WEBVTT - A bushranger's body in the window - Part 2 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:06.720 It's just an interesting part of the story because it 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:11.200 was this ship that these Bushrangers were attempting to escape 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:13.399 on and it did disappear, so maybe some people want 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:15.880 to believe that other men were on there and they 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:16.920 did get away with the gold. 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:28.800 I'm Jen Kelly from The Herald's Son and this is 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.800 in Black and White, a podcast about some of Australia's 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.519 forgotten characters. We're back for part two of the story 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.640 of bushranger George Melville, who was part of an audacious 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:42.960 robbery of a gold escort heading from the Goldfield to 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.280 Melbourne in the eighteen fifties. Make sure you listen to 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:50.559 part one first, we're talking again with Damian Beard, a 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.520 tour guide at Penridge Prison Tours. As Damien told us 0:00:54.520 --> 0:00:58.000 in part one, police were closing in on the Gang 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:03.120 of Bushrangers after finding a startling clue. A revolver had 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.440 been stolen from a man's tent on the gold Fields 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.080 and a map of the ship Madagascar had been left 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:16.199 behind with the incriminating words Jay Francis cabin passenger written 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.880 on it. And just a warning. This episode contains discussion 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.640 about self harm. If you or anyone you know needs help. 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:27.080 You can contact Lifeline on one three double one one 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.640 four and you can find more helplines in the show 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:34.160 notes to this episode. This is so mysterious. Why would 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.160 somebody steal a revolverly behind a map? 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:42.120 It seems so obvious that it's like a hacky detective novel, 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.920 like a young adult novel, you know, So that's what 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.560 led some people suggest No, maybe they knew something else 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.880 than this was a ruse or something like that. 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:53.480 And it's possible that often the truth is just so 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.320 much stupid of a that, you know, I just told 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.680 you about Frank Christy who escaped from pantries by climbing 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:03.000 over the one meets a wall of a prison. So 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:07.560 often he's just those little things like that. But back 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.920 in Melbourne, the men are either staying in Collingwood, the 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.680 city or Melville went to his house in Little Burke Street. 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.960 The Francis brothers, with their wives and George Wilson had 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:22.720 booked passage to England on the Madagascar. The Atkins were 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:26.240 intending to head to Sydney, Joe Gray was allegedly intending 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.240 to head to Adelaide, and George and Alfonsine were on 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:34.079 board the Colooney which was heading to Mauritius. They speak French, 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.040 why not get out of the English colonies altogether? The 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.880 English and the French still not particularly great friends after 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.960 the Napoleonic Wars. So on the tenth of August eighteen 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:46.960 fifty three, Detective Constable Thompson and Constable Eason bought the 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.360 Madagascar with a warrant to arrest John and George Francis 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.880 on suspicion of theft of the revolver and a bowie knife. Now, 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.400 some people have suggested that this is a ruse, that 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:00.600 they already suspected these men of the Mackaivy robbery. Not 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.880 really sure that it's a long effort to travel from 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.680 Maciva to Melbourne just for a stolen revolver, So maybe, 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:11.200 but we're really not sure. George isn't on board, but 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:15.160 John is, and he's apprehended. His rooms were searched, but 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:17.280 he had enough time to get word to George Wilson, 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:20.000 who's also on board, to hide the stolen gold in 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:24.639 George Francis's room, because George Francis's room has already been searched, 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:26.240 so they figure they're not going to go back and 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:30.240 have another look. John Francis is arrested on suspicion of 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:34.120 the theft of the revolver and the knife, and he 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.480 is being rowed to shore with his wife, and as 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:38.960 he does, he asks permission to pull up to the 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:42.200 colooney so that his wife could be looked after by 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:47.280 the Melvilles, and this possibly implicates the Melvilles in police's mind. 