The Brothers Clarke; The Raid at Nerigundah; Deaths of William
Fletcher and Constable O'Grady; Murder of Four Special Constables at
Jinden; Annie Clarke at Goulburn; Capture of Thomas and John Clarke;
A Terrible Record; A Plucky Woman; An Attempt to Escape Custody;
"Shoot Away, I Can't Stop You"; Some Daring Robberies; Murder and
Cremation of the Brothers Pohlmann; Blue Cap.
The brothers Clarke, of Manaro, although they did not belong to the
Gardiner gang, were more or less closely connected with it. There
were three of them, Thomas, James, and John, and their education was
on similar lines to that which I have described as prevalent in the
Western Ranges. They were cattle duffers and horse planters until the
police began to enquire too closely into their mode of life, when they
"took to the bush." James was probably saved from the more elevated
fate of his elder and younger brothers by being arrested on suspicion
of having been concerned with Ben Hall, Johnny Gilbert, and others in
the robbery of the Cowra mail, but as the evidence of his presence
on that occasion was inconclusive he was acquitted, and charged with
having received stolen property, a number of the bank-notes stolen
from the mail having been found in his possession. He was convicted,
and was sentenced to seven years' penal servitude on January 12, 1865.
He was probably kept out of mischief during the troublous times by
this imprisonment. Thomas and John, the eldest and youngest of this
interesting family, operated over the district in which the redoubtable
Jackey Jackey first earned his notoriety as a bushranger, but they
did not confine their operations within any strictly defined limits,
and therefore they, as it may be said, overlapped with the Hall and
Gilbert gang. The elder brother Thomas was arrested in October, 1864,
on a charge of highway robbery, but contrived to effect his escape
from the Braidwood gaol. He stole several racehorses from residents
in the neighbourhood of Jembaicumbene and Mericumbene, stuck up the
Araluen mail, robbed the Post Office at Michelago, besides sticking-up
and robbing numbers of travellers on the roads about Braidwood and
Moruya. On January 12th, the very day on which his brother James was
being tried, he stuck up Mr. George Summer's store at Jembaicumbene,
and on the following day he bailed up John Frazer and Kenneth Matheson,
on Major's Creek Mount, and robbed them of £36 10s. in money, and a
bank draft for a large amount. In these enterprises he was assisted by
several young men and lads residing in the district. In April, Thomas
Clarke, Patrick Connell, Tom Connell, William Fletcher, and two or
three other young men were returning home from the racecourse at Bega,
where races had been held, when Clarke stuck up a Chinaman, who was
travelling from the Gulph Diggings, and took his gold and money. A
little farther along the road the party met the mail boy, and Clarke
compelled him to exchange his horse, saddle, and bridle for those
stolen from the Chinaman. Some miles from the scene of this outrage
the party met Mr. John Emmott, and ordered him to bail up; but he,
having a considerable amount of gold and money about him, wheeled his
horse and started to gallop away. By this time others of the party had
become excited, and several of them chased Emmott, and fired their
revolvers at him. Emmott fell wounded and his horse was killed. About
£100 in money and a parcel of gold dust was taken from him, and the
party went on, leaving Mr. Emmott to make his way to where he could
obtain surgical aid as best he could. On the following day they arrived
at the Gulph Diggings, stuck up Mr. Pollock's store, and stole between
two hundred and three hundred ounces of gold, besides all the money
that they could find. On leaving the store they met Charles Nash in
the street, and Clarke greeted him with "Hullo, Charlie, back from
the Bega races?" "Yes," replied Nash. "Then fork out," cried Clarke,
bringing out his revolver. Nash at first thought this was a joke, and
began to laugh, but on the remainder of the gang crowding round and
presenting their revolvers in a threatening manner he put his hand in
his pocket, took out about thirty shillings, and handed it over with
the remark, "That's all I've got." He was then permitted to pass on.
Fletcher then led the way to the butcher's shop owned by R. Drew, and,
putting his revolver to the butcher's head, told him to "shell out."
