John Onions was 'for many years a distributor of the Sydney Newspapers' in the 1830s in Sydney, New South Wales. On 31 October 1837 he 'fell into the undefended excavation in Pitt-street ... thereby breaking his thigh and dislocating the hip bone'. As a consequence of his fall, he was unable to continue his occupation. An appeal for subscriptions for him was advertised in Sydney newspapers in June 1838. The advertisement mentions his age as 64 years.
Source: 'Appeal to the Humane', Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (26 June 1838): 1.
