• General Notes

  Louis has been referred to as Louis Feeran
  Many newspaper articles of the time referred to him as Louis Halberstaedter but in later life, marriage and death certificates, he was known as Louis Halberstater.
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  Electoral roll 1903/05/25/30/36 - Mary (domestic duties) and Louis Halberstater (grazier) were both living at Dee Street, Mount Morgan Qld.
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  Court case reported in the Queensland newspapers...
  
  Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld.) - Wednesday 17 June 1896 – In the Courts...
  “THE SUPREME COURT. CRIMINAL JURISDICTION. Tuesday, 16th June.
  Before His Honour Mr. Justice Power.
  The Hon. A. Rutledge (Crown Prosecutor), instructed by Mr. A. I. Cooling (from the Crown Law Office), represented the Crown. 
  WOUNDING WITH INTENT TO DO GREVIOUS BODILY HARM.
  Edward Chauncey Vaughan and Edward Easton were charged with having, on the 9th of March last, at Mount Morgan, unlawfully and maliciously wounded Louis Halberstaedter with intent to do him grievous bodily harm. They pleaded not guilty.
  Mr. E. M. Lilley, instructed by Messrs. Swanwick and Kavanagh, appeared for the defence.
  The following jury was empanelled :   Messrs. Henry A. Forbes, Robert Barry, Richard H. Nye, John Macfarlane, Joseph Bryant, Alexander Pearson, John Danielson, John Turner, William Fraser, Peter Costello, John Hawtin, and Johann M. Anderson.
  Mr. Edward Harris was passed by counsel but as the Bible was being handed to him he said, "I would rather not sit on this case," and be was ordered to "stand by" by the Crown Prosecutor.
  The Crown Prosecutor opened the case at some length.
  John Edward O'Sullivan, police constable stationed at Mount Morgan, stated that when he arrested Vaughan he replied, "Yes, I did give him a bit of a punching."
  By Mr. Lilley: Prisoners were overseers on the mountain, men in positions of trust, and respectable men as far as he knew; Vaughan was a son-in-law of Easton's.
  Louis Halberstaedter, butcher, residing a Mount Morgan, deponed that on the day in question he was riding down Mundie Creek in company with John David Livingstone and Owen O'Connell, but later on he was joined by John Steen ; all were on horseback ; while they were riding along they met Vaughan, who was on the left side of the road ;
  Vaughan rushed over towards witness, came close to his horse, seized him by the left arm and shoulder, and pulled him off the horse saying " Come off that horse, you —— cow ;' Vaughan threw him to the ground and he (witness) fell on his left elbow and shoulder; he turned a complete somersault over the back of the horse ; Vaughan struck him several very hard blows in the face with his fist, hitting him about the fore- head, nose, and eyes principally ; the blows seemed as if they were inflicted by a knuckle duster; he called out "For —— sake, Jack that will do; tell me what it's about;" Vaughan replied "No, you ——, I am going to kill you; only I met you here I was going to come down to-night and shoot you;" the   blows hurt him very much; Vaughan was striking him for about five or six minutes and struck him about the body as well as on the face; the other men were half-a-dozen yard away sitting on their horses while this was going on, and Easton was present; Easton was between witness and O'Connell, Livingstone, and Steen ; Easton came there with Vaughan ; while Vaughan was striking Livingstone said "That will do, Jack; let him up ; let him alone," and Easton said, "No ; kill the ——, Jack ; if you don't I will;"     Easton had stones in his hands ; one of the stones was pretty large ; Easton said to O'Connell " By —— Owen, if you interfere I will give you the same;" Easton said to witness after the assault "You can summons   him now and I will pay the fine if it is £100, and went away with Vaughan; he lost a great quantity of blood, and after the prisoner went away he tried to get on his feet, but was very weak and fell back ; after another attempt he got up and went to a little stream of water and washed the blood off; he discovered a cut on the forehead, one over the right eyebrow, and one on the side of the nose ; his top lip was cut ; there was a cut on the right side of his head, and he had bruises on the left shoulder and elbow all these cuts were caused by Vaughan and the bruises by his being pulled off his horse by Vaughan ; he was attended to by Dr. Mackenzie an hour later that night, and the following night he went to the Hospital where he was attended to by Dr. Brannigan, and where he remained a week ; he had never given the prisoner any provocation to attack him.
