Auckland Star, 6 April 1889
Suicide At Woodville At Woodville, Mr F. Russell, a captain of a volunteer corps, committed suicide by shooting himself in the drill hall this morning. The body has just been found. Captain Russell was a lineman in the telegraphic office and got into financial difficulties
8 April 1889 INQUEST An inquest was held to-day, at the Woodville Courthouse, on the body of Frederick Rollo Russell, the late Captain of the Woodville Rifles and lineman in the Telegraph Department, when a verdict of suicide when temporarily insane was returned, The evidence went to show that he was slightly embarrassed financially.
Bush Advocate, 9 Paril 1889
Captain Russell of the Woodville Rifles suicided on Saturday by shooting himself in the local drill hall. From particulars published it appears that Russell was in financial difficulties, some £50 of Volunteer money being missing. On Saturday morning Russell, who was a line man in the Telegraph service, absented himself without leave and Messrs Nicholson and Pinfold went in search of him. He was discovered lying on the floor of the drill shed, quite dead. Besides him was a rifle fitted with a Morris tube, indicating plainly the weapon with which life had been taken. There was a small bullet hole in the right temple. The 'Examiner' says: There was very little blood on the floor. A closer examination, however, revealed that the blood from the wound had spurted out on the opposite direction from that in which the body was inclined and there is little doubt that the deed must have been done by the deceased while in a standing position and the body and the rifle had fallen in the same direction. Two pieces of fibre was found on the floor. One piece had not been used and the other appeared as if it had been fastened to the trigger of the rifle and carried round the guard of a back-hitch. The trigger could thus be pulled conveniently. The muzzle of the rifle could not have been place particularly close to the head as the hair was not burned or blackened by the poser in anyway, Russell has seen active service. He was trumpeter in the 8th Hussars in 1875. He served 18 months during the Indian Mutiny and was wounded at Meerut and discharged as unfit for service. He afterwards joined the Victorian Volunteers and was in the Castlemaine Dragoons under Burke, the explorer. Russell was also in service in the Queensland Troopers. In New Zealand he was in the Christchurch Volunteers and for four years latterly a gunner in the D. Battery N.Z. Artillery at Wellington. He held the Indian and New Zealand War Medals. An inquest was held on Monday after a quantity of evidence had been taken the jury returned a verdict of Temporary Insanity.
Funeral, Woodville, 9 April 1889
SINGULAR CONDUCT OF THE OFFICIATING CLERGYMAN - The untimely death of Captain Russell by shooting himself has been a great sensation for the time. To see a man one day in his usual health and in unusually high spirits and the next to see him dead by his own hand, is indeed sensational, but the high spirits which poor Russell was in was only an indication to the public and to the jury on the inquest that his mind was not in a normal condition. On the one hand he was making arrangements for investing largely in property and on the other hand he was beset with a small difficulty of about £25 which at the moment he could not lay his hand upon. Between the large negotiations to buy a big property and the magnified difficulty re this paltry £25 (which 20 men in Woodville would have advanced to him had he asked them for it), it was evident his mind was very much unhinged. Tat poor Russell was an honest and well meaning man there could be no doubt and the muddle he was in was caused by an unbalanced mind. He was therefore taken to his grave amid an assemblage of sympathising followers. But it appeared there was one man destined to ignore the grave and unprejudiced enquiries of a Coroner's jury and violate the feelings of an acquiescing people and this was no other than the Anglican minister the Rev. O. Dean, who in the most inexplicable manner, after leading those entrusted with Russell;s burial to believe that he would be buried with the full ritual, left the grace after he had said only a few sentences of the service. The Rev O. Dean had his conscientious scruples and in vain it was argued that he promised to read the full service, but he was inflexible and, not content with this, he also refused to allow his book to be used by a layman who offered to conclude the service and left the ground. The mourners procured a prayer book and the full service was read. That the verdict of six intelligent men who had thoroughly investigated all the circumstances leading to Russell's death should be set aside as worthless by the man whose knowledge of the case was very inadequate to form an opinion on, is indeed a surprise and on w hich it is intended to call on the Rev O. Dan to explain away.
