The Jewboy Gang; "Come and Shoot the Bushrangers;" Constable Refuses
to Leave His Work to Hunt Bushrangers; Saved by his Wife; Robberies
in Maitland; Bushrangers in High Hats; The Bullock-driver Captures
the Bushrangers; An Attempt to Reach the Dutch Settlements; Mr. E.D.
Day Captures the Gang; Assigned Servants' Attempt at Bushranging;
Some other Gangs.
One of the most notorious of the early bushrangers of Australia was
Edward Davis, commonly known as The Jewboy. Next to Jackey Jackey and,
perhaps, Mathew Brady, more yarns have been told about this hero of
the roads than of any other bushranger in the pre-gold digging era.
The Jewboy gang varied in numbers from time to time, no doubt from
the cause already noted in the cases of Mike Howe and Mathew Brady.
Numbers of runaways joined the gang for a time and then returned to
what was called civilisation, gave themselves up as ordinary runaways,
and "took their fifties like men." Others were shot or captured, and
either hung or sent to a penal settlement to continue their careers
there. The Jewboy appears to have commenced his depredations in 1839 in
what were then the northern districts of the colony of New South Wales.
His range extended from about Maitland to the New England ranges, he
having taken possession of the Great Northern Road, but he was not
particular and, therefore, either he or other members of his gang, or,
perhaps, independent bushrangers who were only supposed to belong to
the Jewboy gang, travelled considerable distances from the road. On
January 12th, 1839, Mr. Biddington's servant was stuck up and robbed
near Mr. Wightman's station on the Namoi River, some distance lower
down than Tamworth. The servant sent an invitation to Mr. Wightman to
"come and have a shot at the bushrangers." The _Sydney Gazette_, of
April 3rd, said: "The country between Patrick's Plains and Maitland
has lately been the scene of numerous outrages by bushrangers. A party
of runaway convicts, armed and mounted, have been scouring the roads
in all directions. In one week they robbed no less than seven teams on
the Wollombi Road, taking away everything portable. They also went to
Mr. Nicholas's house, and carried away a great quantity of property
after destroying a great many articles which they did not want. Mr.
Macdougall, late Chief Constable of Maitland, and a party of volunteers
set out in pursuit. The Wollombi district constable is a tailor by
trade, and he refused to leave his work to accompany the party on the
plea that it would not pay him." This reminds us that the ordinary
police force of the present day did not exist in Australia at that
time. In the larger towns there were paid constables and watchmen who
devoted their whole time to guarding the citizens and their property;
but, in country districts, a tradesman was paid a small sum per annum
for acting as constable. There was, however, a mounted patrol force
which is frequently spoken of as a police force. The police duties in
Sydney, Parramatta, and other large towns were discharged by soldiers.
Major Sutton was stopped on the road by armed men, and robbed on his
return from attending the Maitland police sessions, and a hut belonging
to Mr. Windeyer, near Stroud, was broken into and robbed. Robberies
were very frequent about Maitland, and in the Upper Hunter and
Patterson River districts, and these were all credited to the Jewboy
gang, which was just coming into notoriety. On June 17th, 1839, four
bushrangers were captured near Murrurundi. They had a black gin and a
black boy with them. These were supposed to be part of the gang which
had bailed up Lieutenant Caswell's place on the 9th. When challenged
Lieutenant Caswell refused to stand. One of the bushrangers fired at
him, but his wife rushed forward and struck up the barrel of the gun
in time to save her husband's life. For doing this another of the gang
knocked her down. They searched the place and took away about £400
worth in money, jewellery, and other property. They held the road for
a day between Green Hills and Maitland, and robbed every person who
passed. The next day they went to Mr. Simpson's house in West Maitland.
A man employed there, however, fired at them, and they made off. On
the following day Mr. Michael Henderson was knocked down and robbed
near Wallis' Creek, on the road between East and West Maitland. Mr.
Cotham came up at the time and was seized, thrown down, and robbed.