Drew put his hands behind him and made no reply. Then the rest of the
gang crowded in and called for a light, declaring their intention to
search the place. Drew told them to "clear out." They refused, and
threatened to shoot him. The dispute grew so loud that it reached the
ears of Constable Miles O'Grady, the only policeman stationed on the
little diggings, who was ill in bed. O'Grady got up and dressed, and
went to the butcher's shop. He enquired what the row was about, and
ordered the crowd to leave the shop. Fletcher turned round and fired
at the constable, but missed. O'Grady immediately returned the fire,
and Fletcher fell dead. One of Fletcher's mates then shot O'Grady,
who died a few days later. The bushrangers rushed to their horses,
mounted, and galloped away out of the township. The _Moruya Examiner_
said that William Fletcher was little more than a boy, and was born in
the district. He had ridden in the St. Patrick's Day races on March
17th at Mullenderee only a few weeks before. His father was a farmer in
the district, and had always borne a good character. The boy had been
digging for gold at Araluen, Nerrigundah, The Gulph, and other diggings
in that neighbourhood. It was his first essay at bushranging. His mind
had probably been inflamed by the stories told of Gardiner, Ben Hall,
and Johnny Gilbert, and he had been induced to endeavour to emulate
their actions by the boastings of Thomas Clarke. Several young men who
had taken part in this fray returned home afterwards, and were arrested
by the police. Some of them were acquitted on account of their previous
good character, and because there was no evidence to prove that they
had done more than accompany the robbers. Thomas Clarke, his uncle
Patrick Connell, his cousin Tom Connell, with Bill Scott and one or two
others, who escaped to the ranges, continued to commit depredations
similar to those described in the previous chapter.
In September, 1866, John Carrol, Patrick Kennagh, Eneas McDonnell,
and John Phegan were sent by the police authorities to the Braidwood
district, to assist the police in the capture of the Clarke gang.
Phegan had been mining in the district and was well acquainted with
the ranges. He paid a visit to Mrs. Clarke, and was received with
some suspicion as a stranger. On his second visit Mrs. Clarke and
her two daughters became quite friendly, and asked Phegan to write
out a petition in favour of her second son James, who was a prisoner
on Cockatoo Island. The party camped as if engaged in surveying, and
Phegan said that Kennagh knew more about writing out petitions than
he did. He therefore took Kennagh to the place and introduced him to
Mrs. Clarke. They wrote out the petition and left. During the next few
days they saw the girls frequently. In the absence of their brothers
these girls looked after the cattle, and were riding about the ranges
every day. They passed the camp several times and spoke in a friendly
manner. On the 4th of October, the party had been pretending to survey
a flat, and under this pretence had searched a gunyah hidden among the
timber. This gunyah was believed to be one of the rendezvous of the
bushrangers, and was closely watched in the hopes that the bushrangers
might visit it. On the day named, the special constables had finished
their work and were standing round the camp fire, when a gun was fired,
and the bullet passed between the men and struck the tree against
which the fire was built. The party had their guns ready and returned
the fire, although they could not see what they were shooting at.
In the morning a flask half full of powder was picked up, but this
gave no indication as to who had attacked the party. After this no
pretence of friendship was made, and Carrol and the party under his
charge openly took up the pursuit of the bushrangers, penetrating the
mountains and searching everywhere where they thought it probable that
the bushrangers might camp. In January, 1867, the bodies of the four
men were found near their camp on the Jinden station in the Jingera
ranges, in the Braidwood district. How or when they were shot is not
known, but it is supposed that they were somehow drawn into an ambush
and shot down. Carrol's body was lying on its back, and a handkerchief
thrown across it with a one pound note pinned to it. The bodies of
Carrol and Kennagh were close together, while the other two were half
a mile away. Three revolvers were lying beside Phegan. One of the men
had £14 on him, and another £19. The bodies were found by Mr. Edward
Smith's stockman when riding through the ranges after cattle, on the
9th January, and as they were in an advanced state of decomposition,
they must have been there for several days. The Governor, Sir John
Young, immediately issued a proclamation, calling upon magistrates,
freeholders, and all other of Her Majesty's subjects, resident in the
police districts of Braidwood, Browlee, Queanbeyan, Eden, Bega, and
Cooma to assist the police in the capture of the "notorious outlaw,
Thomas Clarke, whose life is forfeit to the laws of his country." The
Colonial Secretary, (Mr. afterwards Sir) Henry Parkes, offered a reward
of £5000 for the capture of the persons guilty of murdering the four
special constables. A free pardon was also offered to any accomplice,
not being the actual murderer. Carrol, Kennagh, and Phegan had been
warders in Darlinghurst gaol, and had volunteered to attempt the
capture of the bushranger Clarke, and McDonnell was an ex-policeman
who had accumulated a considerable sum of money in business, and was
about to visit Ireland, his native country, but who volunteered to
join this party before going home. The firing had been heard at Jinden
station, three miles from the camp, but no notice had been taken, as it
was attributed to opossum hunters. According to the medical evidence,
the men were killed with rifle bullets fired at close range--not more
than twenty yards. Phegan and McDonnell were first shot, McDonnell only
having one wound, which was fatal. Phegan was shot in the right side,
and appears to have turned over after falling, and to have been then
shot on the other side to finish him. Carrol and Kennagh appear to have
been kneeling when shot, and had perhaps surrendered. The ostentatious
disregard of the money on the bodies shows, said the _Sydney Morning
Herald_, that revenge and not plunder was the object of the murderers.