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:52.720 From here, George and Olfuonseine now George Francis is later 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.760 found and arrested on shore and John and George are 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.440 brought before the courts. They're immediately discharged for lack of 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.320 evidence the theft of the pistol and the knife, but 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:04.840 then walking out the door of the court immediately re 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.440 arrested on suspicion of being taking part in the Mackai 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:13.040 for Gold escort robbin. On August eleventh, the Madagascar and 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.800 the Colooney was searched. Gold is found on the colooney 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:22.000 and twenty three pounds of sovereigns as well as various 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:25.960 other banknotes cash this kind of thing, and then George 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:28.760 Wilson is arrested on the Madagascar when three hundred and 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.760 fifty eight pounds in gold sovereigns is found in his room, 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:37.800 but Why did they go search the whole ship and 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:42.600 a whole other ship is the big question. Possibly because 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.479 when John Francis is dropping his wife off with the Melvilles, 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:51.160 this raises suspicion in police's mind, but quite probably it's 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:55.760 because of what happens with George Francis. On eleventh of August, 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.360 Captain McMahon of the Police sends for George Francis at 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.680 the City locker and he points out the notice on 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:06.200 the gate five hundred pounds reward and passage out of 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:13.360 the colony. Does George turn what they call approver an informant? 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:17.680 Absolutely yes, he does. Remember he's already done this once 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:20.440 before back in Van Demon's Land as well. On the 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:24.400 same day, George Melville is arrested by Detective Ashley at 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.760 the north Star Hotel and he is found with more 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.680 money and a revolver on him. Not sure if that's 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:34.840 a missing revolver or not. Also, William and Agnes Atkins 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:37.520 are arrested at their house in Little Burk Street. Now 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.000 no one had implicated these people so far, they absolutely 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.800 had to have been informed on by George Francis. In 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.000 in fact, he comes with police to their house. Detective 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:51.840 Ashley and George Francis entered the house and Francis identified 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.320 Atkins as one of the bushrangers. They found money in 0:05:55.400 --> 0:06:00.400 bank drafts and pans, and then the detective if you know, 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:02.880 asks Agnes Atkins do you have any money? And she's 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.320 very indignant, but finally she is searched and they find 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:09.840 banknotes and money hidden in the hem of one of 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:14.400 her dresses, sewn in there. On August thirteen, detectives Ashley 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.960 and Murray and a Sergeant Simcock take George Francis to 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:22.800 mc ivor with warrants to arrest more men Robert Harding, 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:27.480 Edward McAvoy, George Shepard, and George Elston more Georges. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:28.679 We don't need any more Georges. 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:30.279 More George's more Georges. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:32.400 And who were these men, Damien? 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:37.520 Good question, We don't know. An author has suggested that 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.599 Francis was trying to muddy the waters. He already feels 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.760 guilty about informing on people, especially his brother, so figures 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.120 if I just implicate a whole bunch of other dudes, 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:48.320 put them all on trial, there's going to be this. 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:50.200 You know, he was here, he was and blah blah blah, 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:54.360 it's going to get thrown out. Possibly the troopers swore 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.159 blind that they were attacked by at least fifteen to 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:00.880 twenty men, So maybe there were men more men involved 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.280 in the robbery than we actually know. Because again, the troopers, 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:06.520 when they've all been caught unawares and you know, ambushed, 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.680 and haven't even managed to get a shot off in return, 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:11.680 they're going to say it wasn't six guys, you know, 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.240 it was fifty guys, and they're all with machine guns 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:16.440 and they were invented back then or anything like that. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.880 But still you get the idea they were embarrassed. Yeah. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.080 So Harding, McAvoy, Shepherd, and Elston had already moved on 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.480 to Golben from Mackaiva, So on seventeenth of August they 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:29.120 show up at the Golden Diggings. But the policemen are like, 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:30.760 we're not going to go into the camp because we'll 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.760 be recognized as tramps, as traps immediately. It will give 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.480 the game away. So instead they send George Francis in 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:41.000 to look for them, and he does a runner instead 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:45.080 of finding them. Now all four men, Harding, McAvoy, Shepherd 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:49.400 and Elston are caught the next day as was George Francis. 