Between 1842 and 1967, 187 people were hanged in Victoria. Until 1949, a range of crimes attracted the death penalty – rape, carnal knowledge of a girl under 10, sodomy, aggravated burglary and arson, murder, and treason. Most victims of the gallows were men; although of the 187 executions, five were women.
Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, two Aboriginal men from Tasmania, were the first to be hanged. They were convicted of killing two whalers and were executed in Melbourne in 1842 before a huge crowd. Prior to 1850, executions were gruesome but popular public events. More than 3000 people gathered to watch the execution of the two Palawa men. The reported: ‘The side and end walls of the gaol which were nearest the gallows
