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| 'They'll never hang a woman': Louisa Collins thought she'd be spared | 'They'll never hang a woman': Louisa Collins thought she'd be spared |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| It was the manner of her death that was so brutal. It was gruesome. When Louisa Collins became the first woman hanged at Darlinghurst jail and the last woman hanged in New South Wales, the executioner botched the job. The trap door didn’t open, and then, after being banged with a mallet, it did open, and she fell through with so much force that her head was nearly severed and her windpipe left exposed. | It was the manner of her death that was so brutal. It was gruesome. When Louisa Collins became the first woman hanged at Darlinghurst jail and the last woman hanged in New South Wales, the executioner botched the job. The trap door didn’t open, and then, after being banged with a mallet, it did open, and she fell through with so much force that her head was nearly severed and her windpipe left exposed. |
| It was an image, says author Janet Lee, “that stuck with me, the image of the woman on the scaffold. Here was this woman who had never been known to confess, who expected a reprieve – was that what she was thinking in those last few moments?” | It was an image, says author Janet Lee, “that stuck with me, the image of the woman on the scaffold. Here was this woman who had never been known to confess, who expected a reprieve – was that what she was thinking in those last few moments?” |
| Collins had walked calmly to her death on 8 January 1889, stoic, pitiful, believing her life would be spared at the last minute. “They will never hang a woman,” she had declared in the last hours of her life. | Collins had walked calmly to her death on 8 January 1889, stoic, pitiful, believing her life would be spared at the last minute. “They will never hang a woman,” she had declared in the last hours of her life. |
| Her death was controversial. A saga covered in salacious detail by the newspapers of the day, fiercely debated in parliament, heavily petitioned by the men and women of the colony. The 41-year-old mother of 10 children had endured four trials for the deaths of both her husbands, allegedly by arsenic found in rat poison; she was one of the only people in the world to be tried four times for murder. | Her death was controversial. A saga covered in salacious detail by the newspapers of the day, fiercely debated in parliament, heavily petitioned by the men and women of the colony. The 41-year-old mother of 10 children had endured four trials for the deaths of both her husbands, allegedly by arsenic found in rat poison; she was one of the only people in the world to be tried four times for murder. |
| The evidence against her was circumstantial. She had nursed them both as they lay dying of similar violent stomach illnesses. One trial for the wilful murder of her first husband, Charles Andrews, and two for her second husband, Michael Collins, had returned hung juries – all of whom were men, 36 in total. The crown pressed on with a fourth trial, for Michael Collins, and finally got their guilty verdict. The chief witness was her 11-year-old daughter May, who testified that she had seen a box of the poison Rough on Rats in the kitchen. | The evidence against her was circumstantial. She had nursed them both as they lay dying of similar violent stomach illnesses. One trial for the wilful murder of her first husband, Charles Andrews, and two for her second husband, Michael Collins, had returned hung juries – all of whom were men, 36 in total. The crown pressed on with a fourth trial, for Michael Collins, and finally got their guilty verdict. The chief witness was her 11-year-old daughter May, who testified that she had seen a box of the poison Rough on Rats in the kitchen. |
| Louisa Collins represented a threat to the men of the colony, and her story was political. In opposition, Sir Henry Parkes had argued for mercy in a previous hanging case for rape. Now that he was premier he was decidedly in favour of the hanging of Louisa, who thundered that the alleged murder of her second husband was “one of the most cruel, inexcusable, and frightful murders ... in the world’s history.” | Louisa Collins represented a threat to the men of the colony, and her story was political. In opposition, Sir Henry Parkes had argued for mercy in a previous hanging case for rape. Now that he was premier he was decidedly in favour of the hanging of Louisa, who thundered that the alleged murder of her second husband was “one of the most cruel, inexcusable, and frightful murders ... in the world’s history.” |
| Doctors who attended Michael noted that Louisa had been drinking alcohol, and the police reported that she was inebriated when arrested – unseemly behaviour for a woman. It was reported that she was “cold” in the courtroom during her trials. “She didn’t show a lot of expression, something that might have been held against her,” says Lee. “She wasn’t typical of that era, she was not weeping or weak.” | Doctors who attended Michael noted that Louisa had been drinking alcohol, and the police reported that she was inebriated when arrested – unseemly behaviour for a woman. It was reported that she was “cold” in the courtroom during her trials. “She didn’t show a lot of expression, something that might have been held against her,” says Lee. “She wasn’t typical of that era, she was not weeping or weak.” |
| Even so, she begged for her life in a letter to Govenor Carrington two days before her death. “Oh my Lord. Pray have mercy and pity on me and spare my life. I beg and implore you to have mercy on me. I have seven children ... spare me my Lord for their sake.” | Even so, she begged for her life in a letter to Govenor Carrington two days before her death. “Oh my Lord. Pray have mercy and pity on me and spare my life. I beg and implore you to have mercy on me. I have seven children ... spare me my Lord for their sake.” |
| Lee’s novel The Killing of Louisa is written in the first person, as Collins awaits the gallows and talks about her life to the priest. | Lee’s novel The Killing of Louisa is written in the first person, as Collins awaits the gallows and talks about her life to the priest. |
| Lee says: “In my head this is very much fiction; I have picked out little pieces of the story and imagined things around those. There were hundreds of newspaper articles, I went and revisited all the primary sources; the NSW archives has the judges records written in this beautiful spidery hand writing. I used the facts as we know them as a guide, and tried not to stray too far.” | Lee says: “In my head this is very much fiction; I have picked out little pieces of the story and imagined things around those. There were hundreds of newspaper articles, I went and revisited all the primary sources; the NSW archives has the judges records written in this beautiful spidery hand writing. I used the facts as we know them as a guide, and tried not to stray too far.” |
