About
In this episode, a conversation with historian and award-winning author Sally Young, who has a new book that delves into late-nineteenth century Melbourne and Australia’s most infamous political crime, The Curious Case of the Stolen Mace.
In 1891, the sacred symbol of the Victorian Parliament, its ceremonial mace, was stolen. A long, heavy club topped with a crown, it was popularly thought to be made of solid gold. The colony’s best detectives, a dour Scot named Tom Nixon and the famous Ned Kelly hunter Mick Ward, were assigned to the case, but the mace was never recovered. No one was ever charged, and a substantial reward remains unclaimed. Was the thief a corrupt politician who took the mace to a brothel on a drunken lark? A parliamentary worker who was seen with an odd-shaped package? A carpenter who snuck in through an open window? Or a political activist?
This book pieces together old and new evidence 135 years later – including letters, witness statements and police reports – to reveal the thief and how he got away with the political crime of the century, just as Melbourne was sinking into economic chaos caused by theft on a much grander scale.
Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781761170850/the-curious-case-of-the-stolen-mace--sally-young--2026--9781761170850
In 1891, the sacred symbol of the Victorian Parliament, its ceremonial mace, was stolen. A long, heavy club topped with a crown, it was popularly thought to be made of solid gold. The colony’s best detectives, a dour Scot named Tom Nixon and the famous Ned Kelly hunter Mick Ward, were assigned to the case, but the mace was never recovered. No one was ever charged, and a substantial reward remains unclaimed. Was the thief a corrupt politician who took the mace to a brothel on a drunken lark? A parliamentary worker who was seen with an odd-shaped package? A carpenter who snuck in through an open window? Or a political activist?
This book pieces together old and new evidence 135 years later – including letters, witness statements and police reports – to reveal the thief and how he got away with the political crime of the century, just as Melbourne was sinking into economic chaos caused by theft on a much grander scale.
Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781761170850/the-curious-case-of-the-stolen-mace--sally-young--2026--9781761170850