As soon as news of these robberies were reported, Lieutenant Christie
with a party of mounted troopers started in pursuit. From Maitland the
gang is supposed to have travelled northwards, and on the 15th Mr.
Fleming received a note requesting him to get up his horses early on
the following morning. Instead of complying with this insolent order,
Mr. Fleming sounded his men, and believing that he could trust them
distributed arms among them and stationed them at various advantageous
points. When the bushrangers arrived the men fired at them. The robbers
returned the fire and ran to a hut, which they took possession of. A
regular siege ensued, and the black gin proved herself to be an expert
in loading guns. She was said to have acted as guard over men bailed
up, while the bushrangers were waiting to stop other travellers. The
bushrangers were dressed as gentlemen in clothes which they had stolen
from some of their victims. They were well armed and had plenty of
money. One of them, Thomas Maguire, was said to be a free man.
During the year 1840, the Jewboy gang committed numberless
depredations. They robbed Mr. Deake's house at Wollombi, stole his
horses, took horses from several other stations, and held the roads at
various places for a day at a time, and robbed every one who passed
along. The head-quarters of the gang were at Doughboy Hollow in the
Liverpool Ranges, and it was said that any man riding along the road
near Murrurundi or Quirindi, or between these places and Tamworth,
was "almost certain to lose his horse and whatever property he might
have about him, and be compelled to walk to the next stage and perhaps
further, while the bushrangers were riding his horse to death harrying
other honest people."
One of the stories told of the Jewboy was that he "rounded up" the
chief constable of the district with a party of constables and
volunteers who had gone out to seek for him, and after having "yarded
them like a mob of cattle," took their horses, arms, and whatever
money they had, and rode away laughing. However, sometimes the tables
were turned on the bushranger. A bullock driver named Budge was bailed
up by two of the gang. Budge had a little boy with him, and one of
the bushrangers stood over Budge and the child while the other was
ransacking the dray. Budge kept his eye on the sentry and, noticing him
look round to see how his mate was getting on, sprang on him, snatched
the pistol from his hand, and knocked him down. Then he ordered the
other bushranger to get off his dray, and made the two stand side by
side. He kept them standing thus for about two hours in hopes that some
travellers would pass along and assist him to take them to the nearest
lock-up, but unfortunately no one came, and he was forced at length to
let them go. He, however, kept their arms and saddles, and these he
delivered to the Commissary on arriving at his destination. There were
two guns and four pistols, all loaded. One of the saddles was owned by
Mr. Joliffe and was returned to him. In connection with this it is said
that Budge, when he was an assigned servant on Mr. Potter's Marquesas
Estate, some years before, had bolted with six or seven other servants
on the estate, and started to walk northward with "the hope of reaching
the Dutch settlements at Timour." They travelled for three days, during
the last forty-eight hours of which they had nothing to eat Budge
therefore left them and returned towards the Hunter River. He was so
exhausted, however, for want of food, that he fell. He was discovered
by a stockman who was out rounding up the cattle on the station. Budge
was taken into the station in a deplorable condition, and for a time
was not expected to live. He recovered, however, and continued to work
in the district. Of his companions nothing was heard for some years,
but later, when the country northward was explored, remains were found
which were believed to be theirs. From these it was conjectured that,
after Budge left, one man had been killed "to save the lives of the
others." There was evidence that one man had been cut up, it was
supposed for food; but this had not saved the others. That at least is
what the evidence pointed to. The remains had been so torn about by
dingoes, crows, and hawks, as to make it impossible to identify them.
The bodies were scattered over a wide area, some of them being several
miles away from the others; and it is not even certain whether the
whole number were ever found.
Nine men were arrested in Sydney and charged with being runaways. Eight
of them proved that they were free men, and the constable who arrested
them was censured. The case was cited as an instance of the arbitrary
character of the Bushranging Act. One of the men, however, proved to
be James Jackson, who had absconded from the estate of Mr. Turner, of
Maitland. He was sent back to Maitland and convicted of bushranging,
and was sent to penal servitude for life. He was said to have taken
part in some of the robberies committed by the Jewboy gang, having been
at large since the middle of 1840.
