Here is the feature on Louisa Collins, last woman hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol, that appeared in Good Weekend on 22 October, 2014.

What a fabulous night! I was invited to speak at the Annual General Meeting of the Botany Historical Trust ... and that's quite an honour! Botany is where Louisa Collins lived, and where her husbands died. It was police from Botany who arrested her, and walked her into Sydney, to face a murder charge. Many of the key documents that form the basis of Last Woman Hanged can be found at Botany Library. It was in Botany that I found some of Louisa's letters from gaol. It was in Bo

How much do you know about your ancestors? Would you be surprised - or thrilled! - to find a secret in your family tree? As regular readers will know, the process of locating Louisa's descendants was not easy - but it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. My fear, from the outset, was: how much did they know? What did they believe, about Louisa? What would they say when they found out they were descended from the last woman hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol? This wasn't like