Captured: Portraits of Crime 1870-1930 - Flipbook - Page 105
lodged on behalf of Hume for her release on the grounds that she had been cruelly
treated by Collins, and that the tragedy took place ‘in an atmosphere of shame,
degradation, and despair’. The petition’s rejection further galvanized support to
have Hume released from gaol. Leading the charge was the weekly tabloid Truth, and
W.D.B. Creagh, a self-styled missionary, prohibitionist and social reformer.
A fundraising campaign was established to raise monies for Hume to return home
to England upon her release. The zealous Creagh praised the contribution that
‘all classes and all creeds’ made to the campaign and he was unswayed in promoting
Hume as a woman ‘with a big heart ... who with all her faults, was more sinned against
than sinning’. The labour movement waged into the cause by claiming authorities
showed class bias between Hume and Mrs Dorothy Mort, who was an upper middle class
house wife imprisoned following the murder of her lover, Dr Tozer, a respectable,
professional man. Collins, on the other hand, had been a ‘detestable class’ and
Hume an ‘unfortunate woman’. Arthur Buckley, Member for Sydney, took up Hume’s case
in the NSW Parliament. Justice Minister William McKell conceded that the sentence
was ‘unduly harsh’, but if not for some time in prison, Hume would go straight back
to the ‘temptation and associations’ of her old ways. McKell gave assurances that
he would reconsider Hume’s sentence after she had served twelve months.
On 28 March 1922, Hume was granted a license for release. Within days she
departed Sydney on the SS Niagara. In a letter to the Truth, Hume thanked her
‘friends’ for their interest in her case and urged that ‘those other sisters
in trouble’ she left behind also be given ‘every consideration and help’.
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