Sale and District Family History Group

10/10/2026

Rex William Elston.
In March 1958 the death and subsequent burial at the Sale Cemetery of Leslie Elston (Plan 3 Section 1 Allotment 69) was the beginning of a number of tragic events that were to spread across Victoria and South Australia. A depressed and suicidal 14 year old son Rex Elston, a murder, su***de attempts, an escape from Pentridge Gaol, serious assaults, an escape from a high security mental institution and a su***de.
Newspapers report that before Rex made an attempt on his own life, he shot his mother Lillian aged 50 years on the 12th August 1958 through the heart, believing she would be too lonely to enjoy life following the death of her husband. Rex then shot himself in the chest, recovered consciousness four hours later and then shot himself again. Rex was taken to hospital by his brother where doctors saved his life. Lillian Elston was buried with her husband at the Sale Cemetery and her son was charged with the murder of his mother.
At the age of 15 years at trial Rex Elston was found not guilty of the murder of his mother on the grounds of insanity and was placed in close custody at Pentridge Gaol “during the Governors pleasure” until he was deemed sane by the government.
On 8th of February 1962, 18 Year old Rex Elston escaped from Pentridge and while on the run broke into a house at Seymour. He also broke into a home at Tallarook and stole a sh***un, r***e and am******on, with which he assaulted two men, and a woman Mrs. Jessie Sharpe and her husband, knocking the husband unconscious. Mrs. Sharpe was able to disarm Elston and later she was awarded the British Empire Medal for gallantry. Newspapers reported that while on the run Elston had also tried again to commit su***de.
After his recapture, Rex Elston was placed in the Ararat Mental Home and later the same year on the Saturday 9th June he escaped, and was described by the authorities as homicidal, dangerous and suicidal.
That night at Ararat Elston hid under a tarpaulin inside a railway goods carriage, while not knowing the trains destination. A couple of days later the train arrived in Port Pirie South Australia which was a major bogie exchange for freight trains heading towards Western Australia. It was the meeting point for the Commonwealth Railways and South Australian Railways networks with through trains changing locomotives and crews.
The police and authorities believed that Elston was still in the Ararat area so that was where the search was concentrated although his description had been passed onto interstate authorities. On Monday 11th June Two policemen noticed a barefooted youth washing himself under a tap at a used car yard in Port Pirie. The policemen recognized Elston from published photographs and he surrendered without a struggle but initially denied that he was Elston. The Ararat search was not called off until Elston had been taken to Adelaide and his identity was confirmed by finger prints then he was imprisoned to wait extradition to Victoria.
On return to Victoria and at the Seymour Court Elston was sentenced to 2 years in Pentridge prison’s notorious high security “H Division” for the attacks that took place during his escape from Ararat. In August a judge in an appeals court decided to order Elston’s release from gaol “at the earliest possible date” as long as he was declared sane. The judge said Elston’s history showed he was an uncertain youth, who acted without real malice but with desperation “to call attention and seek rescue from what he had escaped.”
This wasn’t the last time Rex Elston was caught up in the legal system. By 1971 Elston had changed his name to Terence Rex Vallance and arrested with an associate and had two charges for the armed robbery of the East Malvern branch of the Commonwealth Bank. The associate attended criminal court on the 6th May 1971 and after pleading guilty to the two charges of bank robbery, he asked the whereabouts of his mate (Vallance) and was informed that Vallance (Rex Elston) had committed su***de the previous week 29th April at Pentridge Prison.
Rex William Elston's remains were cremated and ashes interred at Springvale Botanical Cemetery.

28/09/2026

October is History Month!
Sale Family History Group Talk- Doctors in Sale
Sale or Flooding Creek, as was known in the early days, had many good doctors over the years and the stories of five of them will be detailed in the talk by Heather Pocknall of the Sale Family History Group.

Early Doctor’s Arbuckle, Ewing, Rennie, Hedley and Lightfoot will be the subjects and the description of their search for adventure and advantage, while trying to conduct medical practices in Flooding Creek and surrounds.

Early medical treatments appear somewhat bizarre to our community today as there was no anesthesia, appendicitis was always fatal, no caesarean births, no x-rays or blood examinations and no insulin for diabetics.

About 50% of patients didn’t survive surgery, there were no vaccines and the prognosis for diseases like Smallpox, Tuberculosis, Whooping Cough, Typhoid, Tetanus, Diphtheria and Poliomyelitis was poor with no treatment available. How things have progressed for the better in subsequent years.

