It must be immeasurably sad to learn of your only son’s death by letter, but in the early days of Australian history, it was the way it was sometimes done.
It’s hard to imagine in these days of instant telecommunications.
This is the only account I could find of Charlie Buswell’s death in the Queensland outback in 1923.
The information was contained in a letter received by his father, Charles senior, who was the officer-in-charge of the weighbridge at the Mulgrave sugar mill at Gordonvale, near Cairns.
Charlie, 24, was the book-keeper on Llanrheidon station, a 673 square mile sheep station smack bang in the middle of outback Queensland, about 160 kilometres from Winton.
“Charlie and Mr. A. Durrach were going to a neighboring station, when, whilst driving along the Boulia road, something went wrong with the steering gear, and the car turned over,’’ said the letter, which was published in the Cairns Post.
Initially Charlie thought he had not been badly injured.
Durrach got up, and saw Charlie walking round the car, and asked him if he was hurt.
Charlie replied that he thought his jaw was broken.
Cairns post
The two started to walk to a neighboring place, and had gone about 200 yards when Charlie sat down, and said he felt sick.
Durrach left him, and went for assistance, and brought him into Winton (about 160 kilometres away).
He regained consciousness only for a short period in the hospital, and passed away quickly.
His body was brought to Townsville, where his family resided, for burial in the West End cemetery.
The Cairns Post said he had a large circle of friends and was a member of the South Townsville Tennis Club,and of the Independent Order of Rechabites.
The Order of Rechabites was a temperance society which promoted abstinence from alcohol and gave sickness and death benefits to its members.
Sources: Cairns Post, Tuesday 14 August 1923, p4
Independent Order of Rechabites, viewed online at https://www.australianrechabites.org.au/states/qld-rechabites/
Way to go Australia 