Morbid curiosity -What Margaret Graham’s murder can tell us
About
From Lindy Chamberlain to the Mushroom Murders, there seems to be no end to our obsession with true crime. A flood of books, documentaries and podcasts testifies to this demand. Yet this isn’t a recent phenomenon. For centuries, we’ve been fascinated by crime – as a notorious Daylesford case demonstrates.In December 1864, a young woman named Margaret Graham was murdered in her Albert Street cottage. The brutality of the crime horrified Victoria, but it also caused a sensation that enthralled the public. The colonial press disapprovingly called this appetite ‘morbid curiosity’: large crowds flocked to courthouses, sightseers trampled the crime scene, and waxwork exhibits of the murder toured the colony. But while some of the forms may have altered, many remain familiar to us today. This Conversation will examine what’s changed (and what hasn’t) when it comes to our true crime obsession.
This conversation's speaker is Dr Paige Mahoney. Dr Mahoney is a historian of colonial Australian crime, with a particular focus on how crime was covered by the press and experienced by the public. Her previous research has explored the complex intersections between history and fiction, gender and memory, and regional and national identities. Paige is also a higher education researcher at Deakin University’s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning.
Image from:https://www.facebook.com/Youngites/photos
Date
Thursday 20 August 2026 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (UTC+10)Location
Main Road
113 Main Road, Hepburn Springs VIC 3461
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Morbid curiosity -What Margaret Graham’s murder can tell us
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