The Sunday Times 5th November 1911
Recently, in the Old Coolgardie Cemetery, a kindly hand repainted the lettering on a rough wooden tomb slab erected to the memory of Arthur Court the son of the late Dr Court, the once well-known philanthropist of Melbourne. The young fellow had been drinking heavily for months in mid 1894 and was found one day in a dying condition in a back room of Reynolds Hotel.
Death of Arthur Court
Two of the crowd wrenched a door off its hinges, placed a mattress on it and bore him off to hospital. A short distance from the casualty ward the dying man endeavored to speak, and the matron who had come out bent down to catch his last words. The bearers stopped for a moment, and as the earthly angel listened for the last message of the poor tired soul who went out into the darkness. Looking down at the still handsome face of the poor wreck of manhood, the matron burst in to tears, and there was not a man in the crowd that was not affected.
Nurse Mercy Gregory
The touch of true womanliness affected every one of the group, and it is on record that more than one profited by the terrible example. She was to remain in Coolgardie nursing the sick until the typhoid epidemic was over when she married J Gregory a local hotel owner.
Years later, two of the men who had carried the dying man followed the poor murdered remains of the same angel souled nurse to her hallowed resting place in a Sydney cemetery. It was Mrs (Mercy) Gregory, who, for years, had been matron of the old Coolgardie Hospital and whose memory is affectionately revered by hundreds of Old Pioneers. The following lines were written about her on the news of her death being received in Westralia:-
“Vale! Let Old Camp pioneers
Whom God has spared
Silent of voice with unshed tears,
Stand up head bared,
And when to him our soles go back
May we, when we have cut his track,
Be so prepared
Mrs Gregory was murdered by Thomas John Quinlan, a boy of 15yrs, in the Royal Hotel, George Street, Sydney where she was on holiday on 31st January 1906. Quinlan who worked in the hotel as a lift attendant and boot boy stabbed Mrs Gregory nine times, first in the chest then when she fell against him in the back before making his escape. He had entered her room with the intent to steal her jewelry from her dressing table but she awoke and came towards him.
He left behind his boots and hat, which a maid identified as belong to him. When police went to his lodging house they found him in bed, while his 10 yrs old brother read the account of the murder to him from a newspaper. He at first denied the charge but when a search was made of the room and blood soaked clothing was found and one of Mrs Gregory’s pins under the bed he confessed. He at no time expressed regret except to say that Mrs Gregory had been kind to him and had given him money at one point.
Thomas John Quinlan was found guilty of murder on the 16th March 1906 and sentenced to death. His sentence was reprieved on account of his youth and he was to served penal servitude of life which is for 20 yrs. However, he was released 10 years later by the Attorney General because of his exemplary behavior. On release he decided to enter active service in WW1 where he distinguished himself with bravery before being killed in action in Nov 1916. His death in the trenches is another example of the fact that often the most depraved character is not entirely devoid of redemption.
On the 2nd September 1906 a stone column and drinking fountain was unveiled in memory of Nurse Mercy Gregory. It stands today to remember her.
Mercy Gregory Memorial Fountain
Memorial Plaque
Moya Sharp
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