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
The Warwickshire Murders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Book Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Lucky One Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My 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 ratingsFatal Attraction Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5480 Codorus Street: Surviving Unpredictability Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little Shoes: The Sensational Depression-Era Murders That Became My Family's Secret Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Time We Spoke Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirty Laundry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHold My Hand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Nine Lives of John Aslin: True Story of an Indigenous Man Imprisoned 37 Years and Counting for a Nonviolent Crime 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 ratingsThe Baby Snatchers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stella Who? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clay and Bones: My Life as an FBI Forensic Artist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis is How We Are Human 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 Colony Murder on the Outer Banks: Seeking Justice for Brenda Joyce Holland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Doesn't Kill Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Was Gertie Ford? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMummy’s Little Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Asylum: a breath-taking psychological suspense thriller Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Shadows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnmaking A Murder: The Mysterious Death of Anna-Jane Cheney Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fearless Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ten Days in a Mad-House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Conjoined (Booktrack Edition): A Novel Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Deed So Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
History For You
The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black 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 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists 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 Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An American Marriage: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lafayette in the Somewhat United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Art Without Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Magdalene: Women, the Church, and the Great Deception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History 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.