SMH Bankruptcy Report
Grahame Thom grthom@bigpond.com
INSOLVENCY COURT – MONDAY
BEFORE THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER IN THE MATTER OF JOHN PARKER
This was a special examination meeting. Mr. Pilcher, instructed by Mr. Dawson, appeared for petitioning creditor, and Mr. T. Hellyor for insolvent. Insolvent, under examination by Mr. Pilcher, deposed;’ I know Mr. Haggitt, of Parramatta, who obtained a judgment against me shortly before the sequestration of my estate; I borrowed £400 from him all at one time, for which I gave my note of hand; the note of hand was overdue for 4 years before he sold me off; the note of hand was for 12 months, and for £428, which included the amount borrowed, with interest. I received the £400 in cash, and I believe Mr. Haggitt brought it to my house, but I will not be sure; the money was in notes, and in tens, I believe; Haggitt took the money out of the Commercial Bank, and brought it to me; he had no security, the note of hand only being given; I have known Haggitt intimately for twenty years; I never paid anything towards that debt except half-a-year’s interest; I have been for thirty years a shopkeeper at Parramatta, but latterly I tried to raise an orangery; I remember meeting Mr. Galloway at John Taylor’s about the time Haggitt sued me; I owed him £300, for which he had my note of hand; he wanted me to let him buy my orangery, of which he held the deeds, and it was arranged that it should be sold to him for the amount of my debt; I owed £300 to Galloway, and was also responsible for endorsements in favour of my son; as a matter of fact I owed over £500 to him; I believe Galloway asked me how much I owed Haggitt; I did not tell him that I did not owe him £200, but he asked me whether it was £600, and I replied Certainly not; he asked me in reference to two or three other amounts; shortly after this conversation Galloway sued me, and an appearance was entered; almost immediately before this Haggitt sued me, and I did not defend the action; during the time Haggitt obtained a judgment and Galloway was suing me, the former sold me off; the sale took place at my house, Parramatta, and consisted of my household furniture and some farming implements, a wine press, and some fowls, pigs, cows and horses; I have not got possession of everything that was sold at the sale with the exception of three items; my daughter Catherine Maria has them; she is not married, and her home has always been at my house; after the sale none of the furniture which was sold was taken from the house, some of the farming implements which were taken away after the sale were brought back to the house and are now being used on the farm; there were other people beside Menser, Booth, and Haggitt who bought at the sale, but I cannot recollect their names; I do not know that no persons purchased at the sale except the three mentioned; I know that others bought at the sale; my furniture came into possession of my daughter through Haggitt, who took an interest in her; she had been engaged to be married to Haggitt’s son, who was killed some three years ago; Haggitt gave her the furniture after the sale; immediately before the sale there was some furniture belonging to my son on the premises; my son, who is between 25 and 26 years of age, is in the Commercial Bank, Brisbane, where he has resided for two years past; this furniture was seized by the Sheriff, but subsequently given up to my eldest daughter on her application; so far as I know Haggitt did not interfere; this furniture of my son had been in my possession for about four years; it is now in a house at Parramatta where his sister rents a room which he pays for; I do not know where the furniture is, but I hear it is at Mrs Barker’s; the value of that furniture of my son’s is not I believe more than £30; as far as I know, my daughter is the only occupant of the room in which the furniture has been placed; she sleeps at my house, but goes there frequently; at the time I borrowed the £300 from Galloway I owed money; I borrowed from him and Haggitt to meet current demands; I had a mortgage with Mr. Billyard, which was given somewhere about twelve months back; the property mortgaged consisted of all my real property exclusive of the orchard, of which Galloway held the deeds; the property brought £1886. Although I consider it was worth from £3000 to £4000; Billyard’s debt was £1600; no account has been furnished to me by Mr. Billyard, and the matter had not been completed when my estate was sequestrated; I have had possession of three acres of land in M’Arthur Street for fifteen or sixteen years; it is the property of Mr. Lord, and is not built upon; I am still in possession of that land; I defended the action in Galloway’s case, because I thought if Billyard sold me off I should have enough to pay all my debts; I left the matter of Haggitt’s action to my attorney; I recollect that a man named Ashby purchased at the Sheriff’s sale; I would not have my son’s furniture brought back because I did not use it, and did not want it brought back until I heard from him.
John Bowers deposed: I live at Parrmatta, and know insolvent; I was present at his house when the sale took place; I am a clerk to Mr. Galloway and his stepson; I saw Miss Parker at the sale, and she asked me whether I had been sent by Mr. Galloway to run the things up, and I said no; the sale took place on the 22nd May; she then asked me not to bid or run up the things as she had a friend – Mr. Beeth – who was going to buy them all in for them; I saw all the things sold, with purchasers and prices; the list produced is a true copy of the notes in my pocket-book of what was sold; the things set opposite the names of Haggitt, Booth, and Menser were knocked down to them; Ashby wanted to buy two pigs, but they were run up too high for him, and he did not got them; as far as I know, the carts and harness were in good condition, but I am no judge.
The meeting terminated.
Sydney Morning Herald , Wednesday 1 May 1867, page 5
(FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.)
APRIL 30TH – Mr John Haggitt, the young man who was so severely injured by being ridden over on the evening of the 23rd instant, died last night. An inquest was held this morning, before the District Coroner, Dr. Brown, when Alexander Elliot, the man at whose door the fault of the accident lay, was present, and various witnesses were examined. The Inquest, which extended over five hours, terminated at 2 o’clock, a verdict of Manslaughter being returned against Alexander Elliot. The sad features of the above case have called forth no small amount of feeling in Parrmatta. The deceased was a fine young man, and much liked by all who know him.