Mysterious Suicide in Taree Park

On the afternoon of Wednesday 9 May 1923, a tragedy unfolded in Taree Park. A visitor, Phillip William Osborne, committed suicide by ingesting strychnine.¹

This event was widely reported, principally because of the strange suicide note found. Phillip willed his body for scientific research, stated that he was highly educated and that a family member had cheated him of his inheritance.²

In reality, Phillip was born in 1886 in Yorkshire, England and educated at St John’s Foundation School which provided free education for the sons of poor clergymen.³ By 1905 his life was on a downwards trajectory when, as a deserter from the Royal Marines, he was found guilty of forging a cheque for over £537 and sentenced to six months in jail.⁴

At the completion of his sentence and following travels which took him to North America⁵, Phillip came to Australia, where, in April 1913 he married Enid Myee Medley in Sydney.⁶ The first of their three children was born later that year.⁷

By 1921 he was sought for deserting his wife and was noted as “addicted to drink”.⁸ The following year family members from England appealed for knowledge of his whereabouts, presumably without success.⁹

It is a mystery (at least to me) why he would have chosen a public space in Taree to end his tragic life.

Author: Penny Teerman