John Thomas Letcher

John Thomas Letcher (1877-1884) was a child who drowned in one of the Redan quarries.

History
John Thomas Letcher was born in Ballarat in 1877, the son of William Letcher and Alice Elizabeth Quick.

Letcher was drowned in the Redan quarries on 8 March 1884: "Two boys, named Dineen and Letcher, have been drowned in the Redan Quarry, Ballaratt, where they were crayfishing." "A melancholy occurrence took place in Ballarat South, on Saturday afternoon. Two boys, named John T. Letcher and Patrick Dineen, aged -respectively 7 and 8 years, were angling for crayfish, in the Redan quarry holes, in which there was about 12 feet of water. The boy Letcher stumbled at the edge of edge of the holes and tumbled into the water, dragging Dineen, who was standing close by, in with him. It was reported that young Dineen's brother, who witnessed the boys fall into the hole, called to a man who was passing in a cart to give help to rescue the drowning boys, but no notice was taken of the calls for assistance. The bodies of the poor lads were recovered shortly after the lamentable occurrence, but life was extinct."