John Mahoney #3

John Mahoney - where do I start with this fella. I thought this should be a piece of cake, but did I come unstuck. Since I began my book project, I've kept my eyes open for anyone in the 1860's called John Mahoney or related to a John Mahoney. It might be wrong for me to suggest there was a few bag eggs with this name but we got a lot of idiots called John Mahoney settling in NZ in the 1860's. The article in the paper about his death said only that his parents came from Auckland. (it would've been so helpful to at least mention their names?)But Auckland is where I tried to start my search. Don't ask my why, but I wish I could reach through time and give this kid a hug. He had a bit of a crappy life, his father ended up in court more often than not. Sometimes the escapades were funny, other times I could have cheerfully slapped the fool. John Mahoney was named after his father, but I think most of his life he rode under the nickname of Jack, till he moved to Nelson as an apprentice and his boss Mr Redwood Jr would have required him to use his proper name. (Mr R was a bit particular about those kinda things)

John Mahoney was attending a pretty important racing event in Nelson, South Island, NZ. His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh was making a visit to the region. 20/21st April 1869. There was a full day of racing which the Duke enjoyed, on the second day (a half day of attendence) John was going to ride a horse called 'Bones' for his boss, but the instructions were to rest the horse if he was tired, so that is what happened and John was available to ride another horse called 'Subaltern' for Mr McRae.  It was the second race of the day, and Subaltern baulked at a jump. It was said that John tried to rush the jump, but the horse somersaulted over the fence and injured his young rider. He was carried to the Turf Hotel across the road from the race track and there his friend Edward Cutts another rider stayed with him till he died just before 9 pm that night. Medical evidence was given by Dr Squires who was also the coroner in Nelson. As John had a deep gash on his head and an obvious fracture, it was decided no autopsy was need as the cause of death was clear.

I'm still digging, but I believe John M rode before HRH the Duke of Edinburgh the day before, and that the horse he rode came second. If that is so, it's quite possible that the little apprentice would have met HRH. Definitely a big deal back then. I understand that Prince Albert was pretty cool. 

At the time Mr Redwood Jr made it clear he did not give his permission for JM to ride Mr McRaes horse. I've since learnt that the apprentices took every instruction from their boss and only his boss should have ok'd the alternative ride.  Maybe if there had been some different input on that day, the little fella from Auckland who started riding at 12 years of age for a living, would have been around a lot longer. From the races he won in Auckland before going south to Nelson, it's clear he had a lot of talent. Even if he once rode a donkey in a race, (totally true) and was unlucky enough to run over a spectator during one of his races (dumb kid ran out onto the track at the end of the race and JM had no where to go to avoid him) Watch Utube and you'll still see idiots walking out onto race tracks totally oblivious to the thoroughbreds baring down on them.

Back to JM, I looked everywhere to find where his final resting place was, and eventually I found it under the spelling of John Mahney. (the phonetic spelling for Mahoney) He's buried in one of the sweetest cemeteries in Nelson. It's tucked into a small glade on the right hand side of the road leading into the city of Nelson. No matter what time of day, it has a very historic feel to it due to the huge trees planted many years ago. (and I have to say, it's spooky looking at night because of all the ornate headstones and the way the wind blows through the trees) But on my next visit back to Nelson, I'll definitely stop by and find JM

I lived in Nelson for many years, and while I have been to the race track at Nelson, and am familiar with the old pub on the corner in Richmond, I'll have to investigate further to see if it is the same hotel that is mentioned in the article about JM's last ride. It seems in olden days they would take the injured to the local hotel for treatment, both in NZ and in a number of other countries around the world.

(Have just realised that Mr McRae who's horse John was riding was the uncle of rider #24 Richard Nelson McRae who died in 1899 at Sandon.  Nelson McRae was injured in front of his father, he died a few minutes later. That's one story that ripped me up when I started digging. But you'll need to wait for that one it's still on the way to being added to my blog)