On Sunday, September 26th, some of the gang bailed up the mail man
between Muswellbrook and Patrick's Plains, and are supposed to have
taken some £250 from the letters. After this robbery one of them
bolted from his mates, taking the greater part of the proceeds of
their industry with him. He made his way to Sydney, where he passed
himself off for a time as a free immigrant. He was arrested under
the Bushrangers' Act and charged with being illegally at large. Then
news of the mail robbery reached Sydney, and the fellow was sent
to Muswellbrook, where he was identified by the mail man, and was
sentenced to penal servitude.
The gang afterwards went to Scone and stuck up Mr. Danger's store and
Mr. Chiver's Inn. The storeman in charge, named Graham, fired at the
bushrangers and then ran for the soldiers, but one of the bushrangers
followed him, and before he reached the watch-house, shot him dead.
They hastily made a bundle of such articles as took their fancy, and
left the town. They went to Captain Pike's station and seized the
overseer, taking him with them. When they were far enough in the bush
they formed themselves into "a court," and tried him "for want of
feeling." He was found guilty and sentenced to receive three dozen
lashes, "which he got in good style."
On Sunday, December 21st, 1840, Captain Horsley, of Woodbury, Hexham,
on the Hunter River, about five miles from Maitland, was awakened
and alarmed by the violent barking of his dogs. He rose twice during
the night and went out on to the verandah of the house, but could
see nothing. As the noise continued he went out for the third time,
when three men rushed at him. They threatened him with their guns and
compelled him to surrender. They then took him back to his bedroom,
made him get into bed, lie down, and cover his face with a pillow.
The captain and Mrs. Horsley were told that if either of them moved,
they would both be shot instantly. The robbers demanded the keys, and
on being told where to find them they opened the drawers, cabinets,
and cupboards, and made bundles of the clothes, jewellery, plate, and
money. They collected all the guns and pistols in the house, using the
most violent and profane language during their search for plunder.
It is supposed that they were disturbed in their work, as they left
very suddenly and dropped two gold rings and two silver candlesticks
in their flight; as these articles were picked up the following day
outside the house. On hearing of this outrage, Mr. Edward Denny Day
headed the soldiers and followed the bushrangers. They received tidings
of them at several points on the Great Northern Road, the robbers
bailing up people as they went along. They crossed the Page River at
Murrurundi and came up to the bushrangers near Doughboy Hollow. Here
the Jewboy made a stand. The fight was a desperate one, but ultimately
the bushrangers were beaten and Edward Davis (the Jewboy), John
Everett, John Shea, Robert Chitty, James Bryant, and John Marshall were
captured. Richard Glanvill, the remaining member of the gang, made his
escape, but was so closely pursued that he was captured in the scrub on
the following day, the 24th December. They were tried and convicted and
were hung on March 16th, 1841.
In January, 1841, a public meeting was held in Maitland, and a vote
of thanks was passed to Mr. E.D. Day for the service he had rendered
the district in ridding it of such a desperate lot of villains as
those which constituted the Jewboy gang. It was also resolved that a
subscription should be taken up with the object of presenting Mr. Day
with a handsome testimonial, and this was duly carried out. But the
capture of the chief members of this formidable gang by no means rid
the northern district of bushrangers, although no doubt it paved the
way towards that desirable end. Of those who remained it is impossible
to say whether they were members of this gang or not. Some of them
had no doubt acted with it occasionally, while others may have always
operated independently, though many of their depredations were credited
to the gang by the public.
Charles Vaut and Henry Steele, two of the assigned servants of Mr.
