WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following story contains the words and name of a deceased person.
A most atrocious murder has been committed in this District. I have no doubt in my own mind of the premeditated guilt of the murderer, but how can we get a Jury to convict when the bones of the deceased are consumed to ashes and no buttons or shoe-nails found.
In the opinion of Theodore Fawcett, when he wrote his letter to the Crown Solicitor on 4 January 1868, James Stanton was dead. With little to go on, he had based the disappearance of the 34-year-old man on nothing but supposition. Missing for weeks, officials and police turned to Robert Russell, the last man who saw him alive.
James Stanton and Robert Russell were convicts. Stanton arrived in the Swan River Colony aboard the ‘William Hammond’ on 29 March 1856. Russell arrived five years later aboard the ‘Palmerston.’ Both men received a Ticket of Leave which enabled them to obtain their own work. Stanton was further granted a Conditional Pardon on 8 October 1859.
After initially being employed for some years as a butcher and a labourer in the Toodyay District, Russell relocated to Pinjarra on 23 November 1866. On 31 December, Theodore Fawcett employed him as a labourer.
Already living in the area for close to a decade was Stanton. He often worked for Anthony Cornish, and when Anthony needed 200,000 shingles split, he offered the work to Stanton and Russell. Both men signed the contract on 22 June 1867.
Stanton, who was most likely in charge of the operation, was listed as Russell’s employer in his convict record. On 30 June, they were recorded as working at the south estuary, 15 miles southwest of Pinjarra. They set themselves up at a bush camp in the area.
Despite living roughly in a hut in the bush, they were not completely isolated. Levi Green and his family were about three and a half miles away. In late November, he also worked about a mile and a half from the camp. Because of his proximity to the hut, Levi was one of the last people (excluding Russell) who saw Stanton alive.
On Thursday, 21 November, Stanton visited Levi’s house and asked for rations. Levi gave him 16 pounds of flour and 24 pounds of potatoes. Stanton stayed at the property for most of the day. When he left at 5:30 pm, he was on foot, and Levi told him he would see him the next day.
Levi was working near the camp on the 22nd and observed Stanton sharpening a saw about a quarter of a mile from the hut. They chatted for 15 minutes. Stanton was annoyed at Russell. He had sharpened the saw incorrectly and Stanton had to redo the work. He moaned that it would likely take him all day to fix it. As they chatted, Levi saw Russell leading their pony towards (he assumed) water.
On Saturday morning (23 November), Levi sent his son, Levi Junior, to collect the two bags that were given to Stanton on Thursday. There was no one at the camp. That afternoon, at about 5 pm, Levi went there himself. He passed close to where the men had been working and called out. He got no response.
Stanton was known to spend an entire Sunday either at Levi’s farm or John McLarty’s property, Blythewood. He alternated between the two, but on 24 November, he was expected at Levi’s. Much to Levi’s surprise, he did not show up.
When Levi passed the hut between 10 and 11 am on Monday, 25 November, no one was there. He left a bag of potatoes for Stanton. On his return in the evening, he found the same emptiness.
Levi went to the hut again on Tuesday. He saw Russell packaging up some shingles. He asked him where Stanton was. Russell explained that a man had come to the hut to see Stanton and Stanton had left with him, taking everything of value he could carry. He had even stolen £5 out of Russell’s bed.
Having seen no strangers about the place, Levi asked for more details. Russell elaborated. The man carried a bundle of new clothes, had £80 in his pocket, and was accompanied by an Aboriginal person who was guiding him through the bush.
Despite Levi not seeing Russell on the aforementioned days, he was not completely absent from the area. Anthony Cornish recalled seeing him early on 23 November. Russell asked for rations and Anthony gave him a pound of tobacco and other stores. It was unusual to see him; Stanton normally collected the rations.
Russell visited again on 25 November. He told Anthony that Stanton had bolted. Anthony ordered him off the premises. Three days later, Russell returned. He explained that when he left the camp on the 23rd, there was a stranger with Stanton. The man was meant to help finish the contract, but when Russell got back, both men had gone. The man had £70 to pay for Stanton’s passage home, and together they left for King George Sound. Russell asked to break the contract as he was unable to complete the work on his own.
