Bushranging in New South Wales; Manufacturing Bushrangers; Employing
Bushrangers; The First Bank Robbery in Australia; Major Mudie and his
Assigned Servants; Terrible Hollow; Murder of Dr. Wardell; The Story
of Jack the Rammer; Hall Mayne and Others.
Bushranging of the more serious character with which we are concerned,
appears to have begun in New South Wales in about 1822. In that year
thirty-four bushrangers were hung in Sydney. The crimes for which these
men were executed were generally of a petty description. Robberies of
articles from the farms had become so prevalent that it was deemed
expedient to adopt severe measures, but beyond removing so many
evil-doers and preventing them from continuing their depredations, this
severity of the judicial authorities does not appear to have had much
effect. Bushranging not only continued, but the bushrangers became
bolder and operated over a wider area. On March 16th, 1826, a desperate
fight took place between a party of mounted troopers and seven
bushrangers near Bathurst. The Blue Mountains had only been crossed
thirteen years before, and the settlement was a very small one. The
leader of the gang, Morris Connell, was shot dead by Corporal Brown,
and the other bushrangers ran away into the bush.
The _Sydney Monitor_ of September 22nd reports that a shepherd on Mr.
H. Macarthur's run at Argyle ran away into the bush. He was captured,
and taken to Goulburn to be tried for absconding. He complained that
he had not received his proper allowance of rations, and had gone to
seek for food. He was of course found guilty, and, when sentenced to
be flogged, he sulkily said, "It's in the power of the likes of me to
have revenge when lambing time comes round." For this threat he was
sent to Liverpool for trial. He was convicted, and as a warning to
other shepherds he was sentenced to receive five hundred lashes and to
be transported to a penal settlement for life. The _Monitor_ denounced
this sentence as being "unduly harsh," and spoke of the heavy sentences
given whenever the Rev. Samuel Marsden, Principal Chaplain of New South
Wales, took his seat on the Bench. The chaplains were at that time all
_ex officio_ magistrates, and the Rev. Samuel Marsden was said to be
very active in the discharge of this portion of his duties. It is of
Mr. Marsden that Mr. J.T. Bigge says "His sentences are not only more
severe than those of other magistrates, but the general opinion of
the colony is that his character, as displayed in the administrations
of the penal law of New South Wales, is stamped with severity."[32]
Judging from the sentence under notice, it does not appear that the
reverend gentleman had become any more merciful since Commissioner
Bigge compiled his report some years before. The _Monitor_ charged him
with "helping to manufacture bushrangers." In this connection I may
mention that the opinion expressed by the "old hands" was that the
clerical magistrates were generally far more cruel and brutal than the
lay magistrates, and this opinion was crystallised into a cant phrase
which was current among the old hands many years later. It was "The
Lord have mercy on you, for his reverence will have none." This phrase
was used on all occasions, whether it was appropriate or not to the
subject under discussion or the circumstances of the time.
In the Windsor Court on February 10th, 1827, Mr. McCarthy was fined
£14 10s., including costs, for having employed a returned bushranger
instead of handing him over to the police for punishment. About the
same time a bushranger was charged in Sydney with having bailed up a
settler's house and compelled him to hand over some money and a bottle
of wine. Taking the wine was an aggravation of the offence which was
more than the worthy magistrate could stand. "What right," he demanded
of the delinquent, "have you to drink wine? Do you not know, you
rascal, that when you were convicted you forfeited all rights?" "Yes,
your honour," replied the culprit, "But, I didn't forfeit my appetite."
The robbery of the Bank of Australia does not properly, perhaps, come
under the head of bushranging, but as the later bushrangers made
bank robbery a feature of their depredations the record would not be
complete if this, the first and in some respects the most remarkable of
the bank robberies which have taken place in Australia, was omitted.
The Bank of Australia was established in 1826 and was spoken of as the
"new bank" to distinguish it from the older Bank of New South Wales.
