Jockey - Waverley Council

LOUIS WILLIAM KUHN Jockey
BORN: 1883, Lambton, N.S.W.
DIED: 11 May 1912, Sydney
AGED: 29 years
GRAVE: 800 Church of England Vault, Section 6
Kuhn "the well-known jockey, was found dead in bed at a boarding
house kept by Mr Samuel Harris, 15 Clarence Street, city," reported tiie
Daily Telegraph. "The body was removed to the Morgue, where a postmortem
revealed the presence of a carbolic preparation in the stomach."
Louis Kuhn died of lysol poisoning.
The jockey had been a prominent member of his profession, and a younger
brother of jockey FrarUc Kuhn (q.v.), who was kiUed in a shooting accident
nine years earlier "Though, perhaps, not such an accomplished rider as
his deceased brother," continued tiie Daily Telegraph, Louis Kuhn "won
some good races in his time, including Caulfield Guineas on Mr C.L.
McDonald's Kinglike, Caulfield Cup on Mr T, Payten's Dewey, and
Newmarket Handicap on Mr W. Brown's Chantress." Kuhn also rode
Monogram, owned by Mr F. McGrath, to victory in tiie Maiden Handicap.
Louis had his share of racing accidents. At Canterbury in 1899, "Retford
Queen and Jasper came to grief in the Park Stakes soon after starting,"
the SMH reported. "The jockeys, L. Kuhn and E. Crockett, were a good
deal shaken, and the former was taken to the Western Suburbs Hospital,
and he is thought to be suffering from internal injuries, and his
condition is regarded as dangerous."
In the V.R.C. Newmarket Handicap of 1903, the winner was "Chantress
ridden by L. Kuhn, who last year piloted Sir Foote to victory," recorded
the SMH. Louis had previously ridden Chantress to the winning post in
1901 and the SMH wrote, "The winners of the December Stakes and
A.J.C. Handicap were steered by brothers L. and F. Kuhn, who rode
Chantress and Azure respectively." The Bulletin said of his brother, Frank
Kuhn, "on the morning of the day of his death (Newmarket settling day)
[in 1903], tis said he collected a big sum on account of Chantress' success
in the Newmarket - she was ridden by the dead jockey's brother,
L. Kuhn."
A sticuige CO-incidence, or was it just fate
that these two brothers should both
die under unusual circumstances?
They now rest in the same grave.
SOURCE: Waverley Cemetery Archives; The Bulletin 21-1-1899,21-3-1903; Daily Telegraph 13-5-1912,14-5-1912;
SMH 10-10-1898,16-1-1899,27-12-1901,2-3-1903
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