Suicide At Woodville At Woodville, Mr F. Russell, a captain of a volunteer corps, committed suicide by shooting himself in the drill hall this morning. The body has just been found. Captain Russell was a lineman in the telegraphic office and got into financial difficulties
8 April 1889 INQUEST An inquest was held to-day, at the Woodville Courthouse, on the body of Frederick Rollo Russell, the late Captain of the Woodville Rifles and lineman in the Telegraph Department, when a verdict of suicide when temporarily insane was returned, The evidence went to show that he was slightly embarrassed financially.
Bush Advocate, 9 Paril 1889
Captain Russell of the Woodville Rifles suicided on Saturday by shooting himself in the local drill hall. From particulars published it appears that Russell was in financial difficulties, some £50 of Volunteer money being missing. On Saturday morning Russell, who was a line man in the Telegraph service, absented himself without leave and Messrs Nicholson and Pinfold went in search of him. He was discovered lying on the floor of the drill shed, quite dead. Besides him was a rifle fitted with a Morris tube, indicating plainly the weapon with which life had been taken. There was a small bullet hole in the right temple. The 'Examiner' says: There was very little blood on the floor. A closer examination, however, revealed that the blood from the wound had spurted out on the opposite direction from that in which the body was inclined and there is little doubt that the deed must have been done by the deceased while in a standing position and the body and the rifle had fallen in the same direction. Two pieces of fibre was found on the floor. One piece had not been used and the other appeared as if it had been fastened to the trigger of the rifle and carried round the guard of a back-hitch. The trigger could thus be pulled conveniently. The muzzle of the rifle could not have been place particularly close to the head as the hair was not burned or blackened by the poser in anyway, Russell has seen active service. He was trumpeter in the 8th Hussars in 1875. He served 18 months during the Indian Mutiny and was wounded at Meerut and discharged as unfit for service. He afterwards joined the Victorian Volunteers and was in the Castlemaine Dragoons under Burke, the explorer. Russell was also in service in the Queensland Troopers. In New Zealand he was in the Christchurch Volunteers and for four years latterly a gunner in the D. Battery N.Z. Artillery at Wellington. He held the Indian and New Zealand War Medals. An inquest was held on Monday after a quantity of evidence had been taken the jury returned a verdict of Temporary Insanity.
Funeral, Woodville, 9 April 1889
SINGULAR CONDUCT OF THE OFFICIATING CLERGYMAN - The untimely death of Captain Russell by shooting himself has been a great sensation for the time. To see a man one day in his usual health and in unusually high spirits and the next to see him dead by his own hand, is indeed sensational, but the high spirits which poor Russell was in was only an indication to the public and to the jury on the inquest that his mind was not in a normal condition. On the one hand he was making arrangements for investing largely in property and on the other hand he was beset with a small difficulty of about £25 which at the moment he could not lay his hand upon. Between the large negotiations to buy a big property and the magnified difficulty re this paltry £25 (which 20 men in Woodville would have advanced to him had he asked them for it), it was evident his mind was very much unhinged. Tat poor Russell was an honest and well meaning man there could be no doubt and the muddle he was in was caused by an unbalanced mind. He was therefore taken to his grave amid an assemblage of sympathising followers. But it appeared there was one man destined to ignore the grave and unprejudiced enquiries of a Coroner's jury and violate the feelings of an acquiescing people and this was no other than the Anglican minister the Rev. O. Dean, who in the most inexplicable manner, after leading those entrusted with Russell;s burial to believe that he would be buried with the full ritual, left the grace after he had said only a few sentences of the service. The Rev O. Dean had his conscientious scruples and in vain it was argued that he promised to read the full service, but he was inflexible and, not content with this, he also refused to allow his book to be used by a layman who offered to conclude the service and left the ground. The mourners procured a prayer book and the full service was read. That the verdict of six intelligent men who had thoroughly investigated all the circumstances leading to Russell's death should be set aside as worthless by the man whose knowledge of the case was very inadequate to form an opinion on, is indeed a surprise and on w hich it is intended to call on the Rev O. Dan to explain away.