No certain knowledge as to how these men came to their death has since
been arrived at. According to rumour three of them were shot by Thomas
Clarke and the fourth by Bill Scott, who was afterwards wounded in a
brush with the police, and as is believed killed by Clarke, as the
bushranger known as German Bill had been killed by Morgan, to prevent
him from falling into the hands of the authorities and being induced to
give evidence against his former companions. In both cases, however,
the end of the missing bushranger is uncertain.
At the Criminal Sessions, held in Goulburn in April, 1867, Thomas
Cunningham, Charles Hugh Gough, alias Wyndham, alias Bennett, James
Baldwin, and Harry Brown were each sentenced to fifteen years'
imprisonment for various acts of bushranging in various parts of the
district. William Johnson for robbing and shooting at a man received
a sentence of only two years. Several of these bushrangers came from
the neighbourhood of Braidwood, and the _Yass Courier_ reported that
Annie Clarke, one of the sisters of the bushrangers, stayed in Goulburn
during the time that the sessions lasted, her visit doubtless being one
of sympathy with some of the prisoners. She was about twenty years of
age, with a fine figure and good features. She was observed to change
her costume four times in one day. In the morning she was very quietly
dressed. Later she came out in a second costume, also very quiet and
neat. But in the afternoon she walked about the streets in blood red
silk with red hat and feathers to match, and later towards evening she
came out in a bright blue silk dress, white shawl, and a hat with white
feathers.
At Wellington, in the same month, John Kelly was sentenced to fourteen
years' hard labour, the first two in irons, for highway robbery.
At this time the reward offered for the capture of Thomas Clarke was
raised to £1000, while £500 was offered for his brother John, who had
just "turned out." A similar sum was offered for the capture of Bill
Scott, whose death had not then been ascertained, or for any other
member of the gang.
On April 26th, Senior Constable Wright, and Constables James Wright,
Lenehan, Walsh, and Egan, with the assistance of a black tracker
known as Sir Watkin Wynne, tracked the bushrangers to a hut not far
from where the four special constables had been murdered. The hut or
cottage stood in a small cultivation paddock in which there was a small
haystack. The constables watched the hut from behind this haystack
until morning. At daybreak two racehorses were seen feeding behind
the hut, and Constable Walsh, making a détour round the hut so as not
to be heard by the occupants, walked down and caught these horses. He
was leading them towards the haystack when the door opened and the
two brothers Clarke came out of the house and fired at him. The other
troopers immediately rushed forward from behind the stack and summoned
the Clarkes to surrender. They made no reply, but went inside and
shut the door. The police then took up positions, Constable Lenehan
with Sir Watkin stopping at the stack with the horses at about two
hundred yards from the hut and nearly facing it. The Senior Constable
and Constable Wright went to a fallen tree about fifty yards to the
right of the hut, while Constables Egan and Walsh went to about the
same distance to the left, where there was no cover. The paddock in
which the house stood had been recently ploughed, and the heavy rains
which had fallen made the ground difficult to travel over. The hut was
built of slabs, and these had shrunk away from each other, leaving
interstices through which the bushrangers could point their guns and
revolvers. The bushrangers kept up an irregular fire until Constable
Walsh was wounded in the thigh and Sir Watkin in the shoulder, when the
other four troopers made a rush, forced open the door, and entered. The
bushrangers surrendered. They had two revolvers, two double-barrelled
guns, two revolving rifles, one single-barrelled gun, and a horse
pistol. The tracker's wound was so severe that he had to have his arm
amputated, and he bore the operation with the stoical indifference of
his race. He walked downstairs from the upper ward of the Braidwood
Hospital to the dissecting room, and after his arm had been cut off
and the stump bound up he walked up again as coolly "as if he had
merely had his finger punctured," said the _Braidwood Dispatch_.
