1. References

At the age of 9, Rita Veronica Jamieson was poisoned in 1923 by 'pills' (chocolates laced with strychnine) posted^[1] to the home of her grand-mother, Annie Moore, who was post-mistress of Gowrie at the time. Rita died 2 hours after having a chocolate with her porridge on the morning of 28 April 1923.^[2][3]

This very unusual case involved a number people from Guyra, (north of Armidale) and Gowrie (South of Tamworth).

Annie Moore had been the post-mistress at Gowrie since her husband (William) died in 1905.

Francis Eveline Kirk (nee Moore) was Annie and William's daughter. She married Alexander Arthur Kirk who had a property at Redbank near Guyra, NSW. Francis and Arthur adopted Rita when she was 9 months old and Rita was sometimes known as Rita Kirk. When Francis become terminally ill she asked that her mother (Annie) care for Rita after her death. When Francis died on 16th October 1918 Rita went to live with Annie Moore as arranged.

Alexander Arthur (Arthur) Kirk Rita's adoptive father, married first to Francis (Fanny) Moore and then, after her death, to Louisa Holloway (nee Mills). He married Louisa on 1 November 1920.

Louisa Kate Kirk (nee Mills) Louisa's first husband, Albert George Holloway, died in 1918. Louisa is not mentioned very much in the investigation into Rita's death but she is the link between Rita and the person accused of poisoning her.

Harriet(t) Kate Mills (nee King) as Louisa's mother she was also Arthur Kirk's mother-in-law after his second marriage. Harriet acknowledged that she was fond of Arthur and wrote to him often after his first wife died. Harriet Kate Mills was charged with Rita's murder on 7 May 1923. Harriet was born September 1873 and was therefore 50 years old when she went to trial in September 1923.

Henry John (John) Mills Harriet's husband had had quarrels with Arthur Kirk but it is uncertain as to whether these related to his wife's 'fondness' of Arthur or just a neighbourly difference - they lived close to each other.

Hilda May Whitten Hilda also resided with Annie Moore. While Annie was Rita's adoptive grandmother, she was Hilda's biological grandmother. Hilda was the assistant postmistress at the time of Rita's death.

Lancelot D'Arcy Piper is variously described as Rita's mate and a State lad. He was also residing with Annie Moore and was with Rita when she ate the poisoned pill.

Albert Mason Moore Annie's son was at Annie's place when Rita first became ill, she said to him, “I took a pill with my breakfast and it has made me feel funny.”

The inquest into Rita's death was held on 16 May 1923 before the Deputy Coroner Mr G A M Nankervis, PM, took place in Tamworth, NSW on 16 May 1923. The incredible circumstances surrounding the tragedy were presented as witness after witness took the stand.^[4]

Hilda Whitten told how as assistant postmistress she had seen a parcel wrapped in brown paper and addressed to Mrs Moore arrive in the mail.

Mrs Moore was visiting Armidale at the time but was given the parcel on her return on Wednesday 25 April 1923. There were between 12 and 14 pills in the package with two of them larger and wrapped in tissue paper. Also the following letter

The parcel had been posted by Harriet at the Guyra Post Office on 21 April 1923. This she eventually admitted to but it is not clear as to why she signed the enclosed letter "R Moore". Arthur Kirk's mother's maiden name was Rachel Moore, but this lady did not appear to have been investigated by the police, rather the focus seemed to be on Harriet from the outset.

On Saturday morning of 28 April 1923 Rita asked if she could have one of the larger pills and after a discussion with Lancelot decided to take it with her porridge. Within half an hour Rita was feeling ill. She had gone outside and told her Uncle Albert that she had felt unwell since taking the pill. When she started having fits, Hilda called Dr Douglas for the first time and was told to give Rita salt in water to induce vomiting. When Rita's condition worsened Hilda called the Doctor again asking him to hurry out to Gowrie as quickly as he could. Unfortunately Rita died about 15 minutes before the doctor arrived. Rita must have suffered greatly as Strychnine poisoning is described as producing some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction.

The examinations by the attending physician, the Government Medical Officer and the Government Analyst confirmed the connection between the box of chocolate pills and Rita's death.

Dr Thomas Sholto Douglas, of Tamworth, went to Gowrie (30km away) after being phoned twice about a girl suffering fits possibly from poison. When he arrived he found the girl in bed, dead. His evidence was that there were no marks of violence and that the symptoms indicated that she had probably died from strychnine poisoning. He was handed a box containing some chocolate-coated pills evidently home-made. There was one pill wrapped in tissue paper apart from the remaining twelve. He was also handed the above mentioned letter.

Henry Lewis Harris, Government Medical Officer, Tamworth, made an examination of the body the next day. He also found no marks of violence and suspected the possibility of poisoning. He made a postmortem examination and found all organs in a healthy condition. He removed the stomach and contents which were sent to the Government Analyst for examination.

