In April 1920, Clarice Tucker (nee Thomas) was a young married woman living at Edenhope in western Victoria, not far from the South Australian border. Her family were from the small town of Inglewood, near Bendigo. It must have lifted Clarice’s heart when a letter from her mother Sarah arrived. I can imagine her making a cup of tea before settling down to read all the news. There were nine Thomas siblings, but to Clarice’s horror, the letter was all about her eighteen year old sister Dorothy (Dot).
Sarah Thomas had written;
I have a great worry. I want you to help me get out of it. Dot had a kiddy and it died of convulsions. The same night we buried it on the quiet. However, someone must stir up things, so I want you to write home and say that the baby is getting on splendidly, and hoping that Dot is not worrying over it too much. Of course praise the kiddie up; say what a bonza kid it is and so forth. I told the Johns [Police] that you had it, so put no address, just Edenhope. When you next hear we will be in Melbourne or Bendigo, unless you could borrow a little boy and pass it off to the Johns as your sister’s.
Oh my word, poor Clarice, what a shock! She had not been told anything about her unmarried sister’s pregnancy and the birth of a child. Now her mother had placed her in the most dreadful situation, not to mention the preposterous idea that she could borrow a substitute baby. How on earth was she to respond?
WELCOME TO BABY HENRY SYLVESTER JOHN THOMAS
When Mrs Thomas discovered that Dot was pregnant the girl was sent down to Melbourne. Her son was born at The Women’s Hospital in Carlton, and from there she went to a home for unmarried mothers in Burnley, run by the strict Wesley Church. What a scary experience for a naive country girl. At a meeting in 1918 the church’s Rev. McCallum expressed his opinion of young women like Dot and their families.
His harsh words were most unfair in the case of the Thomas family. The Matron, Catherine McKinnan, would later say that Sarah Thomas had sent donations to the home, and provided money for the infant’s clothing. There was never any suggestion that Dot would give up her baby and the fact that the little boy was given three first names suggests that she cared a great deal about him. And now we come to tragic circumstances at Inglewood that led to Sarah’s desperate letter to Clarice.
Inglewood in the 1920s. I wonder what the occasion was?
Dot arrived back with baby Henry on March 29, but according to her mother he went into convulsions and died early the next morning. Sarah Thomas said that she told Dot to kiss her dying child because she wouldn’t see him again, and that later Dot was told her father had buried little Henry in the local cemetery. In reality he had been placed in a box and buried not far from the house.
Because the baby had only been at home for a brief period, Mrs Thomas decided to pretend that Dot’s pregnancy had never taken place. This would not only shield the family from disgrace, but also protect the children of the baby’s father, who was a local widower.
But of course Inglewood was a small town. There were those who had noticed Dot’s extended absence and a neighbour had witnessed her arriving home with a baby. As days and then weeks went by with no further sign of a child at the Thomas home, the police were informed.
At first Mrs Thomas produced a large doll, saying that must have been what the neighbour had seen. Well, of course no-one was going to believe that were they? However, rather than admit to a concealed death and illegal burial she told the police that her daughter Clarice had come to take the child away. She then quicky wrote the letter to Edenhope asking her older daughter to back her up.
Fortunately for Clarice’s peace of mind the baby’s body was found by detectives on April 30, before she had to react to her mother’s plea for help.
A coronial inquest followed. The body was too decomposed to determine the cause of death, leading to an open verdict. Mrs Thomas had been represented at the inquest by the elderly Sir John Quick, who had a legal practice in Bendigo . She was discharged, only to face a murder trial in the Bendigo Supreme Court in October. Once again the defence was conducted by Sir John Quick. He contended that there had been no evidence of violence, and that Mrs Thomas had acted under severe mental strain.
Sir John Quick
The court took the view that the child had died a natural death and that Sarah Thomas had merely taken advantage of the situation by pretending that her daughter’s pregnancy had never occurred. She was acquitted.
FOR MORE ON THE ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER OF JOHN QUCK, CLICK HERE.
