Murder of a Bullock-driver; Sticking Up in the Melbourne Streets;
Stealing £100,000 in Bank Notes; Want of Efficient Police Protection;
Murders and Robberies at Ballarat, Bendigo, Mount Alexander, and
other Diggings; The Robbery of the McIvor Gold Escort; A Bushranger
Intimidated by a Bottle of Brandy; Robbery of the Bank of Victoria at
Ballarat; Capture of Garrett in London; Prevalence of Horse-stealing;
The Doctor's Creamy.
The arrest of Captain Melville, although it removed the central figure
in this the third bushranging epoch in Australia, by no means put a
stop to the crime. Melville had been a specialist, a true highwayman,
while the others were merely general practitioners who were not very
particular what crimes they committed so long as they secured booty. On
January 24th, 1853, the driver of the mail coach from Colac to Geelong
was ordered to bail up near Mr. Dennie's station. The driver kept on.
One of the bushrangers reached out to grasp the reins, while the other
fired at the driver. The report frightened the horse of the man who
was trying to seize the reins, and it bolted, throwing the rider. The
mail-man whipped his horses into a gallop and got safely away.
Richard Bryant and William Mack walked into Mr. J. Jackson's store at
Fryer's Creek, Mount Alexander, and ordered the storeman to bail up.
They took all the money that was in the till, a quantity of gold dust,
and a bundle of the most valuable articles they could find. They were
arrested by Constable Bloomfield in a house in Melbourne and sentenced
to twelve years' imprisonment.
On May 7th, a carrier named William Morgan left Melbourne with several
passengers, each of whom had agreed to pay him £14 to carry his "swag"
to the Mount Alexander diggings. Besides these swags Morgan had some
goods for the conveyance of which to the diggings he was to receive
£29. The first day's journey was a short one, the party camping near
the Lady of the Lake Inn. The passengers, who, it may be as well to
explain, had to walk, had a tent with them which they took off the
dray. They were erecting this when Morgan and the driver of another
dray camped there, named Pilcock, walked to a blacksmith's shop near
the hotel to get some small jobs done. Pilcock returned alone and
informed the company that Morgan had walked on to "Tulip" Wright's to
try and purchase an extra pair of bullocks to strengthen his team. The
following morning Pilcock yoked up Morgan's team as well as his own,
and asked one of the passengers to drive it, adding that Morgan would
join them somewhere along the road. They were about to start when a
little boy, travelling with his parents by another dray, ran up crying
out that there was "a man's head sticking out of the ground." A rush
to the place was made and the child's statement proved to be true. The
body was dug up and identified as Morgan's. From the appearance of the
ground about half-way between the camp and the blacksmith's shop it
was apparent that a fierce struggle had taken place. The ground was
trampled and torn up as if with a wrestling match. A pool of blood was
discovered with a track leading from it to where the body was found,
showing that it had been dragged there. Some wonder was expressed that
so severe a contest should have taken place without any sound having
been heard at the camp, which was not more than a quarter of a mile
away. But there were some fifty or sixty people at the camp, and some
of these had been amusing themselves by singing, while others had been
playing concertinas and other musical instruments. The noise thus
made had no doubt drowned the noise of the deadly contest which was
taking place so close at hand. Pilcock was arrested at once, and was
subsequently convicted and hung. Had his project succeeded, he would
have made quite a nice little haul with the money for the loading on
the two drays.
So prevalent was crime at this time, that even the streets of Melbourne
were not safe. One afternoon, David Clegg and Henry Jones were driving
home in a spring cart from Melbourne, to the huge encampment on Emerald
Hill, known as Canvas Town. They had just crossed Prince's Bridge,
over the Yarra Yarra, when they were ordered to bail up. Clegg caught
up a double-barrelled gun from the bottom of the cart, but before he
could make any use of it, it was snatched from his hands by one of the
robbers, who cried out: "Stand aside till I blow his---- brains out."
