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Elizabeth Scott:
The Female Monster
In October 1863, the intelligent, beautiful and mysterious Elizabeth Scott stood in the dock of the Beechworth Courthouse accused of murdering her husband. Beside her in the dock were her co-accused, Julian Cross and her alleged lover, David Gedge.
Elizabeth was painted by the prosecution as a woman who through her feminine wiles had led Gedge and Cross to their doom. The prosecution believed that while Elizabeth had not fired the shot which killed her husband, she had persuaded Gedge and Cross to carry out the murder.
At five o’clock on a Friday afternoon, the jury retired to consider its verdict. Within twenty minutes, they returned. All three defendants were found guilty. Chief Justice, Sir William Stawell then pronounced the death sentence.
Newspapers in 1863 were the only form of media, as we know it today. They were the opinion makers, the arbitrators of all that was good and evil. Rather then elicit public sympathy and support for Elizabeth Scott, they adopted a vitrolic, scornful and censorious attitude. They might have taken a different approach, if Elizabeth had fainted, screamed or cried when Chief Justice Stawell condemned her to death. Instead, she chose to remain impassive. This impassivity was interpreted as indifference, even callousness - to the extend that Beechworth's local paper, The Ovens and Murray Advertiser called her the female monster.
At nine thirty in the morning of Wednesday 11th November 1863 at Old Melbourne Gaol, Elizabeth Scott stood on the scaffold with Julian Cross and David Gedge. Moments before the hangman released the trapdoor, she turned her hooded face to David and asked, ‘Davey, will you not clear me?’
For an hour after the hanging Elizabeth’s lifeless body swung from the scaffold. Her head and face were grossly swollen. So great had been the effect of the fall, her head was nearly severed from her body.
© Anne Hanson 2008
annehanson1@bigpond.com
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Beechworth Courthouse
One of the finest remaining gold-rush courthouses in Australia. Built in 1858, the courthouse served many judicial purposes until its closure in 1989. The courtroom was the scene of countless trials involving Ned Kelly, his mother Ellen, bushranger Harry Power and Elizabeth Scott. Click here for more info
Beechworth Ghost Tours: Murder and Haunts
Step back into a time when drunken brawls, murders and prostitution was just the way of life in the heart of Beechworth Town. In this tour you will explore inside two of the oldest buildings in Beechworth, going deep into areas not open to the public, you will stand on the footsteps of history, here you will learn of murders, mayhem and madness on the goldfields in the 1800s. Click here for more info
Echoes of History Walking Tour
Join expert guides and discover the stories behind historic buildings, people and events that helped shape Beechworth. Click here for more info
and many more... come see us at the Beechworth Visitor Information Centre and begin your journey through history.
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