Convicts, Crimes and Tragic Times

Behind the birth of a nation lies a brutal, lawless world where crime, punishment, and desperation ruled — and shaped the Australia we know today.

‘From goldfields to gallows – gripping true stories of crime and survival.’

From award-winning historian Tony Matthews comes a compelling collection of extraordinary but true stories from Australia’s brutal beginnings — tales of crime, tragedy, and human resilience that shaped a nation.

Australia’s early history was forged in hardship and opportunity — and often in violence. The penal colony system, the gold rushes, and the raw fight for survival brought out both the best and the worst in people. In this vivid anthology, Matthews brings to life long-forgotten events and characters whose lives were touched by greed, cruelty, courage, and fate.

Meet William Bamford, the one-eyed executioner of Old Melbourne Gaol who somehow survived a whipping of three hundred lashes. Discover the bank robber who bungled his crime so badly it could have been comic — had it not ended with him swinging from the gallows. Step inside the courtroom of the ‘Weeping Judge’, who openly cried when sentencing one man to death — yet condemned Ned Kelly without emotion.

From massacres aboard slaving ships to mysterious disappearances; from mutinies and poisonings to baby-farming scandals, axe murders, and goldfield greed — these stories reveal the darker side of a young nation’s history.

Convicts, Crimes and Tragic Times is more than a record of wrongdoing — it is a fascinating insight into the human spirit under pressure, and a reminder that the past still whispers through our present.

‘Tony Matthews does for Australian history what the best crime writers do for fiction — he makes it impossible to look away.’

‘Dark and fascinating episodes from Australia’s early history.’

‘A vivid resurrection of Australia’s lawless past.’