George Furber, worked in the field all day on Saturday, April 24th,
1841, and were seen in the kitchen at eight o'clock at night. On the
following Sunday evening the Rev. John Hill Garvan, residing at Hull
Hill, four miles from Maitland, was sitting at tea just after sunset,
when two men came to the door, presented their guns at him, and said,
"Don't stir." Mrs. Garvan was so much alarmed that she nearly fainted,
and Mr. Garvan asked that she might be allowed to retire to the
bedroom. "Sit still," cried the robber, "or I'll blow your brains out
and put your wife on the fire." Mr. Garvan then struck the smaller man,
Vaut, who was nearest to him, and he snapped his gun at the minister,
but it missed fire. The bigger man then ordered Mrs. Garvan to "go and
sit on the fire." "Oh, don't, pray don't, make me sit on the fire,"
cried the poor woman, but the ruffian took her by the shoulders and
forced her back on to the burning logs. At that moment a dray was heard
coming along the road, and Steele let her go. She was more frightened
than hurt, but her stockings were scorched. The two men then ran away,
and went back to their beds at Mr. Furber's. They were arrested on the
following day by Chief Constable George Wood, of Maitland. A pistol was
found under the sheet of bark which served them for a bedstead. When
brought up for trial, Judge Stephen (afterwards Sir Alfred Stephen),
said the law of England on burglary made no provision for such an
outrage as this, committed in a dwelling before nine o'clock. If they
were convicted they could not be sentenced to more than fifteen years'
imprisonment. The jury found them guilty, and they were sentenced to
the term mentioned. They were afterwards charged with shooting at Mr.
Garvan with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and were found guilty
and sentenced to transportation to a penal settlement for life. It is
more than probable that these men, and many others like them, assisted
the bushrangers whenever an opportunity occurred--that is, when the
bushrangers operated in the neighbourhood in which they were assigned
servants, but without actually becoming members of the gang. There was
a sort of freemasonry among the convicts which impelled them to assist
each other in their war against society, and even in cases where it
was obviously to their interests to stand by and assist their masters,
their sympathies with the bushrangers and their hatred of all forms
of authority impelled them irresistibly to take the opposite side, to
their own individual detriment. But the principal gang having been
broken up in this district, robberies of the kind described gradually
ceased, and it was some years before this district was again disturbed
as it had been. In other districts, however, the bushrangers were still
active.
Mr. Michel, of Kurraducbidgee, was travelling to Port Phillip in
February, 1840. He went into an inn near Yass for food and refreshment
and found the place in the hands of the bushrangers. Fourteen men were
bailed up and Michel was compelled to take his place in line against
the wall of the bar. The bushrangers handed him a pannikin full of
tea before they took his money. Knowing what was coming, he held the
pannikin as if the tea was too hot to drink and, when the bushranger
in charge was looking away, dropped his roll of bank notes into it. He
stood very quietly and when the bushranger came to feel his pockets
there were only a few shillings in them. They appeared to be quite
satisfied and, on his saying that he had important business to attend
to, he was allowed to go. He carried the pannikin out with him, took
the money out and put it in his pocket without being observed, and
threw the tea away. Then he mounted his horse, rode to the nearest
police station and gave information. The police started for the hotel
immediately, but the robbers had decamped and no information could be
obtained as to the direction in which they had gone.
William Hutchinson, who had run away from the prisoners' barracks at
Hyde Park, Sydney, in July, 1836, was captured on June 28th, 1840, at
the corner of Market and George Streets. He had been out with a gang in
the Windsor district and a reward of £25 had been offered for him.
In January, 1841, six armed men called at the lock-up at Appin, and
asked Constable Laragy who was in charge to put them on the right road
for Campbelltown. They said that they had come from Kings Falls. The
constable stepped back for his gun, when one of them presented his gun
at Laragy and told him not to be a fool. They didn't want to hurt him.
As there was no one there to assist him he answered "All right," and
showed them the road, which they probably knew as well as he did. It
was said that this was merely a _ruse de guerre_ to let the police know
that they were out.
