Not a lot is known about Mary Louisa Whyms in the years following her assault in 1878.
In 1878 Mary Louisa was the eldest daughter in the household with five siblings aged between four and thirteen years old. Her elder sister Grace had married William Clarke in 1877 and after the birth of their first child Mary in 1878 they moved to Bega where they remained for the rest of their lives. Her brother James may have been the 15 year old James Whims caught horse stealing in the Oberon district in 1880.[1]
On 10 August 1885 Mary Louisa’s father David William Whyms died at Jamberoo. Mary Louisa was now 22 years old with siblings James aged 20 years, William David aged 16 years, George Dennis aged 14 years and Clara Ann aged 11 years old. As mentioned in the 1878 assault trial Mary Louisa had not been educated and found difficulty in understanding the questioning when being examined. She may have had some level of intellectual disability and was now the eldest person in her family.
Mary Louisa’s sister Margaret Ann Whyms married Charles Theodore Anderson in Sydney in 1886 and her brother James married Julia Austen Lenthal in 1887, also in Sydney. Within two years of their father’s death only Mary Louisa and three of her siblings were left in Jamberoo – her brothers William David Whyms born 1869 and George Dennis Whyms born 1871, and sister Clara Ann Whyms born 1874.
According to the Kiama Reporter newspaper article of 28 September 1887 Mary Louisa had gone to Sydney two years previously where she had remained for some time and had become ‘unfortunate’. She had returned to Jamberoo where and was living in an unused building on a farm at Stony Creek. She was found in July of 1886 in a ‘state of great destitution and weakness with a newly born child’ by one of her brothers who was living on the farm where she was found. The article also reported that since the death of the parents the children had been living ‘one here, one there, in service with some of the neighbours’.[2]
The correspondent went into much detail about the rescue of Mary Louisa organised by the gallant Mr George Barnes of Jamberoo village who took her and the child into his care. With Mr Barnes and his wife giving all possible care and attention Mary Louisa’s health improved and she was eventually able to perform some household chores. Towards the end of 1886 she was diagnosed with consumption with Dr Terrey describing the ‘hopelessness of the case’. Despite the good doctor kindly looking in on Mary Louisa from time to time, and the care from the Mr and Mrs Barnes, she eventually succumbed and died on Friday 23 September 1887. She was buried in the Church of England burial ground, her family having been reputed members of that denomination. That both the Church of England and Wesleyan clergy attended her during her illness and at her burial suggests that they were not quite sure which church her family had belonged to. This was actually correct as the family had had baptisms, marriages and burials in both the Church of England and Wesleyan churches. The correspondent also states that Mr and Mrs Barnes adopted the infant. This probably did not eventuate in a legal sense and the child died in their care in 1887. The infant was Lilly A Whyms whose birth was registered in Kiama in 1886 and death also was registered at Kiama in 1887.
This whole article is very typical of the times in which it was written. Whilst lauding the heroes of the story, Mr and Mrs Barnes, the good doctor and the Church of England and Wesleyan clergymen who attended Mary Ann and the well-attended funeral, the underlying tone is somewhat condescending towards Mary Ann and suggestive that there may have been community gossip that surrounded her circumstances. The correspondent states that ‘the illness and death of the deceased had excited much interest’, ‘almost everyone in the neighborhood knows more than I shall tell’ and that ‘I myself heard a number of minor circumstances which cannot be very well detailed here.’ [3]
There are also some mysteries left unsolved by the newspaper version of events. Mary Louisa’s father died in August 1885 and the child was born 11 months later. Did she go to Sydney before or after her father died? From her trial evidence she may not have been capable of making a move to Sydney alone. Did she go to Sydney to stay with one of her siblings? If she went to Sydney after her father’s death she must have become pregnant very quickly. If she came back from Sydney shortly before giving birth how did she get to a hut on the 28 acre Whyms farm (which was next door to her aunt Charity King and her large family) without anyone knowing about it? Did her brother ‘find’ her or had he been helping her and then ‘found’ her when he realised she needed help? Why didn’t the Kings or the Chinnocks (her other cousins living on the southern side of the Kings) rescue and look after her? Did she even go to Sydney at all?
The report of Mary Louisa’s death was very paternalistic. Did George Barnes have much more to do with Mary Louisa’s situation? Was the newspaper report written by George himself or someone else attempting to deflect his real involvement? We will never know for sure.
[1] “Apprehensions.” New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney : 1860 – 1930) 17 December 1879: 469. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251896495>.; New South Wales Government. Police Gazettes. Series 10958, Reels 3129-3143, 3594-3606.
[2] “JAMBEROO.” Reporter and Illawarra Journal (Kiama, NSW : 1887 – 1894) 28 September 1887: 2. Web. 12 Jul 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106432497>.
[3] New South Wales Birth registration 25109/1886, death registration 9880/1887
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