Early life Louisa Hall was born on 11 August 1847 at 'Belltrees' station on the
Hunter River, near
Scone in New South Wales. She was the fourth-born of nine children of Henry Hall and Catherine (
née King). Louisa was baptised on 7 November 1847 in St. Luke's church in Scone. Her father, Henry Hall, was an agricultural labourer, born in
Birmingham, England, who had arrived in Australia in 1832 as a convict aboard the vessel
Asia. Louisa's mother, Catherine King, was a native of Dublin, Ireland, who emigrated to Australia in 1841 aboard the
Fairlie. With four years of his sentence to complete, Hall obtained a
ticket of leave and was granted permission to marry Catherine King; the couple were married at Scone in August 1842. Louisa's early teenage years were described in the following terms: "With good looks, attractive presence, and winning ways, she was no sooner in her 'teens' than she developed all the qualities of a country coquette, and earned for herself the reputation of being a heartless flirt". As a consequence of her vivacious demeanour she "had many suitors and youthful sweethearts". When Louisa Hall was aged about fourteen she found employment as a domestic servant for a solicitor at
Merriwa, 30 miles (49 km) west of Scone. Andrews began to court Louisa, in a match that was encouraged by her mother "who seemed to consider she had secured an excellent alliance for her daughter". Louisa's opinion of her suitor was much more tentative; she later stated, "I never liked, or cared for Andrews, although I didn't murder him". By 1877 Andrews had accumulated unmanageable debts and in January 1878 insolvency proceedings were initiated against him. With Andrews in a precarious financial position, he relocated with his family to Sydney in order to find work. The family's first place of residence was "in Berry's paddock", near Ricketty Street in
St. Peters, where Andrews was employed by John Sugden Berry, a bone-dust manufacturer. By May 1880, when Louisa's seventh child was baptised, the family were probably living near
Moore Park and Charles was working as a carter. By about 1882 Charles Andrews had found work as a driver of drays with the
woolscouring and
fellmongering establishments operated by the Geddes brothers (trading as Messrs. T. Geddes and Co.), based at
Botany (in areas known as Springvale and Floodvale). With Andrews working for the Geddes brothers, the family began living at No. 1 Pople's Terrace, in a swampy area of Botany known as 'Frog's Hollow'. They occupied one of two adjoining semi-detached cottages, in a row of similar four-roomed cottages running at right angles to Botany Road, separated from the Springvale woolwash by a small paddock and a creek. 'Frog Hollow' was a low-lying flat adjacent to the creek. Retrospective assessments of Louisa Andrews' character during this period emphasised the impropriety of her actions, stating she was prone to drinking to excess. The local police and neighbours reported "that she was seldom sober when at home". Louisa was "fond of dress and gaiety, and never dropped her habits of flirtation", with such behaviour often directed at her boarders. Many instances of arguments and domestic strife arose as a consequence of "Andrews remonstrating with his wife on her improper conduct" with Collins and other boarders. Six weeks later Charles Andrews became gravely ill, with severe stomach pain and constant vomiting and diarrhoea. The patient was visited on several occasions by Dr. Thomas Martin, but the medicine he prescribed was to no avail. The doctor later testified that Louisa "seemed indifferent as to the fate" of her husband. After her husband's death, Louisa moved with her family from Pople's Terrace to a cottage in Johnson's Lane in North Botany. However, within weeks of moving she "expressed an unaccountable burning desire to again occupy her old residence; even going so far as to offer a premium to the occupier if she would vacate the cottage in her favor". When this was unsuccessful, Louisa rented a cottage at the rear of her former home at 'Frog Hollow' (No. 5 Pople's Terrace). Louisa Andrews and Michael Collins were married on 9 April 1887 at St. Silas' Anglican church near the Waterloo tram terminus, just three months after Louisa's first husband's death. On the marriage registration Louisa was recorded as a widow, aged 28 years (though she was actually aged 39 at the time). Michael Collins' age was recorded as 26 years. The couple took no witnesses to church with them and their wedding vows were witnessed by available members of the parsonage. After their marriage Mick and Louisa Collins lived in "an indolent, unsatisfactory manner, the wife always drinking, and the husband helping to spend what little money there was". An inquest was commenced at the morgue on 10 July 1888 before the City Coroner, Henry Shiell, and a jury. Dr. Marshall described the various interactions he had with the deceased man over the course of his illness and Dr. Milford testified to the results of the autopsy. After the first day the inquest was adjourned to await the results of the investigation by the Government Analyst. On the afternoon of 12 July the Government Analyst, William Hamlet, informed the Coroner that his examination of the deceased man's stomach and other organs had revealed "a large quantity of arsenic, sufficient to cause death". Shiell then issued a warrant for the arrest of Louisa Collins, on suspicion of having caused the death of her husband. She was apprehended at her residence at eight o'clock that evening. The following day Shiell issued warrants for the exhumation of the bodies of Louisa's first husband, Charles Andrews, as well as the infant, John Collins, who had died the previous