Difference between revisions of "Royal Commission report day 37 page 13"

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The Royal Commission evidence for 20/7/1881

(see also introduction to day 37)

[[../../people/peS_T/sherrittEllenMrsJnr.html|Mrs. Sherritt, junior]] giving evidence

13242 Did you know that Sherritt had been asked to keep away from his hut for a fortnight–some time before that–for fear he would be shot?— No.

13243 How long were you married before your husband was shot?— Six months.

13244 Did Joe Byrne say he did not want to shoot you, and would not shoot you?— He kept threatening us all the time, and saying he would shoot us if whoever was in the room did not come out. He said one time, when my mother was begging of him not to shoot us, he would not shoot her or her daughter, but he would have whoever was in the room out.

13245 Did you consider that they would have been in great danger if they had come out?— Well, I think if they had come out he would have shot them down the minute he saw them.

13246 They were out in the darkness, and could not have seen?— Not very well; but, at the commencement, he was standing inside the back door just about a step in; he could have been seen by them.

13247 Was the door open so that it would hide his body from the bedroom?— It was not opened wide; it was just pushed aside.

13248 Did the door open to the wall of the bedroom?— Not quite; it was about half open.

13249 What did the police do when you went in to tell them to come out?— They told me to keep out of the road, or I would be shot.

13250 They would not come out?— No.

13251 I think you have mentioned that they compelled you to stop in the bedroom afterwards?— I was sent in three times before they kept me in; it was the third time I went in they told me I had better stop in.

13252 And what time did the outlaws discover there were police in the bedroom–did they ever cry out that there were police, and that they wanted them out?— Not while I was outside.

13253 Did you hear them say that at any time?— No. Oh, I heard Joe Byrne sing out to somebody at the back in the scrub to come out, that there were dogs in the room, and they would not come out. I do not know whether he meant police or not.

13254 Could the police have had any opportunity of shooting any of them at all from the bedroom?— No.

13255 Would they have had if they had rushed out into the sitting-room?— Well, I think if they had rushed out into the sitting-room they would have been shot.

13256 Is there anything connected with the matter that you remember that you have not put in your letters. There is some report here from the Ovens and Murray Advertiser , I suppose that is as far as you know the true report of what happened?— Yes, I could not very well remember at the time what had happened, I was in such a state.

13257 Did they put you under the bed for safety?— They told me I had better remain there under the bed; that the outlaws would not burn the house down while there were women in.

13258 Who first told you to go under the bed?— Constable Armstrong .

13259 There was not much room in the bedroom with you all there?— Oh, there was not much room, but still they thought it was better for me to go under the bed, because I wanted to go out.

13260 Then there was the danger of your being shot if they fired at the house. I suppose they thought you would be in danger of being shot if the bullet passed through?— Yes.

13261 Were you greatly inconvenienced by being put under the bed?— While I was in the place, during half the time, I think I took a weakness while I was under the bed, and my mother was calling me to come out, and was trying to pull me out from under, and I could not very well hear what she was saying.

13262 From all you saw, you do not find fault with the constables for not going out of the bedroom?— No, I do not find fault with them for not rushing out, because if they had they would have been shot. There was a chance in the commencement, but I do not think they had their firearms ready at the time.

13263 You think they could have shot Joe Byrne where they were if they had been prepared just on the moment?— Yes.

13264 During the time they were out in the night, watching, those places, where did they sleep in the day?— In the bedroom.....

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