Biography

Inquest 27 February 1894 (Police Gazette 16 May 1894 page 92) Western Mail, 17 March 1894, states: "The awfully sudden death of Mr. John Raeside, the Coolgardie butcher, a son of the Government Water Surveyor for the Public Works Department of WA, caused general surprise. Following as it did on the suicide of Edward May, and the body being found with a revolver grasped in the right hand, it was at first believed that this young man had taken his own life. Stories of a disappointment in love and a disagreement with his father about money matters were quickly circulated as reasons for the rash act, but the evidence at the inquest dispelled all doubts. Mr. Raeside, at midday on Monday, borrowed a loaded revolver for the purpose of shooting a dingo caught in a trap, and the medical evidence disclosed the fact that the deceased's ankle was dislocated and that the dislocation probably caused him to fall, with the result that the revolver exploded causing sudden death. The bullet passed right through the head horizontally, without singeing the hair or skin. The jury unanimously returned a verdict of accidental death." Allan Raeside, the deceased's father, is believed to have drowned at West Beach, Esperance, twelve months after the death of his son. Lake Raeside was named after Allan Raeside.