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By December 1890 Johnston and his wife and family were still living at 21 Drummond Street in Ballarat. At about seven o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, 9 December 1890, Katie Hicks, a servant living in the Johnston household, woke from her bed in the same room where the four children slept. Not wishing to wake the children, she left the blinds down and went about her usual morning work routine. At about eight o’clock either Hicks or the household cook, Lily Dobson, entered the nursery bedroom to rouse the children, where it was discovered that each of the children were “cold and still in death”. The next door neighbour Rebecca Oldham, the wife of a school teacher, was then informed of the tragedy. The matter was reported to the police and doctors called for. The children’s mother, Mary Johnston, was discovered in her bed, mortally wounded with a bullet embedded in her brain, apparently shot while she was lying asleep. James Johnston was found in a spare room, in a semi-conscious state and convulsing after having apparently taken poison. He was taken to the hospital where a stomach pump was applied and emetics administered. A revolver was found in a drawer in the spare room, wrapped in red flannel. Katie Hicks later recalled being woken in the night by the sound of a gunshot, but did not associate it with the household and went to sleep again.<ref name=BS10dec/><ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/209713381 The Johnston Tragedy], ”The Ballarat Star”, 3 April 1891, page 2.</ref><ref name=BS12mar/>

By December 1890 Johnston and his wife and family were still living at 21 Drummond Street in Ballarat. At about seven o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, 9 December 1890, Katie Hicks, a servant living in the Johnston household, woke from her bed in the same room where the four children slept. Not wishing to wake the children, she left the blinds down and went about her usual morning work routine. At about eight o’clock either Hicks or the household cook, Lily Dobson, entered the nursery bedroom to rouse the children, where it was discovered that each of the children were “cold and still in death”. The next door neighbour Rebecca Oldham, the wife of a school teacher, was then informed of the tragedy. The matter was reported to the police and doctors called for. The children’s mother, Mary Johnston, was discovered in her bed, mortally wounded with a bullet embedded in her brain, apparently shot while she was lying asleep. James Johnston was found in a spare room, in a semi-conscious state and convulsing after having apparently taken poison. He was taken to the hospital where a stomach pump was applied and emetics administered. A revolver was found in a drawer in the spare room, wrapped in red flannel. Katie Hicks later recalled being woken in the night by the sound of a gunshot, but did not associate it with the household and went to sleep again.<ref name=BS10dec/><ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/209713381 The Johnston Tragedy], ”The Ballarat Star”, 3 April 1891, page 2.</ref><ref name=BS12mar/>

The inquests into the deaths of Mary Johnston and her four children was concluded on 11 March 1891 in the City Police Court at Ballarat, before the magistrate Mr. Haycroft J.P. (in the absence of the coroner). At the conclusion of the evidence Haycroft instructed the jury to “discharge from their minds all evidence having reference to the death of the children”, but instead to consider the manner in which Mrs. Johnston died and whether there was sufficient evidence against her husband to be charged with her murder. The jury, after a retirement of eight minutes, found that Mary Johnston had died from a bullet wound to her head inflicted by her husband on the night of 8 December 1890 (or early the following morning), from which the jury determined that James Johnston “was guilty of wilful murder”. When asked if he had anything to say, Johnston wrote on a slate “Not guilty, leave all to Mr. Morrow” (his attorney). The magistrate then formally committed Johnston to be tried at the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court in Ballarat on 10 April 1890.<ref name=BS12mar/>

The inquests into the deaths of Mary Johnston and her four children was concluded on 11 March 1891 in the City Police Court at Ballarat, before the magistrate Mr. Haycroft (in the absence of the coroner). At the conclusion of the evidence Haycroft instructed the jury to “discharge from their minds all evidence having reference to the death of the children”, but instead to consider the manner in which Mrs. Johnston died and whether there was sufficient evidence against her husband to be charged with her murder. The jury, after a retirement of eight minutes, found that Mary Johnston had died from a bullet wound to her head inflicted by her husband on the night of 8 December 1890 (or early the following morning), from which the jury determined that James Johnston “was guilty of wilful murder”. When asked if he had anything to say, Johnston wrote on a slate “Not guilty, leave all to Mr. Morrow” (his attorney). The magistrate then formally committed Johnston to be tried at the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court in Ballarat on 10 April 1890.<ref name=BS12mar/>