A second robber said: "Oh, let him go." While these two were disputing
as to whether Clegg should be shot or not, a third robber struck the
horse and started him off. During the next few days the Canvas Town
mob, as it was called, committed several robberies in the neighbourhood
of Prince's Bridge, and at length the police made an effort to protect
travellers between Melbourne and Canvas Town (now known as South
Melbourne). One day, Chief Constable Bloomfield and Mr. Farrell were
walking together near the bridge, when Bloomfield exclaimed: "Hulloa!
there's a man I want for uttering a £5 note." He crossed the street
and said: "Well Hammond." "What the---- do you want?" asked Hammond.
"Oh, you needn't be afraid, I won't hurt you," replied Bloomfield. "I
don't care whether you do or not," cried Hammond, walking beside the
policeman in bravado. Bloomfield delayed making the arrest in hopes
that another constable would appear, until Hammond turned away, when he
grabbed him. Farrell shouted, "Look out, Bloomfield," and the constable
turned, but not quickly enough to avoid a blow aimed at him by another
man. Bloomfield fell, but did not relax his grip on Hammond, and two
other constables appearing at the time, both Hammond and Edwards were
secured. James Hammond and William Edwards were identified as the men
who wished to shoot Clegg, and were sent to gaol for ten years, the
first three in irons. Another man, named Smith, who had prevented
Hammond from firing at Clegg, was let off with six years.
Another batch of this gang of scoundrels which infested the river
side at Melbourne was secured in connection with the stealing of a
consignment of bank notes with the face value of £100,000. These notes
were brought to Melbourne in the ship _Strathedon_, consigned to
Messrs. Willis, Merry & Co. as agents for the Union Bank of Australia.
The notes were for £15, £10, £5 and £1. They were unsigned and were
therefore non-negotiable. They appear to have been taken from the ship
and dumped down on the wharf, pending the arrival of a dray to take
the case to the warehouse of Messrs. Willis, Merry & Co. When the dray
arrived, however, the box could not be found. The loss caused great
excitement and the police were notified of the robbery. Some days
later an unsigned £10 note was passed on Messrs. Brasch & Sommerfeld,
Collins Street, in exchange for clothing, and this led to the arrest
of William Young. During the following week William Layworth, William
Simpson, William Rogers, and Thomas Stroud were detected in attempts
to pass unsigned notes on various hotel and boarding-house keepers,
store-keepers, and others, and were arrested. Stroud's residence was
searched and a number of the unsigned notes were found there. His wife
was arrested, but was acquitted. Layworth turned Queen's evidence
and escaped punishment, but Young, Simpson, Rogers, and Stroud were
sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The jury commented on the
carelessness shown by the bank and its agents in leaving the box
unwatched on the wharf. The manager of the bank expressed his regrets
and promised that more care should be taken in future.
John Atkins went into the Cross Keys Hotel in Melbourne and called for
a drink. George Ellison, who was in the bar, asked him what he had done
with the gold he had brought from the diggings. Atkins replied that
he had none. Ellison called him a liar, and said that if he had not
come from the diggings his trousers would not be the colour they were.
Everybody knew a digger, because his moleskin trousers were always
coloured by the clay he worked in. A row started, and the landlord
interfered and told Atkins to leave. He did so, but was followed by
Ellison and another man, who knocked him down and robbed him of his
gold. Ellison was arrested next day and was sent to gaol.
The _Geelong Advertiser_ of March 5th says:--"The shameful want of
adequate protection along the main roads leading to the diggings has
repeatedly been exemplified in the robberies, assaults, and murders
committed by bushrangers upon a number of luckless wayfarers, with the
grossest and most notorious impunity. These unavenged offences against
society and the public peace have been excused by some, on account of
the difficulty of keeping afoot such an extended line of patrol as
would effectually intimidate marauders.... When we are in possession
of the fact that the Sydney Executive could and did accomplish such
protective arrangements over a hundred and fifty miles of country,
we may be allowed to doubt the alleged inability of the Victorian
Government to render equally efficient aid out of a revenue probably
ten times as great as that derived by the sister colony from the same
source; at least we might reasonably suppose that townships between
Melbourne and Mount Alexander, Geelong and Ballarat, would be supplied
with police, mounted or otherwise, to act in a radius of ten miles or
so when called upon.... A gentleman well known to the public, from
his long connection with the newspaper press, has been the victim of
a murderous assault. His story is that while at Ballan, a township
about twenty miles this side of Ballarat, on the Melbourne road, a
man attacked him with an iron poker. The gentleman raised his arm to
protect his head and it was broken. But for this the blow might have
fallen on his head and proved fatal.... Two days were wasted at Ballan
and four at Bacchus Marsh waiting to find a magistrate to issue a writ
for the arrest of his assailant.... The gentleman having been robbed of
his money had to make his way to town for medical aid by the charity of
persons along the road. Fortunately some kind friends supplied him with
means to obtain food and carriage."
