Just a month short of his 13th birthday, David Campbell junior was fatally injured in an accident while working at the Dinmore Brick and Tile Works near Ipswich in Queensland.
Newspaper report of accident.
As was the case for most youngsters in the 19th Century, work at such a tender age was a normal part of life.
No doubt his father David had a hand in getting the lad a job.
Young David’s tiny body was caught in a brick-making machine and he was so entangled that the mechanism had to be pulled apart to free him.
The Queenslander newspaper of 2 Aug 1890 reported the grim details of the accident (see below for transcript).
David’s death certificate reveals he died soon after the accident. Transcript of death certificate:
2240 4827 29th July 1890 at Ipswich Hospital, David Campbell, labourer, male, aged 12 years 11 months, Cause: compound fracture of pelvis and right thigh; shock; fall into brick-making machine (Magisterial Inquiry held 5 Aug 1890) Parents David Campbell, coal miner, and Mary Campbell. Informant David Campbell, Dinmore. Buried 30 Jul 1890 at Ipswich Cemetery. Minister Leo Peter Robertson, Presbyterian. Born West Mains, Bothkennar, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Lived 6 years in Queensland.
David Campbell junior’s death certificate.
Newspaper report:
A shocking accident occurred at the Dinmore Brick and Tile Works this afternoon. A boy, 13 years of age, named David Campbell, got caught in the machinery, and was so entangled in it that it took the employees two hours to release him, some of the machinery having to be broken for that purpose. He was brought to the Ipswich Hospital to-night, and was found to be severely injured about the thighs and the lower parts of the body, and is now suffering terrible pain, and but slight hopes are entertained of his recovery.
Ipswich. (1890, August 2). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 – 1939), p. 233. Retrieved July 23, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20284952
David Campbell was my great-great uncle.