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The first successful circus in Australia actually originated from Hobart by an Englishman Robert Avis Radford in 1847. He used acts such as equestrianism, acrobats, and clowning, which mimicked the Astley circus in England. It was from this circus that James Henry Ashton, of the Ashton dynasty later established his own circus. The Ashton circus is the oldest continuing circus in Australian history. 

References

Trove newspapers – https://trove.nla.gov.au

Newspaper Article

https://www.smh.com.au/national/circuss-backbone-thrilled-with-his-feats-20111106-1n1wp.html

Fulford Family

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~jray/gordon/fullford/frederick.htm

Ashton’s Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_Joseph_Ashton#:~:text=The%20circus%20was%20founded%20in,times%20of%20the%20nineteenth%20century.

PDF - HORSEMAN OR NO HORSEMAN: CIRCUS IN VAN DIEMEN’S LAND, 1847 TO 1851 by Mark St Leon

https://www.pennygaff.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ielapa.545898401156495.pdf

Music

Lone Harvest, Waltz of the Carnies, Super Circus by Kevin McLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Circus Music – Classic (no copyright)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pctluEhAqBQ

Facebook Group - Morpeth Moments

email: [email protected]

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William Maher arrived at John Green's selection at Burren Station on the day of the tragedy, (4th September 1894) having shaved his whiskers off. He got off his horse near the house and fixed his rifle together, having carried it in pieces. He spoke to John Green, who, not knowing him, said, 'You have the advantage of me.' Maher said, 'You have not got the advantage of me; my name is Maher; and I am going to shoot you.' 

References:
Trove Newspapers - https://trove.nla.gov.au

Music:
Lone Harvest, Long Road Ahead by Kevin MacLeod - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Cold Isolation by Fesliyan - Fesliyan Studios - Free music for non-commercial use from https://fesliyanstudios.com

Email: [email protected]

Facebook Group - Morpeth Moments

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Charles Hines, condemned to death by the Chief Justice, Sir Frederick Darley, at the Circuit Court held in Maitland in April 1897, for a terrible outrage committed on his step-daughter, at a place called Gundy, near Scone, suffered the last dread penalty of the law within the precincts of the gaol at East Maitland on Friday, the 21st May 1897. He was in the ominous words of the Judge's sentence " hanged by the neck until he was dead." He died firmly and instantaneously.

References:

Trove newspapers:- https:trove.nla.gov.au

Music: 'Lone Harvest', 'Long Note Three', 'The Escalation': By Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
               'The Burning of the Piper's Hut': Pinniped - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Pinniped/Demo-2016.-.01_The_Burning
_of_the_Pipers_Hut/Comments: -http://freemusicarchive.org/curator:ZiklibrenbiblicensesCopyright:Attribution-Noncommercial-Share_Alike3.0_United_States:  http:/creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us

Sound Effects: Soundbible.com – free sound effects. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Link for story about Robert 'Nosey Bob' Howard - Hangman
Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard | The Dictionary of Sydney
https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/robert_nosey_bob_howard

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Michael McMahon  was the 15th person hanged at Maitland Gaol on the 12th December 1871, for the murder of John Jones at Hall’s Creek. 
A magisterial enquiry was held at Denman, on the 8th of June, 1871, before G. A. F. Kibble, Esq, J P , touching the death of a man named John Jones, who was found dead under his dray, near Hall's Creek, on the 7th June. 
-At nine o clock on Tuesday morning, 12th December 1871, the convict Michael M'Mahon (or Mannion, as he called himself) was executed in Maitland gaol, in pursuance of the sentence passed upon him at the October sittings of the Maitland Circuit Court, where he was convicted before Mr. Justice Cheeke of the wilful murder of a man named John Jones, at Hall's Creek, on the 6th June last. 

References:

Trove newspapers:- https:trove.nla.gov.au

Further detailed account of execution - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/103920729?searchTerm=Michael%20McMahon#

Music: Lone Harvest, Grave Matters: By Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Sound Effects: Soundbible.com – free sound effects. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Youtube – Wagon train - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b9iQNvbc9I

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Facebook Group: Morpeth Moments

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There was a sigh of relief when the news got abroad in the middle of August, 1861, that the murderer, Black Harry, was captured. There was great excitement locally when, after his committal at Merriwa, he was brought on to Singleton; and placed in the local lockup. The people turned out in great numbers to get a glimpse of the notorious villain, whose atrocities shocked the whole colony. After a brief sojourn in the lockup here he was taken on to Maitland on the morning of September 7th, 1861.