At the time the police were too busy harrying the diggers for the
exorbitant licence to attend to the roads, but later in the year,
when the Melbourne papers backed up the demand for better police
protection, police stations were established at the larger camping
places where villages or, as they are called in Australia, townships
had grown up. In the meantime numbers of murders were committed without
the perpetrators of the crimes being discovered. Thus Mr. and Mrs.
Skinner were travelling from Bendigo to the new rush at McIvor and
camped for the night on the banks of Eve Creek. In the morning Skinner
went to look for his horse while his wife prepared breakfast. When
she went to the lagoon to fill the billy to make the tea, she saw the
half-immersed body of a man. When her husband returned he drew the body
out of the water, and saw that the head had been fearfully battered.
A pocket-knife, pipe, tobacco, and a silk handkerchief were found in
the pockets, but no gold or money. An enquiry was held in this case,
and a verdict of murder was pronounced against some person or persons
unknown, and that was all; but there were hundreds of such cases in
which no enquiry was held.
John Shannon was travelling from Ballarat to Geelong, and stopped for
the night at an inn at Batesford. He called on Mr. White, a butcher,
and had tea and was about to return to his inn, when three men stopped
him at the door. One of these men asked, "Is this the butcher's shop?"
"Yes," replied Shannon. "Ah! you're just the bloke we want," exclaimed
the man. The three men then hustled Shannon back into the shop and
compelled him to stand with his back to the wall and his arms stretched
out. White was placed in a similar position, and made to stand while
the robbers emptied the till. They then searched Shannon's pockets,
and took out a parcel of gold and some money. He objected, and one of
the men who had been standing on guard at the door drew a pistol, put
the muzzle close to Shannon's breast, and pulled the trigger. Shannon
fell. The man who had been searching him turned the body over, and then
said, "Barry, it's finished; we'll be off." The three men then left, no
attempt being made to detain them. An inquest was held on the body, and
a verdict of wilful murder was returned against three men whose names
were unknown. The jury added: "We cannot separate without expressing a
strong feeling with regard to the unprotected state of the road between
Geelong and Ballarat, which is overrun with bad characters. We would
respectfully but firmly urge on the Executive the immediate necessity
of erecting intermediate police stations between the two places, with
patrols to traverse the road from station to station, and we would also
point out the necessity for strenuously enforcing the Vagrant Act."
Three men were arrested and charged with this cold-blooded murder, but
were acquitted.
The great bushranging event of the year was the sticking up and
robbing of the Gold Escort from the McIvor Goldfield. The escort was
a private one travelling from McIvor to Kyneton, where it met the
Government Escort which conveyed gold from Bendigo and Mount Alexander
to Melbourne. It started, as usual, on July 28th. At about fifteen
miles from McIvor and three miles from the Mia-Mia Hotel, there was a
sharp bend in the road round a point of rocks which jutted out from
the range. At the bend a mia-mia, or shelter such as is made of boughs
by the blacks, had been constructed, and opposite to it a big log was
drawn across the track. This compelled the driver of the escort cart to
pull his horses off the track and drive very close past the mia-mia.
