T/Sub Lt Allan Newsome Bushill - A Tragic Tale

[IPT]

Oddly, Naomi claims to have been living in Oregon on 1/6/1935 (it's a question on the 1940 census).

 

There is a Los Angeles marriage on 20th January 1947 between Naomi Frances Bushell and Charles Kenneth Hamilton.  Her parents are given as Frank Churchouse (born England) and Mary Gordall (born Alabama). Maiden name confirmed as Naomi Churchouse. She is 39 years old, widowed and it's her second marriage. A stenographer, born Oregon.

 

She clearly thought it was spelled like that, and she was a secretary too, so it's unlikely to be a typo. 

 

I think she's on the 1910 census in Post Street, San Francisco as Frances N Churchouse, and the 1920 census as Frances Churchouse (stenographer) in 29th Street, Oakland.  Looks like she knocked five or six years off for her marriages.

[helpjpl]

34 minutes ago, IPT said:

Oddly, Naomi claims to have been living in Oregon on 1/6/1935 (it's a question on the 1940 census).

 

There is a Los Angeles marriage on 20th January 1947 between Naomi Frances Bushell and Charles Kenneth Hamilton.  Her parents are given as Frank Churchouse (born England) and Mary Gordall (born Alabama). Maiden name confirmed as Naomi Churchouse. She is 39 years old, widowed and it's her second marriage. A stenographer, born Oregon.

 

She clearly thought it was spelled like that, and she was a secretary too, so it's unlikely to be a typo. 

 

I think she's on the 1910 census in Post Street, San Francisco as Frances N Churchouse, and the 1920 census as Frances Churchouse (stenographer) in 29th Street, Oakland.  Looks like she knocked five or six years off for her marriages.

 

Adopted in 1902 ? If so, father mis-transcribed. Should be F W Churchouse: 

 

 

JP

[IPT]

2 minutes ago, helpjpl said:

 

Adopted in 1902 ? If so, father mis-transcribed. Should be F W Churchouse: 

 

 

JP

 

Yes, he was Frank W Churchouse.

 

That makes sense. Frank and wife were 65 and 67 when she was 18.

[helpjpl]

California Death Index:

 

JP

[headgardener]

Multnomah adoptions:

Baby "Marguerita" adopted on 15 Feb 1902 by TW & ME Churchouse, new name given as Frances Naomi Churchouse. 

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ormultno/VR/names.htm

Edited 10 October , 2020 by headgardener

[helpjpl]

1.  First marriage 03 September 1927 in Colorado to Joseph Davidson Pennman.

 

1930 US Federal Census from ancestry:

 

 

Edit

 

2.  Joseph D Pennman is divorced by 1940 (US Census)

 

JP

 

Edited 10 October , 2020 by helpjpl

[IPT]

Nice find. The plot thickens!

 

So in 1930 she was Frances Pennsman, married to salesman Joseph Pennsman.

By 1934, she's Naomi Bushell.

In 1935, she's Naomi Bushill, divorced from Allan Bushill.

By 1940, she's Naomi Bushell, widow.

In 1947, she claims to be on her second marriage.

 

 

[helpjpl]

 

1.  Colorado Select County Marriages from ancestry:

 

 

2.  Los Angeles Times 24 September 1930:

 

DIVORCE SUITS FILED

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380096520/

 

JP

[RaySearching]

There is a card among the Western Front Association Pension documents 

which record his disability's as Malaria and mental breakdown  

 

Which wont help at all with his marriages

 

[KizmeRD]

Now that’s a really interesting discovery. Assuming that our man was suffering from cerebral malaria, treatment using the drug mefloquine can cause neuropsychiatric side effects. These can include anxiety, depression, hallucinations, acute psychosis and seizures. Only speculation, but it could be that he was suffering from an acute psychosis episode when he murdered his first wife.
MB

 

Post script - Mefloquine only introduced in 1970’s but many earlier Malaria treatments were also similar Quinine derivatives. US Army had been using this as a prophylactic medication and it lead to a number of well recorded psycotic episodes in servicemen (2002 Fort Brag wives murders, and some rather unpleasant incidents involving US troops in Afghanistan too).

Edited 10 October , 2020 by KizmeRD
Added comment about Mefloquine

[IPT]

2 minutes ago, KizmeRD said:

Now that’s a really interesting discovery. Assuming that our man was suffering from cerebral malaria, treatment using the drug mefloquine can cause neuropsychiatric side effects. These can include anxiety, depression, hallucinations, acute psychosis and seizures. Only speculation, but it could be that he was suffering from an acute psychosis episode when he murdered his first wife.Quote
MB

 

This was mentioned during the trial.  He had called the engagement off shortly before the wedding in 1918, and written a rambling letter to his father-in law.  It was at the time that he was home before submarine training, and he expressed a wish to not survive the war.  He was suffering from malaria and pneumonia at the same time.

