A future prime minister, a dean of medicine with a dark secret and a brutal superintendent all play a role in "The Killings at Newhaven" but, for all the intrigue, author Joe Fairhurst never forgot that at its heart are two frightened young boys who died horrible deaths.
| Bass Coast Post: How did you first hear about the killings at the Newhaven Boys Home? Joe Fairhurst: Whilst directing a play at St Paul’s in the 1990s, I felt what was like a lightning bolt through my body, as if a ghost passed through me. A local said, ‘Oh, that must be Timmy’. That was the name given to the ghost of St Paul's by the locals. Looking into the history of St Paul’s, I found a connection to the Seaside Garden Home for Boys. That connection was the superintendent William Baye and the untimely death of Rex Simpson at the home. I saw a story worth pursuing. After discovering a manslaughter charge was dropped, I had to know why the injustice occurred. While I was researching, a relative of Freddy Smith contacted me and that opened up an enormous can of worms that expanded the research as now I had the death of two boys to bring to light, as well as the circumstances leading up to their death. |  The Killings at Newhaven was published in April 2024 and is available on Amazon. |
Post: You’ve pursued this story for almost 30 years. Why was it so important to you?
Joe: My heart really feels for those who are vulnerable, voiceless and, unfortunately, victims. Through my connections, skills and determination I can help bring to light their story, to achieve some form of reparation for what they have been through. What really gets me is when people in power abuse that power. Nothing is more innocent than a child under that power.
There was no justice for Rex and his family. His mother died, literally, of a broken heart. Freddy’s death was swept under the rug so quickly that even his mother didn’t witness his body before burial. The circumstances of what happened at the boys’ home were tragic and terrifying. It’s important for me to make sure that the facts were accurate, because I was uncovering a conspiracy that potentially changes the view of some important historical personalities. Truth, in the end, is the most important thing, for at the very least, the boys’ souls can rest.
Joe: My heart really feels for those who are vulnerable, voiceless and, unfortunately, victims. Through my connections, skills and determination I can help bring to light their story, to achieve some form of reparation for what they have been through. What really gets me is when people in power abuse that power. Nothing is more innocent than a child under that power.
There was no justice for Rex and his family. His mother died, literally, of a broken heart. Freddy’s death was swept under the rug so quickly that even his mother didn’t witness his body before burial. The circumstances of what happened at the boys’ home were tragic and terrifying. It’s important for me to make sure that the facts were accurate, because I was uncovering a conspiracy that potentially changes the view of some important historical personalities. Truth, in the end, is the most important thing, for at the very least, the boys’ souls can rest.
"What really gets me is when people in power abuse that power. Nothing is more innocent than a child under that power ... For whatever reason, I was chosen to bring their story to light." |
Post: Is there something in your own background that means you relate to these boys?
Joe: Nothing personal, per se, just injustice for children is atrocious and the most important thing is the truth and if nothing else, we must know the truth.
Post: Did you make contact with Freddy’s and Rex’s families?
Joe: Nothing personal, per se, just injustice for children is atrocious and the most important thing is the truth and if nothing else, we must know the truth.
Post: Did you make contact with Freddy’s and Rex’s families?
A gravestone in Fawkner now memorialises young Rex Simpson and his mother, who died
soon after witnessing her young son's body.
Joe: I made contact and friends with Ralph Simpson. He was the youngest surviving sibling of Rex. We became close friends and through my research, staging the plays and raising funds, we were able to have a gravestone made for Rex’s unmarked plot in Fawkner Cemetery. Ralph was incredibly thankful for the story coming to light. Finding the grave, getting a headstone, letting his soul rest, was nothing short of breath-taking to experience.
Post: Your investigations took you into the corridors of power and the world of eugenics. How hard did you have to work to uncover the back story or was it blatant?
Joe: There was much research to this story but without eugenics the dots may not have been joined. Much of what I found was available to the public, yet still hidden in the dust of history forgotten. When I overturned the stone, though, I was warned not to include that element to the story and not to name names.
