Susannah Jane Sophia Monies

Story

Susannah Jane Sophia Monies was born on 6th April 1848 at Thanet Place, High St, Croydon, England to Thomas Saltonstall Monies and Sophia Jones. She had two sisters, Sophia born 14th July 1850 and Rose Ann born 26th December 1852. All three girls were christened at Saint John The Baptist, Croydon, Surrey, England.

The family travelled to Australia and a son, Thomas J, was born in Newcastle, NSW in 1857.

In 1861, they lived at Avisford, NSW, a mining town on Louisa Creek. Her father was the publican of the George & Dragon.

On 27th February, 1861 between 8 and 9 in the morning, Susannah, aged 12_, observed her mother asking Jin Sing to put on the pot. Jin Sing Chung was employed as cook and had been there for two months. He said that he was hungry and wanted his breakfast. Her mother then said that he could have his breakfast when the children had had theirs. He went and rolled up his blankets and asked for his wages but her mother refused to pay him and struck him with a broom.

On 4th September, 1861, in the Bathurst circuit court, Susannah described her mother\’s murder that took place on that day in February. ‘Mother told Jin Sing to wait till the master came home; he then mocked her by jabbering away in Chinese after she spoke to him : mother said ‘if you give me any of your jaw I will slap your face’ ; he immediately picked up an American axe and struck mother in the back ; my mother then ran round to the back and then through the house ; I followed her until she got outside, she tried to get into Mr. Merritt\’s gate but could not succeed; she then ran down to the creek ; Jin Sing ran into the kitchen and took a tomahawk from behind the door and I saw him run after my mother with it in his hand. I saw Jin Sing on his left knee with a tomahawk in his right hand’

Jane Pentlebury, a miner\’s wife, who was ‘engaged to wash’ for Sophia said, ‘ I saw him on his knees on the bank of the creek, holding Mrs. Monies down with his left hand and striking her with the tomahawk with his right hand; I was 4 or 5 yards away from him at the time and afraid to go near him; I stood and screamed while he was striking her with the tomahawk’.

Wilson Ramsay said in his post-mortem ‘there were several wounds on the back and front of the head; the skull was fractured in two places and the brains protruded’

The police officer, Robert Matthews, remembered ‘Jin Sing said ‘me did it;’ In the afternoon, while in the lock-up, I told (him) that Mrs. Monies was dead; he said ‘me glad of it, me would kill Susey if me could.’

Jin Sing Chung was not hung. Sentence of death was remitted to 15 years hard labour at Cockatoo Island. On 10th January, 1868 he was admitted to the criminal division of the Parramatta Insane Asylum and died there on 24th June 1894.

Susannah\’s father, Thomas, remarried in 1862 to Ellen Read and returned to Hill End to be the publican of the Hill End Hotel until his death 21st January 1873. His picture can be seen online as it is part of the Holtermann Collection kept by the State Library of New South Wales.

Susannah married John William Brightfield on 13th January 1864 at St Michaels, Bellambi, Wollongong. She was 15 years old and married a man twice her age. Three months later the first of twelve children were born; William Walter, Arthur Constantine, Ernest Herbert, Alfred R, Ada Alice, Henry James, Albert Thomas, Susannah Maud, Sydney Oscar George, Charles Oswald, Lillian P and Clemont Ewart G. The children were born in various suburbs in Sydney; Camperdown, Forest Lodge, St Leonards, Redfern and Newtown.

Susannah\’s husband, John William Brightfield was born 13th April 1834 and died at Camperdown 23rd November 1918.

The murder of her mother was never spoken about or passed down. The story came to light when an internet search on ‘monies’, ‘murder’ and ‘avisford’ resulted in a transcript of a newspaper Western Post March 1861 displayed the story ‘DIABOLICAL MURDER AT AVISFORD BY A CHINAMAN’

Susannah died 21st August, 1936 at Kogarah, NSW at 88 years perhaps thinking she took the story to her grave.

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