Can you imagine reading this in the news?
22 September 2013 was the 100th anniversary of the last hanging to take place in Queensland. In the scheme of things that might not be a big deal to a 21st-century populace because capital punishment has slipped into the 'dark ages' of our memory, a time beyond living history. It barely even made the news when capital punishment was abolished here in 1922, so why should people care now? Truth is, the subject of hanging has become little more than a macabre historical curio in Queensland.
Even so, it is still something of a milestone, so what did we get in the news about the hanging of Ernest Austin, the last person to die on the gallows here? Was it placed in the historical context of declining support for capital punishment in the 1910s? Was there considered input from criminologists, legal experts, or experienced crime-and-punishment historians such as Libby Connors or Mark Finnane? Did we learn anything at all about the actual execution itself?
The answers are no, no and no again. What we got instead was a ghost tours bloke in fancy dress talking like Austin was a Scooby Doo monster. The first 60% of an article in Quest newspapers ran like this:
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The remaining part of the article is just a sales pitch from the ghost tours guy, along with claims that a little metal BBQ plate he owns was a part of the gallows trapdoor (the trapdoors were actually timber). The Brisbane Times website, which is usually a bit more credible, had a short audio clip along the same 'spooks-n-sales' lines, again totally devoid of any historical analysis (and barely a mention) of the actual execution itself. A short Channel 7 news item was little better.
For now let's ignore the fact that the Austin ghost story is pure horsedust (as shown here) and that the execution took place in a whole other long-gone prison building (an inconvenient and unmentioned truth). Why was the significance of, or the reasoning behind, the abolition of hanging ignored? Queensland was, after all, the first part of British Empire to do so. Why weren't any historians consulted for these pieces? Is every significant milestone in Queensland criminal history now going to be treated as secondary to some highly dubious ghost story while Boggo Road becomes a sideshow Haunted House and goth hangout?
Fortunately the answer is 'no'. There are some adults in the room taking this subject seriously, including the Supreme Court of Queensland museum team. Their forthcoming capital punishment exhibition should present a mature and highly professional look at the whole subject, devoid of desperate stunts but brimming with considered research, creativity and a strong grasp of the educational needs of visitors. Whether or not the Brisbane media will cover this event remains to be seen.
Maybe the whole sorry episode with the dumbed-down 100th anniversary news is reflective of a broader societal disinterest in the subject of capital punishment. Maybe some junior reporters and interns facing a deadline are happy just to accept self-promotional media releases as face value. Maybe these reporters don't know what 'respected historians' are, because respected historians don't bombard news outlets with media releases every time some historical milestone pops up.
Whatever the reason, I really hope that newspapers and news outlets can lift their game in time for World War I commemorations and milestones, otherwise before long we'll be finding out all about the Headless Horseman of Beersheba and the Ghoul of Gallipoli instead of, you know, what actually happened.
"Today is the 125th anniversary of the death of legendary bushranger Ned Kelly at Melbourne Gaol. To find out more about his legacy, his rise as an Australian icon, and his impact on our national psyche, we spoke to local ghost hunter Joe Seagoon.
'Ned Kelly's ghost now haunts Pentridge Gaol after it moved there to be a part of my tours', Mr Seagoon told us. 'Many have seen his headless ghost walking the corridors, on a horse, wailing maniacally, out of his head under his arm. You can buy my book all about it, Ned Kelly's Ghost Ate My Cat: I'm Totally Not Making This Up on the tour, which... [tails off into two minutes of self-promotion]"Probably not, but there again Melbourne has different news outlets to Brisbane.
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| A ghost yesterday. |
22 September 2013 was the 100th anniversary of the last hanging to take place in Queensland. In the scheme of things that might not be a big deal to a 21st-century populace because capital punishment has slipped into the 'dark ages' of our memory, a time beyond living history. It barely even made the news when capital punishment was abolished here in 1922, so why should people care now? Truth is, the subject of hanging has become little more than a macabre historical curio in Queensland.
Even so, it is still something of a milestone, so what did we get in the news about the hanging of Ernest Austin, the last person to die on the gallows here? Was it placed in the historical context of declining support for capital punishment in the 1910s? Was there considered input from criminologists, legal experts, or experienced crime-and-punishment historians such as Libby Connors or Mark Finnane? Did we learn anything at all about the actual execution itself?
The answers are no, no and no again. What we got instead was a ghost tours bloke in fancy dress talking like Austin was a Scooby Doo monster. The first 60% of an article in Quest newspapers ran like this:
"Stories have been told over the past century of a ghost who would laugh maniacally, shriek like a banshee and look down upon prisoners from the upper floors of the Boggo Road Gaol. The ghost is said to be the spirit of convicted child murderer Ernest Austin, who has been "haunting" the jail since he was put to death in 1913 - the last man in Queensland to be hanged.
Gaol manager Jack Sim said the story of his execution and the ghoulish stories told about the infamous prisoner after his death were now the country's oldest continuously told prison ghost story. Both prisoners and wardens would retell the story to their peers, with the first known mention back in the 1930s.
"People have continued to talk about this ghost and its presence in the jail from not long after the execution of Ernest Austin" he said.
"It was said that late at night you could see him standing up on one of the upper floors of the jail looking down at you. In the 1940s, it was also being said that Austin's last words included laughter, and that the ghost would have this maniacal laugh just like him."
The remaining part of the article is just a sales pitch from the ghost tours guy, along with claims that a little metal BBQ plate he owns was a part of the gallows trapdoor (the trapdoors were actually timber). The Brisbane Times website, which is usually a bit more credible, had a short audio clip along the same 'spooks-n-sales' lines, again totally devoid of any historical analysis (and barely a mention) of the actual execution itself. A short Channel 7 news item was little better. For now let's ignore the fact that the Austin ghost story is pure horsedust (as shown here) and that the execution took place in a whole other long-gone prison building (an inconvenient and unmentioned truth). Why was the significance of, or the reasoning behind, the abolition of hanging ignored? Queensland was, after all, the first part of British Empire to do so. Why weren't any historians consulted for these pieces? Is every significant milestone in Queensland criminal history now going to be treated as secondary to some highly dubious ghost story while Boggo Road becomes a sideshow Haunted House and goth hangout?
Fortunately the answer is 'no'. There are some adults in the room taking this subject seriously, including the Supreme Court of Queensland museum team. Their forthcoming capital punishment exhibition should present a mature and highly professional look at the whole subject, devoid of desperate stunts but brimming with considered research, creativity and a strong grasp of the educational needs of visitors. Whether or not the Brisbane media will cover this event remains to be seen.
Maybe the whole sorry episode with the dumbed-down 100th anniversary news is reflective of a broader societal disinterest in the subject of capital punishment. Maybe some junior reporters and interns facing a deadline are happy just to accept self-promotional media releases as face value. Maybe these reporters don't know what 'respected historians' are, because respected historians don't bombard news outlets with media releases every time some historical milestone pops up.
Whatever the reason, I really hope that newspapers and news outlets can lift their game in time for World War I commemorations and milestones, otherwise before long we'll be finding out all about the Headless Horseman of Beersheba and the Ghoul of Gallipoli instead of, you know, what actually happened.