Joseph Giovanni Thurlow - Deputy Sheriff - Mudgee

Joseph was 43 when he was found dead in 1882. He was born in England on the 1839 and at the time of his death was a clerk at the Central Police Court. He was appointed to the post in September 1875 and was a member of the United Grand Lodge of England. He was married in 1864 to Isabella Theresa Taggart and had seven children living in Bourke Street. On the 8 February 1882 he was appointed magistrate. The inquest began in February 1882 (no. 34) to determine the cause of death but adjourned until the stomach contents could be examined. The inquest was conducted by Henry Shiell on the 11 February. His daughter, Frances identified her father and in her statement said that she saw her father on the Friday afternoon and there was no indication that 'he would destroy himself' although he was 'melancholy'. A witness, Edwin Bennett, said he saw Mr. Thurlow leave the Moore Park cricket ground, stagger and fall flat on his back. Running to his assistance, Mr. Thurlow told him that he had taken something as an emetic and that it was poison He was admitted to the Sydney Hospital after being found laying on Randwick Road, near Moore Park, but died from the effects of a self-administered dose of strychnine. It was reported that he had obtained 12 grains of strychnine on the 8th from a chemist/druggist owned by Mrs. Woodhouse in Williams Street, Sydney, stating that he wanted to kill some rats. Joseph was feeling low and told Mr. Roberts (solicitor) that he felt he had made a great mistake taking his new appointment at the Central Police Station as the work was too much for him. He added that he could not sleep and spends half the night walking about, the office would operate without him and thought that he was suffering from a mental disease. On hearing the evidence of Mr. Watt, the Government Analyst the jury found that Mr. Thurlow died by his own hand.

Below: Central Police Court - Sydney