The road was very rough, and the cart swayed about badly. Just as it
was passing the mia-mia a volley was fired from it, and the three
troopers on the cart as well as the driver fell. The horses on which
Mr. Warner, in charge of the escort, and Sergeant Duins were mounted
were both wounded. Although they were wounded, the troopers returned
the fire as speedily as possible, but could see nothing to shoot at
except the bushes. The bushrangers fired again, and the troopers were
compelled to fall back, when about a dozen men rushed from behind the
mia-mia, seized the two boxes which contained the gold, and rushed back
into the scrub. Mr. Warner sent Sergeant Duins to the nearest police
camp for assistance, and then followed the bushrangers, who fired at
him. He replied with the three shots remaining in his revolver, and
then retired. Then Mr. Warner galloped as fast as his wounded horse
could go to Patterson's station for help. On his return with some of
the station hands he found a man putting the wounded troopers into the
cart, and arrested him on suspicion of being one of the robbers. The
driver, T. Flooks, was the most seriously hurt, and he died a few days
later. He and the troopers, S.B. Davis, J. Morton, and R. Boeswetter,
were taken to the hospital at the police camp on the McIvor goldfield
as quickly as possible, and the man who had been arrested, having
proved that he had no connection with the bushrangers, but had been
acting from purely humanitarian motives, was discharged. A party was
organised to pursue the robbers, and on going to the place where the
attack had been made three horses with packsaddles were found tied
to the trees. It was conjectured that the robbers had been disturbed
before they could pack the gold on the horses by the approach of the
pursuing party, and had made off on foot into the ranges. Some time
passed away, and then a man named John Murphy was arrested on board the
ship _Madagascar_, lying in Hobson's Bay. He had taken a passage in her
on the eve of her departure for England. When charged he admitted that
he had been one of the party, and promised to turn approver. He gave
some information, which led to the arrest of others of the gang, but he
then seems to have repented of his decision, as he committed suicide.
His brother, Jeremiah Murphy, however, was arrested in Queensland, and
gave the desired information, thereby escaping punishment. The gold
stolen was valued at about £5000, and very little of it was recovered.
George Wilson, George Melville, and William Atkins were charged with
the murder of Thomas Flooks, and were found guilty. They were hung in
Melbourne, on October 4th. Atkins died as soon as the bolt was drawn,
but Wilson and Melville struggled for several minutes. The hangman was
compelled to "draw the legs of Melville down with considerable force"
before life was extinct.
Alfred Stallard and Christopher Goodison went to a tent at Bendigo
Creek, and entered into conversation with Mrs. Roberts, who lived
there. They offered her a glass of rum which she drank. It is supposed
that the liquor was drugged, as she became insensible, and the two
men "made a pack" of everything valuable in the tent, including five
ounces of gold, and walked away. On his return to his tent, William
Roberts was informed of what had taken place and gave information to
the police. The robbers were followed and were captured near the Loddon
River. When they were asked at their trial whether they had anything to
urge as a reason for mitigating their punishment, Goodison complained
that they had been chained to a tree for three days at the Loddon. They
were forced to walk to Mount Alexander, and were then chained to a log
in the Camp Reserve for ten days. They were marched to Kyneton, where
they were kept in the lock-up for five days on bread and water. From
thence they were conveyed to Melbourne by coach. They received little
sympathy, however, because it was well known that diggers whose only
crime was inability to pay a heavy licence fee were treated no better.
Occasionally the tragic events of the year were lightened by a touch
of comedy, as when a resident of Ashby was returning home from his
business place in Geelong. It was dark when he was crossing the
dam, when a man presented a pistol at him and called "Bail up." The
suburbanite was taking home with him a bottle of brandy, which, in
accordance with the custom of that time, was not wrapped in paper.
Paper was too dear in Australia to be used for wrapping articles
which would keep together without. When challenged, the suburbanite
brought the bottle from under his coat, presented it at the head of
the bushranger, and cried, "You bail up." The would-be robber, taken
by surprise, dropped his pistol and turned to run, but the suburbanite
cried "Stop, or I'll fire," and the fellow stopped. The suburbanite
thought for a moment whether he should take the "bushranger" to the
lock-up or not, and decided that it would only entail a "lot of
trouble," so he punched his head and let him go. He kept the pistol
as a trophy, and carried home his bottle intact. About the same time
Edmund Taylor was found in the bush dead. His body was terribly
mutilated. He had left Eureka, Ballarat, to travel to Burnt Bridge, and
was known to have taken with him a bank receipt for £200 and a £10 note.
