Individual Notes
Note for: Alfred James Seldon Buck, 1 NOV 1852 - 10 APR 1897
Index
Burial: Date: 13 APR 1897
Place: Christ Church, Taita, Lower Hutt
Individual Note: Some details from B Bennett nee Pye
*Birth Details Date: 1852, Folio No: 52/356, Area: Wellington Area, No quarter listed, Name: Alfred James Seldon Buck*
Birth Certificate Transcription shows Where and When: 1/11/1852, No Place Listed, Father: George Green Buck, Occ: Licensed Victualler, Mother: Mary Ann Buck nee Salmon, Informant: George Green Buck, Licensed Victualler, Taita
Marriage Transcription shows Place of Registration: Hutt No: None Listed, When and Where Married: 24/7/1878, St James' Church, Lower Hutt, Alfred James Seldon Buck, Aged: 25, Occ: Farmer, Bachelor, Mary Ann Whitewood, Aged: 20, Occ: None Listed, Spinster, Witnesses: Isaac Plimmer, Gentleman, Wellington, Laura Welch, Taita, George Green Buck, Settler, Taita, Minister: Thos Fancourt, Denomination: Church of England
The Evening Post 1st December 1892 shows
The fortnightly sitting of Hutt Resident Magistrate's Court was held yesterday before Messrs. E. Jackson and D. B. Howden, Justices, when the case of A. J. S. Buck, Taita, v. A. S. and S. S. Pike, of the same place, was dealt with. The plaintiff claimed £5, being damages for trespass on land owned by him. In the course of the hearing, Mr. Wilford, for the defence, contended that as the case involved a question of title, the Justices had no jurisdiction, the plaintiff's remedy being an action in the higher Court, and therefore the Justices could take no evidence or proof as to the title disputed. The case was dismissed.
Transcription of Death Certificate shows Place of Registration: Hutt, No: 9, When and Where Died: 10/4/1897, Taita, Hutt, Alfred James Seldon Buck, Occ: Farmer, Aged: 43, Cause of Death: Verdict of Coroners Jury held at Taita, Lower Hutt on 10th April 1897, Accidental death from attack by a bull, Father: George Green Buck, Occ: Farmer, Mother: Mary Ann Seldon Buck, Maiden Surname: Mary Ann Seldon, When Buried: 13/4/1897, Where Buried: Taita, Minister: Joshua Jones, Denomination: Episcopalian, Where Born: Taita, Lower Hutt, How Long in NZ: Life, To Whom Married: Mary Ann Whitewood, Age of Widow: None Listed, Ages and Sex of Issues: 1 Male: 15 years, 2 Females: 14 and 9 years, Informant: Walter P. Pringle, Agent authorised in writing by undertaker
Probate Record shows Alfred James Seldon Buck, Place: Taita, Occ: Farmer, Date of Death: 10/4/1894, Court: Wellington, Archives Reference: AAOM 6029 5535, Probate No: 5535, Date Filed: 21/5/1897, Type: Intestate (Letter of Administration), Archives NZ, Wellington
The Evening Post 12th April 1897 shows
Buck - On 10th April, at Taita, being gored to death by a bull, Alfred James Seldon Buck; aged 43 years
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Funeral Notice
The Friends of the late Mr. Alfred J. S. Buck are respectfully invited to attend his Funeral, which will leave his late residence, Taita, on Tuesday, 13th April, 1897, at 2p.m. E. H. Collett undertaker, Petone
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Gored to Death
Particulars of the Taita Tragedy
At the inquest held by Mr. Jas. Ashcroft on Saturday afternoon upon the body of Alfred James Seldon Buck, who had been gored by a savage bull at his farm at the Taita, the following evidence was given -
Mrs. Mary Ann Buck stated that her husband rose about 7.15 on Saturday morning, and went into a small paddock to bring in three cows to be milked. The bull was in the paddock, and deceased tried in vain to drive it away. He then got a willow stick and either pricked or struck the animal on the hind quarters. The bull turned round and charged at him, striking the deceased in the abdomen. The animal then tossed him 10 or 15 feet in the air. Witness saw the whole occurrence from an upstairs window, and at once ran down to send for assistance. When she got downstairs she saw a neighbour, Alfred Austis, in the paddock with a pitchfork. He called out to the witness's son to shoot the animal, and her son got a gun and fired a shot at the bull, which was standing over her husband's body. The bull thereupon retreated. Mr. Buck, when lifted up, was found to be quite dead. The animal was a savage and bad tempered one, and deceased previously spoken about destroying it. The affair was all over in two or three minutes.
Alfred Austis, bus driver, said that the deceased throw some stones at the bull, and witness, who was in his yard, remarked to deceased that "his pet would upset him yet." The bull was a savage brute. After corroborating Mrs. Buck's evidence, witness said that when he got to where deceased was lying he found the bull kneeling on deceased's body, and goring him about the neck and face in a terrible savage manner. When witness arrived the bull retreated, and deceased got up on his knees, but witness told him to lie flat. When deceased was lifted up he expired. The bull had attacked other people. Witness did not think that deceased has unduly provoked it. All the previous night witness had heard the animal roaring.
Dr. Purdy deposed that when he arrived at deceased's house at 8.15 a.m., Mr. Buck was quite dead. There was a slight grase over the abdomen, a wound over the eye, and a cut through the upper lip. Witness thought that some of the plates at the base of the skull were fractured. The neck and jaw were loose. The fact of the bull hitting deceased (who was not a very robust man) in the stomach would be sufficient to cause death.
A verdict of Accidental Death was returned.
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The Evening Post 14th April 1897 shows
The funeral of the late Mr. Alfred Buck, who was gored to death by a bull on his farm at the Taita on Saturday, took place yesterday. Several hundred people, including the school children of the district, the deceased having been Secretary of the local School Committee, followed the remains to the cemetery. The principal mourners were Messrs D. and W. Buck (brothers), W. Buck (son), Mr. W Dale, of Christchurch, and Mr. A. R. Hislop, an intimate friend of the deceased
Cemetery Fiche for Christ Church Cemetery, Taita, Lower Hutt shows Record No: 232
Alfred James Seldon Buck died 10 April 1897 aged 47 years
Mary Ann wife of the above died 10 May 1936 aged 76 years