WILLIAMS' SUPPOSED VISIT TO DUNEDIN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9383, 24 March 1892, Page 2

WILLIAMS' SUPPOSED VISIT TO DUNEDIN.

The illustrations in the Australian papers which have come to hand by Tuesday's mail have revived the rumour that Williams, alias' Swanston, alias Deeming, was at one time well known in Dunedin. It is certain that a man named A. Williams, who followed the occupation of a cloth hawker, resided near the Forbury racecourse during the latter part of 1888 and in the early part of 1889. Two well-known citizens, who knew him pretty well, both state that he bore a strong resemblance to the illustrations in the Australian papers of the supposed Windsor murderer, and that the descriptions given of the man in the papers correspond to a great extent with that of the man Williams who lived on the Flat. There is, however, this difference: that the man in Australia is described as having fair hair, whereas the man who lived here had hair of a dark colour. But it was rumoured by those who knew Williams that he dyed his hair when here. The man who lived here came from Wellington, and a commercial traveller, who was his fellow passenger recommended him to a firm in Dunedin with whom he had business relations from June 1888 to January 1889. The firm in question are proprietors of livery stables, and he purchased a horse and buggy from them, but when he left Dunedm he left in their debt. He also owed money to several other people when he went away, including his landlady. On one occasion he also obtained, on credit, a diamond ring of the value of 10 guineas, from a firm of jewellers in the city, getting the ring on the strength of a false representation that his wife was the sister of a well-known citizen. The ring however, was never paid for. The woman who was supposed to be his wife was on very friendly terms with the wife of the citizen just previously referred to, the two visiting each other's ™USe4-?; nd Mvin S out together frequently. Mrs Williams was the daughter of a hotelkeeper in Christchurch, and became acquainted with her lady friend just alluded to before her marriage, which she stated on one occasion took place in Melbourne. While living on the Flat, a child was born to Mrs Williams. When she left Dunedin, which she did suddenly with her husband, she went to Wellington. Williams afterwards deserted her there, and she was forced to maintain herself by taking the position of a barmaid in one of the hotels in the Empire City. When she had been there some little time Williams turned up, and insisted upon her giving up her situation, but this she refused to do unless provided with a home Williams again left her without making the stipulated provision, and she afterwards came to Dunedm with her child. On her arrival here she stayed with her old friend for a time, and m September last left for Melbourne. Since then her friend has not heard anything of her whereabouts. Mrs Williams was about 22 years of age when she lived here in 1889, and was said to be very attractive looking, x, S°me r .c° rroboration is given to the statement that Williams resided for some time in New Zealand by the following, particulars from the Age of the 14th inst:-»Mr Solomon, pawnbroker, ot Collins street, on Saturday discovered among his stock a leather Orient trunk, bearing certain labels which seem to indicate that it was once in the possession of the Windsor murderer, Williams. Upon the top of the trunk has been pasted an envelope, half of which is torn away. Sufficient remains however, to show that it bears the name, 'Mrs A. N. Williams,' in a feminine hand-writing and immediately below it are the remnants of a Napier (New Zealand) label. A steamship label reads, 'Melbourne, s.s. Jubilee,' and on one end is affixed another envelope, bearing in handwriting which closely resembles that of Williams, the words—' Mr and Mrs A. N. Williams, first-class passengers -to Napier' via Melbourne, per s.s. Iberia.' Other labels have the words ' Lyttelton' and' Bennetts' on them. When the trunk was first discovered by Mr Solomon the information was communicated to Detectives D. G. O'Donnell and Wardley, who conveyed the news to their conferes, Detectives Considine and Cawsey, and the latter have since been engaged in inquiries with reference to the person who sold it. The name given by the man from whom Mr Solomon bought it was W. H. Smith. Mr Solomon further stated to the detectives that his customer had represented himself as a seagoing engineer, and subsequent investigation seems to show that in or about the month of April last year an engineer resided at a hotel iv Flinders street, and was known by the name of Smith, and afterwards removed to a hotel in Swanston street, where some of his former associates found him passing under the name of Williams. The proprietors of the hotels in question, on being shown a copy of the photograph of a man supposed to be Williams, now in the possession of the police, immediately identified it as the likeness of their mysterious customer.' WILLIAMS AND HIS BETROTHED. The Argus of the 15th inst. states that Miss Kounsvelle received a telegram from Swanston (he signs himself Swanston, and not Swanson as was previously supposed), which shows that'he has some little consideration for others left in him, despite the character for heartlcssness which ho bears. The telegram, which is dated Saturday, the 12th inst., from Southern Cross, reads thus:—