Arthur Burrow and William Garroway called at the hut of William Henry
Mitchell, at Pennyweight Flat, Ballarat, and asked the way to the
township. Mitchell told them and was then asked to "shout." Mitchell
refused, when Garroway struck him with a pick handle, while Burrow drew
out a pistol and presented it. They took what gold they could find and
walked on. They were joined by two other men, and stuck up and robbed
Alexander McLean. They were followed and arrested.
William Bryan and John Douglass were also convicted of highway robbery
at Muddy Creek and other places between Geelong and Ballarat, and sent
to gaol for five years. James Nugent and four others stopped Benjamin
Napton on the road near Modewarre. They pretended they were policemen
in search of bushrangers. Nugent was anxious to take care of Napton's
gold for him, but Napton refused to entrust it to him. They walked
together to Kildare, where they went into the Sportsman's Arms and had
drinks. When they came out, Napton missed his gold, and Nugent was
arrested. A knife was found on him, and this had some soil sticking
to it. At the police-court investigation the magistrate recommended
the police to dig in the yard of the hotel near where Nugent had been
standing. They did so, and found a bag containing 9 oz. of gold. Two
nuggets, which Napton said were also in it, could not be found.
Roberts, who had been convicted of complicity in the robbery of gold
from the ship _Nelson_, but who had been pardoned on a question of
identity having been subsequently raised, was captured, and charged
at Buninyong with highway robbery. He, with ten other men, was
being conveyed to Geelong to serve the ten years to which he had
been sentenced, and were halted at Ray's Hotel, on the road, for
refreshments. Roberts begged to be allowed to write a letter to a
magistrate in the neighbourhood, and his request being granted, his
right hand was freed from the handcuffs. The other prisoner to whom
he was chained managed to slip his hand out of the handcuff, and
Roberts being thus free, jumped through the window and bolted for the
bush. Only one constable had been left in the room in charge of the
prisoners, and he could only shout out an alarm. However, Roberts ran
almost into the arms of the foot policeman, who had recently been
stationed at this point, and he held the bushranger until the other
constables came up.
On December 14th, 1854, Thomas Quinn, a stonemason, started from his
home in Geelong and rode to Ballarat. He left his pony at Mrs. Smith's,
about three miles from the diggings, and walked in. He stopped at the
tent of John Boulton, and played cards with Boulton and his mate,
Henry Marriott. Later on the three men went to the tent owned by Henry
Beresford Garrett at the Big Gravel Pits. They took their revolvers,
but no powder and shot, and walked across Main Street to the Bank
of Victoria on Bakery Hill. They had formulated a plan to rob the
bank, and Quinn had been induced to join on the understanding that
no violence was to be used. Hence the unloaded pistols. They put new
caps on to the revolvers and some paper in the muzzles to "make them
look as if they were loaded." Garrett and Boulton entered the bank,
Marriott stopped at the door inside, while Quinn remained outside on
watch in the street. They ordered the cashier and teller, Messrs.
Buckley and Marshall, to "bail up." Then they tied the hands of the
two bank officials, and collected the spoil. As soon as they were
outside they separated, one going down Bakery Hill, another along the
Melbourne Road, and the others by different routes across the Eureka
Plateau, having previously agreed to meet at Garrett's tent. They
had taken with them notes, sovereigns, and silver to the amount of
£14,300, besides about 350 ounces of gold. When they had divided the
loot Marriott returned to his lodgings in "the township," now known as
the City of Ballarat. He lodged at a boarding-house in Lydiard Street.