Thursday 15th October Bar Open - $10 Cover charge - RSVP encouraged

27/09/2026

Published in 2011 by members of the Sale Family History Group, Judy Hirst (Dec), Glenys Wain (Dec) and Janice Wise. The book details 21 hotels in the Sale area, from 1838 till 1900, their history, location, photographs, lists of publicans and stories and events that took place at each hotel. Book is available from the Sale Family History Group $20.00 plus postage or contact Heather Ph. 0428 411 603 or Daryl Ph. 0427 443 351 or email [email protected]

06/09/2026

22/07/2026

The Sale and District Family History Group has served the Sale district for more than 40 years, turning memories into […]

04/07/2026

Jane Thomson, daughter of Walhalla bullock driver Arthur and Jane Thomson (nee Swanson) is buried in her family’s grave at the Sale Cemetery. In 1876 sixteen-year-old Jane married 43-year-old bullock driver Peter Clement, also from Walhalla who became one of the biggest landholders in Gippsland. This union also provided a family mystery that remains unsolved to this day, with court cases, books, TV documentaries and newspaper articles written on the subject.
Jane’s husband Peter Scott Clement was born in Scotland and migrated to Australia in the 1850’s and as a bullock driver accepted shares in the Long Tunnel gold mine at Walhalla as payment for services and bought extra shares in the goldmine himself. Besides being a shareholder, he also became a director of the mine which was said to be the richest goldmine in Australia,
Clement purchased the large cattle station “Prospect” which includes the Seaspray area and covered 20 Square Kilometres. The family also owned land at Tinamba, Upper Maffra, Denison and Merriman’s Creek. Six children were born into the family and then in 1880 Peter Clement died suddenly at Prospect aged 58 years from Apoplexy (Stroke).
Following her husband’s death, Jane and her six children moved to Sale and lived at the corner of Macalister and Elgin streets. The children attended school in Sale and later the daughters attended the Methodist Ladies College in Melbourne. The family moved to Fulham House on the property later owned by the Gooch family and later purchased a large cattle grazing property named Tullaree, near Buffalo in South Gippsland which was reclaimed swamp land.
In about 1910, three of the Clement daughters Janet (Jeannie), Margaret and Anna went for an extended trip to Europe and Asia. Anna Clement married and became Mrs. Carnaghan and Jeannie and Margaret lived and farmed the Tullaree property. The Clement daughters were members of Melbourne high society and lived in luxury in their mansion at Tullaree. The property consisted of 1875 acres of rich grazing land, and during the 50 years that the family lived at the property, it deteriorated to a swamp again and the palatial homestead fell into decay.
In 1937 Jane Clement nee Thomson, who was living in St. Kilda died at the age of 78 years and was buried at the Sale Cemetery with husband Peter Clement and other family members.
Jeannie Clement passed away at Tullaree in 1950 after having been bedridden for some time and it was believed that sister Margaret had health problems too. By 1952 Margeret aged 70 years was living alone at the swamp bound Tullaree and she was last seen alive at the property in May 1952. No trace has ever been found of Margaret Clement and she became known as “Swamp Lady” or “Lady of the Swamp” and it was said in newspapers that she never walked through the swamp without using a large stick. The stick was found at “Tullaree” after the disappearance and police investigating the mystery were convinced that it wasn’t a case of an old lady who just wandered away and got lost. It was thought significant that after her sister Jeannie’s death in 1950, and not long before Margaret’s own disappearance her one companion, her cattle dog “Devil” was found dying with a cut throat.
Margaret Clement left a will made in 1925 making her sister Jeannie Clement sole executor but as stated, Jeannie died 2 years prior to Margaret’s disappearance and a nephew was named as a beneficiary. Another relative, a niece believed that there was another will made in 1951 and she put a caveat on the 1925 will to prevent it being carried out.
Margaret Clement was declared deceased in 1954 by the courts after the efforts of police and a large body of volunteer searchers failed to find her and the mysterious disappearance still fascinates historians today. Many theories have been put forward for the cause of Margaret’s disappearance, including that she was murdered by family or a neighbor but with the passing of time it’s unlikely the mystery will ever be solved.
Sale Cemetery Plan 4 Sect. D Allotment 8
References. Find a Grave, Trove On-Line newspapers.