Dr Thomas Cooksey, Government Analyst examined the stomach and contents and the box containing 13 pills. Strychnine was found in the stomach contents and in the one pill which was wrapped in tissue paper. He confirmed that a fatal dose was 1-2 grains. There was 1 grain in the stomach but more Strychnine would have been absorbed into the body.^[5]

The Coroner was told that Francis Kirk, the adoptive mother who had since died, had insured Rita's life for 100 pounds. On Rita's death the insurance company refunded the one premium payment that had been made (six pounds). It is not apparent whether Harriet was aware of this policy, nor whether it influenced her.

Witnesses were also asked about the disagreement between Arthur Kirk (Rita's adoptive father) and John Mills (Harriet's husband). Arthur described it as a "serious quarrel". On further examination he admitted threatening John with a swing bar but then suggested it was a farmer's quarrel which they patched up and were then on friendly terms. John Mills refused to give evidence. Inspector Edward Barnes had earlier been told of the quarrel by Harriet who also said that it was over now. It is unclear as to how this quarrel between her husband and son-in-law may have influenced Harriet thinking.

Mention was made of Harriet's fondness toward Arthur Kirk. In the Guyra lock up on 5th May 1923 (after her arrest at Guyra railway station) she is reported to have said to her daughter "I was always fond of Arthur – even before his first wife died..." In another conversation at Mrs Schaffer's residence in Armidale, Harriet admitted to writing to Arthur very frequently after his first wife died. Is there a possibility that Harriet was jealous when Arthur married her daughter?

Nerve nuts - the previous day, also at the lock up, Mr John Mills had asked his wife "why did you do this terrible thing"? Harriet's reply was that; "I was reading in the paper about nerve-nuts, and a voice seemed to say to me 'make up some poison and send it to Rita' ". This admission following her arrest and being charged with Rita's murder appeared to confirm the police case.

Harriett Mills' trial commenced on Wednesday 5th September 1923 at the Central Criminal Court in Sydney where she was charged with having feloniously and maliciously murdered Rita Veronica Jamieson. The trial was before Mr Justice Ferguson. Harriett was represented by Mr Norman McGhie and Mr Coyle KC, appeared for the Crown.^[6]

In his opening address My Coyle referred to a statement alleged to have been made by Mrs Mills to the police in which she admitted to having made the pills. He also suggested that the motive may have been the remnant of a family squabble.

The statement that Mrs Mills had made to the police was then read being, in part, "My head had been terrible for some time, the pains in my head at times made me feel giddy, as if I was going backwards. When I sent the pills I did not wish to kill Rita; it was the devil that made me do it. I was surprised and affected when I heard that the girl was dead”.

Much of the evidence given at the trial was a repetition of that heard at the inquest.

Mr McGhie also questioned the Government Medical Officer as to the possibility of Mrs Mills suffering from insanity. He admitted that a woman of Mrs Mill’s age might have fits of insanity, which might amount to maniacal insanity or maniacal homicide

After the Crown had completed its case Mrs Mills gave an address from the dock.

“On the Tuesday before I went to Armidale I went to Gowrie. [probably Guyra] I brought home a couple of loaves of bread; they were wrapped in newspaper and in these I read three recipes. One was for nerve nuts. The mixture consisted of cocoa, sugar, butter, quinine and iron mixed together. I forget the main recipe for aperient pills to take first. I made some of these pills. At the bottom of the recipe it was stated that the mixture was good for rabbit poison. There being strychnine nearby I thought I would try an experiment. Being a woman, I did not tell my husband. I made the pills and added strychnine to the mixture. I then made the bait and laid it in a hole in the yard. Unfortunately, in the morning there were no dead rabbits, but three of the baits were gone. I put the remainder of the pills in a glass in a dresser. I had no reason for keeping the pills.”

“On the Friday before going to Armidale I saw the police. I said to myself, ‘what will I do with them’. I thought of taking them to my grandson Norman. The thought then struck me to take them to Rita. I put the pills in the box, making a distinction between the two containing salts by wrapping them in paper. On the Saturday I went to Guyra and bought a label and then posted the packet and the letter. I went to Armidale for a week, not thinking for a moment that I had posted poison. I never thought about the police. I had a good week at Armidale”.

“On Wednesday week I returned to Guyra. My husband met me. He said, ‘You know what has happened?’ I said ‘I know what the police told me yesterday.’” He said, “They have taken my strychnine.” I replied, ‘It does not matter: we did not poison Rita, did we?’ He told me the police were coming to see me on Thursday. I thought the police were coming to arrest him, so I thought I would clear out so that they would think that I did it.”

After an hour's deliberation the jury returned a verdict of manslaughter.^[7]

Mrs Mills was sentenced to five years penal servitude. Mr Justice Ferguson noted that he could not conceive the motive^[8] she could have had and the jury must have had some doubt as to the state of the prisoner’s mind at the time of the crime, as it had not returned a verdict of murder.^[9][10][11]

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