In October 1865, Elijah Dixon alias Charles Alfred Dives took an axe and murdered his wife, Elizabeth and their two small daughters, Julia aged 3 and Elizabeth aged 1. This all took place in the small bedroom of their hut at Cherry Tree Flat near Sebastopol, just outside Ballarat. The couple’s two sons, James and…
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On the afternoon of August 21st, 1918, Norman Violet entered the front door of 28 Cumberland Place where his on again off again paramour Roma Smith lived. She was still laying in bed when he told her to get up. When there was no response, he pulled back the quilt to discover Roma had been…
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In this episode, we look at the first and only public execution in Geelong. Before the passing of the Act for the Execution of Criminals which took executions behind the Gaol walls, the judicial death of criminals were a public event seen to be a deterrent to those following a similar path. John Gunn and…
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