Aussie writer Jim Haynes is fascinated with our remarkable history
Jim Haynes, 75, Moore Park, NSW
Wow! It’s so strange to think people were executed for stealing food,’ my sister Jillian, 76, said while sifting through a pile of documents.
She was doing research for my latest book, about the transportation of convicts to Australia by the British.
‘And the last person who was executed for shoplifting was a woman, in 1822,’ she revealed.
In fact, at one time, there were more than 230 crimes you could be hanged for, including farcical things