It was also sometimes called "the squatters' bank." Its president was
Mr. John Macarthur, the first of the squatters. It was situated in
George Street, Sydney. The strong room was constructed under ground,
and had walls nine feet thick. Near the foundation of the bank was a
large drain or shore, one of the openings of which was on an unoccupied
plot of ground on the opposite side of the street to that in which
the bank stood. The other end of the drain terminated on the shore
of the harbour. Into this drain the thieves must have entered, and
judging from the amount of work done and the quantity of the remains of
provisions found afterwards they must have been at work for a week or
more. As they were too deep underground for the strokes of their picks
or hammers to be heard, they may have worked night and day. However
that may be, they took the bricks out of the side of the drain facing
the bank and then dug a tunnel until they reached the foundations of
the bank. How they disposed of the earth dug out is not known, but it
was surmised that they carried it away in bags. With great labour they
dislodged a stone at the corner of the foundations, and then gradually
enlarged the hole until there was sufficient room for a man to get
through. Having effected an entrance in this way into the strong room,
they found there forty boxes each containing £100 worth of British
silver coins; a smaller box containing two thousand sovereigns; a box
containing one thousand dollars, and another containing five hundred
dollars. But the robbers took only the two boxes containing dollars
and seven of the forty boxes containing British silver; leaving
thirty-three boxes of silver and the box of sovereigns. They took
also some bundles of bank notes, amounting to between ten and twelve
thousand pounds worth. The forty boxes of silver weighed a ton, and it
was believed that the thieves had been disturbed by some noise before
they had time to remove so great a quantity. The locks on the boxes
left in the vault were found to have been so rusted by damp as to be
useless. No arrests were made and no traces of the robbers could be
found. Notifications were issued denying that the loss, heavy as it
was, would affect the stability of the bank, but it appears that it
never recovered. In 1833 it was re-organised. In 1845 the Government
passed a Lottery Bill to enable the bank to raise money, but to no
purpose. The bank failed in 1848 and caused a great many other failures
and much distress. The robbery was discovered on September 15th, 1828,
and was reported in the _Monitor_ of the 20th.
There has been much speculation in Sydney from time to time as to what
became of the money stolen, and it has been reported that the thieves
buried it somewhere on the shores of Snail's, or White Bay, or some
other place on the opposite side of the Harbour to Sydney, but although
several persons have searched for the hidden treasure, it has not yet
been found. There is a somewhat similar legend of buried treasure at
North Sydney. The story is, that a sum of money variously stated at one
thousand and two thousand guineas, sent out in early times from England
to pay the troops, was stolen from the ship while she lay at her anchor
and was buried either near Mosman's Bay or Great Sirius Cove. This also
has been searched for at various times but hitherto without success.
What truth there is in these legends it is now impossible to say.
John Poole, James Ryan, and James Riley, assigned servants of Mr. John
Larnack, son-in-law of Major James Mudie, of Castle Forbes estate,
Patrick's Plains, Hunter River district, took to the bush on November
4th, 1833. Three other assigned servants, Anthony Hitchcock, alias
Hath, Samuel Parrott or Powell, and David Jones, were sent away the
following morning, in charge of constable Samuel Cook, to Maitland,
under sentence of twelve months, in a chain gang for insubordination.
About half-a-mile from Castle Forbes, Poole, Ryan, and Riley, and
another man named John Perry, who had been in the bush for some time
previously, met the constable and called on him to stand or they would
shoot him. Cook only had a pistol with him and he snapped it at the
robbers and then surrendered. The robbers took the pistol from him,
led him some distance off the road and tied him to a tree. Parrott
refused to go with the bushrangers and was tied to a tree near Cook.
The robbers went back to Mr. Larnack's house which they reached about
noon. They called upon Mrs. Larnack to stand, but she and one of the
female servants jumped through a window and ran. Perry followed them
and brought them back, threatening to blow Mrs. Larnack's brains out if
she refused to do as she was told. The robbers took a double-barrelled
gun which was always kept loaded in Mr. Larnack's room, and some guns
and fowling pieces from the dining-room. Hitchcock brought the shearers
from the shed, walking behind them and threatening to shoot any man
who resisted. The robbers broke open the door of the store and put the
shearers inside. They emptied a chest of tea into a bag, took bags of
flour, sugar, and other provisions from the store, and fastened up the
door leaving Perry on guard. They took a quantity of pork from the
kitchen, a bucket of milk from the dairy, and the silver-plate and
other valuables from the house. Then, having made the shearers secure
in the store and locked Mrs. Larnack and the female servants in the
kitchen, they went away after having told Mrs. Larnack that they were
sorry "the old----," the Major, was not at home, as they wanted to
settle him. One of them also expressed sorrow at the absence of Mr.
Larnack, and added that when they could catch him they would "stick
his head on the chimney for an ornament." As soon as the news of the
robbery became known, a party was organised to follow the bushrangers.