Garrett disposed of his tent and tools, and went by coach to Melbourne,
from whence he shipped direct for London. Quinn and Boulton went to
Geelong. They stayed one night at Quinn's house in Chilwell, and went
by boat next day to Melbourne, where they sold their share of the gold
at the London Chartered Bank in Collins Street. They returned next day
to Geelong, and again stopped at Quinn's house for a night, and then
went back to Boulton's tent on the diggings. They took good care not
to mention the robbery before Mrs. Boulton, because "she was a good
woman." On the following day Boulton went to the bank from which the
money had been stolen and asked for a draft on London for £1450. With
an infatuation difficult to account for he tendered in payment for
this draft some of the stolen bank notes, among those which he had
received for the gold in Melbourne. This was almost like asking plainly
to be arrested. Of course the notes were recognised at once. He was
kept waiting on some frivolous pretext while the police were sent for,
and was then arrested. One of the stolen £10 notes was produced at
the trial and identified as part of the money advanced by Boulton in
payment of the draft. Quinn and Marriott were speedily arrested, and
Quinn turned approver. The other two were sentenced to ten years' penal
servitude. Detective Webb followed Garrett to London and found him in
fashionable lodgings near Oxford Street. The detective watched him for
some days before he made up his mind that the fashionably-dressed man
was the bank robber he was after. One day he saw Garrett come out of
his lodgings and followed him into Oxford Street. Suddenly Webb shouted
"Garrett," and Garrett, taken by surprise, stopped and half-turned
round. That was enough to convince the detective that he was right. He
walked up to the robber, slapped him on the shoulder, and said "How do
you do, Mr. Garrett?" "I don't know you," replied Garrett. "Perhaps
not," returned the detective, "but I know you. You've just arrived
from Melbourne in the _Dawstone_. I've a warrant here to arrest you
for robbing the Bank of Victoria at Ballarat. Will you come quietly?"
Garrett saw that the game was up and surrendered. He reached Melbourne
in August, 1855, and was speedily sentenced to keep his former mates
company for ten years.
Sufficient has, I think, been said to indicate the state of the
country and the character of the crimes committed during this epoch.
How many men were shot while prowling about the tents on Ballarat,
Bendigo, Mount Alexander, and other diggings it is impossible to say.
Many of the bushrangers, after having made a haul on the roads or on
the diggings, went to Melbourne or Geelong and spent their ill-gotten
gains in riot and debauchery, and then committed crimes in these towns
for which they were captured and punished. Others returned to New
South Wales or to Van Diemen's Land and ended their careers there.
It was rarely known how many crimes even those who were captured had
committed. They were placed on trial for their last offence. In some
cases it was said that the prisoner had been guilty of other crimes,
but the difficulty of finding witnesses in a population which was
continuously shifting from one end of the country to the other, as new
goldfields were opened, made it impossible to prosecute for crimes
committed a few months before. It was the custom therefore to inflict
long terms of imprisonment to keep the evil-disposed out of mischief
for a time. When a prisoner was tried and convicted for more than one
crime the sentences were usually made concurrent, so that there was no
encouragement for the police to pile up a record of crimes against a
prisoner. Captain Melville was the one exception to this rule.
The sole motive for the robberies of this epoch was a sordid lust
for gold, which seems to have seized many men who but for the gold
discoveries might have lived out honourable lives. The case of George
Hanslip may be cited as an instance of this. He was a confidential
clerk employed by Mr. Spence, draper, of Collins Street, Melbourne.
He was sent by his employer to pay some accounts and purchase goods
in Sydney, at that time the emporium of Australia. For convenience of
carriage, in days when communication was difficult and bank drafts
rare, he was entrusted with 1400 ounces of gold and some jewellery,
and was instructed to offer the gold to Messrs. C. Newton & Co., of
Pitt Street, on his arrival at Sydney. He reached Sydney by boat at
nine a.m., but did not call at Messrs. Newton's store until three
p.m., when he reported that he had been robbed of the gold. He seemed
very excited, saying to Mr. Newton "Oh, what shall I do?" He asked
Mr. Newton to go with him to Malcolm's Adelphi Hotel, and Mr. McKeon,
one of the partners in the firm, did so, and saw a carpet bag which
had been ripped open. Hanslip said he felt certain that the gold had
been taken to Hobart Town, and asked Mr. Newton for the loan of £50
to enable him to go there to seek for it, but whether Hanslip overdid
his part or not, Mr. Newton began to be suspicious of him, and refused
to lend the money. One thing that tended to make him doubt that the
money had been stolen as Hanslip said, was that Hanslip was spending
money very freely. Enquiries were made, and it transpired that Hanslip
had called on a Mr. Marks and offered to sell him the gold before he
called on Mr. Newton. Marks had agreed, and sent a man with Hanslip to
the Adelphi to fetch the gold, so that it might be weighed. On their
arrival Hanslip had fumbled about with his key for several minutes
and could not open the door of his room. He said he believed the
door must have been nailed up. He got it open at last, and when they
went in the first thing they saw was the ripped bag and a few grains
of gold scattered about on the hearthrug. Another carpet bag had been
turned out, and the clothes scattered about the room. It was after this
that Hanslip went to Mr. Newton's, who advised him to give notice to
Mr. McLerie, the Police Superintendent. Hanslip went to Mr. McLerie's
office, and afterwards had a handbill printed offering £1000 reward for
the recovery of the gold. Information was to be addressed to "George
Hanslip, Esq." The result of the police enquiries was that Hanslip
was himself arrested and charged with having stolen the gold. On
enquiries being made, it was discovered that he had left the jewellery
entrusted to him at his lodgings in Melbourne. He was convicted, but
in consequence of his previous good character he was let off with a
comparatively light sentence.