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.920 He was caught near Mackiva Goldfields. They're taken back to 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.160 Melbourne to go before the courts, and then they take 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:56.600 a few days to make their way down there. By 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:58.920 the twenty first of August they've reached what's now cal Calo. 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.400 Francis in handcuffs for extra security and to isolate him 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.960 from the other four who were obviously not feeling particularly 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.200 well disposed to him by this point. He's actually taken 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.040 to the house of the manager of the lock up, 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:16.360 Robert Small. At nine am the next morning, Francis asked 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.880 to go to the bathroom and he's escorted by Trooper 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.800 Thomas Cox. He says, you know, can you take my 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.400 chains off so I can actually do my business in 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.400 the outhouse and Cox says, no probs. He takes him in, 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:31.720 and after a few moments, Cox hears an absolutely horrible 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.560 noise from inside the authouse. He pushes open the door 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.360 to find George Francis with his throat cut. 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:40.760 What is that possible? 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.760 Again? Another author has alleged that someone snuck into the 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:46.720 outhouse and was waiting for him with a razor and 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.280 somehow murdered him. I don't know if you've seen the 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:51.440 average size of a privy closet back then, but they 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:55.240 call it a closet for a reason. It's small. What 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.200 was found was a razor in his hand, belonging to 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:01.600 the keeper of the lock up, Robert Small, and that 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.800 raisor had allegedly been in the room where Francis had 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.040 been kept overnight. He'd pocketed and he'd ended his own life. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.800 We'll be back soon to hear what happened next, so 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.240 stay with us. 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:21.920 On August twenty fifth, they're brought before the court for 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:28.079 examination Melville Wilson Atkins, his wife, Agnes Atkins, Elston Harding 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.160 and McAvoy. No word of what's happened to Shephard from here. 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:34.480 They're all in handcuffs, which the defense lay kicked up 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.160 a bit of fuss about as this was unconstitutional, and 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:43.240 John Francis appears in place of his brother and gives evidence. 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:48.240 John has now turned approver. Elston Harding and McAvoy, the 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:55.120 men who were implicated by John's brother George Francis, were remanded, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.120 but then there's no further record a found of them, 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:03.160 same with Agnes Actkins, so they were quite obviously discharged 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:07.960 without convictions, so no evidence was found to implicate them 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.280 in being involved in this robbery, which kind of lends 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:12.240 a bit of theory to the credits that it was 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:17.080 just those you know, six or seven guys, amongst whom 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:20.840 George Melville Atkins and George Wilson. They're not so lucky. 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:24.160 They're amanded to a higher court to hear charges, and 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:28.200 on seventeen they appear in the Supreme Court before Justice 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.000 Williams and placed on trial for the robbery of the 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:35.599 gold escort, specifically three charges, one of which is wounding 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.160 the driver Fooks and putting him in fear of his life. 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:43.080 Some of the charges were also for stealing gold of 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:47.520 one thousand ouncers or more belonging to certain individuals, And 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.880 this actually sort of causes a bit of illegal wrangling 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:56.199 because what happens is there's no proof that's alleged by 0:10:56.200 --> 0:11:00.640 the defense that some of the gold was held by 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:04.480 those people who are then being put forward in the 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.520 trial as the owners of that gold and things like that. 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.400 We'll get to that in a moment. It's a pretty 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:12.560 quick trial. It goes from twelve pm to about eight pm, 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.240 but trials work quick back in those days, and ned 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.600 Kelly famously two day trial. Justice Williams still says he 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.800 regrets the time taken on the trial, the whole eight hours. 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.520 What he reminded the jury before they deliver their verdict 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:29.800 that the result of the verdict was not their worry 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.000 and in effect that the blood would be on his 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.680 hands as a representative of the justice system, not theirs. 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:39.960 If they find guilty, that's not going to be leading 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.320 them to be directly the cause of the death of 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:48.640 these men. Which is interesting because Justice Williams he seems 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:52.000 to be he knows that the crime is being committed. 