Auckland Star, 6 April 1889
Suicide At Woodville At Woodville, Mr F. Russell, a captain of a volunteer corps, committed suicide by shooting himself in the drill hall this morning. The body has just been found. Captain Russell was a lineman in the telegraphic office and got into financial difficulties
8 April 1889 INQUEST An inquest was held to-day, at the Woodville Courthouse, on the body of Frederick Rollo Russell, the late Captain of the Woodville Rifles and lineman in the Telegraph Department, when a verdict of suicide when temporarily insane was returned, The evidence went to show that he was slightly embarrassed financially.
Bush Advocate, 9 Paril 1889
Captain Russell of the Woodville Rifles suicided on Saturday by shooting himself in the local drill hall. From particulars published it appears that Russell was in financial difficulties, some £50 of Volunteer money being missing. On Saturday morning Russell, who was a line man in the Telegraph service, absented himself without leave and Messrs Nicholson and Pinfold went in search of him. He was discovered lying on the floor of the drill shed, quite dead. Besides him was a rifle fitted with a Morris tube, indicating plainly the weapon with which life had been taken. There was a small bullet hole in the right temple. The 'Examiner' says: There was very little blood on the floor. A closer examination, however, revealed that the blood from the wound had spurted out on the opposite direction from that in which the body was inclined and there is little doubt that the deed must have been done by the deceased while in a standing position and the body and the rifle had fallen in the same direction. Two pieces of fibre was found on the floor. One piece had not been used and the other appeared as if it had been fastened to the trigger of the rifle and carried round the guard of a back-hitch. The trigger could thus be pulled conveniently. The muzzle of the rifle could not have been place particularly close to the head as the hair was not burned or blackened by the poser in anyway, Russell has seen active service. He was trumpeter in the 8th Hussars in 1875. He served 18 months during the Indian Mutiny and was wounded at Meerut and discharged as unfit for service. He afterwards joined the Victorian Volunteers and was in the Castlemaine Dragoons under Burke, the explorer. Russell was also in service in the Queensland Troopers. In New Zealand he was in the Christchurch Volunteers and for four years latterly a gunner in the D. Battery N.Z. Artillery at Wellington. He held the Indian and New Zealand War Medals. An inquest was held on Monday after a quantity of evidence had been taken the jury returned a verdict of Temporary Insanity.
Funeral, Woodville, 9 April 1889
SINGULAR CONDUCT OF THE OFFICIATING CLERGYMAN - The untimely death of Captain Russell by shooting himself has been a great sensation for the time. To see a man one day in his usual health and in unusually high spirits and the next to see him dead by his own hand, is indeed sensational, but the high spirits which poor Russell was in was only an indication to the public and to the jury on the inquest that his mind was not in a normal condition. On the one hand he was making arrangements for investing largely in property and on the other hand he was beset with a small difficulty of about £25 which at the moment he could not lay his hand upon. Between the large negotiations to buy a big property and the magnified difficulty re this paltry £25 (which 20 men in Woodville would have advanced to him had he asked them for it), it was evident his mind was very much unhinged. Tat poor Russell was an honest and well meaning man there could be no doubt and the muddle he was in was caused by an unbalanced mind. He was therefore taken to his grave amid an assemblage of sympathising followers. But it appeared there was one man destined to ignore the grave and unprejudiced enquiries of a Coroner's jury and violate the feelings of an acquiescing people and this was no other than the Anglican minister the Rev. O. Dean, who in the most inexplicable manner, after leading those entrusted with Russell;s burial to believe that he would be buried with the full ritual, left the grace after he had said only a few sentences of the service. The Rev O. Dean had his conscientious scruples and in vain it was argued that he promised to read the full service, but he was inflexible and, not content with this, he also refused to allow his book to be used by a layman who offered to conclude the service and left the ground. The mourners procured a prayer book and the full service was read. That the verdict of six intelligent men who had thoroughly investigated all the circumstances leading to Russell's death should be set aside as worthless by the man whose knowledge of the case was very inadequate to form an opinion on, is indeed a surprise and on w hich it is intended to call on the Rev O. Dan to explain away.
