Fouracre Murder
“… a sinister Oriental, stolen jewellery and money never recovered.”
(Hasluck, A., 1967).
This is the story of Peppermint Grove, the house commonly known as Fouracres, and the tragic death of a remarkable woman, Leah Fouracre.
On Tuesday August 20, 1907 the West Australian featured this story:
A telegram from Waroona published in the “West Australian” yesterday stated that the remains of Miss Leah Fouracre, of Peppermint Grove farm, near Waroona, had been found among the burning debris of her solitary bush home. It was supposed that she had found the house on fire and perished in an attempt to rescue some of her most cherished belongings. This in the absence of any suspicious circumstances was regarded locally as the only natural conclusion that could be drawn from the circumstances as the deceased, who lived alone the bush was kindly, generous disposition, and could never have made an enemy. The fact, however, that she lived by herself in an isolated part of the bush, on a road often used by tramps and runaway sailors, caused Police Constable Campbell, of Pinjarra, to thoroughly inquire into the mysterious burning of the house.
Fouracres was a house built in 1854/56 by John Fouracre. He ran a wayside inn and
brought up his family of four girls and one boy.
A wayside inn was a place on the road for travellers to stop and stay the night, before continuing their journey. Many travellers, riding or driving up the coast road from Bunbury stayed there the night. The house was situated on the estuary side of the Old Coast Rd. On the Clifton Lake side they kept a stockyard and barns for travellers to keep horses. The Bunbury Mail Coach kept teams of horses there so that they could swap the horses for each leg of the journey. It had a well with excellent clear water and served good home cooked meals made from home grown produce, fresh milk and cream.
The inn prospered and was popular until the train line went through to Bunbury. After that the property became increasingly isolated except for family members, neighbours and a small number of runaway sailors and Afghan or IndianHawkers passing through.
John Fouracre remarried and moved to another property, as did his son, Robert and three of his daughters. Leah stayed to manage the property for her father. She closed the inn and began farming the property on her own. She rarely left the property and raised poultry, butter and eggs and a few cattle which her brother sold for her.
In August 1907, the coast road was little more than a sandy track with patches of limestone. Mandurah’s population at that time was less than 100 people, and there were few houses around the estuary. Most people walked or used horses for transport, with just the occasional car to be seen.
On August 18th, George Shenton was passing the farm when he noticed that the building had been damaged by fire. On closer examination he found that most of the structure had been burned down and that Leah lay dead inside.
Initially it looked as though she had died while trying to rescue her possessions from the blaze but her dog kept leading people to an area away from the house and here some bloodstains were found. An examination of her body found that she had been shot. As the matter was investigated it turned out that Leah's rifle, horse and other items were missing.
Prior to Leah's death, a man had been seen staying near the farm and a number of witnesses were able to give a description. The name Berchman was mentioned but no one by that name was found.
When some of Leah's possessions turned up at a pawnbrokers shop in Bunbury, it was easy enough for the authorities to trace them back to a man named Augustin de Kitchilan. Kitchilan (a.k.a. Berchman, thought to be from Ceylon) was arrested and tried for the murder of Leah Fouracre. During the investigation, it was discovered that she had been shot with her own Martin-Henry rifle. Two horses, money, perfume, jewellery and her rifle were among things that were taken from the property.
Kitchilan was found guilty of murder and was hung at Fremantle Goal on October 23rd 1907.
A photo taken of the Fouracres remains circa 1950.
FTF Congratulations urch
Further information about this location and the murder is available through the Mandurah Community Museum. The information about how they investigated the murder and subsequently apprehended the perpetrator makes for interesting reading. Below is a hyperlink to the relevant newspaper article, including far greater details about the murder, again, well worth reading:
Fouracre Murder