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.760 I don't know if he was someone who was privately 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.120 opposed to the death penalty things like that, but he 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.240 has a bit of an interesting attitude to the prisoners. 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.319 There's a forty minute for guilty verdict on the first count, 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.480 which included the assault on folks and making him in 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:07.439 fear of his life. But then there's a bit of 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.160 legal wrangling over the defense allegend. You know, we can't 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.440 prove that this gold belonged to these people because the 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.959 certificates saying such and such a person owned this amount 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:19.360 of gold were lost in the robbery, and in fact 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:23.200 Williams defers the sentencing after this because he confers with 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.520 Sir Edmund Barry to decide what it's going to you know, 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.280 is this actually a thing that's going to cause a 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:30.520 bit of a legal hiccup or anything like that, But 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.040 Redmond Barry, being Redmond Barry, is like, no, it's fine, 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:36.320 and so there's nothing worth delaying the sentencing. They are 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.240 then appear in court next day to be sentenced. To 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:42.440 Melville asks to speak. He's reminded that he you know, 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.560 the verdict has already been placed. You can't say anything 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.720 right now that will change the verdict. And George Melville 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.160 said no, I don't care about that. He says, I 0:12:51.160 --> 0:12:53.720 want the truth to be out. I know where I'm going. 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:56.480 I know that I am going to peer before a 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:01.120 higher court who's tribunal judges themselves would be judged before. 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.160 He knows that, you know, he's going to heaven, and 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.360 he wants to go to heaven with a clean slate. 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:10.600 So he says, you know, several witnesses bore false evidence 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.319 against him. He knew the time to change the verdict 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:16.800 was gone, but he wanted to confess with a clean 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:21.400 slate and say this is what really happened. And Justice 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:25.240 Williams is really very impressed by this. He says words 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.360 to the effect that, you know, he commends him for 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:31.240 his stoicism in accepting his fate and saying, I wish 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:34.800 that everyone who appear before this court approached these things 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.199 with such a value set of values, in an attitude 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:40.600 that you did. And he uses the time to get 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:44.520 a few shots in at John Francis as well, being 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:47.280 you know, this wicked man who bore witness against you 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:48.160 and stuff like that. 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:52.240 Oh interesting, Yeah, so John Francis did get that huge 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:53.880 reward he did. 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:57.360 What happens is all three men on trial, Melville, Atkins 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.640 and Wilson, are sentenced to death. They are taken to 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.560 the old Melbourne Jail. Melville Natkins' wives visited them quite frequently. 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:07.320 Poor Agnes Atkins, she was only like eighteen or nineteen 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.040 at this point in time, and she was pregnant, and 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.600 she was now left destitute. And in fact, I believe 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.040 I've never been able to prove this, but I read 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:19.320 somewhere that collections were raised to give her some money 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.560 to live on. All three of them spent time with 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.440 the priests, but they never confessed to the robbery. At 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.880 six am on the third of October eighteen fifty three, 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.760 they woke and they dressed for their execution. At eight 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:34.800 o'clock the sheriff announced the hour had arrived, and then Melville, 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.560 then Wilson, then Natkins left. Their cells were pinioned and 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:42.040 taken to the gallows outside. At this point in time, 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.040 the gallows was still outside in what's now the yard 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:50.680 of old Melbourne Jail. They were public at that point 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.600 in time. The gallows were tall enough that you could 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:57.320 see if you were standing outside, you could see over 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.240 the top of the wall and see the men on 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:02.200 the gallows. They dropped through the trap door. They disappeared 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.520 from sight. They were later moved inside because of what 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:10.120 happens afterwards. There is a crowd outside waiting. It's allegedly 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.160 the largest crowd to witness an execution at that point, 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.360 and Melville attempted to address the crowd, but he gave 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.120 