03/07/2026

In 1868 a tragic accident took place on a farm at Clydebank, resulting in the death of Robert Alexander who is buried in the Sale Cemetery.
Robert Alexander was listed as a resident of Sale in 1868 but born in about 1815 in Linlithgow Scotland which is about 20 miles West of Edinburgh. He was the son of John Alexander and Janet Hickey. In 1845 he married Ann Grant in Scotland and the following year the first of their nine children was born. Within the next few years, the family migrated to Australia and their second child was born in 1850 at Western Port in Victoria.
There were a total of 3 children born at Western Port and their 5th child was born at Bulla Bulla which is just North West of Tullamarine. The subsequent 4 children were born at Tullamarine, with the last being born in 1863.
Robert Alexander was working with his son David at a farm owned by Mr. Anderson at Clydebank. On the 20th March, he was operating a horsedrawn threshing machine which separated grain seeds from the stalks of the oat crop.
Just after commencing at 9 o’clock in the morning, it was observed that the grain was not falling cleanly and Robert inserted his right hand into the box, with the intention of remedying the problem but his hand was caught in the cog wheels. When witnesses including his son David, heard his cries for help, David tried to pull his father’s arm out of the cogs while others tried unsuccessfully to stop the horses in time. This caused Robert’s arm to be drawn into the machine, becoming badly mutilated and dismembered at the elbow.
A ligature and tourniquet was bound around the arm by witnesses to prevent more bleeding and the patient was removed to the Anderson home. Another witness went to Sale to summon Dr. Hedley who attended and recommended the patient be removed immediately to the Sale hospital.
Dr Hedley accompanied the patient to the hospital and on the way administered a mixture of brandy and water for pain relief and after arriving at 2.30pm, immediately called a meeting to consult with other medical officers and it was decided that the patient’s arm needed to be further amputated at the shoulder to give him a chance of life.
The operation went ahead and an attempt was made to administer chloroform as anesthetic but unfortunately it affected his pulse so it was withdrawn. The surgery took place successfully and it was determined that the patient didn’t suffer any further pain than what he was already suffering. The patient was very weak from a loss of blood and continued to get weaker as the afternoon progressed and at 5.30pm, aged 53 years, died from the loss of blood and the shock of the injury. Plan: 4, Section: B, Allotment: 10
References – Find a Grave, Trove Newspapers, Research by Sale Family History Group and Sale Cemetery Trust.
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01/07/2026

Arthur Montague Short. Plan 3 Section V Allotment 32.
Arthur Montague Short and his 2 daughters were buried in the Sale Cemetery after a horrific event in 1895. Arthur Short was born in British Guiana in South America about 1860, son of Rev. Robert Short, a retired Church of England minister and Mary Lloyd Powell of St. Georges, Parkville.
Arthur was one of 5 sons, and he came with his family at an early age to Queensland and then to Victoria in 1869. Arthur’s uncle Dr Augustus Short became the first Bishop of Adelaide in 1847, serving for 34 years and helped found the University of Adelaide.
Arthur was educated at a Church of England Grammar School and after leaving school joined the Colonial Bank as a clerk. He remained there for a few months before transferring to the Bank of Australia where he remained for 5 years. In 1883 he joined the Commercial bank as a teller at the Horsham Branch then promoted at the same branch as accountant. He then came to Sale as accountant at the Commercial Bank. He accepted another transfer to the Collingwood branch where he accepted promotion to bank manager and then as manager transferred back to Sale in 1890.
The next year Arthur married Alice Puckle, daughter of Mr. W. Puckle, manager of the London Bank in Carlton. Alice also had a sister, Edith Mary Puckle. Two daughters were born to the family, Edith born 1891 and Rachel in 1893.
On Tuesday 19th November police were called to the bank residence in Raymond Street. Neighbors and passers-by, having seen so much activity, understandably thought that a robbery had taken place, but the truth was more shocking. Arthur Short had tried to murder his wife, murdered his two young children and then committed su***de.
Newspapers stated that Arthur Short was the last person thought capable of such a crime. His quiet geniality, his kindly consideration for others and the affectionate pride which he displayed for his charming little girls and his young wife, were familiar to everyone in the district.
Newspapers commented that Arthur Short was never known to be involved in gambling or horse racing. He was much more interested in local institutions and social movements and was on the committee of management of the Mechanics Institute, the School of Mines and the Gippsland Hospital.
His wife Alice suffered terrible injuries and required constant attendance by doctors with frequent operations and they hoped that she would recover, providing her system was strong enough to withstand the constant strain of the treatment. Alice was able to sleep better than expected and had remained conscious throughout the terrible events. She was unable to attend the funerals but wrote a letter which was read out at the service at the Sale Cemetery.
The subsequent inquest determined that while temporarily insane, Arthur Montague Short killed his two children then committed su***de.
Alice Short recovered from her injuries enough to remarry within a couple of years to a John Binny Hay but unfortunately, she died in Cobden in 1899 and is buried at Baroondarra General Cemetery in Melbourne. Following Alice’s death, three years later in 1902 her widower husband John Binny Hay married her surviving sister Edith Mary Puckle.
Reference – “Find a Grave” Trove newspapers. Research by Sale Family History group.