by Rachel Franks | May 6, 2021 | Blog
On 7 May 1832, John Hammell (also reported as John Hammill, John Haymell and Charles Hammell) was hanged for the murder of his boss George Williamson. Not everyone was sorry Williamson had been bashed in the head with a spade, but committing murder has consequences....
by Rachel Franks | Sep 30, 2020 | Blog, Entries
On 23 November 1789, Ann Davis became the first woman hanged in New South Wales. Listen to Rachel and Alex on 2SER here Davis was, as we would say today, ‘known to police’. In England, Davis (also known as Judith Jones) had been indicted in April 1786 for feloniously...
by Rachel Franks | Jul 24, 2019 | Blog
When people talk about the convicts sent to Australia across the early years of colonisation, there are two dominant stories that emerge. There’s the story of the unjustly treated convict: driven, by poverty, to steal basic supplies such as clothing and food to...
by Rachel Franks | Sep 5, 2018 | Book Reviews
Adam Courtenay, The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape Story of Australian Colonial History HarperCollins Publishers (ABC Books), 323 pp., ISBN: 978073333857, p/bk, AUS$29.99 In a genuine example of fact is stranger than fiction, journalist Adam...
by Nicole Cama | May 31, 2017 | Blog
Today’s Dictionary of Sydney segment on 2SER was inspired by the fascinating article that recently appeared in The Guardian (here) about an amateur historian in Japan who uncovered evidence that a story long thought to be myth – that a ship commandeered by...