But for the unfortunate dispute between the Government and the diggers
over the licence fee, it is probable that the bushrangers might have
been disposed of in less time than they were. That dispute culminated
at the end of 1854, in a fight between the more violent section of the
diggers and the military. Although the military won in the conflict
on the Eureka, the diggers were the actual victors, and during the
year 1855 they were granted all that the moderate party had previously
asked for. With the settlement of this vexed question the police were
relieved from their task of harrying the diggers, and devoted their
time to the suppression of bushranging so successfully, that in the
latter half of 1855 the Government proposed to make a considerable
reduction in the police force. The _Ballarat Times_, the _Bendigo
Advertiser_, and the various newspapers in Melbourne and Geelong
protested strongly against this proposed reduction. The gold digging
organs predicted an immediate increase in bushranging and other
forms of lawlessness, but when the reduction was made in 1856, these
predictions were not fulfilled. No doubt many of the bushrangers were
captured and punished as horse-stealers. The two crimes have always
been intimately related in Australia. Horses were a necessity to
bushrangers, and a man who would steal a horse would not be likely
to hesitate to stick up an unarmed man if money or gold might be
obtained by that means, and they were quite as liable to be arrested
while stealing a horse as when robbing a man. For two or three years
it was almost impossible for any honest man to keep a horse. Perhaps
one of the most daring and impudent of this class of offence, was the
stealing of Dr. Bailey's "Creamy," in 1855. Dr. Bailey was perhaps
the best known man in Geelong. He was elected the first mayor of the
town when it was incorporated in 1849, and was re-elected for several
consecutive years. He was very wealthy, rather pompous, and highly
respected. He had given up general practice, but had an office, where
he received a few patients and friends, at the rear of Mr. Poulton's
chemist's shop in the Market Square. One morning he rode to his office
as usual, hitched Creamy, which was as well known in Geelong as his
master, to a post in Moorabool Street, the busiest portion of the town,
and went into his office. Almost as soon as the doctor disappeared,
a man in shirt sleeves unhitched the horse, threw himself carelessly
into the saddle and rode slowly away. He nodded familiarly to the
policeman at the corner, who, like the numerous persons about at the
time, thought the fellow was the doctor's groom sent to take Creamy
back to the stable. The man rode very slowly up Moorabool Street until
he turned into Ryrie Street, but once out of sight of those who saw
him mount he must have travelled much faster. He had barely turned the
corner when the real groom rode up, and he was much surprised to find
that Creamy was already gone. Of course, the excitement was intense.
The idea that anybody would dare to steal the doctor's horse had never
entered the head of the most imaginative person in Geelong. Why, even
a burglary at Buckingham Palace would not have been more astonishing.
Crowds collected to stare at the hitching post on the kerb opposite
the doctor's office. Parties of mounted police and civilians started
to hunt for the robber in all directions, but no traces of the missing
Creamy could be discovered, and it was not until some months later
that he was discovered in Ballarat. The daring scoundrel had ridden
him straight to the diggings, and had sold him in Mr. O'Farrell's
newly-opened "Horse Bazaar."