[Editor: This column of court reports, written in a somewhat humorous style, was published in The Herald (Melbourne, Vic.), 19 April 1877.]
Police courts.
City.
(Before His Worship the Mayor, and a Bench of Magistrates.)
The Nesbitts again.
The conjugal bliss of this interesting and inevitable family came before the bench again, on their usual quarterly visit. Some times the wife is charged by the husband, and at other times the man is brought before the court by the woman.
The fellow is out on bail at present, having been bound over to keep the peace. Yesterday he threatened to kill his wife, and, in addition, he threw a half cwt of road metal through a Mrs Murphy’s window, accusing the woman of harboring his daughter for immoral purposes.
His bail was ordered to be estreated, and Nesbitt was further bound over in one surety of £50 to keep the peace for six months, and he was also fined 40s, and 20s costs, for breaking the windows.
Dramatic.
John Johnson enjoyed himself in the family circle of the Opera House last night. John did not see much of the play, but an improvised water scene he introduced was very successful.
Constable Hutchinson very kindly assisted Mr Johnson downstairs, where he attempted a little tragedy by attempting to stab the constable and Sergeant McSweeney with a formidable knife, which he had carried in his breast.
He was remanded to gaol till Monday, when he will be escorted on board the ship, Cardigan Castle, bound for England.
Query or queery.
Mr Alexander McKenzie appeared to be anxious yesterday afternoon to ask a question of the passers by. He nearly axed one question too many. The question he used on the occasion was on American axe, which he brandished in a manner truly worthy of a backwoodsman.
The defence was that the prisoner was attacked by a savage dog, which bit him.
Mr Sturt, P.M., said he rather thought that it was a case of taking a hair too much of the dog which had bitten him the night previous. The man was told that on his next appearance he would retire from the busy haunts of men for twelve months.
A sell.
William Sell, a strong young man, was charged with assaulting a married woman named Mrs Mary Saw. The engaging youth had been a boarder of the prosecutrix, and because the woman asked for her money, William tried to sell her by leaving without paying what was due.
Mrs Saw saw what Mr Sell’s little game was, refused to permit him to take his clothes away, and the fellow then struck her to the floor, and put the “maginniss” on her.
The case was somewhat of a cross-cut saw, or a bit of a see-saw, the sell being that Sell was fined 2s 6d, and 5s costs.
Black-eyed monster.
Joe Muggins, a very white black man, was accused of stabbing an excessively black white man, named Murphy.
Lovely woman was, as usual, the cause of the row. Mr Murphy, it appeared, was engaged in a gay dalliance with the charmer who owes temporary allegiance to the interesting black Joe — who, by-the-bye, vis-a-vised the bench with a sweetly pretty black eye — and the affair not pleasing Mr Muggins, that sable gentleman playfully put a spike into Murphy’s arm.
Joe only left Coburg on Tuesday, after a retirement of four years, for stabbing a constable. For the next three months Muggins will not require a knife.
Like likes like.
Miss Flora Gleeson paid a visit to the cemetery, and observing some flower pots on a grave, they took her fancy, and she took them. This was tit for tat.
The goddess of flowers was sent to bloom amongst Mr Castieau’s parterre on a week’s remand.
Source:
The Herald (Melbourne, Vic.), 19 April 1877, p. 3
Editor’s notes:
bench = [see: Bench]
Bench = a judge or a magistrate (or a number thereof, collectively) in a court of law (in a judicial role); the place where a judge or a magistrate (or a number thereof, collectively) sit in a court of law (a “full bench” refers to all of the judges of the court sitting together in judgment in a court)
black = evil, malevolent, very bad, villainous, wicked; callous, cruel, heartless, vicious; ill-omened; expressing anger, discontent, hostility, menace, resentfulness (e.g. “she gave him a black look”); sullen; threatening
by-the-bye = by the way, incidentally; used when making an aside or an off-topic statement which is not directly central, crucial, integral, or relevant to the subject being discussed
Castieau = John Buckley Castieau, prison governor (Governor of Beechworth Gaol, 1856-1869; Governor of Melbourne Gaol, 1869-1881, and Inspector-General of Penal Establishments in Victoria, 1880-1884); he was born in England in 1830, came to Australian in 1852, and died in Balaclava (Melbourne, Vic.) in 1885
Coburg = a reference to Pentridge Prison in Coburg (the suburb itself was previously named Pentridge), just north of Melbourne (Vic.); Pentridge Prison was opened in 1851 (closed 1997, now a housing development), whilst Melbourne Gaol had been opened in 1845 (closed 1924, now a museum)
See: 1) “HM Prison Pentridge”, Wikipedia
2) “Coburg, Victoria”, Wikipedia
conjugal = of or relating to marriage (commonly used regarding a married couple’s relationship, especially regarding their sexual relations)
