In San Francisco in February 1897 a trio of Australian police officers await the arrival of Frank Butler, wanted for the murder of three men in the Blue Mountains and beyond. While they’ll capture the fugitive, their problems are only starting as Butler enjoys his newfound American celebrity, with newspapers printing his every word, thousands of people clamouring to meet him and canny defence attorneys arguing he has no case to answer. It’ll be a life-or-death tug-of-war that’ll include cameos from America’s new president, a world-famous famous boxer and one of Australia’s most beloved actress.

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode:

[email protected]

or

https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Check out my books as possible Christmas presents for yourself or a loved one:

The Murder Squad

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hanging Ned Kelly

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the alarm raised about three missing miners, Sydney police begin a massive search of the Blue Mountains. It’s a hunt that draws large crowds of ghoulish spectators, who get more than they bargained for as gruesome discoveries are made. Yet by then suspected murderer Frank Butler is well on his way to San Francisco, forcing Australian detectives to give chase across the seas as American newspapers make a front-page sensation of this “Monster of the Mountains”.

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode:

[email protected]

or

https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Check out my books as possible Christmas presents for yourself or a loved one:

The Murder Squad

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hanging Ned Kelly

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1896 a cold-blooded serial killer calling himself Frank Butler advertised for mining partners in Sydney newspapers. Those who went west with him to the Blue Mountains were never seen alive again. Yet one man who escaped Butler’s clutches was to become a police officer — and take part in the manhunt for this monster, a chase that stretched from Sydney to San Francisco and made headlines all over the world.

*This episode was originally released in October 2020.*

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode:

[email protected]

or

https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Check out my books as possible Christmas presents for yourself or a loved one:

The Murder Squad

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hanging Ned Kelly

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly a century before cocaine bundles started washing up on the Sydney coast, the city’s citizens clamoured to recover a different sort of illicit bounty from the sea: kegs of beer that’d floated free of Malabar, the happiest shipwreck disaster in Australian history.

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode:

[email protected]

or

https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Check out my books as possible late Christmas presents for yourself or a loved one:

The Murder Squad

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hanging Ned Kelly

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was the criminal Christmas miracle to warm the hardest heart. During the festive season in 1951, Pentridge prisoners got a surprise visit from Santa, aka the cheeky crook Harold 'Dusty' Sheehan, who could get out of — and into — prisons as easily as Old St Nick down a chimney.

This ‘regifted’ episode was originally released in 2021.

Another new episode will be out next week.

Merry Christmas!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In December 1950, Australia was under threat from a new menace to society: sex-crazed Bodgies and Widgies. This youth ‘cult’ indulged in wild orgies and violent crime sprees and its ranks teemed with unwanted immigrants and perverted homosexuals. Or so the tabloid newspapers warned. In this episode, we look at the moral panic that went with the Bodgies and Widgies - and the Sydney surfing hero at the epicentre of this ‘youthquake’.

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode:

[email protected]

or

https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Check out my books as possible Christmas presents for yourself or a loved one:

The Murder Squad

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hanging Ned Kelly

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Once upon a time not too long ago, wearing a bikini on Australia’s most famous stretch of sand meant you risked the wrath of veteran Bondi Beach inspector Aub Laidlaw. Show too much skin and he’d kick you off – and even threaten you with arrest. But Aub’s enforcement of prudish regulations caused a massive backlash in 1961 when young Joan Barry donned a gold bikini, pushed back against beach bullying and refused to be silenced by the cops and the court.

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode:

[email protected]

or

https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Check out my books as possible Christmas presents for yourself or a loved one:

The Murder Squad

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hanging Ned Kelly

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the 3rd of January 1931, Sydney suffered one of the worst days in Australian police history — the result of a trauma that had festered since a "White Feather" taunt from the Great War.

*This episode was originally released in 2019 and has been archived since May 2022*

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To colonial Australia, Betsy Scott had become a ‘female monster’ – all the more dangerous and diabolical for being alluring and attractive. But how much did this image influence her fate?

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send a question to David Hunt for the Book Club episode:

Email - [email protected]

Audio - https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Buy my books, Australia’s Sweetheart, Hanging Ned Kelly and The Murder Squad at:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922806406.html

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Mansfield police arresting Bob Scott’s murderer, the case looks like it’ll be closed quickly. But revelations before the cops reach Devil’s River will cause a sensation – and leave the Victorian government with a controversial decision to make.

Murder at Devil’s River - Part Three: Australia’s First Femme Fatale will go general release on 27 November.

Part Three is available early and ad-free to Apple and Patreon supporters.

Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

To send a question to David Hunt for the Book Club episode:

Email - [email protected]

Audio - https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia

Buy my books, Australia’s Sweetheart, Hanging Ned Kelly and The Murder Squad at:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922806406.html

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.