'Miss Kounsvelle, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Ship Company's office, Melbourne—Do not come. Go home. lam leaving here to-morrow — B. Swansion,"

The message is useful as well as interesting, as it establishes a connection between the man arrested and Miss Rounsvelle, and shows that no mistake has been made by the West Australian police in interpreting the messages of the Victorian detectives.

The last letter received by Miss Rounsvelle from Swanston was a remarkable one, and for several reasons may be aptly quoted. It is dated the Bth of February 1892, and in the left-hand top corner, imprinted by a rubber stamp, are the words, "From B. Swanston, M.M.S., Southern Cross, Yilgarn Goldfields, W. Australia" It urges " My dear Kitty" to lose no time in leaving Bathurst to voyage to \\ est Australia, and says: " Don't keep me waiting, dear. If you love me half as much as I love you, you would not keep me waiting a day. As we are to be man and wife, dear, why not let it be at once. I have written to your brother at Broken Hill informing him of our approaching marriage, and I have got everything m readiness here, so do come quickly, dear. The appointment I have got gives me L 6 a week for the first six months, and thereafter L 8 10s a week; and in addition I have a house rent free, and should be able to earn L 3 a week extra. I do not intend to stay here all my life. I shall make enough money in two years so that we may take a trip to England so you may look forward to that treat. Write as soon as you get tins, or wire if you can come at once. lam longing to hear from you. Send me your photo. I feel very lonely here, and that would be company for me. Do try and come over quick, dear, and you might send me any S^dnev and MeiDourne papers you can get" * * •» Following these lines is detailed information of the cost, &c. of the journey, and the letter winds S P7,. our own lovine Barron. God bless you. While in Perth Williams' frequently related surprising stones of hunting adventures in which he alleged he had taken part in the Transvaal On one occasion he ripped up a Zulu with a jackknife, and at another time he shot 13 lions in one day in Zululand. He had several letters of introduction to business men in Perth and Freniantle, one being from an influential financial and land tirm in Melbourne. He used to talk in a arge way of his business intentions, and carried msmess cards with the words engraved on'them Baron Swanston, engineer." When arrested at Southern Cross he made no statement and offered no resistance. FRAUDS AT CAPE TOWN. The Brisbane correspondent of the Argus telegraphs :— it appears that in 1889 Deeming (for le was then known by that name) was at Cape Tf»l vn- ~Two Sfl^ 1?? 1™ who had been up-country at the diamond fields had returned to Cape Town and one of them was on the eve of embarking on a steamer for England. Deeming described property on a diamond field which was in the Transvaal f™™ ¥ d *° .depose of for something over L2OOO, and asked the gentlemen referred to to become purchasers. This was agreed to should the property on inquiry agree with the description given. As he could not visit the property himself, one of the gentlemen deputed his friend to make the necessary investigation, and purchase the property if he was satisfied the transaction was a good one. The gentleman then sailed for England, and thereupon Deeming forged a telegram, to which he put the name of the proposed purchaser, and forwarded it to this gentleman s representative on the diamond fields requesting him to pay over the amount agreed upon to Deeming. The latter made his way to the lransvaal and obtained the money. He stated he would have to return to Capetown for a portion of the necessary papers to complete the transaction, and accordingly left. Of course he never again appeared, and the conclusion to be drawn is that the property was.a bogus one. The gentleman who had been defrauded when in England obtained information which led him tc believe that Deeming was also in the old country, and communications were opened with the Transvaal to obtain a warrant for his arrest on charges of fraud and forgery. There being no extradition treaty at that time a warrant could not be obtained. The same year this gentleman forwarded a communication to a friend in Brisbane informing him that Deeming was supposed to have sailed foi Australia in the Jumna under the name of George and asking that he should be arrested shouldhe correspond with a photograph enclosed with the latter. The captain of the Jumna was communicated _with, and on seeing the photograph of Deeming he immediately