up when he realized they couldn't hear him, and he 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:22.160 just wished them a good morning. Wilson spoke and he 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.160 again mentioned false evidence against them, and he also said 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.280 that there is a man in jail at the time 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.800 who had been convicted of a robbery and sekilled a 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:35.320 road who was innocent. Now, Wilson was alleged to be 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:40.080 part of this robbery, and he is apparently taking his 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:41.760 time on the go as to say, no, this guy 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:47.280 wasn't involved. Oh no, this is just a footnote in 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.360 the story and I know nothing more about it. It's 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:54.360 very frustrating. But hangman Walsh descends the stairs and pulls 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.520 the bot. Atkins died immediately, but the other two died hard, 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.240 with Walsh having to run below the trap door and 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.160 pull on their legs to pull them against the noose 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:08.440 so quickly. Yeah, there is the aftermath. Alfonsine applies for 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.680 George's Melville's body, takes a tour oyster shop and you 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:16.560 know what happens next from there. This is so controversial 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:20.680 that legislation is amended. Government moves slowly. It takes them 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.320 till eighteen sixty five. But all people executed at Old 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:28.560 Melbourne Jail from eighteen sixty five on, including Ned they 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.560 move the gallows inside Old Melbourne Jail. The gallows are 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.600 still there. Parts of it are original, parts of it 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:36.880 are not. You can come to a tour and see it. 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:40.800 The beam is definitely original. And then once they are 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.160 executed there I think it's about forty four people are 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.440 executed inside. They are then buried on site where the 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:49.240 basketball court is at r MIT. Now that is where 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:53.000 they are buried to prevent exactly what happened with George 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:54.000 ever happening again. 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.760 Now there's another interesting PostScript to this story, isn't there? 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:03.360 There is the Madagascar, the ship that the Francis brothers 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.080 and Wilson were wanting to escape on. It left Melbourne 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:10.720 on Friday the twelfth of August, left Port Phillips Heads 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:13.000 and was never ever seen again. 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.440 Ye, any thoughts about what happened? 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:20.040 There are stories. It was apparently quite a famous maritime 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:24.320 mystery at the time. So it was carrying a huge 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:26.879 cargo of wolves. So some people thought that the walls 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:31.959 spontaneously combusted and it was lost at sea with all 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:35.000 hands in that manner, That's the one I tend to believe. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.760 Interesting fact, about thirty years later, most of the sort 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.840 of sailing ship trade was being done by ships ferrying coal, 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.760 and I know in the eighteen eighties about thirty percent 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:48.520 of all ships lost at sea were lost to coal 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:54.760 fires coal explosions, so that's more prosaic reason. But there 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.159 is alleged that there were possibly other members of the 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.000 gang who were never convicted, who were on board that ship, 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:05.040 and allegedly they mutinied, murdered all the other passengers and 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:09.240 disappeared with the gold. This story is backed up by 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:13.240 an apparent deathbed confession from someone who was either a 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:17.240 passenger who survived or a mutineer. That's just a story, 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:21.040 you know, there's never anything written down. Just there was 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:24.560 a deathbed confession. We have no proof, Honestly, I don't know. 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.320 It's just an interesting part of the story because it 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:31.760 was this ship that these Bushrangers were attempting to escape 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:33.960 on and it did disappear. So maybe some people want 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:36.439 to believe that other men were on there and they 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:37.280 did get away. 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.000 With the gold and Damien what happened to Melville's body. 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.200 So the authority has got the back. I have read 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:46.080 in one place that he was then interred at Old 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:50.240 Melbourne Jail. One hundred percent sure about that. But we 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.040 do know that there were anywhere from thirty four to 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:58.160 fifty something bodies buried. Now we don't know because most 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.760 of those bodies were found in no teen twenty eight 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:04.240 twenty nine. In nineteen twenty four, Old Melbourne Gel closes. 