Mr. Robert Scott, mounted trooper Daniel Craddige, and a party of five
came up with the robbers at Mr. Reid's station, Lamb's Valley. Some
shots were exchanged and then Jones and Perry ran away. Constable
Craddige followed them and called on them to stand, and they did so. He
took them back and by that time Mr. Scott and the rest of the pursuing
party had captured Hitchcock, Poole and Riley. The boy Ryan got away
in the scrub but was discovered and caught next day. Alexander Flood,
overseer to Messrs. Robert and Helenes Scott, with two constables,
took charge of the prisoners, and conducted them safely to Maitland
for trial. Mr. John Larnack then said that on the morning of the 5th
of November before the attack was made on the house, he was at the
sheep-wash. The prisoners came up and said to the washers, "Come out of
the water, every---- one of you, or we'll blow your---- brains out."
Larnack jumped into the water among the washers. Hitchcock fired at him
shouting, "You'll never take me to court again, you----." He called
on the washers to get out of the way and let him shoot the----. Poole
also said, "I'll take care you never get another man flogged." Larnack
scrambled out of the wash-pool on the opposite side to where the
robbers were, and ran to the timber. He went on to Mr. Danger's farm,
and remained there till next day. He was only ten yards distant when
Hitchcock fired at him. Shots from the other bushrangers struck the
water within twelve and eighteen inches of him, but none of them hit
him. The robbers had four double-barrelled guns, two single-barrelled
fowling pieces, a musket, and two pistols, when they were captured.
When asked what they had to say in defence, Hitchcock called Ensign
Zouch and other gentlemen to speak as to his character. It appears that
until he was assigned to Major Mudie and Mr. Larnack, he had always
been well behaved. The prisoners complained that they were given short
rations, that the flour was mouldy and the meat bad, and that they were
repeatedly flogged. Some of them had been flogged for refusing to work
on Sunday. Hitchcock had been sentenced to work in an iron gang, for an
offence of which he knew nothing. Whatever punishment was threatened by
the master was sure to be inflicted by the Bench. Jones was acquitted
of the capital offence, but was sent to Norfolk Island for life. The
other five prisoners were sentenced to death, Hitchcock and Poole being
hung at Maitland, and Ryan, Perry and Riley at Sydney. An enquiry was
held as to the alleged illusage of their assigned servants, by Major
Mudie and Mr. Larnack, and they were acquitted by Governor Bourke of
the charges of tyranny and ill-treatment, but Major Mudie's name was
removed from the Commission of the Peace. On his return to the station
after the result of the enquiry had become known, he was greeted with
cries of "No more fifties now, you bloody old tyrant."[33]
The beautiful valley of Burragorang is enclosed on all sides by
precipitous mountains, there being only one practicable entrance,
which, in early times, before a government road was cut into it for
the convenience of the farmers who now occupy the valley, was easily
blocked with a few saplings, so that sheep, cattle, or horses turned
into the valley could not escape. Precisely how the entrance to this
extensive enclosure was first found is not known. It is believed,
however, that it was discovered by a party of bushrangers, who
endeavoured to discover a road over the Blue Mountains, in order to
reach a settlement of white men, which was popularly supposed to lie
somewhere in that direction. Whether this supposed settlement was a
Dutch or an English settlement does not appear, but as I have already
said, there was a wide-spread belief that some of these settlements
were at no very great distance from Sydney, and could be reached
overland. The valley is situated only about fifty-four miles from
Sydney, and for many years was an absolutely secure hiding-place for
bushrangers and their plunder. Later on the valley came to be known,
from the horrible tales told of the convicts who made use of it,
as "Terrible Hollow," and under this name it is introduced by Rolf
Boldrewood in his "Robbery under Arms." Among the old hands themselves
it was known as "The Camp," "The Shelter," or "The Pound." Bark huts
were erected in this valley by the bushrangers, and here they retired
when hard pressed or when wounded. When the secret of the entrance
was betrayed to the soldiers, who were out in search of a party of
bushrangers, it was evident that the valley had been long in use by
the bushrangers. Cattle and sheep were running wild there, numbers of
broken shackles, handcuffs, and other relics were found, and, besides
these, evidences that several murders had been committed there; but
there are no records of these events, and only the recollections of
the legends which have been handed down among the old hands remain to
explain why this beautiful valley should have been called "Terrible
Hollow." One of these legends may be told somewhat as follows: A
settler was reported to have received a large sum of money. This
became known to the bushrangers and they determined to rob him of it.
They bailed up his place, tied his assigned servants, and searched
everywhere for the money but could not find it. The settler declared
that he had not received the money, but was not believed. He was
threatened with death if he refused to disclose its hiding place. He
persisted in his assertion that he had no money, and a consultation
was held by the bushrangers to decide what should be done with him.
