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| JJ Ovenden and his medals |
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| Williamstown Cemetery |
James Joseph Ovenden died on 6th October 1886 and was buried in Williamstown Cemetery.
JJ Ovenden liked to drink and someone, either as a joke or for a sinister reason, had substituted Hydrochloric acid for his usual alcohol. He died the morning after he consumed the 'drink'.
He was 51 years old and had settled in Australia for 25 years.
During the last months of James Ovenden's life:
Dear Diary,
I can not live down the things that I have seen, I am feeling emptier and sadder everyday. I lose focus during my training of other young navy sailors, although they haven't seemed to notice yet. Jane does not know anything, I could not break her heart to tell her that I am not a happy man. I cannot go on anymore...
If I do happen to take my own life, the Navy will not let Jane recieve any pension money. It is a horrible thing to do, to end your life. Something you have worked hard at to keep alive, eating vegetables when Mother told me to, walking for fresh air, all these years would practically be wasted. But just what if...
On the 6th October 1886 James Joseph Ovenden could have
mixed the alcohol for poison himself, to make it seem accidental. Consuming alcohol would also dull the pain. The poison, which was hydrochloric acid, was the type that burned your stomach, and made you bleed from the inside. It was a very slow and painful death.
He was 51 years old and had settled in Australia for 25 years.
During the last months of James Ovenden's life:
Dear Diary,
I can not live down the things that I have seen, I am feeling emptier and sadder everyday. I lose focus during my training of other young navy sailors, although they haven't seemed to notice yet. Jane does not know anything, I could not break her heart to tell her that I am not a happy man. I cannot go on anymore...
If I do happen to take my own life, the Navy will not let Jane recieve any pension money. It is a horrible thing to do, to end your life. Something you have worked hard at to keep alive, eating vegetables when Mother told me to, walking for fresh air, all these years would practically be wasted. But just what if...
On the 6th October 1886 James Joseph Ovenden could have
mixed the alcohol for poison himself, to make it seem accidental. Consuming alcohol would also dull the pain. The poison, which was hydrochloric acid, was the type that burned your stomach, and made you bleed from the inside. It was a very slow and painful death.
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| JJ Ovenden's own snuff box |
Note: Snuff is powdered tobacco that you inhale or rub on your teeth and gums.
Bibliography
Rose Ovenden, who has read JJ Ovenden's last diary entries.
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