Suicide At Woodville At Woodville, Mr F. Russell, a captain of a volunteer corps, committed suicide by shooting himself in the drill hall this morning. The body has just been found. Captain Russell was a lineman in the telegraphic office and got into financial difficulties
8 April 1889 INQUEST An inquest was held to-day, at the Woodville Courthouse, on the body of Frederick Rollo Russell, the late Captain of the Woodville Rifles and lineman in the Telegraph Department, when a verdict of suicide when temporarily insane was returned, The evidence went to show that he was slightly embarrassed financially.
Bush Advocate, 9 Paril 1889
Captain Russell of the Woodville Rifles suicided on Saturday by shooting himself in the local drill hall. From particulars published it appears that Russell was in financial difficulties, some £50 of Volunteer money being missing. On Saturday morning Russell, who was a line man in the Telegraph service, absented himself without leave and Messrs Nicholson and Pinfold went in search of him. He was discovered lying on the floor of the drill shed, quite dead. Besides him was a rifle fitted with a Morris tube, indicating plainly the weapon with which life had been taken. There was a small bullet hole in the right temple. The 'Examiner' says: There was very little blood on the floor. A closer examination, however, revealed that the blood from the wound had spurted out on the opposite direction from that in which the body was inclined and there is little doubt that the deed must have been done by the deceased while in a standing position and the body and the rifle had fallen in the same direction. Two pieces of fibre was found on the floor. One piece had not been used and the other appeared as if it had been fastened to the trigger of the rifle and carried round the guard of a back-hitch. The trigger could thus be pulled conveniently. The muzzle of the rifle could not have been place particularly close to the head as the hair was not burned or blackened by the poser in anyway, Russell has seen active service. He was trumpeter in the 8th Hussars in 1875. He served 18 months during the Indian Mutiny and was wounded at Meerut and discharged as unfit for service. He afterwards joined the Victorian Volunteers and was in the Castlemaine Dragoons under Burke, the explorer. Russell was also in service in the Queensland Troopers. In New Zealand he was in the Christchurch Volunteers and for four years latterly a gunner in the D. Battery N.Z. Artillery at Wellington. He held the Indian and New Zealand War Medals. An inquest was held on Monday after a quantity of evidence had been taken the jury returned a verdict of Temporary Insanity.
Funeral, Woodville, 9 April 1889
SINGULAR CONDUCT OF THE OFFICIATING CLERGYMAN - The untimely death of Captain Russell by shooting himself has been a great sensation for the time. To see a man one day in his usual health and in unusually high spirits and the next to see him dead by his own hand, is indeed sensational, but the high spirits which poor Russell was in was only an indication to the public and to the jury on the inquest that his mind was not in a normal condition. On the one hand he was making arrangements for investing largely in property and on the other hand he was beset with a small difficulty of about £25 which at the moment he could not lay his hand upon. Between the large negotiations to buy a big property and the magnified difficulty re this paltry £25 (which 20 men in Woodville would have advanced to him had he asked them for it), it was evident his mind was very much unhinged. Tat poor Russell was an honest and well meaning man there could be no doubt and the muddle he was in was caused by an unbalanced mind. He was therefore taken to his grave amid an assemblage of sympathising followers. But it appeared there was one man destined to ignore the grave and unprejudiced enquiries of a Coroner's jury and violate the feelings of an acquiescing people and this was no other than the Anglican minister the Rev. O. Dean, who in the most inexplicable manner, after leading those entrusted with Russell;s burial to believe that he would be buried with the full ritual, left the grace after he had said only a few sentences of the service. The Rev O. Dean had his conscientious scruples and in vain it was argued that he promised to read the full service, but he was inflexible and, not content with this, he also refused to allow his book to be used by a layman who offered to conclude the service and left the ground. The mourners procured a prayer book and the full service was read. That the verdict of six intelligent men who had thoroughly investigated all the circumstances leading to Russell's death should be set aside as worthless by the man whose knowledge of the case was very inadequate to form an opinion on, is indeed a surprise and on w hich it is intended to call on the Rev O. Dan to explain away.
Inscription
In Loving Memory Of
FREDk RUSSELL
Died April 6th 1889
Aged 42
Beloved By All
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