Clarke brothers Thomas (1840?-1867) and John Clarke (1846?-1867) were Australian bushrangers from the Braidwood district of New South Wales responsible for a series of high-profile robberies and killings in the late 19th century so notorious that they led to the embedding of the Felons' Apprehension Act (1866), a law that introduced the concept of outlawry and authorised citizens to kill criminals on sight.[1] Active on the southern goldfields from 1865, Thomas, John, their brother James and a host of relations were responsible for a reported 36 hold-ups and the deaths of five policemen - four of them "special constables" bounty hunters - looking to bring them in. In 1866, the gang held the town of Michelago, New South Wales captive while awaiting the arrival a gold escort from Kiandra. Some modern-day writers have described the Clarkes as the "bloodiest" bushrangers of all. Bushranging[edit] They plundered publicans, storekeepers, farmers and travelers. Trial and execution[edit] References[edit]
Early Australian bushrangers McFarlane & Erskine, Gold escort attacked by bushrangers, 187-, print: lithograph. Image courtesy of the : nla.pic-an8420450. Bushranging - living off the land and being supported by or stealing from free settlers - was either chosen as a preferred way of life by escaped or was a result of the lack of supplies in the early settlements. Australia's bushranging period spanned nearly 100 years, from the first convict bushrangers active from 1790 to the 1860s, through the of the 1860s and 1870s who were able to be shot on sight, to the shooting of the in 1880. While many bushrangers had populist reputations for being 'Robin Hood' figures; some bushrangers were brutal and others harassed the and diggers returning from the goldfields. Escaped convicts Bushranging began soon after the . In the early days of Van Dieman's Land (now Tasmania) the settlement was faced with starvation due to the failure of supply ships to arrive. The first bushrangers, 1790s - 1820s The Wild Colonial Boy Useful links
John (Johnny) Gilbert John Gilbert (1842?-1865), bushranger, was born in Hamilton, Canada, son of William John Gilbert. In October 1852 he arrived at Melbourne in the Revenue with his family. He soon left home and worked as a stable-boy in Kilmore before drifting to the goldfields where he associated with gamesters and petty thieves and attracted suspicion by his flashy dress and 'flush of money'. In May 1863 Gilbert returned to the Weddin Mountains and became Ben Hall's right-hand man although they did not always work together. Gilbert and Dunn were proclaimed outlaws in April under the Felons Apprehension Act with £1000 on each of their heads. Citation details Edgar F.
Ned Kelly On Tuesday morning, to the disgust of some of the onlookers, the body was taken outside and slung up against a door to be photographed. The features were composed in a natural way and easily recognised. The face had full, fine forehead, blue eyes, downy moustache and a bushy beard covering a full chin, whilst the curly hair had recently been cut. The figure was of a well built, lithe young fellow and the face beautiful, nevertheless the spectacle was repulsive. The hands were clenched in the agony of death and covered with blood. Joe's high-heeled boots were his trademark, being referred to as larrikin heels during late nineteenth century Victoria. My name is Ned Kelly, I’m known adversely well. He was reputed to have a number of girlfriends in the towns of the Kelly country and, at the height of the hunt for the gang, he used to slip into Beechworth to drink in the back bars of hotels there.
John Gilbert (bushranger) Engraving of John Gilbert Johnny Gilbert was an Australian bushranger shot dead by the police at the age of 23 near Binalong, New South Wales on 13 May 1865. John Gilbert was the only Australian bushranger not to have served time in prison. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1842. Some suggest Gilbert accompanied his uncle, John Davis, to the Victorian goldfields. When he was only twelve, Gilbert worked as a stablehand at Kilmore, Victoria for his sister Eleanor and her new husband, John Stafford, for a time before moving on to the Kiandra goldfields in New South Wales. John was usually described as quite a smart man who could read and write, and a very jolly fellow who was always laughing. At eighteen he fell under the influence of the bushranger who used the alias Frank Gardiner. In 1862, John Gilbert was first named as an accomplice of Gardiner when they and two others held up a storekeeper. Gilbert's grave near Binalong The troopers watched for about an hour in the rain.
John Dunn (bushranger) Memorial to Nelson at Collector Inscription on memorial to Nelson John Dunn (14 December 1846 – 19 March 1866) was an Australian bushranger. In May, Hall, Gilbert, and Dunn were proclaimed outlaws; the passing into law the Felons Apprehension Act 1865, which allowed known bushrangers to be shot and killed rather than taken to trial, this put them outside the law and liable to be killed by anyone. Gibert and Dunn on hearing the news of Hall's death headed for Dunn's grandfather's property at Murrumbarrah. Gilbert's grave near Binalong Senior Constable Charles Hales of the Binalong police station received information at 8pm on 12 May 1865 that the two bushrangers had "stuck up" the woolshed near Murrumburrah. Hale immediately gathered constables John Bright and Michael King and headed out to watch Kelly's house. The next morning at 8am John Kelly (under the influence of alcohol) informed Hales that Gilbert and Dunn were at his hut. The troopers watched for about an hour in the rain.
Australian bushranger Frank Gardiner - Gunslingers - Family History & Genealogy Message Board - Ancestry.com.au Francis Gardiner went by many aliases, including "Darkie" Clark, "The Highwayman", "The King of the Road", the "Father of Bushranging", the "Prince of Tobymen", and Francis Christie, whom most believe was his real name. Frank Gardiner was born in Scotland around 1830, and became skilled at riding and shooting while growing up on a farm at Boro, Australia. He was tall (five foot - eight), with black hair, dark eyes, and was very polite, a gentleman to the core and Australia's "Most Wanted" bushranger and first world famous celebrity. He began his crime career as a horse thief in 1850 when he was arrested for horse stealing and sent to the Pentridge Stockade at Melbourne, and escaped. He was arrested again for the same crime in 1854, was sent to Cockatoo Island and remained there until 1859 until he got a ticket of leave and broke his parole.