Needless to say, as the book includes such detail, I named names and openly discussed the eugenics society. It is fact, and therefore truth, and therefore must be known. My journalistic integrity wouldn’t have it any other way.
Those facts and more connect this story’s dots not just by a web but by a sludge of greed and power. The connection between the past and today is very relevant as well, especially with the eugenics society not disbanding, merely rebranding under various names over the years. It still exists in some form today.
Post: Your investigations took you into the corridors of power and the world of eugenics. How hard did you have to work to uncover the back story or was it blatant?
Joe: There was much research to this story but without eugenics the dots may not have been joined. Much of what I found was available to the public, yet still hidden in the dust of history forgotten. When I overturned the stone, though, I was warned not to include that element to the story and not to name names.
Needless to say, as the book includes such detail, I named names and openly discussed the eugenics society. It is fact, and therefore truth, and therefore must be known. My journalistic integrity wouldn’t have it any other way.
- Fact: Attorney General Robert Menzies signed a Nolle Prosequi for William Baye to be excused from his crime (one of 20-plus Nolle Prosequi’s signed during his tenure).
- Fact: Menzies was very close to the trial judge, Judge Foster.
- Fact: Judge Foster was an original member of the eugenics society, as were associations of the land owners where the boys’ home was situated.
- Fact: William Baye’s landlords met regularly with John Wren, politicians and lawyers.
- Fact: William Baye was ‘sent’ children by Richard Berry (Dean of Medicine at Melbourne University where, in 2007, they found his secret room of 400 skulls). Berry was a diehard eugenics advocate and supporter.
Those facts and more connect this story’s dots not just by a web but by a sludge of greed and power. The connection between the past and today is very relevant as well, especially with the eugenics society not disbanding, merely rebranding under various names over the years. It still exists in some form today.
Joe Fairhurst won the 2009 Lyrebird Award forhis one-act play The Killings at Newhaven.
Post: Do you think you’ve finally nailed it, or is there more to discover?
Joe: On a grander scale, if the general public knew about eugenics and where it leads to today, being who is in charge of our politics and oligarchies, etc, they are still all connected by this archaic and scientifically incorrect belief. In my opinion, it’s more of a boys’ club than a belief that could change the world, especially when it was dismissed as nonsense as far back as the late 1920s.
My part is done … for now.
Post: You’ve already produced a play about the events at Newhaven. Any thoughts of a film?
Joe: Of course, we’d love to make it into a film or television series, as there are incredible characters and important lessons to know, as well as the important historical facts. My son, who is also a writer, would be the one to take over the project, should he be given the opportunity.
Post: What do you want for Freddy and Rex?
Joe: For their souls to rest, of course, but also to ensure their untimely and tragic deaths were not for nothing. Their deaths can help others understand the world we live in. They died horribly, and although their bodies were buried they were never put to rest.
For whatever reason, I was chosen to bring their story to light. I want them to rest now, and know their job is done. And to all their living relatives, please know I tried my best, and the truth is now out there.
I hope Freddy and Rex are smiling.
Joe: On a grander scale, if the general public knew about eugenics and where it leads to today, being who is in charge of our politics and oligarchies, etc, they are still all connected by this archaic and scientifically incorrect belief. In my opinion, it’s more of a boys’ club than a belief that could change the world, especially when it was dismissed as nonsense as far back as the late 1920s.
My part is done … for now.
Post: You’ve already produced a play about the events at Newhaven. Any thoughts of a film?
Joe: Of course, we’d love to make it into a film or television series, as there are incredible characters and important lessons to know, as well as the important historical facts. My son, who is also a writer, would be the one to take over the project, should he be given the opportunity.
Post: What do you want for Freddy and Rex?
Joe: For their souls to rest, of course, but also to ensure their untimely and tragic deaths were not for nothing. Their deaths can help others understand the world we live in. They died horribly, and although their bodies were buried they were never put to rest.
For whatever reason, I was chosen to bring their story to light. I want them to rest now, and know their job is done. And to all their living relatives, please know I tried my best, and the truth is now out there.
I hope Freddy and Rex are smiling.