What affects did crime have on the society of Richmond in the 1900’s?

In the 1900’s Richmond was home to many different crimes and criminals. Because of all this many different people were affected in both the long term and the short term. These affects ranged from loss of life to loss of possessions. Either way it still affected people and every single affect hurt people.

o Murder – murder was generally in the form of stabbing, poisoning and shooting. o Robbery – breaking into jewellery and clothing shops as well as other peoples houses. o Illegal abortions – older women hid in their backyards or in backstreets giving illegal abortions to younger women and as a result harming them and sometimes killing them. o Smuggling – people would usually smuggle illegal drugs around the country and sell them to others who wouldn’t know that affects of them. o Kidnapping – people would take away younger children away from their families and make them work. o Each of these crimes have different affects on the victims but all are harsh.

o The citizens of Richmond didn’t have much of a say in what happened to those responsible for crimes but that didn’t stop them from voicing their opinion. o Those who were at the trial would say what they thought should happen but that didn’t change the juries mind one bit.

o Many innocent bystanders were harmed in different forms o There were people killed and badly injured in the process of the criminals doing their job. o There were people who had been robbed of their possessions. o The short term affects may not be as affective but they were still harsh.

o Families were affected by loss of life and others because of bad injuries that they could not recover from. o Those who had been robbed or scammed could have lost all their money and/or belongings which would mean that they would have to live on the streets. o By losing something so big their lives are greatly affected in the ways of grief and loss of money.

o For many criminals crime was their way of making money for their families and making a living. o Others did it for revenge for themselves or someone close to them for example a family member or friends. o There are some but few cases where the criminals motives were never discovered and remained a mystery for example Martha Needle who poisoned her three children, her ex- husband and her future brother-in-law.

o Different laws were put in place to try and prevent crime. o Police walked the streets looking out for people and giving protection. o Security cameras began to be put into use and they proved to be affective. o All of these things gave people piece of mind and they began to feel a lot safer.

o Once the criminal is arrested they are taken to trial with a judge and jury. o There were three main types of sentence: Labour (harder for men, easier for women) A certain amount of time in jail Death by execution, hanging or shooting o The jury had a big say in the decision made but the final decision was made by the judge o The punishments also affected people in the way of the families of those evicted were changed forever

One of the most well known criminals in Australia was homed right in the middle of Richmond. He was known for his skill sin plotting and his ways of getting around a jury. His name was Squizzy Taylor. When Squizzy grew up he was a good bloke but when he got ‘let go’ from his job he turned to a life of crime. He started out doing his own scams himself but once he started getting older, others paid him to come up with their schemes. This life worked out pretty well for him and when he was brought out in front of a jury, he was able to get a small punishment by naming other criminals that they were looking for. His life ended when he had a gun fight with one of his worst enemies which left them both dead.

Crime in Richmond was very high throughout the 1900’s and many of these crimes greatly affected many people. No matter what the police did crime continued and it still does to this day. People died, people were taken from their families and others were stolen from. All of these are painful affects and sometimes it can leave people completely shattered and depressed. Crime had a deep affect on Richmond society and it to this day continues to.