Everyone knew John Freeman and they knew him for all the right reasons. He was one of Melbourne’s model citizens, a respectable churchwarden who had married an impoverished widow with two young children. He was the sort of neighbour who was totally dependable.

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What no one knew was that Freeman’s real name was Edward Oxford and that he had been shipped to Australia on account of his criminal past. Twenty-seven years earlier, he had attempted – and very nearly succeeded – in assassinating Queen Victoria.

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