The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 8 December 1881
(New South Wales)

CORONER’S INQUEST
An inquest was held yesterday at the Commercial Hotel by the City Coroner, Mr. Henry Shiell, J.P., on the body of John Nicholls, who was found on the railway line, between Rookwood and Homebush. Nicholas Warden, a labourer, residing at 4, Jessamine-street, Sydney, identified the body as that of a man named John Nicholls, aged 52 years, a native of Cornwall, England, and a single man; deceased was a labourer, and had been in the colony during the last 12 months; he had been here before in the capacity of a miner; witness last saw him alive on Saturday week at his place; he had been working lately at Homebush, at the Corporation Sale Yards being erected there and had been residing there; he was a very sober man; when witness last saw him he appeared to be in very good health, and was cheerful and the same as usual; witness did not know of any troubles that would be likely to have led to his committing suicide; never heard him say or do anything that would lead witness to think he intended committing suicide. Henry Mills, a labourer working at Homebush cattle yards, deposed that he knew the deceased, John Nicholls, by sight; he last saw him alive between half-past 6 and 7 o’clock on Monday evening, leaving his tent and going in the direction of Homebush towards the public-house on the same side of the line as where he had been at work, or the right hand side of the line going from Sydney to Parramatta; he was quite sober at the time witness saw him; witness never had much intercourse with him; he once asked deceased if he had any friends in the country, and he said "No;" they had been working close together for a portion of two days; witness knew nothing about the habits of deceased. Dr. Frederick Milford deposed that he examined the body, which was that of a man apparently about 45 to 50 years of age, of muscular build, and apparently in life had been in excellent health, he had on several portions of his body a disease called lupa-derma, and post-mortem marks of a purple colour on his back; he noticed the following injuries which had been sustained during life:—An incised wound about 1½ inches long on the right elbow and several marks on the forearm and hand, several injuries on left side of the head and forehead, on the right side of the neck a contused wound cutting through all the muscles and blood-vessels of the neck down to the vertebrae and extending into the cavity of the mouth, a fracture of the upper and lower jawbone had taken place, and several teeth of the upper jaw had been also destroyed; the injury to the head was the cause of death; the injuries were not such as could be inflicted by his own hands; judging from the appearance and situation of the injuries he was of opinion that deceased must have received them in the immediate neighbourhood of the railway line, but whether he had been lying down resting, or had been struck down or had fallen on hearing the approach of a train, he could form no opinion; but that he was lying on his left side facing towards Sydney, and that he received the blow on the side of his neck, which caused his death, from an engine that was going towards Sydney; that after he had been struck the upper portion of his body had been pulled by the force of the blow forward along the line; while the lower part kept the rest of the body in the position where he was originally lying, and in consequence the whole of it was thrown some distance from the line; witness accounted for the wound on the elbow being received by deceased raising his arm on hearing the approach of the train; he thought that had a wheel of a locomotive passed over the head or neck, it would have separated it from his body; he therefore thought that some projecting portion of the locomotive had rather caused the injuries than the wheel itself. Edward Thomas Monk, guard on the 10.30 p.m. train for Parramatta, deposed that on starting to leave Rookwood a boy who was on the platform called out that a passenger in the train thought he saw a man lying on the line between Rookwood and Homebush; on arrival at Parramatta a passenger said to him he thought he saw a man lying on the line dead between Homebush and Rookwood; witness asked the driver if he had noticed it, but he said, "No;" witness then said they had better stop on their way back at about three-quarters of a mile from Rookwood; left Parramatta for Sydney at 11.40 p.m., and the driver, after passing Rookwood some distance, stopped the train, and it being a clear moonlight night witness noticed the body lying about five or six feet to the north of the line; it was on its back, with a pool of blood on the right side close to the head; the body was not rigid, but the hands were cold; with assistance he got the dead man to the brake-van and brought him on to Sydney; the man was lying with his head towards Sydney. Andrew Campbell, engine-driver, deposed as to the finding of the body between the lower mortuary platform at Rookwood and the overhead bridge near the cattle-yards on the up-line; the body was warm, but the hands were cold; there was blood on the ballast about a foot outside the rail, and about two feet from where the man was lying, and also near his head; where the body was found was about a quarter of a mile from the tents of the men who are putting up the saleyards. Constable Chater deposed as to the taking of the body to the Infirmary. The jury found that deceased died from the injuries described, but whether these injuries were accidentally or otherwise received there was not sufficient evidence to enable them to say.

Contributed by Bob Bolitho