April. On Saturday 14 July another inquest was commenced at the South Sydney Morgue on the bodies of Louisa's first husband and her child by her second husband. On the first day evidence was given by the undertaker's employee and Dr. Martin, who had attended to Charles Andrews during his illness and issued the death certificate. The inquiry was then adjourned to allow time for the Government Analyst to examine "the viscera taken from the bodies". The inquest into Michael Collins's death resumed on 17 July, during which evidence was given by Dr. Martin, a neighbour named Johanna Bartington living at No. 10 Pople's Terrace, and the policemen, Constable Jeffes and Senior-constable Sherwood. The Government Analyst, William Hamlet, also presented his evidence. Hamlet found that Collins' stomach and liver contained arsenic and the organs themselves presented "the appearance of arsenical poisoning". He also found traces of arsenic in samples collected from the cottage by Constable Jeffes soon after Collins had died: a tumbler of milk "and some thickening matter" and bottles of urine and "vomited matter". After Hamlet's testimony, the Coroner addressed the jury, stating it had been established that the deceased died from arsenical poisoning, but "the question now is, by whom was it administered?". The inquest was then adjourned until 20 July, but owing to the illness of the City Coroner, it was later adjourned for a further six days. When the inquest into Michael Collins' death resumed on 26 July, Louisa's son Arthur Andrews, as well as other residents of Botany, gave evidence "in which the facts brought out in the earlier part of the inquiry were corroborated". Louisa Collins also presented evidence, after being cautioned by the Coroner. During his summation of the evidence given at the inquest, Shiell described the widow's testimony as a "long rambling statement", the object of which was to make it appear as if the deceased had poisoned himself by taking small doses of arsenic, "and thereby caused his own death". After a short deliberation the jury returned a verdict that Collins had "met his death by arsenical poisoning, that poison being administered by his wife, Louisa Collins". The Coroner expressed his concurrence with the verdict and committed Collins to stand trial for her husband's wilful murder. The evidence presented was largely consistent with that which was given at the coronial inquest. The defendant's eleven-year-old daughter, May Andrews, had not given a statement to the inquest, but took the stand on the second day of the trial. The young child told the court that on the night of her step-father's death she was dusting a shelf in the kitchen when she noticed a small box was missing that she had seen there previously. The box had a picture of a rat on the side and was labelled 'Rough on Rats'. May testified that she had seen a box like this only once before, "just before her own father (Andrews) took ill, and when they lived in another house". In later evidence, the Government Analyst, William Hamlet, explained that the preparation known as 'Rough on Rats' contained "between 96 and 97 per cent of white arsenic" and, up to that time, the preparation could be readily purchased in grocery shops. The next morning the jurors were recalled to the Court, where the foreman reiterated that the jury "were almost equally divided" and it was impossible for them to arrive at a verdict. Justice Foster then discharged the jury and remanded Collins to appear at the next sittings of the Court in October. The trial was held over three successive days. That evening the foreman reported that the jury were unable to agree to a verdict. The jury was locked up for the night and discharged the following day. This trial encompassed three successive days, from 19 to 21 November 1888. The only witness called by the defence was Alexander Geddes, Andrews' former employer. Geddes testified that Andrews had been employed to wash the sheep skins after the wool had been removed and that some of the skins had been "treated by squatters with arsenic before they reached his hands". He explained that some of the men in his employment had suffered from sore hands through handling of the skins, though he was not aware of Andrews suffering in that way. After questioning by the judge, Geddes stated that in the 19 years of carrying on business, "he had never known of a really serious case of illness through poisoning". According to the convention at the time, "when two juries disagreed the Crown would abandon prosecution", so a third trial for the same crime was a sensational development. On the second day of the trial Michael Collins' former employer, Thomas Geddes, deposed that Collins had been employed by him "on and off for a period of three years", carting sheep skins from the Glebe Island abattoirs. Geddes testified that the skins were not prepared with arsenic, nor was arsenic used in his fellmongering yard at Botany. Justice Darley, in passing sentence, commented that the murder of Michael Collins was "one of peculiar atrocity", adding: "You watched his slow torture and painful death, and this apparently without a moment's remorse". The judge then passed a sentence of death upon the prisoner. After her conviction the
Evening News began to liken Louisa Collins to the historical figure,
Lucrezia Borgia, occasionally referring to her as 'The Botany Borgia' or 'The Modern Borgia'. A January 1889 article in that newspaper described both women as "cold-blooded murderesses", but drew a sharp distinction, insofar as Lucrezia Borgia was "a woman of education, of superior attainments, and a lover of high art, while her modern imitator was a coarse, illiterate woman, and a drunkard".
