History Week 2009 will be a wild journey through the dark shadows of Dungog’s past.
Locals will be able to discover the scandals, crime and corruption that have shocked us over time and shaped our history.
History Week, an initiative of the History Council of NSW, is an annual event in its 13th year.
And Dungog Historical Society will be taking part with an exhibition to be set up in the window of J & E Hawley in the main street.
This exhibition showcases newspaper reports of scandals and passions of the late 1890s to early 1920s in Dungog and district.
“Our building is being painted inside and out so we are unable to use any of the rooms to set up the display,” said society secretary Maureen Kingston.
“Lea (Mitchell) kindly gave us the use of her window area and there will be enough room to display all the information.”
Marie Neilson has been researching Dungog’s past and said the display will focus on the Pyjama Girl murder from the late 1930s and the murder of a Maxwells Creek railway worker.
On September 1, 1934, the body of an unidentified woman was found on the side of a road outside of Albury, NSW, dressed only in silk pyjamas.
Because of the brutality of the crime, the young age of the victim, and the unusual clothing she was wearing when found, her case captured the imagination of the Australian public.
“The murder case remained unsolved in Australia for over ten years.
“A police constable born at Wangat and served some of his time here was one of the investigating officers – and that is our link to the murder,” Ms Neilson said.
The Dungog Chronicle reported on Tuesday November 23, 1909, that the town was startled into its “I –told – you – so – about – the – camp – followers” aspect on Friday night, when it transpired that a foul and brutal murder had been committed on the railway line near Maxwell’s Creek, about five miles from Dungog.
The paper reported “the particulars are especially gruesome, but we have no idea of treating the matter to the point of sensationalism.
“First to report was Mr Joseph Jupp, aged about 20, son of Mr J Jupp, who has a farm near about the scene of the tragedy.
“Whilst looking round the recently finished embankment running to Maxwell’s Creek, for the purposes of collecting poles discarded by the departed railway workers, Mr Jupp came to a small creek, or rather, a succession of water holes joined by a thinnish trickle of water.
“In one of those holes he saw a bulky object just showing above the water, encased in a corn bag.
“Stooping down, he slit the corn sack and saw inside human hair and a clenched hand.”
The deceased man was Frank Coleman and Wilhelm Gerlach was arrested overseas and charged with his murder.
He pleaded guilty to the offence.
The Chronicle reported the Jury Court at Hamburg, on October 14, 1911 found the accused guilty of maliciously maltreating Coleman, thereby causing his death. The court condemned Gerlach to two years and six months imprisonment, and to pay the costs of the prosecution, for inflicting bodily harm resulting in death, one year of such sentence being regarded as having been served by the prisoner during the period he was detained on remand.
The exhibition will be on display from Saturday, September 5 for two weeks.
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