Last Woman Hanged
by Caroline Overington
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One woman. Two husbands. Four trials. One bloody execution. The last woman hanged in NSW. In January 1889, Louisa Collins, a 41-year-old mother of ten children, became the first woman hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol and the last woman hanged in New South Wales. Both of Louisa's husbands died suddenly. The Crown was convinced that Louisa poisoned them with arsenic and, to the horror of many in the legal community, put her on trial an extraordinary four times in order to get a conviction. Louisa show more protested her innocence until the end. This book delves into the archives to re-examine the original, forensic reports, court documents, judges notebooks, witness statements and police and gaol records, in an effort to discover the truth. Much of the evidence against Louisa was circumstantial. Some of the most important testimony was given by her only daughter, May, who was just 10-years-old when asked to take the stand. The historical context is also important: Louisa Collins was hanged at a time when women were in no sense equal under the law - except when it came to the gallows. Women could not vote or stand for parliament - or sit on juries. There were no female politicians and no women judges. Against this background, a small group of women rose up to try to save Louisa's life, arguing that a legal system comprised only of men - male judges, all-male jury, male prosecutor, governor and Premier - could not with any integrity hang a woman. The tenacity of these women would not save Louisa but it would ultimately carry women from their homes all the way to Parliament House. Less than 15 years after Louisa was hanged, Australian women would become some of the first in the world to get the vote. They would take seats in State parliament, and in Canberra. They would become doctors, lawyers, judges, premiers - even the Prime Minister. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A fascinating read of the trial of Louisa Collins, the last woman hanged in Australia. I also had the pleasure of listening to the author speak at two events at the Sydney Writers Festival last week. Very inspiring writer.
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Author Information
17+ Works 743 Members
Caroline Overington was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1970. She earned her degree from Deakin University. and is a senior journalist for the Australian. She is the author of Last Woman Hanged which won a Davitt Award 2015 in the True Crime Book category. Her other work includes the bestseller, The One Who Got Away, published in 2016. (Bowker show more Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Last Woman Hanged
- Original publication date
- 2014-11-01
- People/Characters
- Louisa Collins; Charles Andrews; Michael Collins (2d husband of Louisa Andrews Collins); Arthur Andrews; May Andrews
- Important places
- Botany, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Politics and Government, History, General Nonfiction, Sexuality and Gender Studies, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 364.15230944 — Society, government, & culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses Offenses against the person Homicide Murder History, geographic treatment, biography Europe
- LCC
- HV8694 — Social sciences Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminal justice administration Penology. Prisons. Corrections
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 77
- Popularity
- 410,605
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.15)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 2