James Johnston, a well-known stock and station agent, killed his four children (Queenie, 8 years; Ruby, 7 years; Gordon, 3 years, and Pearl, 2 years) by smothering them in their beds, on 8 December 1890. He then shot his wife, Mary Gourlay Johnston, through the head, and finished by poisoning himself. Mrs. Johnston died shortly afterwards, and Johnston stayed in hospital for more than two months in a critical condition. On 8 December 1890, James smothered his four children, killing them. He shot his wife, Mary, and she succumbed to her injuries several days later. James poisoned himself and was not expected to live, but recovered.

James Johnston, a well-known stock and station agent, killed his four children (Queenie, 8 years; Ruby, 7 years; Gordon, 3 years, and Pearl, 2 years) by smothering them in their beds, on 8 December 1890. He then shot his wife, Mary Gourlay Johnston, through the head, and finished by poisoning himself. Mrs. Johnston died shortly afterwards, and Johnston stayed in hospital for more than two months in a critical condition. On 8 December 1890, James smothered his four children, killing them. He shot his wife, Mary, and she succumbed to her injuries several days later. James poisoned himself and was not expected to live, but recovered.

Australian convicted murderer

James Johnston (1855 – 18 May 1891) was an Australian murderer who killed his wife and four children.

Biography

Early life

James Johnston was born in 1856 at Mount Hollowback, Victoria, and his birth was registered at Ascot, Victoria. He was the eldest son of James Johnston and Margaret Brown (née Howden).[1][2] His father had been an Assistant Gold Commissioner at Ballarat during the Eureka Rebellion, but by 1856 he was a landholder at Mount Hollowback near Ballarat.[3][A]

Johnston (senior) had left the Government service “after acquiring a moderate competency by mining”. However he eventually exhausted his funds, “and also through two or three very handsome remittances sent by wealthy friends” in the United Kingdom.[4]

For most of the period from about June 1858 until June 1869 Johnston (senior) worked as the poundkeeper at Pound Hill (also referred to as the “Ballaratshire pound”) near Learmonth, north-west of Ballarat.[4][5]

The Johnston family returned to Scotland for a short period in 1861.[3]

Business interests

By mid-1875 James Johnston (junior) was living at the gold mining settlement of Sandy Creek, near Pine Creek in the Northern Territory (north of Katherine). In July 1875 Johnston forwarded a “sample of washdirt” from the Sandy Creek Puddling Company as part of the collection of specimens intended for the Exhibitions of Philadelphia and Melbourne.[6] In December 1875 Johnston’s Sandy Creek Puddling Company sold its plant and equipment.[7] By May 1876 Johnston was carrying on business as a storekeeper at Sandy Creek.[8]

In about February 1878 Johnston opened a wholesale store at Shackle (Yam Creek), near Pine Creek.[9]

Johnston and Peter Alexander were in partnership in a store and licensed premises at Pine Creek. The partnership was dissolved in August 1878, with the business being carried on by Alexander.[10]

In February 1881 Johnston, at “Port Darwin Camp”, posted a notice asking debtors to pay their accounts by the end of March “as it is my intention to withdraw from storekeeping at the end of the wet season”.[11]

Marriage and business

In July 1881 ‘Donor’s Hill’ pastoral station in north-west Queensland was sold by Martin Hetzer by Messrs. Chirnside, Johnston, and Co., a partnership between Johnston and Andrew Chirnside.[12][13][14][B] By 1881 James Johnston (junior) was residing at ‘Donor’s Hill’, managing the station.[4][15] ‘Donor’s Hill’ station had frontages to the Flinders and Cloncurry rivers in the Gulf Country region, south of the southern extremity of the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Stokes region, about 80 miles (129 km) south of Normanton.[16][13] In 1883 the property was running in excess of fifteen thousand sheep.[17]

