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• W4386778635 abstract "Reviewed by: A History of Capital Punishment in the Australian Colonies, 1788 to 1900 by Steven Anderson Dorice Williams Elliott (bio) A History of Capital Punishment in the Australian Colonies, 1788 to 1900, by Steven Anderson; pp. xv + 267. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, $109.99, $109.99 paper, $84.99 ebook. Aside from a few annoying grammatical and usage errors and a bit too much passive voice—which may not bother most people—this is an informative and lucidly written book that makes a contribution to Australian penal history, especially in the colonial period. In fact, A History of Capital Punishment in the Australian Colonies, 1788 to 1900 is the first full-length monograph to provide the history of capital punishment in Australia, an important and especially relevant subject given Australia’s significance in relation to the punishment of primarily British felons. Steven Anderson structures the book around two premises. The first is a fairly universal assumption about capital punishment, that it communicates to both the offender and the public that crime has consequences, thus working as a deterrent. However, that message could easily go awry, especially in Australia, thanks to its history. The second premise is that the Australian colonies were the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to abolish public executions and replace them with private ones inside the prison. Eliminating public executions accomplished two purposes in Australia: private executions not only made it much easier to control the message of capital punishment, but also communicated to London (and to the rest of the world) that Australia was becoming a civilized and enlightened society, no longer defined only as a penal colony. Thus, by the time of the Federation in 1901, the professionalization and privatization of capital punishment was an important part of defining a new Australian national identity, although Anderson does not explicitly comment on that corollary. Anderson’s well-researched book focuses on the key issues surrounding capital punishment in each of the different Australian colonies during the colonial period, [End Page 173] which essentially coincides with the Victorian period in Britain. The organization varies throughout the nine chapters, alternating among descriptions of the procedures and key figures in the various stages of capital punishment, fascinating examples of botched executions, personal accounts by witnesses, and excerpts from the journalists who were key to purveying the lessons of capital punishment once it became private. Chapter 3, for example, describes the many bungled executions and how they became more professionalized, and is organized around paragraphs from a Memorandum prepared by the chief executioner at Newgate for the guidance of Australian hangmen. Anderson has arranged this chapter by comparing before-and-after descriptions of the slipshod hangings that often caused outrageous suffering for the victims to the detailed improvements described in the Memorandum for all aspects of the process of hanging criminals: from constructing the gallows and arranging the trap door, to correctly measuring the rope and the drop length, pinioning the prisoners’ arms and legs, organizing the procession, more effectively involving the clergy, and even the taking down and handling of the corpse. For twenty-first century readers who are unfamiliar with the myriad details involved in hanging someone, such details are eye-opening. Anderson has obviously combed the archives, searching for statistics and facts about the procedures, legislation, and numbers of executions over the course of the century. He has an eye for the interesting details, personal experiences, and opinions of a wide range of Australians concerned with capital punishment and its effects. This, I imagine, would make the book readable and sometimes gripping, even for a lay audience. One telling example is his discussion of perhaps the most famous Australian criminal, Ned Kelly, who was sentenced to death after executions had become private. His hanging took place within prison walls with a professional hangman and a carefully selected small group of witnesses in order to avoid the carnivalesque atmosphere that often prevailed at public executions. Kelly’s death, according to the accounts of the authorities and official witnesses, was almost an ideal execution. He was subdued and penitent, listened respectfully to the chaplain, and behaved in the way that authorities believed would send the right..." @default.
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• W4386778635 title "A History of Capital Punishment in the Australian Colonies, 1788 to 1900 by Steven Anderson (review)" @default.
• W4386778635 doi "https://doi.org/10.2979/vic.2022.a901315" @default.
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