At first, Anthony believed the story. He promised to go to Court to seek a warrant for Stanton’s arrest. Stanton would be either compelled to complete the work or serve time in prison. Russell was pleased with the news and said he hoped the arrest would occur as Stanton had also stolen £5 from him.
Russell, meanwhile, finished up what he could at the camp. At the start of December, he delivered the shingles to Anthony Cornish. He was 80,000 short of completing the contract.
Once he was aware that Stanton had absconded from his employment, Constable Thomas Keen sought a warrant at Bunbury for his arrest. He made inquiries at various places on the road between Pinjarra and Bunbury. All the people he spoke to had heard nothing of Stanton.
Questions and talk buzzed in the background of the Murray District. What had happened to Stanton? Why would he leave so suddenly? Becoming ever more suspicious, on 15 December, Constable Keen switched the investigation. No longer searching for an absconder, he began to suspect foul play.
That evening, he spoke to Russell who told him that in the weeks preceding 23 November, two men were at the hut accompanied by an Aboriginal person. On the 22nd, one of the men returned from Fremantle with an Aboriginal person. He carried with him a bundle of new clothes as well as £160.
The stranger was still there in the afternoon of the 22nd. Stanton told Russell to pack the shingles and instructed him to get rations. While he was away, the stranger would help finish the contract. Russell did as he was asked. He left early on the 23rd to see Anthony Cornish, and when he returned to the camp, Stanton and the stranger had gone.
As Constable Keen continued to investigate the whereabouts of Stanton, Russell obtained new employment. On 16 December, John Murray hired him to make bricks with Mr Deary. He moved into a hut on the property Burnside.
Constable Keen searched the bush camp on 21 December. He went to where Stanton and Russell had been working and found two pieces of a pair of trousers. In the pocket was tobacco dust. Concerned, and knowing Stanton was the smoker, he returned to Pinjarra. On 24 December 1867, he arrested Robert Russell. While not an indicator of guilt, Constable Keen recalled that Russell blanched and became nervous.
He seemed quite overcome when I mentioned Stanton and had to take some bread and tea before he could lace his boots.
On the same day, at the Pinjarra Court House, Resident Magistrate John Murray opened a Court of Inquiry regarding Stanton’s disappearance. He wrote down Russell’s voluntary statement.
About six weeks before Russell collected rations from Anthony Cornish, a man stopped at the camp on his way from Bunbury to Fremantle. Upon his return on 22 November, Russell heard the stranger ask Stanton if he wanted to go to America with him. The man carried a small bundle and had about £80 in his pocket.
The next morning, Russell left just after sunrise to get the rations. Stanton and the stranger were still at the camp. When he returned, they were gone.
He described the stranger as being about 35 years old, of medium height, middling stout, with a dark complexion, and dark hair.
Russell placed all the rations inside the hut. At first, he did not realise Stanton had gone; he was known to disappear for two or three days at a time. The major indicator that something was different was that his Certificate of Freedom was missing. He had also taken with him two loaves of bread, some tea, and sugar.
Constable Keen asked Russell a few questions during the inquiry. He wanted to know if Stanton took an axe with him. He did not. He asked Russell what he did with the tobacco. He had sold it to one of John McLarty’s men. Finally, he asked what Russell knew of Stanton’s mindset regarding the contract. Russell admitted that Stanton had told him he planned to “keep steady” and would save the money from the completed contract so he could go home. Would Stanton have gone to America if returning home to Wales was his main purpose?
On 26 December, the search resumed. Constable Keen was joined by Constable Robert Holmes, Edward McLarty, William Cornish and three Aboriginal people. They were searching for traces of Stanton at the bush camp but found nothing after four days.
Around the same time, Captain Gustavus Hare, the new Superintendent of Police, was conducting a tour of various districts. He passed through Pinjarra on his way back to Perth and was notified of Stanton’s disappearance. He promised to send an experienced policeman to help.
