STRANGE SUICIDE IN MELBOURNE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 251, 21 November 1872, Page 5

STRANGE SUICIDE IN MELBOURNE.

The son of a well-known Victorian colonist, Mr !- enry Pyke, aged 25, committed suicide at Brighton on the 28th ult. lie had been stopping for the last fortnight ab the Retreat H«tel. Pi wic Point Brighton, and left there at about twenty minutes to seven on Monday evening, paying ho was going- to catch the train to Melbourne. He was seen at about ei^ht o'clock in Foxall's Terminus Hotel, near the Brighton Railway Station; b'ufc his movements affcur that were not known. At about a quarter to seven on Tuesday morning William Jones, a fisherman, residing on the bf aeh, reported to the local police that at about half-past live he had found the body of Mr I'yke lying in the shallow water on the beach near the railway jetty. The deceased's throat was cut, and he appeared to have bled to death It was supposed t^at the deceased, after cutting his throat and bleeding profusely, managed to stagger to the water's edge, where he fell. His father (Mr Pyke) was one of the oldest of Victorian. colonists, aud had a squatting station on the Pennyroyal Creek, between Kcilor Plains and Bacchus Marsh. When Mr Pyke died, his mother married Mr Gray, a syuatt^r in the same neighborhood, who has also died since. When the deceased Henry Pyke attained his majority he came in for a large sum of money, sufficient to keep him independent, but it is believed that lie was pecuniarily embarrassed at the time of Ilia death. His mother and two sifters arc living in England well to do, and it is believed that he had no relatives in the Colony. He was well known in racing and hunting circleß, but was very reticent even to his intimate, friends as to his private affairs, and therefore though several reasons for the suicide have been ascribed, it could not be ascertained that any on« of them was the real motive.

• oinrnenting on the above, "^E^les," in the Australasian, asks: — "Why' are people so anxious to heap up money for their children ? If young Harry Pyke hadn't been so unfortunate as to have a fortune left him, he might now bo a useful and healthy member of society, instead of lying in a suicide's grave. I renumber him an innocent child in the home of his hospitable parents. I knew him when he was an intelligent 3'outb in one of the banking institutions of Melbourne, where, h,vl circumstances com p lied him to live on his salary, he nrijiht still have continued, plus such advancement as his merits warranted. But the curse of acquiring money he had nevi-r worke-l for caused him to ie.-ign his occupation, and devote his leisure to grttiug rid ot his portion in a manner unsatisfactory, althouuh not unusual, 'lhere are other youths to whom fortune has come very easily, and whose careers cannot terminate creditably, unless some radical change occurs. Let them be warned by the melancholy end of young Harry Pyke."