Richard WhitingPrint Page

The monument commemorates Richard Whiting who was killed in a fall from his horse in May 1864. The obelisk on which the plaque is placed was originally located on the Goulburn Road.

On Saturday last, Dr. Waugh, coroner, with a jury of twelve, held an inquest as to the cause of the death of Richard Whiting, son of Mr. Joseph Whiting, ironmonger of this city. The inquest was held in the house of the latter, the late residence of the deceased, whither the body had been conveyed. Joseph Whiting deposed: I am a storekeeper, and reside in Auburn street, Goulburn; the deceased on whose body the inquest is now sitting was my son, named Richard, aged 15 years and 9 months; I last saw him alive on yesterday morning, about ten o'clock ; I believe he left home about half an hour afterwards, to go to Taralga ; he went away on horseback, riding a young horse, which he had ridden a few times before, and which was very quiet; he was in perfect health when he left home, and was accustomed to riding; about midnight last night I received word that he had been found dead near Taralga; his body was brought home this morning, between four and five o'clock.

William Stephenson deposed: I am an apprentice to the blacksmith trade at Taralga; I have seen the body of Richard Whiting on which this inquest is now sitting; yesterday afternoon, about 1 o'clock, as I was going in a spring-cart from Taralga, towards Goulburn, when about three-quarters of a mile from Taralga, I observed the deceased lying on the roadway; I got out of the cart and on examining him found that he was quite dead ; there was a stump on the road over which the deceased lay; his face was very dark-coloured; there was no blood on it nor near where the body lay; I then went back to Taralga and informed my master and the deceased's brother of what I had seen; they, with two other men, returned with me to where I had seen the deceased lying; I then proceeded in search of the horse the deceased had been riding, and about a hundred yards off found him grazing; I found the saddle and valise in front, covered with dirt, and the hair off one of the horse's knees; the body of deceased was then removed to Taralga, and afterwards to Goulburn.—Dr. Hanford deposed that he made an external examination of the body of the deceased; there were no external marks of violence on the head or body, except a slight abrasion on the inner side of the left knee; upon examining the neck, he had reason to believe that death resulted from a dislocation of the vertebrae.—The jury returned a verdict of died from injuries accidentally received by falling from a horse. The deepest sympathy was manifested by all classes in Mr. Whiting's bereavement, and every store had window-shutters up in token of mourning. What makes this calamity the more lamentable is, that Mr. Whiting lost an elder son some time ago by a similar accident, and in the same neighbourhood. 
Goulburn Herald and Chronicle (NSW), 18 May 1864. 

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