Vance Kelly

This is the captivating true story of when the tourism superstar of Australia, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, had a sinister past. A dark and menacing time when people described as ’demented’ or ’irresponsibles’ hurled themselves from the footways of the great bridge. A time when the bridge was considered more suicide friendly than any other suicide destination in Sydney and, within weeks of its grand opening, became best known as the ’Suicide Bridge’.

It is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of everyday Australians in the early 1930s, capturing the tuff times when Australians were robust individuals and known as straight talkers. An era when people were indifferent to suicide, desensitised by its common occurrence and suicide was a sign of the times.

This story investigates the personal stories behind the Harbour Bridge tragedies, exploring the vagaries of suicide and the peculiarity of suicide etiquette, as well as the extraordinary number of attempts and the intriguing stories of the few who jumped and lived to tell their story. This story also answers the more curious questions, like who made the first historic jump? And why was it so easy, even for a one-legged man, to jump? And why was nothing done for nearly two years to prevent the wild rush of tragedies?

Against a background of bridge politics, bridge pride, bridge envy and a multitude of bridge detractors, it was often demonised, described as a beacon for the melancholy, casting a sinister spell over the people of Sydney. Some felt it was just a fashionable craze that would go away in time, and the less said about it, the better. Within two years, fifty-one people used the Sydney Harbour Bridge as the ultimate stepping-off point to eternity, and this story is dedicated to their memory.