He was supposed to be about fifty years of age, and was well-built
and "handsome for a blackfellow." He was promoted to the rank of
sergeant-major, and had two stripes placed on his arm, of which he was
very proud. Senior Constable William Wright was made sub-inspector, and
the other constables engaged were promoted and rewarded.
Thomas and John Clarke were placed on trial charged with having wounded
Constable Walsh and Black Tracker Sir Watkin, while in the execution
of their duty. In two years Thomas Clarke had committed nine mail
robberies, and had stuck up and robbed thirty-six individuals, some
of whom had been wounded. He was also suspected of having caused
the deaths of at least two persons. John Clarke had taken part in
twenty-six of these robberies. They were found guilty, and the Chief
Justice--the late Sir Alfred Stephen--in his address said:--"I
never knew a bushranger (except one who is now suffering sentences
aggregating thirty-two years) who made any money by it.... I will
read you a list of bushrangers ... many of them young men, capable of
better things, but who died violent deaths. Peisley executed; Davis
sentenced to death; Gardiner sentenced to thirty-two years' hard
labour; Gilbert shot dead; Hall shot dead; Bow and Fordyce sentenced
to death, but their sentences commuted to imprisonment for life;
Manns executed; O'Meally shot dead; Burke shot dead; Gordon sentenced
to death; Dunleavy sentenced to death; Dunn executed; Lowry shot
dead; Vane a long sentence; Foley a long sentence; Morgan shot dead;
yourselves, Thomas and John Clarke, about to be sentenced to death;
Fletcher shot dead; Patrick Connell shot dead; Tom Connell sentenced
to death, but sentence commuted to imprisonment for life; Bill Scott,
a companion of your own, believed to have been murdered by you....
The list shows six shot dead and ten wounded.... Unfortunately there
were seven constables shot dead and sixteen wounded in three years
... since 1863.... The murders believed to have been committed by you
bushrangers are appalling to think of. How many wives have been made
widows, how many children orphans, what loss of property, what sorrow
you have caused!... and yet, these bushrangers, the scum of the earth,
the lowest of the low, the most wicked of the wicked, are occasionally
held up for our admiration! But better days are coming. It is the old
leaven of convictism not yet worked out, but brighter days are coming.
You will not live to see them, but others will."
Sentence was then passed in the usual form, and the brothers were hung
on June 25th, 1867.
Meanwhile robberies were frequent in other districts. Mrs. Colonel
Pitt, with her daughter and Mrs. Colonel Campbell, were driving along
the Mechanics' Bay Road, near the Domain, Forbes, when a servant who
was leading the horses at the time was knocked down by an armed man.
Another robber tried to seize the reins, but Mrs. Pitt stood up in the
buggy and raised them out of his reach. She brought the butt of the
whip so heavily down on the bushranger's head that he fell. Mrs. Pitt
shouted and whipped the horses, and they galloped up the hill and did
not stop until they reached Parnell, where the police were informed
of what had occurred. A couple of troopers immediately started down
the road, and found the servant lying where the outrage was said to
have been perpetrated. He had been severely beaten, but was still
alive. He was taken without any unnecessary delay to the hospital at
Forbes, where he subsequently recovered. The robbers were tracked and
followed and were captured next day, March 5th, 1865. They were Richard
Middleton, alias Ruggy Dick, John Wilson, and Thomas Tracey. They were
tried, convicted, and sent to gaol for long periods.
On the 20th a man went into Richardson's Inn, Evans' Plains, and
ordered those in the bar to "bail up." He obtained about £5. He had
been travelling on foot, but when he left the bar he mounted a horse,
belonging to one of the men he had robbed, and which was hitched to a
verandah post, and rode straight into Bathurst, where he was captured
while spending the money he had stolen in the bar of a public house.