  The witness was cross-examined at great length by Mr. Lilley as to whether he had not spoken disparagingly of the prisoners and relatives of theirs ; but he denied the charge.
  Arthur Colin Mackenzie, duly qualified medical practitioner, stated he saw the last witness about eight o'clock on the evening in question in his bedroom behind the butcher's shop at Tipperary Point ; there was a vertical wound 1¼ in. long on the forehead and extending to the bone ; there was another wound immediately above this and running parallel with the eyebrow 1 in. long, and in this also the bone was exposed and the true skin cut ; there was another wound on the right side of the bridge of the nose measuring ½ in. in length, but not so deep as the others, and the true skin was not cut ; there was a cut at the juncture of the nose with the upper lip ¾ in. long and in depth extending to the mucous membrane lining the inside of the lip the true skin was cut ; there was a small punctured lacerated wound towards the right side of the head, but the true skin was not completely cut; the right eye was swollen and bruised as was also the whole upper lip the right elbow was bruised and abraded there were slight abrasions on the back; he should say the wounds on the face were caused by some blunt instrument and force would have been required to produce them; a man's naked fist might have caused most of the wounds, but he did not think the one on the lip could have been done by the hand ; a ring on the finger would have caused the wound on the lip ; when he saw the last witness he was suffering from shock, he had lost a large quantity of blood, and he was moaning from pain; none of the wounds were dangerous at all, but they could cause discomfort and pain; he dressed the wounds, and Halberstaedter went to the Hospital and remained there for some days.
  By Mr. Lilley : The wound on the lip and on the top of the head might have been caused by the fall, and the others could have been caused by the fist ; when Halberstaedter came to see him he told him to lay up for a day and come to see him on the day following ; on the day following be heard Halberstaedter was in the Hospital, and was much surprised to find him there because none of
  the wounds were serious.
  John Daniel Livingstone, jockey, gave evidence corroborating that of Halberstaedter. He added that when Halberstaedter was pulled off the horse he fell on some broken metal on the left shoulder and side of the head: that Euston said 'By ---, if any of you interfere I will stiffen you with this stone ; " that when Halberstaedter asked Vaughan what it was about Vaughan replied " You know —— well what it is about ;" that Easton said " Kill the ---; if you don't I will." In cross-examination he
  admitted that he heard Vaughan say to Halberstaedter "Louis, you have brought this on yourself." 
  Owen O'Connell, stockman, corroborated Livingstone's testimony, adding that when Vaughan stopped assaulting Halberstaedter, the latter looked like a blackfellow.
  John Steen, butcher's basket boy, supported O'Connell's testimony. He added that on the day following the assault he met Vaughan, who asked him how Halberstaedter was; witness replied that he did not know ; Vaughan said "You know right enough; I am sorry for it, but if I had not met him there I was going down to shoot him; "on the day succeeding that witness was out riding and passed Vaughan; Vaughan said to two men who were passing " Louis had two or three more witnesses like that thing on the horse;" witness laughed and Vaughan said "If you laugh you might come off the horse quicker than Louis did."
  By Mr. Lilley : He heard Vaughan tell Halberstaedter he had brought this on himself.
  By His Honour : He did not see anything in Vaughan's hand, but he might have had a ring on his finger without witness having seen it ; Halberstaedter had no cuts on his face when he reached the ground after being dragged off the horse by Vaughan.
  This concluded the case for the prosecution. Mr. Lilley briefly opened the case for the defence, and called (Norah Ellen) Frances Helen Conmee, wife of Patrick Conmee, and a dressmaker at Mount Morgan. Mrs. Conmee testified to conversations she had with Halberstaedter in December last, in the course of which he spoke disparagingly of a relative of the prisoners.
  At this stage the Court adjourned.
  
