a fraternal organisation); the collective numbers of Freemasons (whether of the world, a nation, a state, a jurisdiction, several lodges combined, or a single lodge)
Past Master = a Past Master of a Masonic lodge (i.e. someone who was once in charge of a Freemason’s lodge; someone who had once filled the position of Worshipful Master in a Freemason’s lodge); can also refer to someone who is very skilled in a particular activity, field, profession, or area of expertise; an expert
wool-scourer = (also spelt: wool scourer) someone who scours wool (i.e. someone who removes grease, dirt, and other contaminants from raw wool); someone who operates a wool scouring machine; a machine which removes grease, dirt, and other contaminants from raw wool
See: 1) Abu Sayed, “An overview of wool scouring”, Textile Apex, 14 October 2014
2) “Scouring & carbonising”, The Woolmark Company
3) “Raw wool scouring”, Woolmark Learning Centre
4) Errol Wood, “2. Wool scouring principles and methods”, Woolwise (Australian Wool Education Trust)
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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