While Johnston was manager of ‘Donor’s Hill’ station he suffered from an attack of “fever and ague“, which was reputed to have “an after effect” whereby he “suffered from periodic headaches of a very violent nature”. Johnston also “sustained a sunstroke while in Queensland”. In addition he “sustained an injury to the spine”.[4]

James Johnston and Mary Gourlay (‘Minnie’) Harvey were married on 12 January 1882 at the house of the bride’s parents at Buninyong.[15][C]

In April 1882 Johnston was appointed as a magistrate in the Normanton jurisdiction.[18] The couple’s first two children were born at ‘Donor’s Hill’ station in Queensland. The eldest child, Mary Gourlay (known as ‘Queenie’), was born on 4 October 1882. Her younger sister, Constance Ruby (known as ‘Ruby’), was born on 23 August 1883.[19][2]

Johnston and his family returned to the Ballarat district, probably in late 1883, where “for about two years” Johnston was manager of ‘Carranballac’ station near Skipton, a pastoral estate owned at that stage by Robert Chirnside.[4] Chirnside was three years older than Johnston and the two had known each other since their teenage years.[20][21]

James Johnston (senior) died on 22 January 1885 at his home in Buninyong, aged 59.[22][23]

In December 1885 it was reported that James Johnston, a stock and station agent, held his first sale at the Corporation Saleyards in Ballarat.[24] In September 1886 Robert Chirnside gave Johnston a signed guarantee of £3,500, on the City of Melbourne Bank, in support of his business as a stock and station agent.[21] Chirnside later provided another signed guarantee of £1,500 on the same bank.[21]

James and Mary (‘Minnie’) Johnston had two more children, both born in Ballarat. James Gordon (known as ‘Gordon’) was born on 19 June 1887 at the family residence of 22 Pleasant Street. The youngest child of the family, Gladys Pearl (known as ‘Pearl’), was born on 29 October 1888 at 21 Drummond Street in Ballarat.[25][26]

Johnston’s mother Margaret died on 15 July 1888 at Buninyong, Victoria, aged 57.[2]

With good connections within the landholding class Johnston’s business as a stock and station agent initially flourished, though by about 1890 “business matters were not as brisk as they might have been, and financial affairs no doubt pressed themselves upon his attention with a persistency that business men do not relish”.[4]

The murders

By December 1890 Johnston and his wife and family were still living at 21 Drummond Street in Ballarat. At about seven o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, 9 December 1890, Katie Hicks, a servant living in the Johnston household, woke from her bed in the same room where the four children slept. Not wishing to wake the children, she left the blinds down and went about her usual morning work routine. At about eight o’clock either Hicks or the household cook, Lily Dobson, entered the nursery bedroom to rouse the children, where it was discovered that each of the children were “cold and still in death”. The next door neighbour Rebecca Oldham, the wife of a school teacher, was then informed of the tragedy. The matter was reported to the police and doctors called for. The children’s mother, Mary Johnston, was discovered in her bed, mortally wounded with a bullet embedded in her brain, apparently shot while she was lying asleep. James Johnston was found in a spare room, in a semi-conscious state and convulsing after having apparently taken poison. He was taken to the hospital where a stomach pump was applied and emetics administered. A revolver was found in a drawer in the spare room, wrapped in red flannel. Katie Hicks later recalled being woken in the night by the sound of a gunshot, but did not associate it with the household and went to sleep again.[4][27][21]