  On resuming,
  Mrs. Conmee again took the box, and, in reply to Mr. Lilley, stated that a day or two after St. Patrick's Day she told Edward Thomas Easton, a son of one of the prisoners, some disparaging remarks she had heard Halberstaedter make about a relative of the prisoners. In cross-examination witness stated it was two years ago that Halberstaedter made these remarks to her and she told no one about them until the night before she told Edward Thomas Easton of them. Witness then interjected that Halberstaedter had taken her away from a good home, lived with her for a year and a half, and then deserted her, leaving her without a sixpence in her pocket for herself and her five children. Then she attempted to commit suicide, and he let her come to Rockhampton for trial without a sixpence to pay her way.
  Edward Thomas Easton, son of the prisoner Easton, and a labourer in the service of the Mount Morgan Company, gave evidence as to a conversation he had with the last witness about five o'clock on the evening of the 10th of March, in the course of which she told him of remarks made by Halberstaedter about the prisoners and relatives of theirs. He added that he went home and
  told the prisoners what had occurred, and just as he had told them Halberstaedter came in sight; Vaughan and witness's father walked towards Halberstaedter, and he (witness) followed ; Vaughan waited for Halberstaedter to come up, and the next thing witness saw was the two men struggling together on the ground ; O'Connell went to ride up to Vaughan with his stockwhip raised, but witness's father stepped between and told O'Connell he should not allow him to interfere, as it was man for man and they were having fair play; Vaughan said to Halberstaedter that many a man would have shot him for saying what he had said, but he was not worth shooting — he was only worth a good hiding.
  The prisoner Vaughan, who gave his evidence from the dock, stated that when the last witness told him what Mrs. Conmee had said of Halberstaedter's remarks he said "I will give him a good hiding for this ;" just as he said this one of the Easton boys said "There he is coming down the creek now," and witness said "I will give him a hiding now ;" Easton said "If you don't thrash him I will ;" witness walked over to Halberstaedter and said "Come down out of that, Louis ; I will give you a good hiding," at the same time catching hold of him ; Halberstaedter asked what for, and he told him ; Halberstaedter struck him in the face with the butt end of his stockwhip, and witness took hold of him by the other hand and twisted him off his horse ; the two of them fell together, Halberstaedter falling on top of witness; witness said "Get up Louis," and when he got up witness struck him ; witness had a ring on his finger a ring that he had worn for years; be struck Halberstaedter with both hands, told him he had brought it on himself, and that many men would have put a bullet through him, but he was only worth a hiding ; he did not say he would kill Halberstaedter, and he did not hear Easton say that if witness did not kill him he (Easton) would ; witness gave Halberstaedter a good hiding, but not a very bad one because he (Halberstaedter) kept hanging on to witness closely ; when the affair was over he said to Halberstaedter "You have brought this on yourself, and you can summons me if you like," to which Halberstaedter replied "Oh, no, I am not one of that sort ; " Easton also said "You can summons him if you like I have the money to pay the fine."
  By Mr. Rutledge : He knew a man could be punished criminally or civilly for libel, but he did not stop to consider that ; he knew that he had taken the law into his own hands and that he had broken the law, but he did not stop to think about the consequences of that ; he was not a violent man, but he was fined for using obscene language and resisting the police four or five years ago, and he once gave an Assyrian hawker a —— good hiding for forcing a window of his house when his (witness's) wife was there alone.
  His Honour : You will have to be more careful in your language.
  Vaughan : I beg your pardon. It slipped out.
  The prisoner Easton also gave his evidence from the dock. He stated that when he saw Halberstaedter coming along he said to Vaughan, "If you don't give him a hiding, I will," and Vaughan said he would ; Vaughan and himself walked down from the house about 200 or 300 yards, and for fear anyone should say he interfered he (witness) went down the road about twenty-five yards from where Vaughan and Halberstaedter met, but when the men who were with Halberstaedter commenced to close on Vaughan witness said "If any of you interfere I will give you as good as he is getting ;" O'Connell then made towards witness with his whip raised and witness picked up a stone and said " I will knock your —— head off your shoulders if you strike me with that whip ;" O'Connell desisted and witness threw away the stone ; he had seen children get a far worse hiding than Halberstaedter got and make no fuss about it ; after it was over witness said to Halberstaedter " You can summons if you like, I will pay the fine if it is £50 or £100 ;" he also said "Louis, you have brought this on yourself you have only got what you richly deserve and it's a wonder you did not get more."
  By Mr. Rutledge : He knew that he was breaking the law and that the result of what he did would probably be that Halberstaedter would take proceedings, but he did not give that consideration at the time.
  Henry Cooke Brannigan, duly qualified medical practitioner and Resident Medical Officer of the Mount Morgan Hospital, stated Halberstaedter came to the Hospital on the evening of the 20th of March, and when witness examined the wounds he found they     were all fairly healed ; the wounds were not serious, and Halberstaedter could have gone about his work the next day if he had had any pluck, but he stayed in the Hospital seven days.
  Thomas Moore, labourer, Mount Morgan, stated he heard Vaughan say to Halbertaedter on the 19th of March that many men would have shot him for saying what he had said and Easton said "Louis, you fetched all this on yourself, and if Jack had not done it I would."
  Edward O'Regan, labourer, Mount Morgan, testified to hearing Halberstaedter say after the row "It is a —— lie" and Vaughan declare "It is not a lie." He also heard Vaughan say to Halberstaedter that many men would have shot him, but he was not worth shooting.
  This concluded the case for the defence.
  
