The O’Brien’s had a proud family legacy. After great-great-grandfather Paddy O’Brien had arrived in Australia in the 1860s, the generations that followed had made a good fist of their lives. The family linage had included business and political figures and more than a handful of priests, nuns, bishops, and even a cardinal back in the day.

Now in their late eighties, Fred and Emma O’Brien decided to compile a family history, a legacy for their children and grandchildren. They hired an author but realised there was an issue. How to deal with the story of great Uncle George, who had been executed for robbery and murder in the electric chair in the 1940s.

The author assured the family he would handle the story with great care and as tactfully as possible.

When the book was printed it read, “Great Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution and was firmly attached to his position by the strongest ties. Fondly remembered as a bright spark, his sudden and untimely death at the age of thirty-two came as a great shock.”

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