George Dean (14 November 1867 – 7 May 1933) was a ferry boat master in Sydney, Australia, who was charged with attempting to poison his wife. A large part of the Sydney public came to believe that Dean was innocent and that his wife and her mother had conspired against him. Although Dean was very likely guilty, his death sentence was commuted and he was later released on a free pardon. He was subsequently convicted of perjury and spent nine years in jail.

Early life

Dean was born in

Albury, New South Wales Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

and worked as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

in Sydney from about 1880. He worked for the North Shore Steam Ferry Company from about 1884 and received a master's certificate in 1888. In 1890, he became night master of the ''Possum'', operating between

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...

and Milsons Point. He was popular with his passengers and on four occasions dived into the harbour to save passengers from drowning.

Attempted murder charge

In March 1894, Dean married Sarah Annie Gaynor, known as Mary Seymour, and daughter of Catherine Asbury, known as Caroline Seymour, who has been transported to

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

in 1852 for pickpocketing. The Deans settled in North Sydney and soon had a daughter. The Deans' marriage was strained by the presence of Dean's mother-in-law, and Mrs Dean was not happy about her mother's eviction in January 1895. Dean was charged with attempting to murder his wife in March on the basis of his wife's claimed symptoms and evidence of both

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...

and strychnine in lemon syrup and tea and medicines administered by Dean and fortunately preserved for the police investigation. Despite the unsatisfactory nature of some of the evidence, especially a lack of evidence for Dean buying or possessing the poisons, but under strong pressure from Justice Windeyer to come to a verdict, the jury found Dean guilty and the judge sentenced him to death.

Royal commission

Nevertheless, public opinion quickly turned against the verdict, particularly noting the behaviour of Windeyer, who was already known as a "

hanging judge "Hanging judge" is a colloquial phrase for a judge who has gained notoriety for handing down punishment by sentencing convicted persons to death by hanging, or otherwise imposing unusually harsh sentences. Hanging judges are officers of the court ...

" as a consequence of the

Mount Rennie rape case The Mount Rennie rape case is the only gang rape in Sydney, Australia, during the 1880s that led to a full conviction of the participants involved in the crime—young larrikins of the " Waterloo Push". The attack is sometimes referred to as ...

. As a result, in May the Government appointed a Royal Commission composed of Francis Edward Rogers QC, Dr

Philip Sydney Jones Sir Philip Sydney Jones (15 April 1836 – 18 September 1918) was an Australian medical practitioner and University of Sydney vice-chancellor 1904–1906. He was knighted in 1905 for his services to the treatment of tubercuulosis. He carried out ...

and Dr Frederic Norton Manning to consider the case.

Paddy Crick William Patrick Crick (10 February 1862 – 23 August 1908) was an Australian politician, solicitor and newspaper proprietor. He was described by author Cyril Pearl as an irresistible demagogue, who "looked like a prize fighter, dressed like a ...

and Dean's lawyer,

Richard Meagher Richard Denis Meagher (11 January 1866 – 17 September 1931) was an Australian solicitor and was the first Labor Lord Mayor of Sydney, serving from 1916 to 1917. Early life Meagher was born in Bathurst, New South Wales and educated at St ...

, presented abundant evidence to the Royal Commission that Seymour had been a

procuress Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

, brothel-keeper and pickpocket. The doctors found that the evidence was compatible with self-administration by Mrs Dean, presumably to incriminate Dean, while Rogers dissented strongly. As a result, the Government released Dean on a free pardon at the end of June and he was put in charge of a bigger ferry, the ''Wallaby''.

Perjury and conspiracy

On 18 July, Meagher boasted to

Julian Salomons Sir Julian Emanuel Salomons (formerly Solomons) (4 November 1835 – 6 April 1909) was a barrister, royal commissioner, Solicitor General, Chief Justice and member of parliament. He was the only Chief Justice of New South Wales to be appointe ...

that after Dean's sentencing he had pretended to Dean that the police had found out where he had purchased the poison and Dean had admitted his guilt and named the chemist, R. J. Smith. Although Dean's confession to his lawyer was a matter of solicitor-client privilege, Salomons found himself compelled to pass on this information to the Attorney General,

Jack Want John Henry "Jack" Want (4 May 1846 – 22 November 1905) was an Australian barrister and politician, as well as the 19th Attorney-General of New South Wales. Early life Want was born at the Glebe, Sydney, the fourth son of nine children of R ...

. Rumours of Dean's confession began to circulate. In September, Want was questioned on it, but he declined to comment. On 24 September, Dean petitioned Parliament to clear his name and next day Want read Salomons' account of Meagher's conversation to the House. Although Meagher, who had meanwhile been elected as the member for Sydney-Phillip, vigorously denied the conversation in the House, Smith admitted giving Dean arsenic. As a result, Dean, Meagher, Crick, Meagher's assistant, Daniel Green, and a witness, Jane Reynolds, were charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice. Dean was also charged with perjury and later signed a full confession to the charge, which he subsequently withdrew. Dean was found guilty of two charges of perjury and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. Meagher and Dean were found guilty of conspiracy, but these convictions were quashed on appeal. Dean was released from

Goulburn Gaol The Goulburn Correctional Centre, (also known as The Circle) is an Australian supermaximum security prison for males. It is located in Goulburn, New South Wales, three kilometres north-east of the central business district. The facility is operat ...

in December 1904 with remissions for good behaviour and returned to his job as ferry boat captain. He returned to the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

in 1913 and died of

endocarditis Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. It usually involves the heart valves. Other structures that may be involved include the interventricular septum, the chordae tendineae, the mural endocardium, or the ...

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

, survived by his daughter.

Popular culture

The story was filmed by the ABC in 1981 as the TV movie '' The Dean Case''.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, George Crime in Sydney History of Sydney 1867 births 1933 deaths People from Albury, New South Wales Australian perjurers Deaths from endocarditis