THE SYDENHAM TRAGEDY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1152, 28 March 1884, Page 4

THE SYDENHAM TRAGEDY.

A woman named Royal, wife of a •carpenter living at Svdenhan (near is supposed to have •■drowned two of her -children in the Heath cote River on March 13. It is Relieved' that her mind has been ■slightly effected since her confinement mine months ago. Yesterday aftermoon she went out for a walk, taking with her three of her four children—two boys, 3J and 2| years old, and a baby girl. Two men subsequently saw the eldest hoy holding on to the willows in the river, and rescued him. The mi tber was seen with her clothes wet. She and the rescued child were taken to the Hospital. The bodies of the otherchildren have been recovered. In answer to Inspector Pender the woman said at one time that the chil--dven had fallen in, and at anolh>u that she-did not know bow they got into the river. At the Police Court, Mrs Poyal ■was formally charged with the murder -<fber two children by drowning them in the river Heat’ucote, and at the re•qnest of Inspector Pender the case was -adjourned The accused is still under i medical' supervision at the hospital. -‘She ipassrd a quiet night, and appears »quit« calm, but has made no reference to the death of her children. ■Mrs Royal lived with her husband, Francis Royal, a carpenter, in Third -or Sandy ford street, Sydenham. The family included four children—three boys, aged respectfully five, three and a-half, and two and a-half years, and -a baby girl eight or nine months old. •’.■Since the birth of her youngest child Mrs Loyal has complained of pains in •her head, and Dr Thomas, who at-tended-her, had some fears that her mental faculties were affected by the malady Irom which she suffered. Her ■general health was not so good as formerly, but she was able to attend to fher'houeehold duties,being assisted by -a little gin, who remained in her service till two or three days ago. On Wednesday night she complained to • her husband more than usual of the i pains -in her bead. On Thursday imorning the husband went to some work he was engaged in at the shop • of Mr Forrester, butcher, of Sydenham. When he left home his wife was apparently as well as usual. Her brother -called at the house about 3.30 p.m. He found her dressing to go out, but ■she did not mention to him where she was going. Shortly after this Mrs Loyal left home, taking with her the three younger children and sending the eldest hoy to his aunt's place, which was sin the neighbourhood. She ds supposed to have borrowed a double perambulator from some friend, in which rt may bepersumed were placed her third child, William Robert, aged two and a-half years, and the youngest Emily Elizabeth, aged nine months, while the other boy, named Herbert •Ernest, three and a-half years old, walked by her side. Fr m what is -known tohave taken placesubsequently tibe .woman -evidently went down i Colombo road towards the hills for a - distance of about two miles, till she •came to the Heathcoteßiver, and then turned otfthe road into the paddocks •on the right, where there are few habitations near. At all events, as a man named George Haggiston was returning homo from his work in Fisher’s quarries about 6 p,m., when passing through a lonely paddock, and at a spot aboat a quarter of a-mhe frmn Colombo road, he heard the screams-of children, and he thought those of a woman also. He was then close to the river, where there are some plantations of willows, and not far from Mr Packer’s residence. Running to the brink he saw a lad name! Steere, who directed him to the bodies of two child ten floating in in the stream—they were those of the little boy William Robert Royal and his baby sister. On the bank he saw Mrs Royal walking up and down, her •clothes wet as if she had been in the water. When he rushed up she tried to avoid him, and when he reached her and questioned her as to how the children got into the river, he could • obtain no satisfactory answer. In ■reply to a question as to whether the children in the river were hers, she exclaimed ; “My poor children,” and burst into tears. Haggiston and Steere took the bodies out of the water, and laid them on the bank. Mrs Royal told them that there was another dhild in the water, and on going up the stream they saw a boy with head just above the surface of the water, and -cliuging to some branches of overhanging willows. When rescued he was in a most exhausted state. It is mentioned that there is insanity in the woman’s family. —Lylt lton Tima.