| It is rare in an Australian cemetery to see a statue of a deceased person. There are plenty of statues, but they tend to be either religious, or have pretensions to Greece or Rome. So this statue of Robert Hancock out at Rookwood Necropolis stopped me in my tracks the other day. Very English landed-gentry, isn't it? To put it in our Australian vernacular: 'Geez, this bloke was up himself!' The dedication states that Hancock died in 1876 aged 69 years. It doesn't give details of family or status, or even allow one to assume his remains are interred beneath. But ... wanting to see the statue from the back, I burst out laughing. There is a plaque on the base of the rear of the statue that states that the statue was erected by Robert Hancock in May 1844. Well, thinks I, that confirms my original assessment of his character. Then, I twigged. Rookwood only opened in 1867, so the statue must have been erected elsewhere, and moved here upon Hancock's death. |
| Hancock followed his father into the George Street wheelwright business in 1837, whilst at the same time leasing the 'Britannia Inn'. He divested himself of the wheelwright shackle in 1847 and bought the Wellington Inn, and Tower Inn which he renamed 'Tower Court'. In 1873, he moved on to the 'Lady of the Lake' in Bay Street Glebe. Going from the date on the plaque (1844), Hancock must have erected the statue at the 'Britannia'. His documents, held by the State Library, indicate that the statue was moved from his pub to the cemetery upon his death. The 'Dictionary of Sydney' has a short phrase about Hancock calling him a publican and petty thief. The Glebe Society goes further, stating 'When the Lady of the Lake’s wealthy owner Robert Hancock took over, the place became a haunt for derelicts,outlaws, vagabonds, thieves and ‘haybag’ women'. His papers indicate a court case over cheating two children of a friend out of their inheritance. Some friend! In addition, there were contentions with his own will after his death, with an 1870 version and an 1875 version. |
He married Catherine Ball in May 1829, but I found no record to offspring. Which might be where the hunting dog comes in. She bares an incredible resemblance to the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus in the Roman creation theory. But how did her ear get ripped off? She looks a bit like a Staffie. I sure would not want to meet that man and that dog down a back alley late at night!
What do you think a 'hay-bag' woman was?
| This is my contribution to the Taphophile Tragics community. |