Ballroom Murder - Meet the Author, Leigh Straw
Saturday 26th October 2024
Join us at the Old Pinjarra Court House to explore the dancefloor murder that shocked Australia with historian, academic and author Leigh Straw.
The Ballroom Murder
In August 1925, Audrey Jacob shot dead her former fiancé, Cyril Gidley, in full view of hundreds of guests at a charity ball in Perth’s Government House. When she was arrested, she still held the gun in her hand. It was a open and shut case of wilful murder – that is until Jacob assigned prosecutor Arthur Haynes to her defence. His ability to play the press and the jury for sympathy would lead to a sensational result.
The Ballroom Murder is a true crime story that is rich with first-hand newspaper accounts from the day, and demonstrates the power of the press and privilege in an extraordinary judicial outcome.
Meet the Author
Dr Leigh Straw is Associate Professor in History with expertise in Australian history, European history, modern U.S history and Crime Studies. Leigh was the 2022 joint winner of the Margaret Medcalf Award for Excellence in Research and Referencing using the State Archives Collection. This award was for her social history titled, The Petticoat Parade: Madam Monnier and the Roe Street Brothels (Fremantle Press, 2021). Leigh previously won this award in 2018 for her book After the War: Returned Servicemen and the Mental and Physical Scars of World War I. She is the author of a number of true crime books including Angel of Death: Dulcie Markham, Australia's most beautiful bad woman (ABC Books, 2019) and a true crime biography of Australia's first female detective, Lillian Armfield (Hachette, 2018). Her book The Worst Woman in Sydney: The Life and Crimes of Kate Leigh (NewSouth Books, 2016) was longlisted for an ABIA (Australian Book Industry Award). Leigh's last local history book was The Ballroom Murder: The dancefloor shooting that shocked Australia (Fremantle Press, 2022). Leigh’s latest book is in production with Bloomsbury UK and is titled: The Kennedys at Cape Cod, 1944: The Summer That Changed Everything.
Morning tea provided, register today to secure your spot!
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