Appeal and pleas for mercy , referencing the hangings of Louisa Collins and the '
Mount Rennie' rapists; published in
The Bulletin, 12 January 1889. Following the trial "a writ of error to quash the conviction" was submitted by Collins' defence counsel on the following grounds: (1) "that all the evidence admitted relative to the death of Charles Andrews was improperly admitted", and (2) that one of the jurymen had received and read a telegram during the trial. The appeal was heard on 29 December before the Full Bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of the three judges who had presided over each of the earlier trials for the murder of Michael Collins – Justices Foster and Windeyer and Chief Justice Darley. The appeal failed on both counts. Darley pointed out that during the trial over which he presided, "the evidence did not go beyond the fact that Andrews died of arsenical poisoning" and that no motive for his death had been discussed before the jury. In regard to the telegram, it was determined it was "of an innocent nature" and had no bearing on the case. By this time, after the extensive newspaper coverage of the case, there was widespread public debate regarding the death sentence imposed on Louisa Collins, with arguments both for and against a reprieve. A number of petitions calling for mercy were sent to the New South Wales Governor. On 3 January 1889 the Executive Council considered the case of Louisa Collins, but deferred their final decision. That evening a public meeting was held at the
Sydney Town Hall, convened by a group of men that included members of the New South Wales parliament, for the purpose of forestalling the execution of Louisa Collins. The meeting carried a motion calling for commutation of the death sentence passed upon Collins and a deputation was formed to present a memorial to the Governor,
Charles Carington, urging him to extend the royal prerogative of mercy to the prisoner. The Executive Council held a special meeting on 4 January to consider the implications of the "large number of memorials, petitions, police reports, and other correspondence" relating to the Collins' case. In the end the Council decided unanimously to confirm their previous decision that the law should be allowed to take its course. That afternoon Governor Carington received the deputation from the Town Hall meeting of the previous evening, at the conclusion of which the Governor informed them that it was his duty "to accept the advice tendered to me by the Ministers of the Crown, and I with deep sorrow have to refuse to interfere with the sentence of the Court". During his response to the deputation, the Governor told them "had I known before I left England that such a duty would be cast upon me... no power on earth would have induced me to come here".
Execution Louisa Collins was executed on the morning of 8 January 1889, upon the gallows within Darlinghurst Gaol. About an hour before her execution, Collins was removed from the female ward to the condemned cell, situated nearby to the gallows. She passed her last hour in prayer with Rev. Canon Rich, the chaplain of the gaol. At a few minutes past nine o'clock the condemned woman emerged with her arms pinioned above the elbows, flanked by two female warders and accompanied by the chaplain.
Robert Howard, the executioner, and his newly-appointed assistant, followed the group onto the gallery leading to the scaffold. Witnesses to the execution were restricted to "those whom duty compels to be present" such as gaol officials and medical attendants, as well as one representative from each of the five metropolitan newspapers. Later examination revealed that the force of the drop had opened the woman's neck and torn her windpipe, with "the head appearing to only hang by the vertebrae of the neck". After hanging for twenty minutes the corpse was lowered onto a wicker
bier and conveyed to the inquest room. That afternoon Collins' remains were buried at Rookwood Cemetery under the supervision of police authorities. ==The victims==