In the previous frame I mentioned what death masks were and why they were made, using the unfortunate-ish George Melville (1822-1853) as an illustration.

I suppose you would like his story?

In the 1850s gold, GOLD! Was discovered in Victoria. Most of it was in central Victoria roughly north west-ish from Melbourne. Specifically, most of it was in an arc between Ballarat (about 120 km, call it a heading of 300 degrees from Melbourne) and Bendigo (about 150km, heading around 330 degrees). Just east of the town of Heathcote (about 45 km just south of east from Bendigo) the McIvor gold diggings were running. The gold from there had to be transported about 50km just west of south to a township called Kyneton. There it would meet the well-guarded, official escort to Melbourne.

The private escort out of the McIvor fields on 20 July 1853 was not as strong as the government one out of Kyneton, but it was not nothing; there were 6 men, 5 of which were armed. However en route they were ambushed by a gang of up to a dozen (the number is not completely certain) bushrangers using the old "tree across the road" trick. What is more certain is that Melville was one of them. What is also certain is that three of the escort were seriously injured (including the unarmed cart driver, so yay you folk hero bushrangers, you), and the remaining three could not stop the gang from making off with the gold and cash.

In a story too long to recount here, one of the robbers (John Francis, 1825-unknown) was caught, and enticed to turn into an informant. With his information they eventually found Melville, who was at the time on board a ship that was about to sail to Mauritius with his wife, and a stack of gold.

Melville and two others of the gang were convicted, sentenced to death and hanged on 3 October 1853, 16 days after they were convicted.

Melville's wife played the grieving widow, pleading for his body to be released to her so that he could be buried. The authorities acquiesced. However she didn't bury him. She draped his body in flowers, put it on public display in her oyster shop and used it as a centrepiece in her rants against the police, and how unfair they had been.

Right. Because rather than working for a living Melville and his gang preferred to simply steal the fruits of other people's labour and were more than happy to shoot people who were trying to make an honest living, whether armed or not, as well as putting bullets into some of their horses. Mmm. And the police took exception to that. The cads! How dare they! Have! They! No! Shame!?

On the plus side, the smell of the oysters would presumably drown out... other scents that would have started to appear from Melville's body over time.

This little spectacle resulted in a change of policy, with all executed prisoners subsequently being buried in the prison itself rather than released.