From laidlaws at hotkey.net.au  Thu Dec 10 00:32:25 2009
From: laidlaws at hotkey.net.au (Doug Laidlaw)
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:32:25 +1100
Subject: [Boykett-announce] Circumstances of William Boykett's death.
Message-ID: <200912100032.25539.laidlaws@hotkey.net.au>

Thomas Boykett's second child William, and the eldest to come to Australia, 
died at Smythesdale, Victoria, on 17th December, 1875.  His death certificate 
states the cause of his death as being:

1) Chronic Alcoholism: 6 weeks.
2) Coma: 12 hours.

His doctor last saw him on the 16th, the day before, so the finding of 12 
hours' coma either was not immediately before his death or was not verified by 
the doctor.

According to both the Ballarat Star and the Grenville Times, William went to 
Newtown, just outside Ballarat, the previous day.  I have been given the 
wording of the notice in the Grenville Times of the 18th, as follows:

'A touching lesson is coveyed to thinking persons by the awfully sudden
death of a very old resident, which took place yesterday morning at half
past 3.

Deceased had not been well for some little time, but not one member of his
family anticipated the sudden................that had befallen them.

Mr Boykett had been to Newtown and Scarsdale on business the previous day
and walked home, but at the hour above mentioned he experienced a difficulty
in breathing. He tried to cough but could not do so and while his attendant
tried to ease his position he turned over on his side, gave a gasp, his
breath was gone, and he expired.

For some years past the deceased  has been overtaken with the misfortune in
a variety of ways, and this notwithstanding the possession by him of
striking natural talents and great intellectual attainments. He has been
long connected with journalism, and died in harness as up to the time of his
death he was correspondent and agent for the Star newspaper. He had his
faults, and who has not? From a .......heart we breathe the prayer
Requiscant in pace, The funeral took place at 3'clock to-day.'

I assume that the typos were in the original.

This confirms that he had been out the day before, but at the same time, he had 
an "attendant".  That could have been his wife, but surely they would have 
called her that.  Was he being nursed?  At 3.30 a.m.?  It sounds as though he 
was keeping his work up, as far as he was able.  The phrase "notwithstanding 
the possession by him of striking natural talents and great intellectual 
attainments" shows that they found his "misfortune" difficult to understand.  
The misfortune would be alcoholism, and it would seem that from being self-
medication for depression, it became an addiction.  According to one view, any 
dependence on a substance or activity can be an insulator from depression, and 
can be considered an addiction in that context.  Mine are more innocuous.  
Sometimes I toy with the idea of drinking myself into numb oblivion , but my 
medication would prevent it from working.  These days, even after a social 
drink, I pay for it with insomnia.  Generally, I am responding well to 
medication.  That wasn't an option in William's day.

Doug.


From laidlaws at hotkey.net.au  Mon Dec 21 16:03:36 2009
From: laidlaws at hotkey.net.au (Doug Laidlaw)
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:03:36 +1100
Subject: [Boykett-announce] Dennis Palmos - anotther theory possibly exploded
Message-ID: <200912211603.36130.laidlaws@hotkey.net.au>

A cousin of my mother's was Dennis Palmos, born in 1922, son of Rae, another 
daughter of John George Boykett and Emily Jarvis.  My mother and her sister 
used to mention him often when I was young (dinosaur days.)

In a letter of about 1971, Joan McEwing mumbled something about some 
journalists who had recently been in in the news as having escaped from 
Vietnam, and thought that one of them was Dennis.  Although any info from Joan 
is suspect from the beginning, this one seemed to have a more solid 
foundation.  I tried to follow it up, but got nowhere.

A doctoral thesis from the University of Wollongong, dated this year (2009) 
entitled "A History of Australian Journalism in Indonesia" mentions a Frank 
Palmos as a "very generous" source of time, encouragement and information.  I 
rather suspect that he was the journalist that Joan was thinking of.  The full 
thesis is 276 pages plus bibliography, but the online version is only 10 
pages.  I will get out her letter again then try to contact the author.

Among the papers is a letter from a sailor called Palmos, apparently 
translated and typed by a Consulate or similar.  Does anybody know how this 
person was contacted to begin with?  His story has its own points of interest, 
but he is not in any way related to the Boyketts.

Merry Christmas to all,

Doug.