Last Woman Hanged
Written by Caroline Overington
Narrated by Jennifer Vuletic
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
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 had died suddenly and the Crown, convinced that Louisa poisoned them with arsenic, put her on trial an extraordinary four times in order to get a conviction, to the horror of many in the legal community. Louisa protested her innocence until the end.
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. Louisa Collins was hanged at a time when women were in no sense equal under the law -- except when it came to the gallows. They could not vote or stand for parliament -- or sit on juries. 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.
Caroline Overington is the author of eleven books of fiction and non-fiction, including the top-selling THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY psychological crime novel. She has said: 'My hope is that LAST WOMAN HANGED will be read not only as a true crime story but as a letter of profound thanks to that generation of women who fought so hard for the rights we still enjoy today.'
Praise for LAST WOMAN HANGED
'The story she tells ... is a useful challenge to any tendency to simple moral indignation' -- Beverley Kingston, Sydney Morning Herald
'This is a fascinating book, a terrific read, and an excellent reminder of who tells the stories, and whose stories are forgotten' -- Frances Rand, South Coast Register
'... what's ... interesting is Caroline Overington's even-handed appraisal of Collins's alleged crime(s) that led her to become the last woman hanged in New South Wales in 1889' -- Launceston Sunday Examiner
Caroline Overington
Caroline Overington is a bestselling Australian author and an award-winning journalist. She has written eleven books, including the top-ten bestseller The One Who Got Away, and Last Woman Hanged, which won the Davitt Award for True Crime Writing in 2015. She has profiled many of the world's most famous women, including Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton, and has twice won the Walkley Award for Investigative Journalism. She has also won the Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Journalistic Excellence and the Blake Dawson Prize for Business Literature. Caroline is currently Associate Editor at The Australian and is based in Sydney. You can find her online at www.carolineoverington.com.
Related to Last Woman Hanged
Related audiobooks
My Brother's Keeper: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empty Cradles (Oranges and Sunshine) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who Was Gertie Ford? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Time We Spoke Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clover Blue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clay and Bones: My Life as an FBI Forensic Artist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost Child Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMonstrous Souls: One murdered. One missing. One survivor. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Dark New England Days: Two sisters exact revenge on a man that stole their dead fathers inheritance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Brother's Eyes: The true story of the blindness of a destructive cult told by two brothers separated by it. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Millennium Serial Killer: Examining the Crimes of Christopher Halliwell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShadows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Asylum: a breath-taking psychological suspense thriller Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Lucky One Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fearless Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Daisy de Melker: Hiding among killers in the City of Gold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Girls Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Conjoined (Booktrack Edition): A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Lost Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braided: A Not Not True Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Met Her on the Mountain: The Murder of Nancy Morgan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/511 Missed Calls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Baby Snatchers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder, Misadventure and Miserable Ends Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Butterfly Boy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Children Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Valley Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
History For You
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Swingtime for Hitler: Goebbels’s Jazzmen, Tokyo Rose, and Propaganda That Carries a Tune Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An American Marriage: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Art Without Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Last Woman Hanged
10 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A 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.