Some were for shooting him there and then; but, this was so evidently
not the way to extort money, if he had any, that it was resolved to
take him to "the camp," and there force him to say where the money was
hidden. When they got him there they tied him to a sapling, built a
circle of bushwood round him at some distance away, set fire to it, and
slowly roasted him to death. His screams are said to have been fearful,
but no one heard them in that solitude except the fiends who were
torturing him, and they had been rendered too callous, by treatment
little less fiendish by the authorities, to heed his agonised cries.
Whether this story is literally true or not it is impossible to say,
but certainly charred remains of human bones were discovered in the
valley when it was searched, though whether the bodies had been burned
before or after death could not, of course, be determined.
It was to this valley that Will Underwood and his gang were said to
retire when hard pressed or when they required a rest. Underwood
operated on the roads about Campbelltown, Liverpool, Penrith, and
Windsor, sometimes sticking-up people, and robbing farms on Liberty
Plains and other places between Parramatta and Sydney. The gang was a
large one and continued to operate in the more populous districts for
some two years. Among the members of this gang were Johnny Donohoe,
Webber, and Walmsley. Donohoe was shot by a trooper named Maggleton,
near Raby, in September, 1830. Webber was shot a month later, and
Walmsley was captured in another skirmish between the troopers and the
bushrangers. Walmsley was sentenced to death, but was reprieved for
disclosing the names of "fences," or receivers of stolen property, and
his revelations caused quite a sensation, a number of hitherto highly
respected persons being implicated. Underwood was shot in 1832, and
shortly afterwards a "traitor" is said to have led a party of soldiers
into Terrible Hollow. There was a fight between the troops and the
bushrangers found there at the time, and several of the bushrangers
were captured and the gang was broken up. The evil reputation which the
valley had acquired, at first prevented settlement there, but when the
bushrangers and their doings had been forgotten, the Government threw
the valley open for selection, and a number of farms were taken up or
purchased. More recently, a line has been surveyed for a railway to the
valley, but this line has not yet been constructed. In the meantime, a
good road has been opened into the valley through the one practicable
entrance, and those who visit the valley now for the first time, can
scarcely credit the horrible stories which have been told in connection
with it.
One Sunday in September, 1834, Dr. Robert Wardell, a practising
barrister in Sydney, and editor of _The Australian_, was riding
across his park, which stretched from the Parramatta road, where the
municipality of Petersham now stands, to Cook's river, to look after
his herd of fallow deer, of which he was very proud. He jumped his
horse over a log and found himself confronted by three armed men.
Thinking they were poachers after his deer, he reined his horse in and
cried, "What are you doing here, you rascals?" The reply was a shot
from one of the guns, and the doctor fell. His horse galloped to the
house and alarmed the family. Men were despatched in all directions
to seek for the doctor, who it was believed had somehow been thrown
and injured. The search was continued all day and night, but with no
result. The next day his body was found covered over with boughs,
apparently to prevent the dingoes from tearing it rather than to hide
it. John Jenkins, Thomas Tattersdale and Emanuel Brace were arrested on
suspicion and charged with the murder. Evidence was produced that they
had been seen in the neighbourhood, and they were committed for trial.
Brace was a lad who had only recently been sent to the colony, and
before the day of trial he consented to turn King's evidence. From his
testimony it appeared that Jenkins was the man who had fired the gun.
But both he and Tattersdale were hung for the crime, and it was said
that they had been guilty of various acts of bushranging. After the
doctor's death the herd of fallow deer was neglected. Some were sold,
and their descendants may still be seen in the park at Parramatta,
and elsewhere. A large number, however, escaped, and the late Mr.
Charles Hearn, for many years landlord of the Stag's Head Inn, on the
Parramatta road, about five miles from the Sydney Town Hall, used to
boast that he shot the last of Dr. Warden's deer about where the Callan
Park Lunatic Asylum now stands.
