16/06/2026
Arthur Montague Short. Plan 3 Section V Allotment 32.
Arthur Montague Short and his 2 daughters were buried in the Sale Cemetery after a horrific event in 1895. Arthur Short was born in British Guiana in South America about 1860, son of Rev. Robert Short, a retired Church of England minister and Mary Lloyd Powell of St. Georges, Parkville.
Arthur was one of 5 sons, and he came with his family at an early age to Queensland and then to Victoria in 1869. Arthur’s uncle Dr Augustus Short became the first Bishop of Adelaide in 1847, serving for 34 years and helped found the University of Adelaide.
Arthur was educated at a Church of England Grammar School and after leaving school joined the Colonial Bank as a clerk. He remained there for a few months before transferring to the Bank of Australia where he remained for 5 years. In 1883 he joined the Commercial bank as a teller at the Horsham Branch then promoted at the same branch as accountant. He then came to Sale as accountant at the Commercial Bank. He accepted another transfer to the Collingwood branch where he accepted promotion to bank manager and then as manager transferred back to Sale in 1890.
The next year Arthur married Alice Puckle, daughter of Mr. W. Puckle, manager of the London Bank in Carlton. Alice also had a sister, Edith Mary Puckle. Two daughters were born to the family, Edith born 1891 and Rachel in 1893.
On Tuesday 19th November police were called to the bank residence in Raymond Street. Neighbors and passers-by, having seen so much activity, understandably thought that a robbery had taken place, but the truth was more shocking. Arthur Short had tried to murder his wife, murdered his two young children and then committed su***de.
Newspapers stated that Arthur Short was the last person thought capable of such a crime. His quiet geniality, his kindly consideration for others and the affectionate pride which he displayed for his charming little girls and his young wife, were familiar to everyone in the district.
Newspapers commented that Arthur Short was never known to be involved in gambling or horse racing. He was much more interested in local institutions and social movements and was on the committee of management of the Mechanics Institute, the School of Mines and the Gippsland Hospital.
His wife Alice suffered terrible injuries and required constant attendance by doctors with frequent operations and they hoped that she would recover, providing her system was strong enough to withstand the constant strain of the treatment. Alice was able to sleep better than expected and had remained conscious throughout the terrible events. She was unable to attend the funerals but wrote a letter which was read out at the service at the Sale Cemetery.
The subsequent inquest determined that while temporarily insane, Arthur Montague Short killed his two children then committed su***de.
Alice Short recovered from her injuries enough to remarry within a couple of years to a John Binny Hay but unfortunately, she died in Cobden in 1899 and is buried at Baroondarra General Cemetery in Melbourne. Following Alice’s death, three years later in 1902 her widower husband John Binny Hay married her surviving sister Edith Mary Puckle.
Reference – “Find a Grave” Trove newspapers. Research by Sale Family History group.
