Who Killed Francis Charles Kennedy Sophia Street, Surry Hills, 1922. By Elliot Lindsay On the wet evening of Saturday 17 June 1922, Francis Charles Kennedy left his wife and children at their home in Orpington Street, Ashfield, and travelled towards the city. Kennedy was forty-five years old and employed as a railway porter. Nothing in…
The Poisoned Heiress and the Woollahra Mystery By Elliot Lindsay Part 1 – The Crime Chapter 1: The Last Evening at Como Monday, 8 September 1884 The first hints of spring had begun to soften the Sydney winter. Along the ridgeline at Woollahra, a cool breeze drifted inland from the harbour, carrying with it the…
An Old Headstone The Devonshire Street Cemetery, established along an ancient sandhill on the outskirts of old Sydney, became a forgotten relic as the city expanded around it. By 1901, it had become a decrepit anachronism from the colonial past, surrounded by the urban sprawl. That year, the government announced a bold plan to exhume…
On October 14th, 1889, three boys came across an unusual sight while rowing their boat between Bradleys Head and Clark Island in Sydney Harbour. They observed splashing out in the distance, a stark disturbance to the still morning waters. As curious boys are expected to do, they rowed over to investigate. Within fifty yards, it…
The Mysterious Life of Charles le Gallien and his Violent Murder in Crows Nest. A Horrific Crime Scene At 11 p.m. Thursday 30th, September 1948, the body of Charles Louis le Gallien was found lying on the office floor of his engineering workshop at Crows Nest. Police described him as the victim of the most savage…
The Murder of Rose Arnold and the Strange Case of Richard Riley. One of Australia’s most horrifying murders. Nickson Street, Surry Hills. Bloody handprints smeared the glass window, which George Rose peered through. The small bedroom on the other side was in a terrible state with furniture knocked over, books and picture frames scattered everywhere,…
The Sydney Hyde Park Murder The murder of Vera Sterling in 1929 and the potential of her being the victim of an undetected serial killer. By Elliot Lindsay Men in grey suits and felt hats -detectives of the CIB- stood around a flower garden at the southern end of Hyde Park. To the onlookers passing…
The Battle of Market Street – 1900 By ELLIOT LINDSAY The doors to the old Victoria Barracks on Oxford Street violently swung open, letting in the chilled air of a late Autumn night. In charged a soldier of the permanent artillery, dishevelled in appearance, his clothing stained with blood. “Those bastards from Engine Street attacked…
By ELLIOT LINDSAY Harry Foy’s portrait, auctioned after his death More than one thousand elegantly dressed individuals clamoured around the arched stone entrance to the Paddington Town Hall. All were attempting to attend what some declared to be the most exciting soiree of the year. Already the venue had reached its maximum capacity with more…