The story of Jack the Rammer illustrates the relationship which
sometimes existed between the bushrangers and the assigned servants,
and indicates the difficulties with which law-abiding citizens had
to cope. Jack had been living by robbery in the Manaro district for
some time. One day Mr. Charles Fisher Shepherd, the overseer of the
Michelago sheep station, said something about all bushrangers being
cowards. One of the assigned servants on the station, named Bull,
replied, "They'll be here next." "If they come here," exclaimed
Shepherd, "I'll give them a benefit." A few nights afterwards Shepherd
was asleep in his hut. He was awakened by someone calling on him to
come out. After a time he did so, and saw Jack the Rammer and a man
named Boyd standing at the door. Jack cried out to him, "Keep your
hands down." They stood for a second or two regarding him, and then
Jack said, "What a benefit you're giving us." The two bushrangers
then walked away. Although he felt convinced that Bull was in league
with the bushrangers and had reported his speech to them and that
he probably could not expect any assistance from the other assigned
servants on the station, Shepherd loaded his gun with No. 4 shot, the
largest he had, and started off after the bushrangers. It was about
daybreak on a beautiful December morning in 1834, probably between
three and four o'clock, and the air was soft and balmy as he made his
way through the bush in the direction in which the bushrangers had
gone. After travelling some distance he came on a sort of a camp, and
saw Boyd through the trees. He kneeled down and fired, but missed. He
was about to fire the other barrel when Bull stepped from behind a
tree close by, and said "Don't shoot him, sir." "By G----, I will,"
exclaimed Shepherd. "If you fire, by G----, I'll shoot you," returned
Bull. Before Shepherd could reply another bushranger named Keys fired
at him from behind a tree, and wounded him. Shepherd rushed forward,
and was about to close with Keys when Boyd ran up and fired, wounding
Shepherd in the head. Keys seized him, but Shepherd shook himself free,
and ran back to the station. He went to the house, roused up the owner,
and said to him, "Good God, Catterall, I'm shot all to pieces, and you
never help me." "What's the good?" returned Catterall. "What can I do?"
Just then the bushrangers came up, and Catterall went in and shut the
door. Shepherd rushed across to his own hut, and tried to shut himself
in, but Boyd thrust the barrel of his gun in in time to prevent him.
Shepherd seized the gun and tried to wrench it out of Boyd's hands, but
Keys pushed the door open and struck Shepherd on the head. Shepherd
fell, and Boyd put the muzzle of his gun close against his chest and
pulled the trigger. The bushrangers, including Bull, then went away.
It was some hours later when Shepherd regained consciousness, and
yelled out as loud as he could. He continued calling for some minutes,
and at last Catterall came out of the house and went to the hut.
"Why," he said, as he looked at Shepherd, "I thought you were dead."
He went away, but soon returned with several of the station hands,
and had Shepherd carried into the house and put to bed. He sent for a
doctor and the police. When the doctor arrived he took fourteen slugs
and bullets out of various parts of Shepherd's body. He recovered,
and lived for many years afterwards. In the meantime the police
followed the bushrangers, and shot Boyd as he was trying to escape by
swimming across the Snowy River. Keys and Bull were captured, and were
subsequently hung. Jack the Rammer escaped for a time, but was shot a
few months later.
On September 24th, 1838, the bushrangers Hall and Mayne stuck up Mr.
Joseph Roger's station at Currawang, near Yass. As they approached
the kitchen door the men inside rushed out, and the bushrangers fired
among them. A lad named Patrick Fitzpatrick was struck in the mouth,
the bullet coming out at the crown of his head. Three of the men were
wounded. The bushrangers appear to have regretted their act as soon as
it was done. They made no attempt to get away, but assisted to carry
the wounded men into the kitchen. Hall had been captured previously,
but had succeeded in escaping from the Goulburn Gaol shortly before
this attack on Mr. Roger's station. When sentenced to death, he said,
"I've been all over the country in my time without taking the life of
any one. I've been baited like a bull dog and I'm only sorry now that I
didn't shoot every---- tyrant in New South Wales." When taken from the
court-house to the gaol, he said to the crowd assembled there, "I've
never had anything to say against the prisoners, but I've a grudge
against every---- swell in the country. I'll go to the gallows and die
as comfortably as a biddy and be glad of the chance." The trial took
place on May 15th, 1839, and between then and the date fixed for the
execution. Hall made a desperate attempt to escape from Darlinghurst
Gaol. He failed and was hung on June 7th, with Michael Welsh, Donald
Maynard, and his mate, Mayne.
In January, 1839, Mr. Bailley was returning to his home on the
Parramatta Road, Sydney, when he was knocked down and beaten by three
men near his own door. They took a roll of bank notes from his pocket,
but a vehicle driving rapidly approached and frightened them so that
they dropped the notes and ran. Mr. Bailley picked them up and went
indoors.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 32: Commission of Enquiry into the state of New South Wales,
1822.]
[Footnote 33: Select Committee of the House of Commons on
Transportation.--July, 1837. Major Mudie's evidence.]