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

29 minutes ago, KizmeRD said:

Now that’s a really interesting discovery. Assuming that our man was suffering from cerebral malaria, treatment using the drug mefloquine can cause neuropsychiatric side effects.

Mefloquine  wasn't around back then.

I believe it was first used on US troops in Vietnam.

[KizmeRD]

Sorry, just added post-script.

MB

[KizmeRD]

8 hours ago, IPT said:

 

This was mentioned during the trial.  He had called the engagement off shortly before the wedding in 1918, and written a rambling letter to his father-in law.  It was at the time that he was home before submarine training, and he expressed a wish to not survive the war.  He was suffering from malaria and pneumonia at the same time.

IPT - I haven’t been able to access TNA records of the trial, but you obviously have and know some very relevant information that might explain why a defence of temporary insanity would have succeeded in a court system that at the time was not particularly renowned for undue leniency. Perhaps you see fit to share a few more details of the trial proceedings with us, as presently many people reading this thread may believe him to have been a heart-less murderer who got away with it simply because he came from a wealthy family - but clearly there’s more to the story than that.

 

MB

Edited 11 October , 2020 by KizmeRD

[KizmeRD]

Extract from an article appearing in BMC Malaria Journal from 2012...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4918116/ 

 

“So common and diverse became the psychiatric effects attributed to both severe and mild forms of malaria during the post-WWI era, that an entire textbook, well received by psychiatrists at the time was published (*) with chapters featuring case reports of malarial psychoses, “dementia praecox”, confusional and delusional insanity, mania, melancholia, delirium, and dementia attributable to the disease” 

 

(*) Anderson WK.  Malarial psychoses and neuroses. London: Oxford University Press; 1927. pp. i–vii.

 

MB

[IPT]

I'm just going from newspaper reports from the time of trial, i'm afraid.  As I mentioned originally, he claimed that he was killing his wife so that she didn't have to live with the shame of his suicide.  He bought her a diamond ring because he wanted her to be happy when he died.  While she was admiring the ring, he shot her twice in the back, before shooting himself in the chest.  Ultimately, the jury found him guilty but insane and the judge ordered him to be detained at his Majesty's pleasure.  I think what previous posters were pointing out, was that we know of a number of cases where men of the officer class were released only a few years after committing murder.  Would he have been released as quickly if he was a stoker?

 

There's no doubt he was a troubled man who eventually took his own life.  We don't know enough about his early life to know the reasons behind the choices made about his education or career, or the reasons why his father refused to allow him to work in the family business.  The malaria may have caused his insanity, or he may have just been a bad egg all round.  We simply don't know.  We do know that he shot and killed his first wife, two further wives and a baby died shortly after coming into contact with him, another wife we can't account for, and another left him after six weeks because of his abusive behaviour.  He could have just been very unlucky, of course.

 

 

 

[KizmeRD]

I think that one of us really needs to check out the trial details before jumping to any conclusions (and that’s not easy at present due to Corona). There is now however, prima facie evidence to assume that Malarial psychosis may well have triggered a mental disturbance (in which case the judge and jury got it right with the trial verdict). Again, based purely on the facts as we currently know them, there is nothing to suggest any mental delusions prior to 1919, so I’m not inclined yet to support the bad egg theory.
Clearly his life went badly askew after he arrived in North America (he’d lost pretty much everything and was struggling to rebuild), but there is nothing evidential (so far) to suggest that foul played a part in the death of anyone he was subsequently connected with, and we don’t believe that he was ever investigated by the police. There’s simply too many unknowns at present and we would all still benefit from further research - as a next step it would be good to see copies of death certificates establishing the precise cause of his second/third wife’s death (and that of his infant child).

MB

Edited 11 October , 2020 by KizmeRD

[helpjpl]

ANB's so-called suicide letter (from ancestry). 

 

Leeds Mercury 06 March 1919:

 

JP

[corisande]

I tried the Times Archive, and interestingly they hardly reported the trial, only a 15 line summary of the trial and the verdict

 

What I did find was an annual "in memoriam" notice to Audrey that appears to be from her parents, they differ each year , with the final one coming in 1941

 

[T, Fazzini]

The obituary IS the last line Latin?