In Search of Owen Roe by Vanessa O'Neill

Author:Vanessa O'Neill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Currency Press

STORY NUMBER SIX: AGGIE CHARLOTTE (1862–1891)

Music comes up.

NESS removes the apron and transforms into Aggie Charlotte who is swigging from a wine bottle and giggling, and then has moments of shaking, followed by more swigging of wine and laughter. She stands on the chair.

AGGIE: Happy New Year … Happy 1894!

The music fades and NESS addresses the audience from centre stage.

NESS: In my search for Owen Roe, I went looking for his first wife, Aggie Charlotte. The only thing that I’d heard about her was that she had drowned.

She picks up a copy of Aggie’s Inquest Report from the table and starts reading from it.

Proceedings of the Inquest held upon the body of Aggie Charlotte O’Neill at The Morgue, Melbourne, January 3rd, 1894.

CONSTABLE DUMBLETON clears his throat before speaking—standing to the right of the chair.

CONSTABLE DUMBLETON: Constable A.J. Dumbleton, Burnley Station, Melbourne. I have to report for the information of the coroner that today at five p.m. a man named John V.A. Bruce reported to me that as he was passing down the River Yarra he saw the dead body of a woman floating and snagged to a willow tree. I went to the spot and found a woman as described. I procured a vehicle and conveyed the body to the morgue. She is that of a woman about thirty-five years of age, five foot three inches high, dark hair cut short, stout build, dressed in a reddish-colour dress, white flannel petticoat, with lace trimming around the bottom, white calico chemise, a white calico apron, lace-up boots, no stockings or hat. There are no visible marks of violence on the body. On searching the body I found nothing but a pocket handkerchief. There is nothing suspicious in the case.

JAMES EDWARD NEILD: [moving to the left of the chair] James Edward Neild, surgeon, Spring Street, Melbourne. I have made a post-mortem examination of the body of Agnes O’Neill. The stomach contained about a pint and a half of light brown fluid. The contents of the small intestines were of a like character. The cause of death was drowning. The fluid in the stomach seemed to be beer.

MATILDA BARCLAY: [sitting on the chair] My name is Matilda Barclay. I am a widow residing at number two Griffin’s Lane, off Spring Street in Melbourne. I have seen the body of the deceased and I identify it as that of Agnes O’Neill. She was married, but not living with her husband. She was living in my house. I saw her alive last on Sunday morning between three and four o’clock. She was in the house and was suffering from delirium tremens.

NESS: ‘Delirium tremens’—translated from Latin means ‘shaking frenzy’—otherwise known as the ‘DTs’ or ‘the horrors’, an acute form of delirium brought on by alcoholic withdrawal. Symptoms include insomnia, agitation and hallucinations.

MATILDA BARCLAY: She had been drinking very heavily. She came into the house, laid down for a few minutes, woke up and left the house before I could stop her. She said nothing. I sent down to the watch house.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.