Captured: Portraits of Crime 1870-1930 - Flipbook - Page 74
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DA R L I N G H U R S T
GAO L
T O M A R RY O R S H O O T
Ethel Herringe
MANSL AUGHTER
Ethel Herringe, a 22 year old housemaid from Goulburn, was
photographed at Darlinghurst Gaol on 18 May 1903 while
serving a two and half year sentence for manslaughter.
Herringe was tried at Young Circuit Court on
15 April 1903 accused of murdering John (Jack) Lee, the
licensee of the Club House Hotel in Cowra. The Court heard
that Herringe had been working as a housemaid in the hotel
for about three months. The two had begun a clandestine
relationship. Lee promised to marry Herringe and she arranged
for a priest to come to the hotel after closing time on
19 November 1902 to wed them. But when the time came to be
joined in matrimony, Lee backed out. Herringe became
agitated, drew out a revolver and shot him. A scuffle ensued,
and as the priest and another man tried to take the revolver
from Herringe, she shot Lee two more times.
When police arrived, Lee was lying on his bed and
Herringe was holding his hands. Lee refused to name the woman
as his assailant, but a police constable heard her say to Lee:
It was your fault that I shot you wasn’t it Jack? ...
It was an oath between you and me and your mother in
heaven that I should shoot you if you refused to marry
me, was it not? ... You dared me to do it, didn’t you?
Lee replied, “yes”.
The jury returned a guilty verdict with a recommendation
for mercy. Justice Owen gave Herringe a two and half year
gaol sentence. The pregnant Herringe was transferred to
Darlinghurst Gaol and in August 1903 gave birth to twins,
Mary and Joseph, at the Sydney Benevolent Asylum.
There was a huge outpouring of public sympathy for
Herringe and condemnation of her sentence. Meetings were
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