  Mr. Lilley then addressed the jury. He referred at length to the conduct of Halberstaedter and the provocation the prisoners had received, and asked the jurors—if His Honour directed them in such a way that they could not acquit — to recommend the prisoners to mercy on the ground of the strongest provocation.
  The Crown Prosecutor remarked, in the course of his address, that there was no such thing as extenuating circumstances in law, and that the sole point for the jury to determine was whether or not the prisoners were guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm or of the lesser offence of unlawfully wounding. If there was anything in the case which should go to mitigate the punishment that was a matter for His Honour to consider, not the jury.
  His Honour briefly summed up. There seemed to be no dispute whatever as to the facts, and the simple questions for the jury to determine were --Were the prisoners or either of them guilty or not guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm? If they were not guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, were they guilty or not guilty of unlawfully wounding? The jury had nothing whatever to do with the question of punishment ; but, of course, it could make any recommendation it liked, and he should give the fullest consideration to it. Society would be unbearable if people were allowed to take the law into their own hands and mete out condign punishment. There was no evidence that the prisoner Easton assaulted Halberslaedter ; but if he stood by and prevented others from going to the assistance of Halberstaedter, he was aiding and abetting the assault, and was equally guilty with the other prisoner, whom the witnesses swore committed the assault. There was nothing in the evidence to show that at the time the assault was committed — and that there was an assault committed there could be no doubt — Halberstaedter gave any provocation ; but if, as had been alleged, he had slandered the prisoners and their relatives, the prisoners had their remedy either in a criminal suit or a civil suit. They had no right, though, to take the law into their own hands.
  
  The jury retired at five minutes past four, and, after fifteen minutes' consideration, returned with a verdict of not guilty.
  The verdict was received with applause; but it was instantly silenced.
  His Honour (to the Crown Prosecutor) : Is there any other charge against the prisoners ?
  The Crown Prosecutor : No.
  His Honour : You are both discharged.
  Vaughan : I beg your pardon.
  His Honour : You are discharged.
  Vaughan : Thank you.
  The Court then adjourned until ten o'clock to-morrow (this) morning.”
  
  

Details of Louis' family with Norah (Nellie) Frances Ellen Scanlan

Details of Louis' family with Mary Agnes Sheehan