Rumour has it there was an audible gasp in the Benalla Courthouse in August of 1939 when what many thought was three men in the dock turned out to be two men and a woman with short hair wearing a suit.
Every year, on January 1, hundreds of government archival records are opened for the first time after their closure period.
Among the files opened in 2024 were the prison record and mugshot of Julie Baldwin.
Originally hailing from New Zealand, Ms Baldwin was just 23 when she acquired the nickname ‘The Bonnie Doon Bandit’.
She had been living in Sydney when she moved to Melbourne looking for work and met local jockeys John Jackson and Leslie Malone.
On Tuesday, July 25, 1939, the three stole a car from West Brunswick and drove to Bonnie Doon.
Armed with a rifle, they staged a hold-up at the local Post Office, getting away with £23 17/7.
A police car gave chase, with the bandits crashing into a bridge on Benalla Rd and rolling into a creek.
Escaping the mangled wreckage, they ran into the bush, but police were hot on their heels and quickly took the trio into custody.
When the case went to court, Ms Baldwin’s appearance, rare for a woman at the time, captured the attention of local, state and national media.
According to the Benalla Standard on August 18, 1939:
When the three accused appeared in the dock, it was difficult at first to distinguish the girl because her attire and short hair gave her a youthful appearance, and it was not until she answered to her name that many of the spectators realised that she was not a boy.
Nationally, the Sun picked the story up on August 28:
Wearing a man’s blue serge suit, Julie Helen Baldwin, 23, of Sydney, stood in the dock at the General Sessions today to receive a sentence of two years for robbery under arms.
In court at Benalla, Julie told the judge that she’d never been in trouble or visited Bonnie Doon before.
The jockeys, it turned out, were brothers who grew up in the area, visiting the Post Office regularly to collect their mail.
They moved to Melbourne to work as jockeys, but injuries and bad luck had seen them quickly unemployed.
One of the brothers met Julie at a bar in Sydney, and they all ended up in Melbourne together — coming up with the idea of a robbery as a way to make ends meet.
The Sun’s article quoted the judge, whom it did not name, as Ms Baldwin’s sentence was handed down.
“You say you are older than the men,” he said.
“The only difference I can see in your case is your sex, and you seem to have discarded even that to some extent.
“There was clear evidence of deliberate planning of this hold-up, and you went out of your way to get the gun which was used.
“Because of your sex, however, I feel I must differentiate between you and the others.
“Your sentence will, therefore, be concurrent with the sentence for stealing the car.”
That sentence was two years, which she served at the Female Prison at Pentridge.
Julie’s prison record shows that during her time behind bars, she was written up for igniting material in her cell, insolence to an officer and disobeying orders.
For each, she received 24 hours of solitary confinement. She was released from prison in June 1941.