Music: 
Lone Harvest, Peace of Mind, Long Note Three & Investigations by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

link for Trove article
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspapers/article/13062400?searchTerm=Harry%27s%20Body%20Hamitlon

References
https://wwwqhrc.qld.gov.au/  data/assets/pdf-file/0013/10606/Aboriginal-timeline-FINAL-updated-25-July-2018.pdf
http://www.workingwithindigenousaustralians.info/content/ History 3 Colonisation.html

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The Green family were very well known in the Hunter Valley. Walter Clement Green, vigneron, was the father of Frederick Davies Green, who was charged with the murder of Lilian Bridge, aged 16, daughter of William Bridge, employee of W. C. Green, on 14th April 1908.

References:

Trove newspapers: https://trove.nla.gov.au

Music: Lone Harvest & At Rest: by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Sound Effects: https://youtube.com/audiolibrary/

Website: Appendix H - Non-indigenous Heritage Study

majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au

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History records the tragic tale of the murder of Lilly Bridge in 1908 somewhere between her home and Norwood House. It is thought that Frederick Green (son of Walter Clement Green - winemaker), ambushed Lilly, who had rejected his romantic advances, and murdered her. Lilly was 17 years old and had worked for Mrs. Green. Her father worked for Walter Clement Green and lived in a cottage near to the homestead. Part I details the crime and Part 2 details the conviction, sentence and aftermath of Frederick Davies Green. 

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The Burke and Hare murders were a series of 16 killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection at his anatomy lectures.

Writing to the Weekly Scotsman, a Leith correspondent says : — ‘In your journal some time ago, I read a powerful narrative of the Burke and Hare atrocities in the West Port of Edinburgh, the writer of which was of opinion that Helen MacDougall had died unknown, and that the accounts of her death in different localities were unworthy of belief. Well, I can vouch for the currency of one rumour, at any rate.’

Resources:

Trove Newspapers & Gazettes:- https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/

Free Settler of Felon - Jen Willetts:- https://www.freesettlerorfelon.com/searchaction.php?page=5&surname=&ship=earl%20of%20liverpool%201831&firstname=

BDM – marriage

https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search/result?3

https://search.findmypast.com.au/search-world-records/new-south-wales-parish-registers-christ-church-cathedral-newcastle

Court Record Search

https://www.scottishindexes.com/adentry.aspx?adid=830139

The Stentmaisters – Burke and Hare

https://falkirklocalhistorysociety.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/burke-hare-helen.pdf

West Port murders; : or an authentic account of the atrocious murders committed by Burke and his associates; containing a full account of all the extraordinary circumstances connected with them. Author Thomas Ireland

https://archive.org/details/b20443304

Music

Lone Harvest: by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Youtube sound effects

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This story is an introduction to my next episode regarding Helen McDougal, paramour of William Burke. William Burke and William Hare committed 16 Killings over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They sold the corpses to Dr. Robert Knox for his anatomy lectures. Edinburgh was the leading centre of anatomical study in the early 19th Century, in a time when the demand for cadavers led to a shortage in legal supply.

The Body Snatcher - Haunted Places: Ghost Stories | Podcast on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5tPELSnFIC9XcU169EgNVt 

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John Jones age 24, arrived in Australia on the ship ‘Mary Pleasants’ as a free man, on the 9th August 1857. This episode tells the details of the crime which ended his two year stay in the new country and ended all his ambitions to prosper and succeed as others did on the same journey.
Jim Crow was born in Clarence Town in 1837, south of Maitland, and it is believed he was a member of the Wonnarua people of the Hunter Valley. Little is known about his life prior to his crime, such as his Aboriginal name. 
Jim Crow's skull was kept in the Museum of Victoria for 120 years. Find out how he was found and what happened to him.

References:
Trove: https://trove.nla.gov.au

Repatriation of ancestral remains - Museums Victoria
Book tells of 19th century body-snatching and skull collecting (theage.com.au)
The skull, the phrenologist and the solution to a 150-year-old mystery - The Body Sphere - ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Music: Lone Harvest: Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0