The inquests into the deaths of Mary Johnston and her four children was concluded on 11 March 1891 in the City Police Court at Ballarat, before the magistrate Mr. Haycroft (in the absence of the coroner). At the conclusion of the evidence Haycroft instructed the jury to “discharge from their minds all evidence having reference to the death of the children”, but instead to consider the manner in which Mrs. Johnston died and whether there was sufficient evidence against her husband to be charged with her murder. The jury, after a retirement of eight minutes, found that Mary Johnston had died from a bullet wound to her head inflicted by her husband on the night of 8 December 1890 (or early the following morning), from which the jury determined that James Johnston “was guilty of wilful murder”. When asked if he had anything to say, Johnston wrote on a slate “Not guilty, leave all to Mr. Morrow” (his attorney). The magistrate then formally committed Johnston to be tried at the criminal sittings of the Supreme Court in Ballarat on 10 April 1890.[21]

James Johnston, a well-known stock and station agent, killed his four children (Queenie, 8 years; Ruby, 7 years; Gordon, 3 years, and Pearl, 2 years) by smothering them in their beds, on 8 December 1890. He then shot his wife, Mary Gourlay Johnston, through the head, and finished by poisoning himself. Mrs. Johnston died shortly afterwards, and Johnston stayed in hospital for more than two months in a critical condition. On 8 December 1890, James smothered his four children, killing them. He shot his wife, Mary, and she succumbed to her injuries several days later. James poisoned himself and was not expected to live, but recovered.

Johnston was charged with murder on 11 March 1891 and stood trial at Ballarat Supreme Court. He was convicted and sentenced to death on 10 April 1891.

Johnston’s execution was set for 11 May 1891, but as doubts arose as to his sanity, his execution was postponed and Johnston was examined by a medical board. The three doctors pronounced him to be quite sane on 13 May.

Johnston was hanged at Ballarat gaol at 10 a.m. on 18 May 1891. (The West Australian, 9 February 1891; 13 March 1891; 13 April 1891; The Brisbane Courier, 10 December 1890; 13 May 1891; 14 May 1891; 19 May 1891)

Summary.[3]

Trial and execution

http://www.cchg.asn.au/crime.html

By law, if two medical practitioners certified that a condemned prisoner was insane, the governor of Victoria had the power to grant a reprieve and move the prisoner to a lunatic asylum. At around midnight on the night before his scheduled execution two doctors examined Johnston to determine his mental state. One of the doctors decided the prisoner was insane, resulting in an urgent exchange of telegrams in the early hours of the morning. A telegram to stop the Johnston’s execution was rushed from the post office to the Ballarat gaol by cab, arriving in time to halt the process.[28]

He was convicted of murder and died by judicial execution on 18 May 1891.

Notes

A.^ James Johnston (senior) arrived at Melbourne from Scotland in 1852. In November 1853 he was appointed as an Assistant Gold Commissioner on the Victorian gold-fields. Soon afterwards Johnston sent for his fiancée Margaret Brown Howden to join him. She arrived on the vessel Hurricane and the couple were married a week later, at Geelong on 9 August 1854. By September the couple were living in the government compound of Camp Hill, on an escarpment overlooking the gold diggings and shanties at Ballarat. Johnston was one of the three government officials presiding over a judicial enquiry in October 1854 into the death of James Scobie, a prelude to the armed rebellion by disgruntled miners. After the events of the Eureka Stockade and the treason trials of February 1855, Johnston worked as a poundkeeper. The couple had fifteen children born from 1855 to 1875, about ten of whom survived to adulthood.[3][29][2]
B.^ The ownership of ‘Donor’s Hill’ was transferred from Martin Hetzer to Cyrus Mason “at a satisfactory price” in July 1881.[30] In 1882 the owners of ‘Donor’s Hill’ was described as either “Chirnside and Mason” or “Messrs. Chirnside, Johnston, and Co.”.[31] One 1883 reference records Messrs. Chirnside, Johnston, and Co. as the owners of ‘Donor’s Hill’.[13]
C.^ Margaret Gourlay Harvey was born on 2 August 1858 at Buninyong, the eldest daughter of Robert M. Harvey (surveyor) and Jane (née Rankin).[32][15]