| She describes how hard life was for poor, working-class women. Louisa was born in Belltrees, in the Hunter Valley, and was sent away at 14 to be a domestic in the Merriwa home of a solicitor, where she became a “country coquette”, it was reported. | She describes how hard life was for poor, working-class women. Louisa was born in Belltrees, in the Hunter Valley, and was sent away at 14 to be a domestic in the Merriwa home of a solicitor, where she became a “country coquette”, it was reported. |
| At the urging of her mother she married the local butcher, Charles Andrews, at 18; he was 13 years older and she later said “had always been boring”. She had children in quick succession, two dying in infancy, and the family moved to Botany. But it was a drudge feeding all those children, washing, cooking for the boarders the family took in; Louisa would retreat to the pub. | At the urging of her mother she married the local butcher, Charles Andrews, at 18; he was 13 years older and she later said “had always been boring”. She had children in quick succession, two dying in infancy, and the family moved to Botany. But it was a drudge feeding all those children, washing, cooking for the boarders the family took in; Louisa would retreat to the pub. |
| “They had incredibly hard lives, the clothing was so restrictive,” Lee says. “It just would have been every single day boiling the copper, washing clothes, lugging the water; the day to day effort of that era would have just worn you down, everything was so labour intensive.” | “They had incredibly hard lives, the clothing was so restrictive,” Lee says. “It just would have been every single day boiling the copper, washing clothes, lugging the water; the day to day effort of that era would have just worn you down, everything was so labour intensive.” |
| Louisa could also be overly fond of the boarders, in particular the much younger Michael Collins, whom Charles threw out in a fight in the street and who, Lee says, “was a bit of a rogue”. Collins was soon back after Charles’s death. Louisa was very eager to get Charles’s will drawn up as he lay dying, and rushed to collect his insurance policy after his death. She did not wear black mourning clothes, instead throwing a party and dancing with her lover. She was pregnant when she married Collins three months later; their child, John, died in infancy, and 13 months after their marriage, Collins too was dead. | Louisa could also be overly fond of the boarders, in particular the much younger Michael Collins, whom Charles threw out in a fight in the street and who, Lee says, “was a bit of a rogue”. Collins was soon back after Charles’s death. Louisa was very eager to get Charles’s will drawn up as he lay dying, and rushed to collect his insurance policy after his death. She did not wear black mourning clothes, instead throwing a party and dancing with her lover. She was pregnant when she married Collins three months later; their child, John, died in infancy, and 13 months after their marriage, Collins too was dead. |
| It is hard to see what her motive might have been for this death: a woman with so many children had no way of supporting herself; she needed a husband. By then the insurance money was gone – Michael Collins was a gambler. | It is hard to see what her motive might have been for this death: a woman with so many children had no way of supporting herself; she needed a husband. By then the insurance money was gone – Michael Collins was a gambler. |
| Lee’s book follows on from the 2014 book Last Woman Hanged: a meticulous five-year investigation into Louisa’s life and death by Caroline Overington. Neither woman will speculate on whether Collins was guilty. “I know enough to know I don’t know,” says Lee. | Lee’s book follows on from the 2014 book Last Woman Hanged: a meticulous five-year investigation into Louisa’s life and death by Caroline Overington. Neither woman will speculate on whether Collins was guilty. “I know enough to know I don’t know,” says Lee. |
| “I don’t know if Louisa was guilty,” Overington tells Guardian Australia, “but neither, beyond a reasonable doubt, did the fourth and final jury; nor did the judge who sentenced her to hang, despite the prosecution having no weapon, no witnesses, and no motive for the death of Michael Collins.” | “I don’t know if Louisa was guilty,” Overington tells Guardian Australia, “but neither, beyond a reasonable doubt, did the fourth and final jury; nor did the judge who sentenced her to hang, despite the prosecution having no weapon, no witnesses, and no motive for the death of Michael Collins.” |
| The women who petitioned for Louisa would go on to form the suffragette movement. “There was an enormous move in Australia at that time to give women more rights; women were starting to fight for the vote.” | The women who petitioned for Louisa would go on to form the suffragette movement. “There was an enormous move in Australia at that time to give women more rights; women were starting to fight for the vote.” |
| Louisa Collins represented a threat to the men of the colony, her story was political. | Louisa Collins represented a threat to the men of the colony, her story was political. |
| “How can it be,” says Overington “that we know the names of the bushrangers, the gold diggers, the explorers, but not this fascinating story of a woman who faced four juries on a charge of murder. Our silence has allowed braying mobs to form around other women both in the dock (Lindy Chamberlain) and in the court of public opinion; it allowed the framing of women as calculating and manipulative to continue for another century; it encouraged the idea that a sexually adventurous, curious, rebellious woman – Louisa liked to drink and dance and be in love – is immoral, a danger to society. We must dispense with her at once!” | “How can it be,” says Overington “that we know the names of the bushrangers, the gold diggers, the explorers, but not this fascinating story of a woman who faced four juries on a charge of murder. Our silence has allowed braying mobs to form around other women both in the dock (Lindy Chamberlain) and in the court of public opinion; it allowed the framing of women as calculating and manipulative to continue for another century; it encouraged the idea that a sexually adventurous, curious, rebellious woman – Louisa liked to drink and dance and be in love – is immoral, a danger to society. We must dispense with her at once!” |
| • The Killing of Louisa, a novel by Janet Lee, is out through UQP; Last Woman Hanged by Caroline Overington (2014) is out through Harper Collins | • The Killing of Louisa, a novel by Janet Lee, is out through UQP; Last Woman Hanged by Caroline Overington (2014) is out through Harper Collins |
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