4. Deeming chooses his next victim
Having disposed of many of his possessions by auction, Deeming boarded a steamer bound for Sydney on 12 January 1892. He took on yet another identity as the aristocratic Baron Swanston. On the journey he met Kate Rounsefell, who became the next target of his affections. She later testified:
On route for Sydney and after we had been a short time at sea after
leaving [Melbourne], I was suffering from Mal-de-mer [French for
sea-sickness], and the accused was very attentive and an acquaintance
was formed between us. During the voyage the accused told me his
name was Baron Swanson, that he was an Engineer and that he had
recently come from England ...
While in Sydney with Rounsefell, Deeming ran into one of the passengers from the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Rounsefell walked ahead while Deeming stopped to talk to Robert Firth, a retired sea captain from Melbourne. Firth enquired after Emily's welfare and Deeming told him she was in Sydney too. He also told Firth that he had secured a post in Bombay for £800 a year. At the inquest, Firth identified Deeming as Williams, his fellow passenger on the voyage from England, and Rounsefell as the woman with Deeming in Sydney.
No. 25376 Albert Williams alias Frederick Bayley Williams alias Deeming [detail], PROV, VPRS 515/P0, unit 46, folio 66
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Deeming courted Miss Rounsefell during her stop in Sydney. He proposed
marriage and made her a gift of a diamond and sapphire ring, and an
opal brooch, two of the items he had stolen from Melbourne jeweller
Kilpatrick & Co. Though Rounsefell rejected his proposal, Deeming
insisted on accompanying her home to Bathurst. Once there he proposed,
successfully, a second time. It was arranged that Deeming would find
work in Western Australia and that Rounsefell would then follow and
they would marry.
PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892
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OMG 182, Collection of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria)
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In early February 1892, Deeming alias Swanston wrote to his fiancée's brother Thomas to convince him to allow his sister to join him. In his letter he reported obtaining employment as an engineer at Fraser's Gold Mine at Southern Cross. Kate Rounsefell departed soon after, on 11 March 1892, taking the train to Melbourne. Kate was unaware that she had been under surveillance by police, who had already made the connection between Albert Williams and Baron Swanston, confirmed by Captain Firth's sighting. They knew that Swanston was sending Rounsefell letters from Southern Cross and had interviewed her sister Lizzie.
Once in Melbourne, Kate found a telegram waiting for her from her
sister, warning her to go no further. She telegrammed her sister for
an explanation, but while awaiting Lizzie's response she discovered
the answer herself while on a stroll with a friend. A crowd gathered
in front of a newspaper office was discussing the arrest of the Windsor
murderer Albert Williams. Reading the newspaper report Kate learned
that Williams was in fact her fiancée Baron Swanston, who had
just been arrested at Southern Cross.
PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case
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Further reading:
Sergeants Considine and Cawsey's summary of Deeming's life in crime, PROV, VPRS 264/P0 Capital Sentence Files, unit 21, Albert Williams [alias Deeming]
Statement of Kate Rounsefell, PROV, VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, unit 886, case number 261/1892
Copy of Baron Swanston's letter to Thomas Rounsefell, PROV, VPRS 937/P0 Inward Registered Correspondence, unit 511, Deeming Case