cwt = (abbreviation) hundredweight; in the British imperial system, a hundredweight (known as a “long hundredweight” or “imperial hundredweight”) is 112 pounds (50.80 kg), whilst in the United States customary system a hundredweight (known as a “short hundredweight” or a “cental”) is 100 pounds (45.36 kg); “cwt” is derived from “c”, an abbreviation of “centum” (Latin, meaning “one hundred”), and “wt”, an abbreviation of “weight”
See: “Hundredweight”, Wikipedia
d = a reference to a penny, or pennies (pence); the “d” was an abbreviation of “denarii”, e.g. as used in “L.S.D.” or “£sd” (pounds, shillings, and pence), which refers to coins used by the Romans, as per the Latin words “librae” (or “libra”), “solidi” (singular “solidus”), and “denarii” (singular “denarius”)
estreat = a true copy, duplicate, or extract of a record (especially regarding fines, levies, penalties, and recognizances written in the records of a court of law); to take a true copy, duplicate, or extract from the records of a court of law for the purposes of a prosecution or for the enforcement of a forfeited recognizance (such as to enforce a fine, levy, or penalty; or to enforce the forfeiture of a surety given for someone’s bail)
See: 1) “Estreat”, VocabuLaw
2) “Estreat”, Law Dictionary of Legal Terminology
3) “estreat”, Yorkshire Historical Dictionary
4) “Estreat”, Wikipedia
gaol = an alternative spelling of “jail” (prison)
gay = happy, joyous, carefree; well-decorated, bright, attractive (in modern times it may especially refer to a homosexual, especially a male homosexual; can also refer to something which is no good, pathetic, useless)
a hair too much of the dog = the phrase “hair of the dog”, or “hair of the dog that bit him” (or: her, me, you), refers to a drink of alcohol taken as a supposed antidote to a hangover; the phrase originated with the folk remedy for a rabid dog bite, whereby placing a few hairs from the rabid dog into the victim’s wound would supposedly prevent any terrible effects from occurring
See: “Hair of the dog”, Wikipedia
like = something which is similar in appearance, character, features, form, manner, nature, or style
parterre = (French, meaning “on the ground”) a flat ornamental garden area, with an ornamental arrangement of flowers and/or plants, with the flower beds and paths forming a pattern; historically, such a garden area was designed so that its pattern could be viewed from a higher level (such as the balcony of a house), so as to show off the garden arrangement to its full effect
See: “Parterre”, Wikipedia
P.M. = (abbreviation) Police Magistrate
prosecutrix = a female victim of a crime on whose behalf the police, or a government prosecutorial service, prosecute an alleged criminal; a female plaintiff or a female prosecutor
queery = queer, odd, strange, unusual; (slang) a male homosexual
road metal = broken stone, cinders, crushed rock, gravel, etc., used to construct “metal roads” (also known as “gravel roads”)
s = a reference to a shilling, or shillings; the “s” was an abbreviation of “solidi”, e.g. as used in “L.S.D.” or “£sd” (pounds, shillings, and pence), which refers to coins used by the Romans, as per the Latin words “librae” (or “libra”), “solidi” (singular “solidus”), and “denarii” (singular “denarius”)
sable = a colour that is black, dark, or gloomy (“sables” was an archaic term for garments worn for mourning; “sable” in heraldry refers to black); arising from the colour of dark sable fur, as taken from a sable (a furry mammal, Martes zibellina, which is primarily found in Russia and northern East Asia, and noted for its fur which has traditionally been used for clothing); in the context of the Australian Aborigines or African Negroes, a reference to their skin colour as being black
sell = to betray for monetary gain or for personal benefit; to change sides in a cause, or to leave a cause, to abandon’s one’s principles, to sell-out; to betray an allegiance, duty, or trust, especially for personal benefit; to cheat, manipulate, or trick someone; a disappointment, especially due to being deceived about the merits or worth of something
tit for tat = an exacting of proportionate revenge; to takes revenge on a person for a wrong or an injury they have committed, by doing something similar to the wrong-doer in retaliation; also expressed in the phrases “a blow for a blow”, “an eye for an eye”, “like for like”, “measure for measure”
vis-a-vis = with regards to, in relation to; compared with, in comparison with; in company, together; a counterpart, an opposite; sitting, standing, or situated opposite another; face-to-face with, a face-to-face meeting (from the French expression “vis-à-vis”, meaning “face-to-face”)
white = someone who is decent, dependable, fair, generous, good, and/or honourable (such as used in the phrases “he was a white man”, “that’s mighty white of you”); a good person; someone with sterling and upright qualities; can also refer to: someone who is morally or spiritually innocent, pure, or spotless
See: 1) “word “white” (meaning: good)”, IAC list (on Trove)
2) “Play the white man”, Wikipedia
[Editor: Changed “on her. her.” to “on her.”]
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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