Morpeth Moments

Morpeth Moments tells true crime stories about one New South Wales village and the districts around it. Marlene researches and narrates the accounts. They follow convicts, soldiers and settlers who had some connection to Morpeth in the 19th and early 20th centuries. She says the project began during the COVID lockdowns, when she finally had time to follow up stories she had found while doing family history in the Morpeth, Maitland and Hunter area. She names her sources plainly: open-source material, family research, state archive records and Trove newspapers, with references posted on the podcast page. A numbered series covers the sixteen hangings at Maitland Gaol between 1843 and 1897. Those episodes rely on the courtroom record. Witness statements, a chief constable's evidence and defence counsel's address to the jury are read aloud in the formal wording of the old reports, down to 'Prisoner' and 'Witness'. The research stays in view, and much of the show's character comes from that. In 'Michael Collihane 5th person hanged at Maitland Gaol', Marlene explains that the many possible spellings of the surname and a nickname, 'Bad English Mick', made the man hard to identify, so she presents his details with a caveat. '4th Hanging at Maitland Gaol - William Hayes' goes back to County Limerick in the 1830s, quoting Irish newspapers on the hardship there. It then moves to the confession Hayes asked a clergyman to read to the crowd on his behalf. In '3rd Hanging at Maitland Gaol - George Waters Ward', Marlene's son voices Ward. The endings are where the show becomes personal. Rather than stopping at the gallows, Marlene notes what came afterwards: a victim killed years later by a kick from a horse, a headstone still standing in Glebe Cemetery, a family whose children never married. Her comments are short and human, such as regret for a condemned man or admiration for a woman she judges resilient and hard-working. She says she tells these stories with great respect for the victims and their families, and that care shows in how she handles the aftermath. The show also makes room for lighter history. 'Ashton Circus redo' leaves crime behind for Australia's travelling circuses. It covers the Ashton Circus, which she describes as the oldest continuing circus in Australian history, along with the Perry Brothers and Worth Brothers shows. Marlene asks for an email if anyone spots an error, and she posts extra images on a Morpeth Moments group page. It is a patient, source-first way into the early history of the Hunter area.