Alexander Bryson - The Boy Murderer
The prison photograph of Alexander Bryson “The Boy Murderer” shows just how young he was.
In July 1893 an incident occurred near the woolshed at Mungadal, which resulted in the death of a man known as George Smith. Also staying at the rabbitter’s camp was Alexander Bryson, described as “a lad of about 15 years”.
According to witnesses, Bryson had tied a young pup to a stump and was savagely beating it with a leather strap, when he was chastised by fellow camper John Bartley, who interfered and pushed Bryson aside. The young man retaliated, hitting Bartley with the strap. Bartley reacted by “giving him a box about the ears”.
Bryson was livid and was heard to say “I'll shoot you, you bastard” before walking to his tent, several metres away. When he reappeared, he was carrying a Winchester repeating rifle. By this time the men had returned to warm themselves by the campfire, and as Bryson put the gun to his shoulder and took aim, both adults cautioned him to put down the weapon.
Smith said “Put down that gun or I will break it,” and took a step towards Bryson. The boy fired and Smith staggered, calling out “I'm shot dead'. According to witnesses at the camp, he never spoke again, and died within minutes. The bullet pierced a pocket-book which the deceased was carrying in his left hand coat pocket which was inscribed with the name ‘George Smith’ so authorities buried him under that name. He was apparently a shearer seeking work in the region, who had stopped for the night, drawn by the light of the rabbitter’s campfire.
The Police at Hay were summonsed, and Bryson told the arresting constable that he was 15 years of age, a native of Carlton, Victoria, and an orphan. The story of the crime was reported across the Colony, no doubt fuelled by Bryson’s young age, and in the Melbourne papers it was revealed that his “parents were respectable residents of Carlton.” (The Melbourne Age, October 5, 1893.)
Despite his claims of being an orphan, The Herald Newspaper reported in July 1893 that Bryson had run away from home with his brother Robert after the death of his mother and been placed in the care of authorities.
“Bryson was always a very bad-tempered lad, and would never stop long at any place he was sent to”.
In 1889, when the boys first ran away, Alexander would have been just nine-years-old. His mother Jessie Bryson died on July 24, 1889 aged 42 years, one day after the death of her two-year-old daughter Mary. Jessie’s death certificate states the cause of death as “phthisis”, or tuberculosis, and it appears she had been ill for several months.
The Bryson brothers attracted the attention of Police and been arrested on several charges, including the theft of a pocket-watch and vagrancy. It is assumed that fleeing the law was how Alexander ended up in the Hay area.
In September, 1893 Alexander Bryson stood trial for murder at Hay Court, where it was revealed his true age was a mere 13 years. Witnesses from the camp gave evidence alongside Doctor Kennedy who had examined Smith’s body, and after deliberations the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Justice Stephens agreed and delivered a sentence of death by hanging.
As he delivered his sentence, Justice Stephens said that the evidence showed that the defendant’s temper led to the death of Mr Smith, and “his duty was an extremely painful one, to have to sentence a child like the prisoner to death.”
“During the whole of the trial the boy showed the utmost indifference, and gazed about the court in the most unconcerned manner, and when the death sentence was passed on him, he stood unmoved, and left the dock with the same light, careless that her entered it.” (The Hay Standard, September 30, 1893.)
Reports do not share where Bryson was sent to goal, however his father, Mr H S Bryson, a contractor in Carlton, petitioned the Victorian Premier, who in turn petitioned the NSW Executive Council. In October 1893 the boy’s death sentence was commuted to a life of penal servitude.
Little is known of his time behind bars but in 1904 at the age of 24 years the NSW Police Gazette reported Bryson had received a ticket of leave and was released. In 1905 the same Gazette published another notice, reporting Bryson had been granted permission to move from the district of Cobar to Broken Hill.
In 1906 he was granted permission to leave the state for a period of two months, which is where the trail of Alexander Bryson, the Boy Murderer, runs cold.
In 1917 Alexander Bryson, a bachelor, married Edith Ada at the Baptist Church in Camberwell, Victoria, but there is little information in the marriage certificate to confirm if this is the same person
Below: Bryson’s release notice was published in the Police Gazette. The final time Bryson appeared in the Police Gazette was in 1906.