On Sunday, October 24th, 1841, a man entered the house of a soldier
in Parramatta and offered to pay half-a-crown for a night's lodging.
The offer was accepted, but the host afterwards, noticing that his
lodger carried pistols, became suspicious and went to the police
station. A constable accompanied him back and identified the lodger as
a bushranger who "was wanted." It was said that he had stuck up Mr.
Frazer and several other persons just outside the town. The constable
made an attempt to seize him and was promptly knocked down. The
bushranger ran towards the river, and was followed and caught after a
severe struggle. He walked quietly back towards the lock-up until he
came to the corner of Macquarie Street, when suddenly wrenching himself
free from the two men who were holding his arms, he exclaimed "This is
my road," and "bolted." He was seen two days later at Longbottom, about
half-way between Parramatta and Sydney, and was chased, but succeeded
in eluding capture in the scrub at Five Dock.
In February, 1842, the house of Mr. Gray in Balmain was stuck up. The
bushrangers collected the watches, rings, money, and other valuables,
and then compelled Mr. and Mrs. Gray and the servants to drink
tumblers full of sherry wine to their success. They were very merry,
and drank Mr. and Mrs. Gray's healths. When they departed they took
a dozen and a half of sherry and a dozen of bottled ale with them to
"have a spree in the bush."
In the same month Colonel and Mrs. Gwynne, Major Woore, and Mr.
Thomas Woore, J.P., with the Chief Constable of Goulburn, and another
constable, were driving near Bargo Brush. The party was in two
carriages, with the constable on horseback. They were stopped by a gang
which it was said had just robbed the Goulburn mail. The constable
on horseback was the only one of the party who carried a gun, and he
bolted as soon as the bushrangers appeared, dropping his musket. The
robbers took £11 14s. and the gun, but after holding a consultation
among themselves they returned three one-pound notes and the fourteen
shillings so that "the gentlemen might drink their healths." Then,
wishing the party good-day, they departed.
In January, William Gunn and John South were arrested as runaways
from the station at Port Macquarie. It was said that they had been at
large for more than a year and had been with the Jewboy. They robbed
the northern mail near Scone and were followed and captured. They wore
black coats and vests, beaver hats and clean white shirts, "as if they
had just come from an inn or a gentleman's residence."
In March, 1842, John Wilkinson alias Wilton escaped from Towrang
stockade, carrying away with him Captain Christy's double-barrelled
gun and a fowling piece. He was joined by another runaway named John
Morgan, and on March 10th they took possession of the Sydney Road
near Berrima and bailed up every person who passed. They plundered
several drays and stopped the mail-man. They searched the mail bags,
but finding no money in the letters, they permitted the mail-man to
gather them up and proceed on his journey. They took seven pounds from
a passenger named Jones, but on his saying that he would have no money
to pay for his board and lodging while in Sydney, they returned him
two pounds. At Red Bank they stole a horse belonging to Mr. Post to
carry their plunder. Further along the road towards Sydney, they met a
trooper and a constable, and told them that they were in pursuit of a
woman who had run away from her husband and had taken his spring cart
and horse and some of his property. They pretended that they expected
to overtake her before she reached Liverpool. At Crisp's Inn they had
some champagne. Not far from there, still going towards Sydney, they
tried to bail up Dr. McDonald, but he rode away. They fired at him but
failed to overtake him. They slept that night in the little church
at Camden. The following day they rode straight into Sydney, put up
at a first-class hotel and remained there for several days, "living
like gentlemen." By some means, however, they excited the suspicions
of the police and became alarmed at the enquiries made about them.
They therefore left suddenly and returned towards Berrima. Mr. Post,
who had been away from home when his horse was stolen, started out in
company with his son-in-law, Tom Howarth, to follow the bushrangers.