On the 19th, two armed men rode up to Mr. Ryan's house, on the Burrowa
River, and ordered Mrs. Ryan to hand out her money. She refused, and
one of the ruffians struck her with the butt of his revolver. An old
man named Billy Dunn, who worked on the farm, jumped up from the
table where he was at dinner to protect his mistress, when the other
bushranger ordered him to sit down again, adding, "I'll shoot you if
you interfere." The leader again demanded the money, and Mrs. Ryan
struck him in the face, when he fired and wounded her on the knee. As
she fell he struck her again with the pistol. They ransacked the house,
and at length found a roll containing £94 in bank notes, which the old
couple had just received by the Sydney mail. They also took a nugget of
gold and several rings, brooches, and other articles of jewellery. The
robbers were supposed to live in the neighbourhood and to have known
that the money had been received from Sydney. They kept their faces
covered, however, and the police could not obtain a description which
would enable them to identify any persons as the robbers.
The Bathurst mail was stuck up and robbed on February 2nd, 1866, near
Pulpit Hill, by two young men named Seymour and John Ford, who were
followed and captured next day.
On the 14th of April, 1866, Sergeant John Healey, with Constables
William Raymond, Edward William Mitchell, and Andrew Kilpatrick, left
Berrima in charge of eleven prisoners, whom they were to take to the
gaol in Sydney. The prisoners were seated in the body of the coach,
and were connected together by "a marching chain," to which their
handcuffs and leg irons were attached. The police were armed each
with a short carbine and a revolver. The three constables sat in the
body of the coach with the prisoners, while the sergeant sat on the
box seat with the driver and a passenger named Whatmore. The coach
stopped for change of horses at Bargo Brush, and the prisoners were
taken out of the coach into the public-house yard. One of them, Thomas
Berryman, produced keys with which to unlock the handcuffs from his
pocket, and asked Webster, another prisoner, whether he would be one
to "rush the police." Webster said "No," as he had only twelve months
to serve, and was then threatened with vengeance if he informed the
police, and was called "a---- hound," and a coward. Webster therefore
promised to say nothing as to what the other prisoners proposed to do.
After the halt the prisoners were again placed in the coach, and when
they had travelled about three miles they made a sudden and combined
rush on the constables. The prisoners who engaged in this mutiny
were James Crookwell, William Lee, Thomas Berryman, John Owens, and
Michael Slattery. Five others, Webster, Bland, Foster, Hindmarsh, and
Smith, sat still and helped neither party. They had refused to join
in the attempt at escape, but had promised not to give warning to the
police. Crookwell snatched a revolver from Constable Raymond's belt
and shouted, "Shoot the ----." Raymond had been seized by two of the
prisoners, but he shook himself free and jumped out of the coach.
Sergeant Healey was also seized by some of the prisoners, who attempted
to drag him backwards into the coach. He also got free and jumped
down: he ran to the side of the coach and called to the prisoners to
surrender, and as they did not do so, he pulled the trigger, but the
rifle missed fire. Crookwell had got a revolver in his hand, and was
struggling with Constable Kilpatrick, and Healey made a blow at the
convict with the gun but struck an iron bar in the coach and smashed
the stock. Healey then threw away his rifle and drew his revolver. He
fired and wounded Slattery, but at the same time Constable Raymond
fell. Bland and Slattery were also wounded, and then the prisoners
gave in. The passenger, Mr. Robert Whatmore, a publican at Bargo
Brush, had got on to the coach when it left his place to go to Picton.
He had his coat torn in the struggle. When it was over he borrowed a
horse and rode to Picton for a doctor. The body of Constable Raymond
and the wounded prisoners were put into the coach, and the sergeant
and constables walked until they were met by the police from Picton.
When tried, the prisoners denied having shot Constable Raymond, and
said that he had been killed by the fire from the police guns. This,
however, was denied by all the witnesses in the case. The six prisoners
named were found guilty of murder, and were all sentenced to death.