Sergeant William Dale arrived in the district at the end of December. He started his investigation by searching the camp alongside Aboriginal assistant, Tommy. His main purpose was to find Stanton’s remains.
After visiting Levi Green, they went to the spot where Stanton and Russell had been felling trees. They found nothing of interest. They moved on to the hut. Inside was a mallet standing upright on a stool. Levi had placed it there after he found it during a previous search. Sergeant Dale examined the end of it. He noticed blood splatter, and from within a cleft, he picked out a hair.
They swept the surrounding area. In front of the hut were the ashes of a fire. About 200 yards away, in a secluded spot close to a swamp, were the remains of a “peculiar fire.”
The ashes of the peculiar fire were white. Two grasstrees had been cut down and presumably used as fuel. There had been no rain and the ashes were dry. Underneath them, the sand was caked with some fatty substance. Underneath that, the ground was yellow. It seemed to Tommy as though something had been boiled up. He remarked, “I never saw the remains of any fire like the one 200 yards from the hut.”
On 1 January 1868, Sergeant Dale and Tommy went to Arthur Birch’s farm. They told him about the peculiar fire and borrowed a sieve. Arthur returned with them to the camp the next day. He later described the fire.
The fire was about nine feet long about two & half feet wide in the widest part, it was broader at one end than the other perhaps only about fourteen inches at one end. It was an unnatural bush fire, recent since the rains there was no end of stumps, it was not a red gum log burnt out as there had been Black-boys burnt with it.
Underneath the ashes, it was damp. He also recalled the unusual composition of the earth beneath the fire.
I recollect Sergeant Dale lifting up the cakes on the bottom of the fire in amongst the ashes. They were round cakes sunk in rather oval underneath containing something else than common wood ashes.
They sifted the ashes of the peculiar fire and found nothing “except some animal substance supposed to have been burnt there.” The ashes were placed in boxes and sent to Perth for analysis. Finding nothing in the fire was not unexpected. Sergeant Dale stated, “I should imagine that after the fire was down that it had been brushed over to remove all traces.”
Over the week, additional evidence (albeit slight) was uncovered. On 3 January, Constable Keen found the back part of the trousers that matched the other pieces. On 7 January, Constable Holmes and Levi Green sifted the ashes of both fires. In the one at the front of the hut, they found a lot of small bones.
Near the last place Stanton and Russell were working, Constable Holmes found some paperbark that looked like it had blood on it. It also appeared as though it had been used to lie on. He cut out some pieces and added them to the evidence.
As the search continued, the bones and six small boxes containing the ashes from the peculiar fire were sent to Perth. The Principal Medical Officer and the Colonial Surgeon were requested to investigate. They wrote their report on 8 January and concluded that neither evidence proved to be human bone nor was there anything else of animal origin.
On 11 January, the Murray District bench continued with their inquiry and recorded the depositions of various witnesses. Much of the evidence highlighted Russell’s contradictory story of the stranger and showed that there had been animosity between him and Stanton.
Anthony Cornish testified that Stanton and Russell often fought. Their working relationship became so acrimonious that, at one point, they approached him and asked to break the contract. He recalled that when he saw Russell on 23 November, he never mentioned a stranger or that Stanton had left. Anthony was also of the opinion that Stanton would not leave. He said, “There was no cause for his doing so.”
Levi Green was at the hut on 22 November, the same time the stranger was meant to have been there. He swore that he saw no other man that day. He noted that he had never seen Stanton or Russell sleep outside the hut. After Stanton disappeared, Russell moved out of it due to (what he claimed was) the presence of fleas. While he admitted Stanton had a short fuse, Levi had no recollection of the two men fighting.
Levi had been friends with Stanton for a long time. He could not believe that his friend, who was only a mile and a half from where he was working, would leave without seeing him first.
John McLarty knew both men. He once saw Stanton looking for his pony on the road to Arthur Birch’s farm. They walked together for a while, with Stanton complaining that Russell was lazy and did not do his share of the work. He told him about the time Russell had fallen asleep over a saw while crosscutting. Stanton thought that even a little boy like Levi Junior would work harder.
