Jane (Sinclair) McCreery (1839 - 1873)

Born 15 Jul 1839 in Dunrossness, Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom

Wife of Joseph Collins — married 23 Mar 1857 (to 12 Jun 1871) in Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

Wife of Thomas McCreery — married 1873 (to 17 Sep 1873) in Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Descendants

Died 17 Sep 1873 at age 34 in Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

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Jane (Sinclair) McCreery was born in Scotland.

Biography

Jane was born on the 15 July 1839 in Clady Know, near the Settlement of Exnaboe, in the Virkie area of the Parish of Dunrossness, South Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. Her baptism takes place on the 11 August 1840 at Cross Kirk, located to the north of the Bay of Quendale and Quendale Sand, in the Parish of Dunrossness, South Mainland, Shetland, Scotland^[1]. She is the daughter of William (Sinclair) and Margaret (Johnston), who married around 1833, possibly at Cross Kirk, located to the north of the Bay of Quendale and Quendale Sand, in the Parish of Dunrossness, South Mainland, Shetland, Scotland (taken from their first child's birthplace and date). Her parents had the following children:

1. Margaret Laughton (19 March 1834 in Dunrossness, Shetland)
2. Agnes (19 September 1836)
3. Jane (15 July 1939)
4. Elizabeth Otto (19 July 1841)

Jane (Sinclair) marries Joseph (Collins) on the 23 March 1857 at St. John's Church, Adelaide Street, in the Port of Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia^[2][3]. They had the following children:

1. William Collins
2. Amelia "Emily" Collins Keady
3. Mary Ann "Sister Mary Joseph"
4. Charles Collins
5. Agnes Collins Mitchell
6. William Joseph Patrick Collins
7. John Augustine Collins

After Joseph's passing in 1871, widow, Jane (Sinclair/Collins) marries Thomas (McCreery) in the City of Perth, Western Australia in 1873. His surname is spelt on the record as being "McCleery"^[4]. It doesn't appear as if Thomas and Jane had any children.

She passes away on the 17 September 1873 under suspicious circumstances in North Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia. She was 34 years old at the time and the official cause of death will be on her Certificate^[5]. Her burial takes place at the Skinner Street Cemetery, Port of Fremantle, Western Australia^[6]. The Coroner's Inquest Notice appears in The Herald and is transcribed below:

• 1873 'The Week.', The Herald (Fremantle, WA : 1867 - 1886), 27 September, p. 3.
• CORONER'S INQUEST.—On Monday last an enquiry was held by J. G. Slade Esq. R.M., Coroner for Fremantle, into the circumstances attending the death of Mrs. McCreery, the wife of a Pensioner residing at North Fremantle. The case excited much interest, particularly among the members of the Enrolled Force, who mustered in considerable numbers and crowded the small inconvenient Court House to overflowing. The inquest was held in consequence of the deceased having died under circumstances sufficiently suspicious to warrant the Police in seeing whether or no sundry rumours of the death having been occasioned by foul play or ill-usage, had any foundation in fact.

• The following evidence was elicited on the testimony of several persons, pensioners and others, resident at North Fremantle. On Monday, the 1st instant, the deceased was with her husband in Fremantle. The couple, with some friends, were in Scott and Hagan's Public House, drinking, but not apparently to much excess. They were able to walk homewards; and witnesses said that neither were intoxicated though both deceased and her husband appeared under the influence of liquor. No actual assault by McCreery upon his wife appears to have been witnessed. They left the town at about 8 in the evening, and went along their way quarrelling. Several persons walked the same way and at the same time, but, according to the evidence, not actually in their company.

• Some of these who were walking behind the couple heard screams on the bridge, and recognising Mrs. McCreery's voice hurried up, and found deceased lying on the bridge. Her husband was at some distance from her. Two of the witnesses deposed to his using threatening language to one of them, saying that he (McCreery) would kick the other's —ribs in. Deceased rose-she does not appear to have been assisted up—and when asked if her husband had been beating her, replied, "Yes the brute," according to one witness, "Yes the brute and I wish he might cool himself in the river," according to another. After this Mrs. McCreery walked home and, after calling at the gate of her house to her children, fell down. After this she was laid up at home. Dr. Attfield was called in to visit her, but expressed an opinion that there was nothing much the matter with her. Margaret McKay, a nurse, was examined, and appeared to be a most unwilling witness. She deposed to the pregnancy of the deceased who at the time of her death was six months with child, and gave some account of various conversations held between herself and Mrs. McCreery, who appears to have carefully abstained from saying anything to criminate her husband.

• Dr. Barnett, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Colonial Surgeon, deposed to having been called to attend the deceased before her death. He was kept in ignorance of the fact of another medical man having previously been in attendance. He found deceased suffering from pleuro—pneumonia. He had had an opportunity, owing to an operation he had to perform, of examining the body. He had heard that she had been kicked by a cow, and the rumours which were current as to her having been ill-used by her husband had also reached him, but witness failed to find any marks of violence upon the body. However, had violence been inflicted upon the deceased on the 1st of the month, there was time for the marks to disappear before he examined her. The Doctor held a post-mortem examination of the corpse, and he described to the jury the condition of various organs of the body. The jury, after some deliberation, found a verdict of manslaughter against McCreery, who was committed to take his trial on that charge. We hear that the Attorney General has thrown out the bill against McCreery^[7] in North Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia.

Sources

1. ↑ Old Parish Registers Births and Baptisms (ScotlandsPeople & The National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh); Reference: (Baptism Year-1840); Registration Parish: Dunrossness, Sandwick and Cunningsburgh; County: Shetland; Registration Details: 003 30 / 97 (Page 97 of 197)
2. ↑ Australia Marriages, 1810-1980", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTZ6-JJ4 : 28 January 2020), Jane Sinclair in entry for Joseph Collen, 1857
3. ↑ Search Marriage Records (Online Index Search Tool, Western Australian Government); Reference: (Marriage Year-1857); Registration Place: Perth; Registration Details: 1059 / 1857
4. ↑ Search Marriage Records (Online Index Search Tool, Western Australian Government); Reference: (Marriage Year-1873); Registration Place: Perth; Registration Details: 3545 / 1873
5. ↑ Search Death Records (Online Index Search Tool, Western Australian Government); Reference: (Death Year-1873); Registration Place: North Fremantle; Registration Details: 6760 / 1873
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/206802515/jane-mccreery: accessed 17 April 2023), memorial page for Jane Sinclair McCreery (1839–17 Sep 1873), Find a Grave Memorial ID 206802515, citing Skinner Street Cemetery, Fremantle, Fremantle City, Western Australia, Australia; Maintained by Kathy A (contributor 48215744)
7. ↑ TROVE Digitised Newspapers (The National Library of Australia, Canberra); Record Link: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article114440927

• Family Tree for Jane Sinclair: Record Link: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/9JBK-7SR