Biography

Dancing on air

The bunglings of Nosey Bob

by Penny Russell •

May 2022, no. 442

An Uncommon Hangman: The life and deaths of Robert "Nosey Bob" Howard by Rachel Franks

NewSouth, $34.99 pb, 417 pp

Biography

Dancing on air

The bunglings of Nosey Bob

by Penny Russell •

May 2022, no. 442

An illustration of Robert "Nosey Bob" Howard in The Bulletin, 31 January 1880, p4 (National Library of Australia/Trove)

When the offer came to review this book, I accepted enthusiastically, and unthinkingly added, ‘That sounds fun!’. Upon reflection, I deleted that last sentence: what would it say about me, I wondered, that I should expect the account of a hangman and his work to be entertaining? I thought better of the sentence, but the anticipation remained.

Penny Russell

Penny Russell is a historian of families, intimacy, and social encounters in nineteenth-century Australia, with a longstanding interest in the intricacies of gender, class, race, and culture in colonial societies. Her books include (with Nigel Worden) Honourable Intentions? Violence and virtue in Australian and cape colonies, c.1750 to 1850 (Routledge, 2016) and Savage or Civilised? Manners in colonial Australia (NewSouth, 2010). Penny is a Professor Emerita at The University of Sydney.