John admonished that he was always quarrelling with his mates. Stanton exclaimed, “So help me God I cannot help it. I believe Bob Russell to be one of the Devils imps. I think if he had a chance he would put me out of the way.” Stanton had expressed a similar opinion in the past and believed Russell would kill him if he had the opportunity.
Constable Thomas Keen provided evidence detailing how he investigated the case. He recalled searching Russell’s hut at Burnside. In a bag, he found a pair of trousers with blood stains on them.
Thomas Shilling was a labourer employed by Arthur Birch. Eight days after Stanton disappeared, he was chatting to Russell who told him that Stanton had gone away and stolen £5 of his. Thomas had heard the two men “having words” and remembered Stanton calling Russell “a disagreeable man.”
Tommy was an Aboriginal police assistant. He was watching Russell at the exercise yard in Pinjarra when Russell asked him if they had found Stanton. Tommy said they had not. Russell responded, “If they don’t find him alive they will find him dead because he has not took the ship and has not got a penny in his pocket.”
Later, he asked if Tommy brought in the mallet. He said no. Russell was despondent but professed his innocence.
I suppose they think I have killed him. If they think I have killed him they are wrong I am as innocent as they are.
Theodore Fawcett mailed the depositions to the Crown Solicitor. He was still sure of Russell’s guilt but admitted the evidence was circumstantial. Without a body, it was difficult to declare Stanton had been murdered. And without a body, they could hardly charge Russell with being the murderer. All they had was suspicion and a strange set of circumstances. What he requested was an opinion. Was there a case that could be pursued?
While officials in Perth communicated backwards and forwards with each other, newspapers began to report on the “supposed murder.” Initially, they kept details vague. Tentative reporting in January 1868 gave way to exclusive details in February, when The Inquirer and Commercial News published a full account of the facts.
By that point, a pall of suspicion had covered Russell for about two months. Unable to obtain work in the Murray District, he was relocated to the Mount Eliza Depot in Perth.
On 14 February 1868, Colonial Secretary Frederick Barlee forwarded the documents to the Attorney General of Western Australia, George Stone. He requested that he read the depositions and offer his opinion as to whether any further inquiry or proceedings should be made. The Attorney General was blunt with his opening statement.
Had prompt action been taken in Nov or the early part of Dec, the facts forming the basis of a murder would have been probably indicated.
Regardless, he admitted the presence of “grave suspicion” against Russell. He recommended he be set free and watched by the police. In the meantime, they should continue to accumulate evidence, no matter how trivial. He advised that Constable Keen should keep the mallet in his possession, and offered a final suggestion:
Search in the swamps & thicket should be effected, as the body may have been disposed of in some manner otherwise than by fire. The ashes discovered in a remarkable spot may have been made to put the police on the wrong hypothesis.
The Colonial Secretary admitted on 18 February that returning Russell to the Depot before they had uncovered what had happened to Stanton was the wrong decision. Nevertheless, he agreed that Russell should be set free and closely watched by the police. Having received the approval of the Comptroller General of Fremantle Prison, Russell was freed by 9 March 1868.
It was no doubt frustrating news for the Murray District residents and gave the impression that the officials were doing nothing. Months passed and Stanton’s remains had not been found. In the meantime, Anthony Cornish offered £5 and a bag of flour as a reward for information.
On 2 May, Resident Magistrate John Murray wrote to the Colonial Secretary. The swamps were dry, which meant it was the perfect time to carry out another search for Stanton’s remains. To help elicit new information, John suggested that a reward of £25 be offered.
Pleased with the news, a Murray correspondent provided an update to The Herald days later. There was little to add except to point out that so much time had passed, they were doubtful anything further would be uncovered. They nevertheless hoped it “may be the means of clearing up this mysterious case.”
In June, the police conducted a final search with the help of Aboriginal trackers. It was unsuccessful. They did not uncover any further clues and they did not find Stanton’s remains.
