The Colemans & Dwyers: In the News

This is the sixth post in a series about my Coleman and Dwyer ancestors.

When I last posted, I related the circumstances of Mary Dwyer Coleman’s suicide, and the statements given to the coroner by her family members.

I’ve also found a newspaper article that mentions this incident and provides additional insight. This is from The Argus in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and was printed on Saturday, October 28, 1905.

Casualties and Fatalities

Woman Shoots Herself
Yesterday evening a married woman named Mary Coleman, 44 years of age, committed suicide by shooting herself with a revolver. On Thursday, Mrs. Coleman, with her two daughters, took a house at No. 3 Church Street, South Melbourne, with Mrs. Brown and her family. Between 5 and 6 o’clock Mr. William Brown asked Miss Coleman to call her mother to tea. The girl found the door was locked. Mr. Brown forced the door and found Mrs. Coleman lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Constable Power found that the woman had shot herself in the ear. A new six-chanbered revolver was lying on the floor with five chambers loaded. Mrs. Coleman’s husband is at present living in Durban, South Africa. She was an outpatient attending the Women’s Hospital who was to have been admitted to that institution today for an internal complaint. Her daughter states that her mother has been very despondent of late and only last week a revolver was found under her pillow. The body was removed to the morgue.

This told me a couple of new facts that I had not known previously. Firstly, Andrew Coleman was in Durban. I had not been aware of his exact location in South Africa prior to reading this article. Secondly, Mary Dwyer Coleman was due to be admitted to the hospital for an “internal complaint.” Her daughter Kathleen had mentioned this same ailment in her deposition, but I did not know until reading this article that there was a looming hospitalization. Perhaps Mary was due to have a surgery? We can only speculate. This article helps shed additional light on the Coleman family’s situation at the time of Mary’s death, however. Next, we will talk about the whereabouts of Andrew Coleman.