A horse and buggy was not a safe place to be for a  number of Mrs Collins in the last century. I told a version of this story live on Darling Downs radio 4AK.

Last week Janelle, a listener of 4AK, asked me to check out “Ma” Collins who she said was killed at Spicer’s Gap having left Warwick on horse & cart.

I didn’t have much to go on, I didn’t have a full name or a date, and so I don’t think I’ve finished this research, but I did look for a Mrs Collins in southern Queensland who was injured in a horse and cart accident. And what I found were a number of very unfortunate Mrs Collins all over the place.

In 1882 at Barcoo in western Queensland, a Mrs. Ann Collins was supplying the townspeople with milk, and she brought it to town every day in her spring-cart. One day on her return home, the horse took fright at some pigs and bolted, eventually over-turning the cart, pitching Mrs. Collins out, and killed her on the spot.

But that wasn’t the end of her story, you see her ghost quite possibly returned, because a few days later the husband brought the cart back into town to be repaired, and on returning home this time, the horse again bolted spookily at exactly the same spot. Mr. Collins jumped out, and nothing remained of the trap except for a pile of debris. So this is one possible Ma Collins, she wasn’t killed near Warwick, but she did possibly make a ghostly return.

Another potential Ma Collins was east of where she was supposed to be. It was in 1906 at Tabragalba near Beaudesert, that a Mrs. Mary Collins of Nindoonbah property was visiting and something went wrong with the pole of the buggy, the horses bolted, and Mrs. Collins was thrown out, breaking her ankle.

This didn’t kill her, but it did kick off a series of incidents including a few years later when her husband Mr. William Collins was dead, her two daughters Dorothea and Beryl were presented at court in Buckingham Palace – yes these were two Beaudesert girls – and her son Flight Lieutenant John Collins was killed in a flying accident at Archerfield when he crashed his own privately-owned plane. That was a lot of unfortunate, and fortunate, events.

In another possibility, north of Warwick in 1912 a Mrs. J. Collins was travelling in a sulky to the opening of the Victoria Hall at Yarraman, the horse ran into a tree and all the occupants were thrown out and all were injured to varying degrees.

The hall later had an orchestral organ installed, which was considered a big draw, so this potential Ma Collins probably went to more dances there and I don’t think she’s who we’re researching for anyway.

In 1931, there is a possible Ma Collins who was from Warwick and she came to a grizzly end sort of along the lines that we’re looking for. Warwick’s Constable Jeremiah Coughlan was on holidays at Coolangatta with his wife and mother-in-law. One morning shortly before 8 o’clock, the constable was woken up by a barking dog at the foot of the back steps of the cottage where they was staying.

He investigated and found his mother-in-law, Mrs. Catherine Collins, lying at the foot of the steps with a broken neck from which she died shortly after. This Ma Collins was from Warwick and did die from a broken neck, but not on a horse and cart.

So you can see, back in the day it was a hazardous thing to do, for single ladies to marry a Mr Collins. That’s because you might become a Ma Collins and be very careful when climbing onto your horse and cart, and in the case of the mother-in-law of the Warwick policeman, be very careful going down stairs.

Although the story “Shocking violent ends of the Collins family” is unrelated to the story above, there is definitely more to come for Mrs. Collins.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY ON RADIO 4AK.

Photo credits:
Riding in a sulky, Warwick, c1893 – State Library of Queensland.
Alice Downs Station at Barcoo, Queensland, 1878 – State Library of Queensland.
Beaudesert’s Dorothea and Beryl Collins at court in Buckingham Palace – Telegraph, Brisbane, 29th August 1925, page 12.