Russell never returned to the Murray District. From 1868 to 1870, he worked as a labourer for the Canning, Perth, and Upper Swan districts. His health was indifferent during that time. On 21 April 1868, he was admitted to the Fremantle Prison Hospital suffering from ophthalmia. He was discharged after two months.
Two years later, on 26 May 1870, he was again admitted to the hospital, this time suffering from partial paralysis, possibly caused by a stroke. He stayed there until 29 July, when he was discharged to the Invalid Depot in Perth.
Russell remained in the Depot for the rest of the year. In 1871, his health deteriorated and he was admitted to Fremantle Prison Hospital. On 1 February, at age 40, he died from apoplexy. With his death, the closest link to the case was removed. If Russell was involved in some way in Stanton’s disappearance, any answers to the myriad questions died with him.
Sources:
State Records Office of Western Australia; Colonial Secretary’s Office; Correspondence - Inwards; Government Resident - Greenough (folios 1-51), 17/04/1868 - 05/10/1868; Government Resident - Murray (folios 52-91), 04/01/1868 - 21/09/1868; Government Resident - Roebourne (folios 92-194), 14/01/1868 - 08/08/1868; AU WA S2941- cons36 623
1868 'REPLY TO THE MEMORIAL.', The Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth, WA : 1855 - 1901), 15 January, p. 2. , viewed 18 Apr 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69385020
1868 'THE MURRAY.', The Herald (Fremantle, WA : 1867 - 1886), 15 February, p. 3. , viewed 19 Apr 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110067771
1868 'Classified Advertising', The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times (WA : 1864 - 1874), 15 May, p. 2. , viewed 21 Apr 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3756544
1868 'THE MURRAY.', The Herald (Fremantle, WA : 1867 - 1886), 23 May, p. 3. , viewed 21 Apr 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110069033
1868 'THE MURRAY.', The Herald (Fremantle, WA : 1867 - 1886), 13 June, p. 2. , viewed 21 Apr 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110069612
1868 'LATEST LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.', The Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth, WA : 1855 - 1901), 5 February, p. 4. , viewed 23 Apr 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69386560
State Records Office of Western Australia; Convict Records, 1846-1930; Comptroller-General to Various Officials (C15 - C16); ACC 1156/C16
State Records Office of Western Australia; Convict Records, 1846-1930; Register of Admissions and Discharges From Hospital, 1857 - 1886 (M32); ACC 1156/M32
State Records Office of Western Australia; Convict Records, 1846-1930; General Register for Nos 8127-8190, 5497-5894 (R3-R4); ACC 1156/R4; Convict No. 5620
State Records Office of Western Australia; Convict Records, 1846-1930; Character Book for Nos 3640-4432 (R19); ACC 1156/R19; Convict No. 3821
1939 'HISTORIC HOMESTEADS.', Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), 19 October, p. 8. , viewed 08 May 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38416186
1939 '"Without Knowing Mr. Walkley."', Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), 26 October, p. 7. , viewed 08 May 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38407276
1939 'HISTORIC HOMESTEADS.', Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), 6 July, p. 8. , viewed 08 May 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38401899
Murray River; Edmund Henderson; 1860; Gift of The 4th Baron Gorell, 1985; The Art Gallery of Western Australia; Accession 1985/0D18
State Records Office of Western Australia; Cockburn Sound & Murray [Tally No. 506235, undated]; AU WA S978- cons4918 Cockburn Sound 02
Peter had a number of court attendances in his life time in Western Australia including an appearance at Pinjarra in 1863 which confirms that he was residing in that town’s region at that time.
His court attendance on the 21st of May in 1863, in the Pinjarra District Court, he was charged with assault to M. Pollard (Jnr) and J. McLarty. The resident Magistrate D.J. Murray bound the three men over on terms that they keep the peace. In a report to the Attorney General, Fred P. Barlee (Magistrate), D.J. Murray stated that he believed that Pollard and McLarty had set out to ambush Lewis. Lewis had a knife in his hand that he held up and that McLarty struck his arm onto the knife. [COS Resident Magistrate No 528 Vol. III Murray].