IT’S not every day you go hunting for a murderer in the family.
But Edith Cowan university history lecturer Leigh Straw starred in her own macabre Who Do You Think You Are recently as she tracked down information about distant rellie Andrew Straw, who in July 1929 fatally shot his Collie neighbour, widow Muriel Pope, and then killed himself in what appeared to be a drunken, jealous rage.
It was fascinating research, but Dr Straw kept getting distracted by a different set of mugshots from the same era that she found compelling.
It was Fremantle’s “fallen” women, who were constantly in trouble with the law for being drunk and disorderly.
Women such as Estha Warden, the Terror of the West End, well-known to the local constabulary for alcohol-fueled attacks with a hat pin whenever they approached with handcuffs.
Dr Straw says Warden had 200 convictions under her apron and had such a fierce reputation the owner of the Orient Hotel would scurry to hide the glasses whenever she was spotted staggering down High Street.
Reading through court transcripts and Fremantle prison records, Dr Straw decided to try to give the woman a voice.
“It made me want to look at them and humanise them,” she told the Herald. “Their testimonies and courtroom outbursts are very interesting, and important too, given they haven’t left behind personal records.” She suspects there are still plenty of problem drinkers but nowadays they are more likely to drink at home rather than in the pub.
“One thing that struck me about the early 20th century to the present is that our perception of women drinking in public is much the same,” Dr Straw says.
“It’s seen as much worse than a man because they’re not holding up the image of a woman that they’re expected to.”
Dr Straw will present her research as part of the Fremantle History Society’s Studies Day on Sunday October 19 at Victoria Hall from 1pm (not October 12, as we’d been told by an unreliable cadet last week). It’s $12 for members and $15 for other and bookings are essential on 0433 844 290 or secretary.fhs@gmail.com.
by STEVE GRANT