Last Woman Hanged: The Terrible, True Story of Louisa Collins by Caroline Overington

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Dust jacket has some light creasing at top edge and at spine. Interior and binding are excellent.

In January 1889, Louisa Collins, a 41-year-old mother of ten children, became the first woman hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol and the last 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 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 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. (publisher blurb)