This very interesting article on Joshua Mackenzie has been researched and compiled by Kay Mack, our archivist for many years. We are grateful to Kay for the many hours of patient research she has devoted to the article and we are sure members shall find the story interesting and fascinating.
Josiah Mackenzie was the Doncaster Shire engineer question: Scapegoat or Scoundrel?
Josiah Mackenzie was born in 1862 in Vaughan, Victoria, to John Stafford Mackenzie and Jane A. Wilkinson. He married Ann Mary Knowles in Victoria in 1886.
On 25 June, 1888 an application was made for a lease on land in the Goulburn River Reserve by William Knowles of Eildon and Josiah Mackenzie of Alexandra. They planned to operate a gold mining company employing from 4 to 6 men.
By February 1891 he was no longer a ratepayer in Alexandra. In October Josiah Mackenzie, Casterton, civil engineer, was listed as insolvent. His losses were due to horse dealing, by fire, and in mining. He was £604 short of being able to pay his debts. However two weeks later no creditors turned up to the hearing of the case.
In March 1892 Glenelg Shire suspended him from his role as shire engineer. By June Mackenzie was successfully suing the council for salary due to him. He was unemployed and needed money to support himself and family.
He was employed by the Doncaster Council in about 1893 as well as being engineer to the Upper Yarra Shire. In February 1894 August Lauer tried to reclaim money from the Doncaster Shire owed to him by Mackenzie. Mackenzie was suspended from the Doncaster Council on 18 June, 1894 and dismissed on 26 August. He was served notice to appear in Box Hill Police Court on a charge of falsifying the council accounts but he left for W.A. before the case came up. Most reports make it clear that the charge did not specify that it was intentional embezzlement and stress that he was well respected in the district.
The Victorian Police Gazette 1894 states that he was charged with embezzling from the Doncaster Shire, describing him as about 32 years of age, 5ft 7 or 8 inches tall, stout build, sandy complexion, sandy moustache and small side boards, usually wearing a grey sac suit and brown boxer hat. He was a member of the Victorian Mounted Rifles, a good billiard player and fond of the drink. He was believed to have gone to W.A.
In 1896 he was arrested in W.A. and on 31 January remanded for 8 days. He had been doing well in W.A. for more than a year. First as a surveyor on the railway from Coolgardie to Perth. When arrested he was town clerk and surveyor to the North Fremantle Council and charged with alleged embezzlement from that council. Although he repaid this money before the trial and the council asked for leniency he was sentenced to 7 days imprisonment.
Immediately upon release he was again arrested by a Victorian detective who had been alerted to his whereabouts. He was extradited and after a 9 day trip on the s.s. Innamincka tried and acquitted on two occasions on the Doncaster charges. In his defence it was claimed that there was no evidence, that “through drink he muddled accounts in a disgraceful manner” and that this was hardly surprising as he held 6 posi- tions for only £156 a year. (Secretary, engineer, rate collector, valuer, collector of statistics and collector of dog rates.)
On 4 March, 1898, as Orbost Council engineer, he was again in court but this time as a witness. At the Orbost Petty Sessions on 14 March 1898 he sued Archibald McDonald for the recovery of 4 guineas for work done. McDonald claimed that amount was exces- sive. The court agreed and awarded payment of a lesser amount. Roswell and McDonald then asked for the recovery of a loan of £4. They won this case so, with costs, Mackenzie was out of pocket for this day in court.
On March 21, 1898, Mackenzie was again in the Orbost Petty Sessions. Saunders & Son won a claim against him for payment of goods supplied by them. There were further cases on that day versus Rodwell and McDonald, and another against A.R. McDonald, results not reported.
In Melton in January 1899 a Shire Council meeting at Toolern appointed Josiah Mackenzie as secretary and engineer. It was mentioned that all 4 candidates had first class testimonials. But by January 1900 there were objec- tions to his name being included as a ratepayer on the electoral roll for Melton.
On 11 June 1900 a case brought before the Orbost Petty Sessions: Orbost Shire Council v. Josiah Mackenzie was withdrawn at the request of the council.
In August 1901 he was a witness on behalf of the Inglewood Council that was trying to reclaim moneys. He was one of the final 2 candidates for the position of town clerk to the Eaglehawk Council in January 1902. It was noted that he had been town clerk at Inglewood for about 9 months. Despite adverse reports of him being refuted by the Inglewood Council, with letters of satisfac- tion of him as town clerk, engineer and valuer from several of the Inglewood Council stating that there had been a misunderstanding that was clarified, Eaglehawk appointed someone else entirely.