The rapidity of their motions, however, threw him off the scent. On
their return to the district in which he lived he met them and tried
to bail them up, but the bushrangers rode away. The following day
Chief-Constable Hildebrand, of Stone Quarry, and Tom Howarth saw the
bushrangers near Bargo Brush. Hildebrand pretended to be drunk, and
rolled about on his horse as if he was going to fall off, and Howarth
started singing to heighten the illusion. This put the bushrangers off
their guard and they allowed the constable to come close up. As soon
as he was near enough Hildebrand pulled out his pistol and called upon
them to surrender. They were taken by surprise and yielded at once.
Howarth boasted that these two made eighteen bushrangers whom he had
helped to capture. The two men were tried at Berrima, and sentenced
to penal servitude for life. They narrowly escaped being charged with
murder, as one of the bullock drivers stuck up on the 10th had been
severely wounded for forcibly resisting the ransacking of his dray. He
recovered, however.
Mr. Harrison, a jeweller and watchmaker, of Sydney, went to Glen Rock,
and walked from thence to Berrima, to call on the settlers along the
road to solicit orders. He was bailed up by three men, who threatened
to cut his throat with a razor. They tied his handkerchief over his
eyes, took three £1 notes, a cheque for £1, and an order for £10 from
his pockets. They returned the order saying it was "no---- good to
them." A bullock driver and another traveller were bailed up, and then
the bushrangers went into the road to stop a gig, and Mr. Harrison
bolted into the bush.
Mr. Campbell was travelling along the Dog Trap Road when he was
bailed up by three men and robbed. He returned to Parramatta and gave
information to Chief Constable Ryan, who dressed in private clothes
and with another constable similarly disguised started to drive along
the road in Mr. Campbell's gig. Between Anlezack's Inn and Liverpool
three men came out from behind trees and called on the constables to
stand. Ryan immediately pulled up, and presenting his pistol at the men
called on them to surrender in the Queen's name. The other constable
jumped out of the gig and also presented his pistol, and the robbers
capitulated. They were identified as John McCann and William Lynch,
escapees from Norfolk Island, who had landed from a whale boat some
months previously, and James O'Donnell, alias William McDonald, who
had absconded from the Hyde Park Barracks a short time before, in
September, 1842. A considerable amount of property was recovered when
their camp was searched.
Mr. F.E. Bigge, a settler in the northern district, started to take a
drove of horses across the country to Moreton Bay. He was assisted by
Alexander McDonald and two assigned servants. When between Schofield's
and Brennan's stations, near Tamworth, they were called upon to halt
by three armed men, known as Wilson, Long Tom or Coxen's Tom, and Long
Ned. The order was obeyed, and then Mr. Bigge was ordered to strip.
He refused, and one of the bushrangers called to another of them to
knock him down with the butt of his gun; but, observing that Mr. Bigge
was trying to get his pistol out of his belt, he fired. The first shot
was said to have been fired by Long Tom, but Wilson fired immediately
afterwards and wounded Bigge in the shoulder. McDonald, having no
arms, rode away to Schofield's for assistance. In the meantime Bigge
succeeded in getting his pistol out of his belt and fired at the
nearest bushranger, who fired in return, the other two also firing.
Bigge drew his second pistol and fired, and the bushrangers having
expended their ammunition ran away. Bigge then mounted and rode to
Brennan's. Finding no one there he went on, and his horse bolted
and threw him. He then walked to Nillenga, where he found Dr. Jay,
who dressed his wounds, which were not considered dangerous. In the
meantime, McDonald, when he started to go to Schofield's, met Mr. Kayes
and another gentleman, but they refused to go with him to assist Bigge.
McDonald went on to the station, but not being able to obtain any arms
or assistance there, he rode back again, and found the bushrangers'
horses and some baggage, which they had left behind when Mr. Bigge
put them to flight. McDonald collected the horses, which had been
scattered, and drove them to Tamworth, where Mr. Allman soon organised
a large party to go in pursuit of the bushrangers. Wilson had been
captured by Mr. Robertson only a few weeks before and had been sent to
the chain gang at Maitland, from whence he had effected his escape.
They were all three caught and were sent to penal servitude.