Down under

One member of the Hessen-Nassau family settled far, far away:   Rudolph Huthsteiner.

German settlement near Adelaide

Rudolph became the most travelled guy in this genealogy – at least for the time around 1870. At this time travelling to Australia took 3-4 weeks at least. On the Sea !

Likely he left Germany (Prussia) due to suppression of free ideas, as already his brother Wilhelm was demoted due to liberal acting as censor and police commissioner in Barmen. Probably he also had contact to Friedrich Engels as well as his brother.

In Australia obviously he did not so well as supposed before. Instead ‘German Charley’, Rudolph’s local nickname, tried to commit suicide.

On May, 26th 1883 local newspapers in Alexander and Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia, reported following story:

“On Thursday morning (says the Dunolly Express) it was reported that a man named Rudolph Huthstein, better known as German Charley, had attempted suicide by taking strychnine, a fact which proved too true. The unfortunate fellow had been on the previous evening drinking, and quarrelled with a man named Wilson over a dishonoured cheque. After leaving him he went home, and took the poison about 11 o’clock, but it did not affect him till between 1 and 2 o’clock a.m. When the twitching in his limbs commenced, Charley began to feel sorry for what he had done, and, as best he could, crawled to a camp oven in which was some fat — this he ate, and drunk the contents of a large bottle of linseed oil. The effect of the poison was by this means blunted, and at the look-up where he had been removed by the police, he appeared to be progressing favourably, although weak, as a consequence of the self-administered doses. “

Finally, he became a lucky guy by staying alive.

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