The Word of a Gentleman his wife Nora are the focus of many chapters (and the book opens with a quotation from Oscar Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"); these reflect Niesewand's detention by Desmond Lardner-Burke under P. K. van der Byl and Smith, and his subsequent deportation, leaving behind his wife of three years, Nonie Niesewand (née Fogarty). The Word of a Gentleman The Word of a Gentleman (1981) (later retitled "Undercut") was the third of five novels written by Peter Niesewand, the South African journalist who spent 73 days in solitary confinement for his coverage of Ian Smith's government in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
Old Dubbo Gaol Aboriginal association with the gaol, in terms of intercultural relations on the frontier of white settlement is exceptionally high. The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history. Dubbo Gaol was never more than a local and regional gaol. The staff, inmates and other visitors were similar to other gaols and judicial institutions of this type across the state. The Gaol has associations with some infamous criminals, in particular, Jackie Underwood who was hanged in the Gaol in 1901 for his part