References

  1. ^ Victorian birth registration: James Johnston; reg. no.: 4689/1856.
  2. ^ a b c d Family records, Ancestry.com website.
  3. ^ a b c d Susie Douglas (2014), From the Borders to Ballarat and Beyond, Borders Ancestry website; accessed 27 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g A Horrible Tragedy, The Ballarat Star, 10 December 1890, page 4.
  5. ^ Impoundings, The Star (Ballarat), 28 June 1858, page 4; Notice. – In order to the carrying out…, The Ballarat Star, 29 November 1867, page 3; Impoundings, The Ballarat Star, 1 June 1869, page 4.
  6. ^ The collection of specimens…, Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin), 10 July 1875, page 2.
  7. ^ Sale By Auction, Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin), 27 November 1875, page 2.
  8. ^ To Teamsters, Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin), 6 May 1876, page 1.
  9. ^ Johnston’s Wholesale Store, Shackle, Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin), 12 January 1878, page 2.
  10. ^ Public Notice, Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin), 22 March 1879, page 1.
  11. ^ Public Notice, Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin), 26 March 1881, page 2.
  12. ^ The Drummond Street Tragedy, The Ballarat Courier, 11 April 1891, page 4.
  13. ^ a b c A Trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria, The Brisbane Courier, 8 January 1883, page 3.
  14. ^ Mr. Fookes, the overseer…, The Argus (Melbourne), 21 April 1882, page 6.
  15. ^ a b c Marriages, The Ballarat Star, 21 January 1882, page 2.
  16. ^ Mr. James Johnstone, of Donors Hill…, The Brisbane Courier, 3 November 1882, page 4.
  17. ^ The Far North Pastoral Company, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney), 28 July 1883, page 20.
  18. ^ New Magistrates, The Capricornian (Rockhampton), 29 April 1882, page 12.
  19. ^ Births, The Ballarat Star, 20 October 1882, page 2.
  20. ^ Obituary: The Late Mr. Robert Chirnside, The Australasian Pastoralists’ Review, 15 February 1900, page 718; Australian Dictionary of Biography website, accessed 29 September 2025.
  21. ^ a b c d e The Johnston Tragedy, The Ballarat Star, 12 March 1891, page 4.
  22. ^ Our Buninyong correspondent writes…, The Ballarat Star, 24 January 1885, page 2.
  23. ^ Ballarat, Bendigo Advertiser, 24 January 1885, page 2.
  24. ^ Mr. James Johnston…, The Ballarat Star, 10 December 1885, page 2.
  25. ^ Births, The Ballarat Star, 27 June 1887, page 2.
  26. ^ Births, The Ballarat Star, 10 November 1888, page 2.
  27. ^ The Johnston Tragedy, The Ballarat Star, 3 April 1891, page 2.
  28. ^ John Waugh (2017), page 197.
  29. ^ Eureka: A Multicultural Affair, Ballarat Heritage Services website; accessed 27 September 2025.
  30. ^ Stations, The Argus (Melbourne), 7 July 1881, page 10.
  31. ^ Stock Movements and State of the Country, The Queenslander (Brisbane), 29 July 1882, page 153.
  32. ^ Births, The Star (Ballarat), 9 August 1858, page 2.
Sources
  • Amanda Kaladelfos (2013), ‘The dark side of the family: paternal child homicide in Australia’, Journal of Australian Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3, pages 333-348.
  • Victoria Maria Nagy & Georgina Rychner (2021), ‘Longitudinal Analysis of Australian Filicide Perpetration Trends: Filicide in Victoria, 1860-1920’, International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, Vol. 10, No. 2, pages 50-66.
  • John Waugh (2017), ‘Capital Punishment in Colonial Victoria: The Role of the Executive Council’, Victorian Historical Journal, Royal Historical Society of Victoria, November 2017, Vol. 88, No. 2, pages 188-211.

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