The Story of the World's Oldest Prisoner — Australian True Crime (Jan 18, 2026)

Host: Meshel Laurie
Guest: Gideon Haigh (Author, Who Was Wallace?)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the extraordinary and tragic life of William Richard Wallace, whose story is the subject of Gideon Haigh's book Who Was Wallace?. Once an invisible figure in Australian history, Wallace became the oldest known prisoner in Australia—and quite possibly the world—due to a combination of untreated mental illness and the cruelties of the early mental health system. Through meticulous historical research, Haigh and Laurie discuss the criminal act that led to Wallace’s decades of institutionalization, his prior life as a war veteran and successful farmer, and what his long incarceration reveals about our approach to crime, punishment, and mental illness.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Context and Introduction to Wallace's Story (00:55–03:02)

• Gideon Haigh discusses the allure and diversity of true crime stories in Australian history, noting that, unlike most cases, Wallace's crime was clear but the real story was about how society handled him afterward.
• Meshel Laurie reflects on Australia’s harsh social practices in the past, challenging the idea of a uniformly relaxed, "lucky" society.

The Crime and Its Consequences (03:55–06:19)

• Wallace, plagued by paranoia and mental illness, shot a man in a dispute over smoking in a 1925 Melbourne café.
• He was ruled unfit for trial and committed to J Ward, a section for the criminally insane, where he would remain for decades.
• Quote (Wallace’s words, repeated at his arrest):
  “I had to do it. I had to do it.” (00:00, 24:19)

Early Life: From Capable Farmer to Paranoia (09:00–13:36)

• Born in NSW in 1881, Wallace came from a Scots Presbyterian farming family and fought in the Boer War.
• Described as hardworking, capable, and successful, he was nevertheless a loner and increasingly afflicted by paranoia, culminating in his first institutionalization in 1918 due to delusional beliefs.
• Quote (Gideon Haigh):
  “The only unusual thing about Bill in the first 20 to 30 years of his life is that he serves in the Boer War.” (09:08)

Experiences in Asylums: Neglect and Dispossession (13:10–17:03)

• Asylums of the era provided little more than confinement and menial labor; treatments were non-existent or rudimentary.
• Wallace’s farm was sold off while he was institutionalized, leaving him wealthy but utterly displaced upon release.
• His lucid yet delusional letters to authorities reveal both intelligence and deepening mental illness.
• Quote (Haigh):
  “There is some work available, but it's work of a very menial kind... but other than that it's a regime of soul destroying idleness.” (13:16)

The Waterloo Café Incident and Institutionalization (20:30–25:45)

• The fatal altercation was triggered by an American’s loudness and cigarette; Wallace, carrying a gun due to longstanding paranoia, shot a man after a confrontation spilled onto the street.
• Witnesses saw Wallace as cornered and panicked, possibly making a successful self-defense plea possible—had he ever stood trial.
• Instead, he was deemed unfit for trial and “detained at the Governor’s pleasure”—an indefinite sentence of institutionalization.

Life in J Ward and Ararat: The Forgotten Man (25:58–36:01)

• J Ward, described as “the archetype of the old, cold, bleak, bluestone jail,” housed the system’s misfits and "criminally insane."
• Wallace, largely ignored, spent decades without meaningful psychiatric care, maintaining routines, dressing as a dandy, and resisting social contact within the institution.
• His obsessive, daily letters reveal both his meticulous intellect and the content of his delusions.
• Quote (Haigh):
  “He just goes on and on and will not stop living. It gets to a certain stage where it becomes impossible for him to return to the outside world.” (05:23)
• Quote (Haigh, on Wallace’s correspondence):
  “If you really wanted a case study of a schizophrenic, reading these letters gives you a fantastic insight into the condition.” (30:36)

Legacy and the Local Community (37:06–39:30)

• In Ararat, the institution was a major employer and central to town identity—the decline of such facilities was seen as a threat.
• As a centenarian, Wallace became a local celebrity, receiving visits and gifts, yet remained utterly alone, with only one family inquiry in over 60 years.
• Quote (Haigh):
  “He was a voluntary patient by this stage...the only reason he stays there is because he's got nowhere to go.” (38:34)

Death and Posthumous Fame (44:58–46:40)

• Wallace died in 1989 at nearly 108, buried with only hospital staff present.
• As media interest grew, he received fan mail late in life, but maintained his habitual detachment, never replying and never seeking companionship.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Unchanged Systems:
  “This problem has not gotten any better.” (Interlocutor, 03:25)

• On Wallace's Letters:
  “He writes ceaselessly about everything in his world...the way in which the teapot is put down on the table, the flies on the meat at dinner time, the gruff way that the warders address him.” (28:53)

• On Institutionalization:
  “Bill becomes a kind of a state within the state. There's something sort of weirdly admirable about his determination and his absolute resistance of the world in which he finds himself.” (32:44)

• On Social Detachment:
  “He’s never been one to open up to people, has he?” — Laurie (46:39)

• On Forgotten Lives:
  “It's so moving the way you…find them first of all when they're lost, then you learn about them, you care about them, and then you bring them to us.” — Laurie (48:23)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction to Guest & Topic: 00:17–01:41
• Wallace’s Crime & Psychiatric Confinement: 03:55–05:23
• Early Life & Onset of Illness: 09:00–13:36
• The Insanity System & Property Loss: 13:10–17:03
• The 1925 Murder & Aftermath: 20:30–25:45
• J Ward and Long-term Institutionalization: 25:58–36:01
• Ararat Community and ‘Celebrity’ Years: 37:06–39:30
• Late Life, Death, and Remembrance: 44:58–46:40

Reflections on the Story

The episode positions Wallace’s long, lonely life as emblematic of society’s failures and ambiguities in handling mental illness and crime, especially in an era before effective treatments or humane policies. The discussion is not only a historical examination but a meditation on how easily people can disappear into systems that neither heal nor punish, only contain. Through Gideon Haigh’s research and Meshel Laurie’s thoughtful questions, Wallace’s story becomes a portal to understanding lost lives and institutional memory in Australia.