Every now and then, while I'm entering names on Find A Grave, I will come across someone whose name interests me so much that I feel compelled to find out more about them (like Roy Edgar Abbott...I'll tell you about him sometime). At other times, I am drawn to the name by someone else (this should really scare those nasty Canadians!). A few days ago, I received a message from FAG. It was a correction suggestion for one of my memorials. The memorial is for a little girl named Ivy Alexandra Mitchell. The suggestion was that I'd gotten everything but her name wrong.

 

Y'know I love being told I'm wrong without any proof being offered. I wrote back to the suggester and told her that I'd gotten my information directly from the Moreton Bay Regional Council, and unless she can prove this is the same girl, then I'm not changing anything.

 

Well, of course this sparked off a wave of research...Normally I will just change the data, but since the rude-Canadians incident I've been a little less willing to be cooperative (y'all can blame the Canadians...and, of course, Morgan Håkansson since everything is his fault anyway...in fact, it's most likely his fault the Canadians are rude - but I digress).

 

The suggester had informed me that "Ivy Alexandra Mitchell was born circa 1902 (not 1898) and died at the age of 11 years old on June 8, 1913 (not 1909) in Samford, Queensland, Australia. She was raped and then murdered by Ernest Austin by having her throat cut." I'll tell you this, if this woman hadn't added her little parenthetical remarks, I probably wouldn't have taken exception, but it just seemed kind of snotty. Anyway, I did a search to see how many Ivy Mitchell's were born and died in Queensland during the time period of 1898 and 1913. I came up with enough to tell me that I wanted better "proof" that this was the same girl before altering the memorial (for the record, it probably is the same girl, but I hate humans right now so I'm going to make people work for what they want - yes, it is juvenile and spiteful, but frankly, I just don't care at the moment - and yes, you can blame that on Morgan Håkansson, too, since, according to certain people, my whole life revolves around him).

 

The story supplied by the suggester was pretty sketchy, so I set about finding whatever I could: which isn't much. But it goes something like this:

 

On June 8, 1913, Ivy Mitchell was visiting some friends about two miles from her home. She left their house at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but when she didn't arrive home before dark, her father and brother went out looking for her. They found her body in thick brush near Cedar Creek Road in Samford. Her throat had been cut and, according to Murderpedia (I have yet to find another source for this detail), she had been raped (interesting side note: in the late 19th Century they didn't use the word rape, they called it being "outraged." Remember that, as it will come back into play later).

 

Ernest Austin was subsequently arrested and charged with the crime (the evidence given was essentially blood on his clothes). He was found guilty and hanged. He did actually confess to the crime, stating that he was very angry and didn't know what he was doing, but he was also described as being mentally slow (so interpret that however you will).

 

The interesting thing about this case is how much emphasis was placed on Austin in the media, and how little was actually said about the girl. But what I could find is, Ivy Alexandra Mitchell was born 10 January 1902 in Grafton, New South Wales, to James Alexander and Jensene Mary (Widerup) Mitchell. She was their fifth child. Her mother had died about 7 months earlier and her father remarried later that year (1913). Her father was born in New South Wales, but found his way to New Zealand where he met her mother, who had emigrated from Denmark. There are pictures of her as a baby on Ancestry.com.

 

One day, while trying to find out more information on her (as opposed to her family or murderer), I came across a record of her having gone to the Bunya State School in 1909...and that's what lead me to Bridget Baker.

 

The headline was, "The Bunya Murder." I wasn't looking for a murder that had taken place in Bunya, but the school that had been there from 1875-1965. But of course I was intrigued. Could it be more information on Ivy? No, it was too early: 1888. It turned out to be another child, Bridget Baker. Little Bridget was born in 1878 to Peter and Mary (McGowan/McKeon/McKerin/McKuin - take your pick) Baker. She was murdered 14 May 1888, on the Bunya Reserve, on South Pine Road. Her story is surprisingly similar in certain details to Ivy's, namely: she was very young (9 years old), she was returning home in the early afternoon (3pm), and she was found in thick brush. And if Ivy really had been raped, then that detail is also the same, as Bridget was "outraged in a most brutal fashion" near where she was killed.

 

In poor Bridget's case, though, it seems that this wasn't the first time that she had been assaulted; apparently she had been "horribly outraged some twelve months [before,] near the same spot" as she was killed. Bridget's parents were, of course, the first suspects, but only her mother was arrested; it seems she was only charged because she had, "either intentionally or through the heedlessness of passion," thrown the case into confusion by accusing at least two separate men. She was eventually acquitted because of a complete lack of evidence against her.

 

I have looked for Bridget's burial site, for buried she was, but I can't find her. I did find a cemetery in Bunya and I suspect she's buried there (because that makes sense), but the cemetery is abandoned and has been for some time. There are, at this time, only three markers, although estimates put the number buried there at something over 100.

 

And that, folks, is how these things happen. I am lead from one to another, and back again, until I completely exhaust all of the available resources. And then I contact some third party in the hope that they have further information. Which is what I've done with Bridget and Bunya Cemetery (and what I need to do about Ivy, because this other woman doesn't look like she's going to help out).

 

And after all that, here's my point: when you have "exhausted all available resources," sometimes you have to contact a church or government agency, or a cemetery. I've done all three, with varying degrees of success. Don't suspect that all available data can be found online, because it can't. Sometimes you get lucky, but usually, it comes down to doing some footwork yourself.