The Prahran Police & Court House, corner of Greville Street and Macquarie Street where the cases of Mrs Lucy Henry and Mrs Martha Todman were heard in 1901.
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| “Prahran Court House and Police Station” photographed by Sandra Williamson 2/01/2016 |
Mrs Henry & family lived at 576 Chapel St, South Yarra
next door to the Todman family who occupied the 578 &
580.
Mrs Lucy Henry appeared 3 times in the Prahran Police court.
Mrs Henry was fined 20 /-and 21/-costs after her first
appearance in court regarding the City
Inspector’s charge of having filthy premises.
Martha Todman appeared twice, each time in response to Mrs Henry charges
against her. Martha responded by counter
suing, all of the four cases were dismissed without charges.
Two court cases were held on Thursday 10th
January 1901.
The first was regarding an inspection by the Prahran City
Inspector Mr Rider on New Year’s Eve, Monday 31st December 1900, of
the Henry family property at 576 Chapel St, South Yarra.
The second case held before the same judges on the same day
was brought by Mrs Lucy Henry who charged Mrs Martha Todman of assault. In return Mrs Martha Todman counter sued Mrs
Henry with assault. Both cases were
dismissed.
Background:-
When the Fruit shop next door had closed down in late 1901 next door the Henry family had moved in
[i]. The Todmans had complained to the authorities
that “of the premises being dirty”
[ii] According to the inspector “There was a lot of clothes in a tub of soapsuds which gave out a smell sufficient to knock you down.”
[iv]
When City Inspector Rider visited the Henrys on the 31
st December,
he told them that the inspection was due a neighbours complaint..
The Henry’s felt that the inspect was a result of the
Todman’s spite.
On the same day, possibly after the City Inspector Rider had
visited the Henry household, the Henry children had thrown “a paper full of
rubbish”
[iii]
into the Todman’s yard. Martha went next
door to complain, but Mrs Henry would not listen. The two women then argued, it appears that
Martha slapped Mrs Henry across the face and in retaliation Mrs Henry struck
Martha with her broom. Mrs Henry also
threw a mallet during the argument.
On Thursday 17
th January 1901 both Mrs Henry and
Mrs Todman were before the courts again, the case being bought by Mrs Henry
regarding an incident on Friday 11
th January. The incident began after “the third time on
that day her rubbish tin had been turned over and threw dirt at some clothes on
her line..”
[v] “Mrs Lucy Henry charged Mrs Martha Todman
with assaulting her (Mrs Henry's) boy "Joey." 6 years of age.”
[vi] Both cases were dismissed without costs.
Background
This was the second case brought by Mrs Henry against Mrs
Todman. Mrs Todman appeared to have
difficulty withstanding the nervous strain of appearing in court
[vii] The second case was before the court with a
week of the first case being heard, both cases referred to separate incidents.
From Martha’s perspective - Washing Day
Martha would always rise early on a Monday morning. Monday was washing day. She always hoped for a fine day otherwise
there would be wet linen strung up all over the house. She needed to get the
sheets dry before the evening as they were the only ones they had.
She hated Mondays. If
she got up early enough she could have the fire going under the copper and have
the water ready to commence the wash straight after breakfast. She would strip the beds as soon as everyone
was up. The sheets were made of heavy
calico, rough to the touch. It was hot
sticky work with the steam rising as she stirred the clothes as they boiled. She
used the washing stick to help her pull them out of the copper as they were far
too hot to touch. By the end of the day
her back would be sore and her hands raw from scrubbing the clothes on the
washing board. Once they had been put
through the wringer they would be ready to hang.
Walter had strung up the line up in the narrow yard. She
hoped it wouldn’t fall as sometimes the wooden pole would be blown over by the
wind or knocked by the children during their play. If they fell she would have to repeat the
whole process over again. After all this
the copper would then have to emptied, the fire cleaned away. And finally the washing after it had dried
needed to be put away.
It was no wonder that she had slapped Mrs Henry across the
face after her kids had thrown dirt at her newly washed sheets!
- DIRTY PREMISES. (1901, January 12). Prahran Chronicle (Vic. : 1894 - 1906; 1914 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165242991
- Prahran Police Court. (1901, January 12). Prahran Chronicle (Vic. : 1894 - 1906; 1914 - 1918), p. 4. Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165243015
- Prahran Police Court. (1901, January 12). Prahran Chronicle (Vic. : 1894 - 1906; 1914 - 1918), p. 4. Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165243015
- PRAHRAN POLICE COURT. (1901, January 12). The Prahran Telegraph (Vic. : 1889 - 1930), p. 5. Retrieved October 5, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144604687
- THURSDAY, JANUARY 17. (1901, January 19). The Prahran Telegraph (Vic. : 1889 - 1930), p. 3. Retrieved October 5, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144603996
- No title. (1901, January 19). Prahran Chronicle (Vic. : 1894 - 1906; 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 5, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16524202
Background References
