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Ross Gibson, The Criminal Re-Register

Ross Gibson, The Criminal Re-Register The University of Western Australia Publishing, 2017, 152 pp., ISBN: 9781742589558, p/bk, AUS$22.99 Ross Gibson’s new work, The Criminal Re-Register (2017) from University of Western Australia Publishing, is a fabulous re-imagining of a mid-twentieth century copy of a…

The Trouble with Harry

Mug shot of Eugenie Falleni 1920 Courtesy: Sydney Living Museums, Justice & Police Museum (FP07_0031_005) As part of the 2017 Mardi Gras festival, there’s an interesting play showing at the Seymour Centre called The Trouble with Harry. The play revolves around…

Kate Leigh: the Sly-Grog Queen

Entry for Kate Leigh in State Reformatory for Women, Long Bay Photographic Description Book, 1915, State Records New South Wales (NRS 2496, No 188, 3/6007) The Dictionary of Sydney has some fascinating new articles including one on the famous ‘Sly-Grog Queen’…

Constance Kent: The 'murderess'

Constance Kent, the murderess c1866 Credit: State Library of Victoria (Acc No: H41038) In 1929, an 85-year-old Sydney nurse and public servant named Ruth Emilie Kaye wrote a 3,000-word letter called the Sydney Document. In it, she confessed to murdering her three- year-old…

Iris Webber: 'the most violent woman in Sydney'

size-full wp-image-10596 'Sensational Incidents At Holmes Shooting Inquest', Truth in Sydney, 13 May 1945.National Library of Australia [news-article169358891 via Trove] (Truth, 13 May 1945, p16) http://trust.dictionaryofsydney.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Iris.jpg300183/> 'Sensational Incidents At Holmes Shooting Inquest', Truth in Sydney, 13 May 1945. National Library…