General News
6 September, 2023
One man's efforts to unravel tragic riddle
Historian Nick Manganas is continuing his hunt for information on two mysterious and intriguing deaths at Charam near Edenhope in 1874. The victims were Maria Cook, née Langley, and her daughter Louisa, who was just 18 months old. Mr Manganas has...
Historian Nick Manganas is continuing his hunt for information on two mysterious and intriguing deaths at Charam near Edenhope in 1874.
The victims were Maria Cook, née Langley, and her daughter Louisa, who was just 18 months old.
Mr Manganas has put out a call for information, which has Wimmera links at Charam near Edenhope, Jung, and Ashens between Murtoa and Rupanyup.
"I'm after photographs, sketches, diaries, reports – anything that might shed some light on these mysterious murders," he said.
The Cook family was on its way from Mount Gambier, SA to, the Horsham area when the murders occurred. Their bodies went undiscovered for a decade.
Maria's husband Robert Cook was the main suspect but disappeared, and all attempts to locate him were unsuccessful.
Mr Manganas, who is writing a book on the murders, said people might have information on the Langley family, who were prominent landowners in the Dunmunkle area; on their murdered daughter Maria; on Maria's husband, whose brother John was a hotelier at Jung; on Maryvale Station at Charam near Edenhope; or on little Louisa's father, Joseph Sugars of Mount Gambier, SA.
He is using oral histories, diaries and interviews from South Australian archives to discover facts about the lives of new arrivals in Port Adelaide in the 1850s.
"For this book I'm writing, I'm hoping to paint a picture of the time Maria grew up in and the background to her life until her marriage in 1874," he said.
"Apart from a small number of photographs there are really very few sources that tell us about Maria."
Records showed at least five murders were committed at Maryvale Station between 1855 and 1874.
"One, an Indigenous man discovered in 1865, bore similarities to Maria and Louisa's murders," Mr Manganas said.
"The arms of the deceased were also strapped behind his back with a stirrup leather."
Mr Manganas said Joseph Sugars had promised Maria's father he would marry her but returned to Mount Gambier too late, after she had already married Robert Cook.
Another recent discovery was of a network of friends around the Cooks who aided in hampering the investigation and subsequent chase for Cook.
Suspects were pursued to Adelaide, Swan Hill, Broken Hill, Serviceton, Kangaroo Island and Western Australia - but all to no avail.
Mr Manganas is based in Sydney. He can be contacted at mangonick415@gmail.com
[BOLD]In The Horsham Times next week: Wimmera triple murder full of endless intrigue