Walter Henry Brace b. c.1864

Also known as W. H. Brace
  • Artist (Photographer)
A young photographer's assistant, Walter Henry Brace took his own life in the name of love when told to "go and poison yourself" by the object of his affection. He is thought to have used chemicals found in the studio.
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photographer, was assistant to a studio photographer in Melbourne. The report of the suicide of 15-year-old Walter Henry Brace, in love with 12-yr-old Rosa Cootes, stated that she told him 'to go and poison himself’ – which he did, with potassium cyanide. The Australasian Sketcher noted that '...as the lad was employed in a photographers’s studio.he doubtless procured the poison from the workshop’. He died on 29 February 1880. His father told the inquest: “He [my son] was a photographer…” Brace had tied a letter to his wrist with elastic: 'My dear Rosa, I will by the time you get this letter [have] faithfully obeyed your command by killing myself. You hated me, and I loved you. I still remain yours, W.H. Brace.’

Writers:
Staff Writer
Date written:
1999
Last updated:
2011

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