In July 1902 in Kilmore he was charged with obtain- ing money by false pretences from Catherine Ann Kenyon of Kilmore who asked to withdraw the charge.
In March 1903 he applied for a position with the Maldon Shire Council. At Swan Hill Police Court, July 1903, as a civil engineer he sued D.J. McClelland for work he had done making plans and sections in a survey in the Mallee. There were counter claims that he had bor- rowed money to go to Melbourne as his wife was ill. In December 1903 he appeared in the Benalla Licensing Court giving a valuation on a hotel. It was stated that he had 12 years experience as a valuer.
In March 1904 he was appointed to Lowan Shire Council as secretary, valuer and collector. Also in that month there were objections raised against his inclusion on the electoral roll for the district of Brunswick.
On 27 May 1904 the Melton Shire received a request from Lowan for a reference for Josiah Mackenzie. But in June he received an offer from Lexton at a higher salary. Despite a move in Lowan to induce him to stay he took the Lexton offer though undertaking to visit Nhill monthly as a consulting engineer.
In May 1908 Josiah Mackenzie late engineer of the Rodney Shire took out a Supreme Court writ of £2000 against W.A. Crooks for slander. In January 1909 while engineer to the Wunnamurra Shire Josiah Mackenzie of Jerilderie was appointed to the Woolooma Shire Council (near Scone and Musswelbrook) as engineer and valuer.
In December 1909 it was reported that a Mr Thomas was appointed to Wunnamurra again taking up a position vacated by Josiah Mackenzie “whose memory is still green in the memory of councillors and residents of Tatura”.
A Josiah Mackenzie Civil Engineer was listed in the 1910 Numurka Town Directory.
In July 1915 at the Narrabri Quarter Sessions as late engineer of the Namoi Shire Council he was charged with falsely claiming money for a non-existent employee. The case was very widely reported. In sentencing him to 18 months with hard labour the judge noted that he deserved more but that he had taken into consideration Mackenzie’s family, age and past reputation.
His photographic prison record for Goulburn Gaol in 1915 gives his birth date as 27.2.1867 and his age as 48. His admission photos, front and side views, dated 4 November 1915, show a balding man with a luxurious chevron moustache. His occupation: civil engineer. Religion: Church of England. Height without shoes: 3ft 6 ½ inches. Weight on committal: 169 lbs. The same on discharge. Hair colour brown. Blue eyes. Distinguishing features: bald, scar under left foot, two moles on back. He was convicted at the Narrabri Quarter Sessions on 26.7.1915, offence: false pretences. Imprisoned for 18 months with hard labour.
Shortly after, on 14 December 1915, he is recorded in the Taree Gaol entrance book in transit with two other prisoners from Goulburn Gaol to the Toncurry afforestation camp. They stayed overnight and were dis- charged at 8am the next day in the care of a warder. Toncurry afforestation camp was opened in 1913, the first such prison farm in NSW. It was designed for first offenders with a record of good behaviour to finish their sentences. Mackenzie’s prior conviction in WA must have been ignored. Under the direction of the Forestry Department prisoners planted pine trees for timber. The fresh air and hard work was said to be good for their health and moral fibre. One mark could be earned for industry and good conduct. 24 marks merited a day’s reduction of sentence. Prisoners were housed in separate single huts in which they could sleep and eat. Communal recreation facilities were provided for times when they were not working.
Jerilderie Herald 26 January 1917 has a report of the collapse of the Yanko Shire dam during a flood. It was one of 3 dams built under the supervision of Josiah Mackenzie. His successor had had grave doubts as to its stability and had done what he could to strengthen it.
Josiah Mackenzie died 22 October 1920 in Queensland. Father: John Stafford Mackenzie. Mother: Jane Annie Wilkinson.
A tribute to him appears in the Kilmore Free Press of 11 November 1920 in notes written by Perambulator.
“A genial, friendly gentleman was Mr Josiah McKenzie, whose death occurred recently in Queensland. About a quarter of a century ago he took his first appointment as engineer of Alexandra Shire, and proved most capable and assiduous in carrying out important works in that municipality. He made many friends in the district named, who will deeply regret his demise. The writer, who knew him intimately, joins with other old friends in con- dolences to the bereaved family.”
12 February 1921 a newspaper notice regarding his will, asking for any creditors to make claims, gives his Queensland address as Springsure.
He appears once more in The Kilmore Leader of 20 August 1945 in a brief mention of the charges in Narrabri 30 years earlier.
Source: Kay Mack writing in 2020-09 DTHS Newsletter
No comments:
Post a Comment