Catherine Reardon
1820-1857
Born: Cork, Cork, , Ireland
Died: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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1820-1857
Born: Cork, Cork, , Ireland
Died: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
<font size="1"><p>The Argus</p><p>Thursday 14 May 1857</p><p>DEATH FROM EXHAUSTION.-An inquest was held yesterday before Dr. Wilmot, City Coroner, on the body of a male child, aged twenty months, who died from exhaustion brought on by neglect of the mother, Catherine Sandy, who was arrested as a vagrant in Gipps Land, and embarked with Constable McGuire in the Storm Bird for Melbourne. After being on board about two hours and a half, she got up from her bunk, where she had been lying with deceased, and said that she had choked the child. A man who was near took deceased in his arms. Deceased was gasping for breath, and expired in about a minute afterwards. The mother appeared to be insane at the time, and had been about five years separated from her husband. She had no settled home, and was almost destitute. The child was very emaciated when brought down to the steamer. Mr. Whittenbury, surgeon, who was called in, said that he carefully examined the body of deceased, and found no external marks of violence on it. On examining the external parts he found no evidence of death from strangulation, nor any organic disease, but believed the child died from exhaustion, the consequence of an improper and insufficient supply of food. A slight obstruction to the breast would have caused death, and there was no evidence of death from suffocation. A verdict in accordance with the medical testimony was returned.</p></font>