Martha May Windle

1881 - 1899  (18 years)

• Name	Martha May Windle
  Nickname	May
  Born	01 May 1881	Coogee Bay, NSW, Australia
  Gender	Female
  Died	18 Sep 1899	Randwick, NSW, Australia
  Buried	19 Sep 1899	Randwick Cemetery, Randwick, NSW, Australia
  	Section EE Row T Plot 81
  Person ID	I88	Kelly / Grayer
  Last Modified	30 Oct 2017

  
  

  Father	Alfred Ernest Windle,   b. 8 Oct 1844, Chippendale, NSW, Australia ,   d. 17 Jul 1922, Granville, NSW, Australia  (Age 77 years)
  Mother	Sarah Rebecca Meades,   b. 12 Mar 1849, Maidstone, Kent, England ,   d. 24 Jan 1927, Waverley, NSW, Australia  (Age 77 years)
  Married	07 Jan 1868	Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia
  	41 Burton St. Free Church of England
  Photos		Ada and Hannah Windle Daughters of Alfred Windle II
  Documents		Alfred Windle Sarah Meades marriage
  Histories		Alfred Windle and Sarah Meades wedding Alfred Windle and Sarah Meades wedding
  Family ID	F26	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 01 May 1881 - Coogee Bay, NSW, Australia Buried - 19 Sep 1899 - Randwick Cemetery, Randwick, NSW, Australia  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  Martha May Cameo

  
  

  Headstones

  May Windle Headstone

  
  

  Histories » Slide Show		Martha May Memorial
  		Martha Memorial 1901
  		Martha May Coroners Inquest - day 1
  		Martha May Coroners Inquest - day 2
  		Martha May Inquest
  		Martha May inquest
  		Martha May Inquest
  		Memorial to May and grandchildren inserted by Sarah Windle

  
  

• Notes

  From Marjorie Smith: Martha died tragically at the age of 18 years and 4 months from a burst appendix. Mother Sarah and sister Caroline were very close and grieved for her for the rest of their lives. Sarah always wore a cameo necklace with a photo of the young Martha. Marjorie thought that Martha was referred to as Mary, but her nickname was May. From: Leanne Paterson Leane saw Martha's autopsy report which put her death down to poisoning, not a burst appendix From Mike Kelly: Marjorie's version of events (above) was the story handed down through the family to cover up the shameful events that really occurred. Marjorie died in June 2014 and I never told her the horrific real story of Martha May (May) Windle. The coroner's inquest concluded that Martha had died from phosphorous poisoning (rat poison). Her father, Alfred, maintained that Martha's fiance Patrick Walsh had mistreated her in the period leading up to her death. Sister Lily testified that she had never seen Martha mistreated by Walsh or his brother. Martha claimed a "man had come home affected by liquor and had taken advantage of her", the doctor said he was of the opinion that "certain events had taken place". After reading all the reports I came to the conclusion that father Alfred came home drunk and sexually assaulted her, which led directly to her taking her own life by ingesting rat poison. After that he had the gall to try and blame Patrick, but wife Sarah and the sisters testified otherwise. This would also explain why my grandmother hated him so much. There was also an inference that Martha had threatened to take poison if Patrick continued abusing alcohol.