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.080 In nineteen twenty eight they start knocking it down, making 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:11.240 way for what becomes r MIT. What's left up on 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:13.880 Rossell Street. It's only about twenty percent of the whole site. 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:16.719 It took up the whole city block. As they do this, 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.720 they uncover all the bodies in the graveyard. It's not 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:21.800 a graveyard like you'd think it was. What you have 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:24.199 is there are bodies buried, and if you're lucky, the 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:28.080 presents who buried the bodies might scratch initials into a 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:30.719 wall and you can still see some of these stones 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:32.600 because when they knock down those walls, they use the 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:34.439 stones to build the sea walls of Brighton and bo 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:37.960 Morris Beach. So if you go to Brighton Beach in 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:39.800 front of the sea wall, you dig down about a 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.280 meter or so, you will find scratched into one of 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.199 the stones there MN which is Martha Needles. She was 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:49.840 the originally poisoner executed in the eighteen nineties. There. That's 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:51.239 the only one I found. Because if you go to 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:53.560 a beach and dig holes, you know a meter deep, 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:55.800 telling people you're looking for graves people look at your 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.880 book him Brighton. But most of the bodies are removed, 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:02.680 taken up to Pantridge, buried in three mass graves up there, 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:04.840 not all of them. In two thousand and two, during 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:08.560 the construction of the r MIT Alumni Courtyard which is 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:11.400 there now, a body was found in a corner over 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.560 near the wall, so that was not where the graveyard was. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:17.680 And they also found some leg bones of some other people, 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.720 and I think some bones of a dog, So there 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:21.480 may be people there, we just don't know. But most 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:23.520 of them were moved up to Pentridge. There are still 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:26.639 some of them buried up there, including the woman I 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:29.360 spoke to you about last time, Jean Lee, still at Penridge. 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:31.639 Since we spoke a couple of months ago, you've actually 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.760 found out some more fascinating information about jean Lee. What 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:35.640 did you find out? 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:38.840 I did, Literally while we were recording the podcast, some 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:42.280 documents arrived in the mail. So you asked me last 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:45.520 time details about Jeane's daughter, and I said I just 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.080 didn't know, and whether that information had been suppressed or 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:51.520 not in any way formally or informally. I did find 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:55.080 out her name, Jill. That's all I found out reading 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:57.600 a book where some people did some quite significant research 0:20:57.640 --> 0:20:59.720 about the case. It does appear you asked me if 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:03.080 gene mum and her daughter visited her while she was 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.320 effectively on death row at Penridge. I don't believe they did. 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:10.080 They couldn't find absolutely no evidence of it. It seems 0:21:10.200 --> 0:21:13.520 like Jean's daughter just went on to live her life 0:21:13.600 --> 0:21:15.480 when her mum wasn't a part of her life from 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.280 when she was a young kid. I also have to 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:22.120 correct myself. I did say that they were Lee Andrews 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:23.879 and Clayton granted a retrial. They were not. 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:26.520 They were. 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:33.280 The trial was essentially reviewed, would they be given a retrial? 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:37.320 And the higher courts decided no, they actually didn't need to, 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.800 and their conviction was reinstated that way. Now, there were 0:21:40.840 --> 0:21:42.959 appeals that went all the way to the Privy Council. 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:45.720 And what is really interesting about this is the Privy 0:21:45.760 --> 0:21:51.240 Council obviously did not overturn their sentence, but they were 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:55.200 executed before formal notice that that sentence had not been 0:21:55.240 --> 0:22:01.359 overturned was received in Australia to be delivered by mail, 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:04.919 and they are executed some few days before that actual 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:08.280 letter saying their sentence has not been overturned and they 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:11.639 will hang was received by the government. So people have 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:13.879 argued since then that that bill was actually a bit 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:16.719 of a miscarriage of justice because the government didn't officially 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:19.960 know that they were allowed to hang these. 0:22:19.800 --> 0:22:22.720 People and Damien. Where and how can listeners hear more 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:23.760 stories like these? 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:27.439 So you can come to either of our big bluestone 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:30.560 museums of sadness and oppression. You can come to Old 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:34.720