Albert Lockner, a prospector who supposedly died of thirst within 2 miles of the later famed ‘chain of water holes’, making the tragedy particularly distressing. Norman K Sligo who had joined in the search for the missing man met the police at the Donkey Rocks, about 120 miles from Coolgardie. Sligo said that in his opinion there was not the slightest doubt, but that the case was one of suicide. This was also the conclusion arrived at by Messrs Robert Harriet and Paul Dixon, who assisted in the burial of the deceased. Sligo told the police how he, Earle and Oscar Oslander had followed Lockner’s tracks for some distance before losing them on a stretch of stony ground.
During the ensuing night, they fired their rifles and set off dynamite charges all to no avail. There is a distinctive feeling among prospectors as to how long a man can survive without water in these conditions and they knew that the chances of finding him alive were remote after following new tracks found in a circular course in ever-narrowing circles. We found him kneeling on the ground and stood staring at the motionless figure, the forehead resting on the sand while the tense muscles of his right hand still gripped the revolver butt.
“This won’t do, boys,” he said. “It is only about five miles to the soak. One gallop over for a shovel and we will bury him here and I say, Oscar, bring a tomahawk or an axe with you and we will put a railing round the grave.”
Our task was soon finished and our only thoughts were that we could not do sufficient justice to the memory of one who accepted his fate as a brave and determined man should do.
The rumour of murder was set about by those anxious to save the dead man’s reputation. Although, why a man should be blamed for taking his own life when mad with thirst, is not known. It is better do you think, to suppose your loved one was murdered by an unknown person, never to be identified or brought to justice, or is it better to think that he had lost all hope of being found and wished to avoid the terrible fate of those who die of thirst, and ended it before this awful death could come about.
Its hard to say which could be more distressing for the family, but there is one more thing to be take into possible consideration. At this time the archaic law of ‘Felo de se’ (self murder), was still in effect and was not abolished until 1969. This law in effect could allow the ‘State’ to confiscate all assets of the deceased, leaving his dependants with nothing. Also to bear in mind, is the possibility of the person not being abled to be buried in consecrated ground, although, in all my years of researching, I have not come across a single incidence of a suicide being refused burial in a cemetery. Although often when a suicide took place in the bush, the person was buried where they were found for reasons of expediency and the difficulty of transporting a body a long distance.
So was Albert Lockner shot in the head by an assailant or by his own hand, or did he indeed died of thirst??
Daily News 16 February 1895, page 5
MURDER OR SUICIDE.
MT MALCOLM TRAGEDY – SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD
THE DEATH OF ALBERT LOCKNER
On Saturday week the Coolgardie Miner contained a brief mention of a suicide or murder that was stated to have occurred somewhere in the Lake Carey District. The name of the Lake is applied to a region of such a vast area that it is difficult to locate a base for enquiry, and the information received was so meagre in character that only the bare facts could be given. The difficulty of arriving at actualities was increased by the reticence of certain friends and relatives of the deceased, who were naturally anxious that the shock of the tidings should not reach their women folk through the brutal and abrupt announcement of a newspaper paragraph.
On Sunday morning, however, the detailed information was received, setting forth that a man named Lockner, while searching for horses in the vicinity of Mt Malcolm, had been most foully murdered by some person or persons unknown. During the same day, information in the form of a letter was given to the police, to Mr Peter Harding (Brother in Law of Lockner), which runs as follows:
Dear Peter,
I now take this pen to drop you a line which will be a bit of a surprise for you as it was for me about poor Albert’s Lockner’s death, I have been trying to find out all I could about him and this is what I can learn about him. He and his mate, Bob Earle, started for Lake Darlot, but they could not get there for water, so they started to come back when they got within about 20 miles of the water, they knew their horses were just about done, so they had to take the packs off.
When they reached the water they had a day and a half spell. They tossed a coin to decide who would retrieve the pack and who would stay in the camp. It was Albert who started back for the tucker, a journey of some 35 miles. He reached the pack bags all right and started to return, he got back about 10 miles alright and then he had camped, he made his fire but did not light it. Earle came to us on Friday night, he said his mate was lost, but did not say his name. On Tuesday morning I was up at the reef when my mate came up and told me a man was lost, his mate Earle had tracked him, where he found the pack horses still with the packs and found Lockner shot in the head.
He had taken the packs off about two miles before he met his death, his coat was found about one mile away. He was found on his knees with the revolver at his side, this is what his mate says. He had his card on him with A. Lockner on it and also had two letters addressed to him. I would have gone and seen him myself and made sure it was him – but my mate left the creek with some of the other men went to see him, and bring him in.
It was very hot, he was without water, or he may have got sunstroke. My mate is going in today to Coolgardie, and I thought it best to let you know before it got known all over the place. There are chances of it not being him of course, but he has Albert’s card with him, and two horses. They both have pack saddles, no riding saddles. He is 25 miles from where I camped. I will see the party myself and find out more about it. I will be in soon and we will have a talk about it. It will be a great shock for your sister I’m sure, so I would let your mother know, and break it to her when it comes out in the paper. So now, Peter, I will bring this letter to a close. I am, yours truly,
A. KING. Mt. Malcolm, Jan. 15 1895
This letter clearly points to suicide rather than murder, unless there is some deeper mystery in the background. The death of poor Lockner seems to have been one of those melancholy, but, alas all too common events in this land of thirst, where men are driven mad by the melancholy of the never ending desert. Albert Lockner was a young man, who recently came from New Zealand with a party of young Maorilanders, one of whom at once plunged into the wilds in the search for the yellow ore. For the mother and wife alluded to in the above letter to the brother in-law, everyone will feel the deepest sympathy.
LOCKNER/ LOECHER Albert – d 14 Jan 1895, age unknown, buried at Bummers Creek on a flat about 1 mile from the road between ‘Chain of Waterholes’ and Waiti Kauri, about 30 miles North East of Leonora, grave marked by a gold panning dish with inscription by punching holes in the metal, died in the bush 14 Jan 1895.
Moya Sharp
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There seems to be no record of any births of the surname similar to Lochner / Lockner in New Zealand : perhaps he was born in the Germany-Austria area? https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Search/ is the free website.