Ned Kelly Edward "Ned" Kelly (December 1854[1] – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger of Irish descent. Kelly was born in the town of Beveridge in the British colony of Victoria to an Irish convict from County Tipperary and an Australian mother with Irish parentage. When Kelly was 12, his father died after a six-month stint in prison for unlawful possession of a bullock hide. After being indicted for the attempted murder of a police officer at his family's home in 1878, policemen and native trackers scoured the bush for Kelly and those accused with him. During the remainder of "The Kelly Outbreak", Kelly and his associates committed numerous armed robberies and fatally shot Aaron Sherritt, a known police informant. A final violent confrontation between the Kelly Gang and the Victoria Police took place at Glenrowan on 28 June 1880. Even before his execution, Kelly had become a legendary figure in Australia. Family background and early life Rise to notoriety Police mugshot of Kelly, aged 15
Francis (Frank) Gardiner Francis (Frank) Gardiner (1830-1903?), bushranger, was born in Scotland, son of Charles Christie and his wife Jane, née Whittle. The family reached Sydney in the James in 1834 and settled at Boro near Goulburn. He went to Victoria and in October 1850 as Francis Christie was sentenced to five years' hard labour at Geelong for horse stealing. Next March he escaped from Pentridge gaol and returned to New South Wales. In March 1854 he was convicted as Francis Clarke at Goulburn on two charges of horse stealing and imprisoned on Cockatoo Island. Gardiner joined up with Johnny Piesley; after ranging the old Lachlan Road they moved to the Weddin Mountains and were joined by John Gilbert, Ben Hall and others. On 15 June 1862 at the Coonbong Rock near Eugowra Gardiner's gang held up the gold escort and got away with £14,000. On 27 July Gardiner embarked for Hong Kong and by February 1875 was in San Francisco where he ran the Twilight Saloon. Citation details Edgar F.
Untitled Document Out of convenience, or to pursue a political agenda, the British colonisation of Australia is often termed a "white settlement" or a "white invasion." Such terms are inaccurate considering that Convicts of African extraction walked among those of British extraction (and Convicts of Greek, Italian, French and Indian extraction). Although their numbers were small, they had a level of influence that vastly exceeded their small numerical status, and so ensured that the colonial experience had a definitive shade of colour. These black Convicts included Billy Blue; the operator of a ferry service between Nth Sydney and Circular Quay. Aside from providing a valued service to the colony, Billy's eccentric nature helped him attain the status of what could be defined as Australia’s first celebrity. John Casare – The first bushranger A hungry man Born in the West Indies, John Caesar fled to England to escape plantation slavery. Caesar escapes for the first time Phillips dilemma. Caesar surrenders
Frank Gardiner Frank Gardiner (born c. 1830, Ross-shire, Scotland; died California, USA) was a noted Australian bushranger of the 19th century. He was born in Scotland in 1830 and migrated from to Australia as a child with his parents in 1834,.[1][2] His real name was Francis Christie, though he often used one of several other aliases including Gardiner, Clarke or Christie. He supposedly took the name Gardiner after a man who lived for some years with his family and who had taught him how to ride and break in horses. Although almost all legend states that his real name is Francis Christie, he signed his name 'Frank Gardiner'. He used the surname Gardiner while in America and he remains one of the more enigmatic Australian bushrangers. Appearance[edit] Gardiner was 5 ft 9 inches tall with an athletic build, with his brown wavy hair and hazel eyes, he was attractive with a face of a corsair and a smooth voice.[3] Early career[edit] Lachlan Gold Escort robbery[edit] Capture and exile[edit] Notes[edit]
Captain Thunderbolt - Tocal's bushranger Thunderbolt's Cottage Fred Ward worked at Tocal before becoming the notorious bushranger Captain Thunderbolt. Fred was the youngest of 11 children of Michael and Sophia Ward. He was probably born in 1835 at about the time his family moved from Wilberforce to Windsor. The family then moved to Maitland in about 1846. Fred's father was a convict and his mother a free immigrant. In August 1856 the lessee of Tocal, Charles Reynolds, indicated that he had known Fred Ward for some years. Oral tradition says that while working at Tocal Fred Ward lived in the overseer's Cottage which was built around 1835. Notes 1. 2.Further information is available in the book Captain Thunderbolt - Horsebreaker to Bushranger which you can buy from Tocal [details] Visit Thunderbolt's cottage at Tocal [opening details]
Michael Howe (bushranger) Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Ward Frederick Wordsworth Ward (aka Captain Thunderbolt) (1835–25 May 1870) was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushranger" and his lengthy survival, being the longest roaming bushranger in Australian history.[1] Early years[edit] Frederick Ward was the son of convict Michael Ward ("Indefatigable" 1815) and his wife Sophia, and was born in 1835 around the time his parents moved from Wilberforce, New South Wales to nearby Windsor.[2] Ward entered the paid workforce at an early age, and was employed at aged eleven by the owners of Aberbaldie station near Walcha as a "generally useful hand" although he remained with them for only a short time.[3] He worked at many stations in northern NSW over the next 10 years, including the famed horse-stud Tocal, and his horsemanship skills soon became evident. Escape from Cockatoo Island[edit] Bushranging years[edit] Legacy[edit] Cultural depictions[edit]