recognised it as that oi a passenger named Levy, who had voyaged by the Jumna from Aden to London on the previous trip There could scarcely be a doubt as to the correct ness of this, as Deeming.had forwarded to the dianiondnelds a. letter from Cape Town to the effed that a friend of his having died hewastoaccom jrany the body as far as Aden and then return tc South Africa. The captain described Levy as i man who disposed of money freely during th< voyage, and who wore lots of jewellery H< always wore a dress suit at dinner, and mad( himself very obnoxious to one lady passenger and had to .be severely reprimanded by thi captain. At this time Deeming, alias Levy, had s wife and family living at Birkenhead. Th< gentleman who had been swindled went t( Birkenhead, but could find no trace of the mar he wanted. Shortly afterwards, however, he hac reason to believe that Deeming was in Hull h( haying been arrested on a charge of making awaj with jewellery to the value of L 285. He hac bought the jewellery, giving, on a Saturdaj afternoon after banking hours,- two valueless cheques in payment, and escaped to Montt Video, where he was arrested and brought bad to England on 26th September 1890. Deeming was brought before the justices and committed tor trial. On arrival from South Africa he had, it seems, gone direct to Hull and taken up his residence ai Beverley, where he passed himself off as a retired Australian sheep farmer. There he made free with money, and was married to a young Scotch girl. Ihe marriage was celebrated with great iclat, and Mr and Mrs Harry Lawson " immediately left on a, months honeymoon trip to the south oi Jingland. Deeming, whose aliases are now getting rather numerous, is known to have visited Irqi^w aH fami] yJ** B"kenhead, in January 1691. He informed his wife at Birkenhead that Oie-wae going to South America the following month, and soon after his arrival there he would send for her and the four children. He left his wife a sum of money, LIOO or L2OO. He had also left the woman he had married in Beverley at Hull, going out one day and promising to return m an hour or two. It was after this he bought the jewellery, and paid for it by bogus cheques. The young wife at Beverley was visited by the man who had been swindled in South Africa, and she informed him that Lawson s lawyer was drawing up papers for nullity.of marriage to save him from being arrested as a bigamist. She was informed Law son must still have a considerable sum of money and was advised not to sign any paper until a sub! stantial sum was handed over to her. It is not known here whether she adhered to this determination. The career of Deeming after this episode at Hull, where he was sentenced to nine months imprisonment, is not known in Brisbane it is, however, known almost beyond doubt that about eight years ago Deeming was resident in the Rockhampton district, passing there under the name of Mollett, and it is a fact that when in South Africa he informed certain people he had .worked as a miner both on Charters Towers and in the vicinity of it. THE MATHER FAMILY. Mr Edward Thunderbolt, one of the inspectors of nuisances of the city of Melbourne, who is acquainted with the family of the late Mrs Williams, was interviewed by an Argus reporter He stated that in the year 1877, when he was engaged as an engineer at Liverpool, he spent some two months near Rainhill, being on a visit to The Hall, about a mile distant from the village While at The Hall Mr Thunderbolt had occasion to go to Rainhill almost daily for his newspapers and letters, and the former he obtained at the little stationer's shop kept by the Mathers, at a corner facing the railway station. The village was small, comprising less than 300 inhabitants and the Mathers' shop was in proportion. The books it contained were few and cheap and the chief business seemed to be the sale of papers. The father was alive at that time—now over 14 years ago—and as far as Mr Thunderbolt can recollect he occupied his time chiefly in doing odd jobs in the gardens round about. The family numbered at least five or six, and there were girls older than Emily, the victim of the recent tragedy Mr Thunderbolt during his stay at Rainhili became fairly intimate with the Mathers, and found that, though evidently poor, they were much respected. They were strict Methodists, and Mrs Mather especially appeared to be a religious woman in the best sense of the term. Emily was at that time nine or ten years of age, and Mr Thunderbolt remembers her as an amiable girl, then attending school. Since coming to Australia Mr Thunderbolt has received many papers from the family.