Sergeant Grainger and Constable Carroll chased a young man on the
Carcour Road on suspicion that he was a bushranger. When asked by
the sergeant where he was going, he replied, "Looking for work." The
sergeant made him unstrap a coat which was fastened across the pommel
of his saddle, and a small revolver was found in it. "What do you
carry that for?" inquired the sergeant. "For protection," was the
reply. The sergeant then snatched away the coat and saw that the man
had a large revolver in his hand. He was told that if he attempted to
raise this weapon he would be shot at once, and seeing that escape was
impossible he surrendered and allowed the police to handcuff him. Then
the sergeant opened his vest to ascertain what caused a protuberance
there, and found a pair of false whiskers and moustaches. He was
identified as John Miles, who had raided the Chinese Camp at Mookerawa,
besides committing several highway robberies on Evans' Plains and in
the neighbourhood of Orange. He was sent to gaol for ten years, the
Judge saying that the prisoner had used less violence than was usual
with bushrangers, and had not ill-treated the Chinamen further than by
taking their gold.
Henry Evans, a settler at Little Plains, near Burrowa, was stuck up by
two armed men on January 7th, 1867. When asked to give up his money
he said that he had none. He never had more than a few shillings in
the house. This was disbelieved, and the bushrangers threatened to
take him out and shoot him. "Shoot away," he replied coolly, "I can't
stop you." They tied him up and ransacked the place, breaking the
furniture and even stamping on Mrs. Evans's best bonnet. Being unable
to find any money they made a bundle of some clothing and strapped it
on a packhorse. Evans complained that the rope with which his hands
were bound was cutting his wrists. "Serve you right," exclaimed the
bushranger, "you deserve no better."
Mr. Kelly's store on the One Mile Creek, Emu Creek Goldfield, was stuck
up by John Kerr, alias Maher, and John Shepherd. Kelly, with his wife
and children, and a man named Gibbons were locked up in a back room
while the robbers were making a bundle of clothing, drapery, and other
articles in the store. Gibbons, however, succeeded in forcing open a
back window, without being heard by the robbers, and making his escape.
He ran to the police station and gave information, but the robbers
discovered his escape before the arrival of the police, and decamped
without their booty. This, however, did not save them. They were
followed and captured by Sergeant O'Donnell and Constable McGlone.
They were convicted of more than one robbery on the Cowra Road.
On Saturday night, June 8th, Cummings, while awaiting his trial for
highway robbery, made an attempt to escape from the Bathurst Gaol. He
filed a link of the chain of his leg-irons with a small pocket knife,
which he had somehow procured, tore up two boards from the floor of
his cell, crawled under the joists and scraped away the mortar so as
to loosen several bricks in the gaol wall. The opening was only about
ten inches square, but he contrived to squeeze through. Of course,
when his cell was found empty on the Sunday morning, the excitement in
the gaol was very great, but Mr. Forbes, the head gaoler, soon found
the prisoner seated in the summer house in his private garden. "Here
I am," cried the bushranger; "I did my best, but could not succeed."
The prisoner had found some pieces of scantling in the outer yard, but
they were not long enough to enable him to reach the top of the wall
which encloses the gaol yard. An examination into the state of the gaol
showed that the boards were quite rotten, and that the walls themselves
were not very strong, the bricks being quite soft and rotten.
Several bullock-drivers were stuck up by John Egan and Patrick Ryan
on the Orange Road, in August, 1867. On the 16th Robert and John
Tait, father and son, and Edward Barrell were camped together when
the bushrangers rode up and ordered them to "fork out." The robbers
took all their money and some articles from the drays. On the 19th
they repeated the operation on some other bullock-drivers. They
were followed by Sergeant Rush and Constable Lawrence and arrested
about forty-five miles from where the robberies were committed. At
the Bathurst Assizes the prisoners called seven witnesses to prove
an alibi, but they contradicted each other under cross-examination,
and on the prisoners being found guilty his Honour, Judge Hargrave,
directed that they should be prosecuted for perjury. The prisoners
were sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment. Another bushranger,
John Foran, who was convicted on three charges, was also sentenced to
fifteen years.
Patrick Fitzgerald, alias Paddy Wandong, was charged at Wellington on
October 21st, 1867, with having on the 21st December bailed up Thomas
Goodall, a free selector, on the Castlereagh River. The prisoner rushed
into the house in the night and ran into the bedroom. Mr. Goodall was
sitting in another room and heard his wife scream and cry "Don't kill
me." The prisoner, who was a half-caste, seized her by the throat
and pulled her out of bed. The other man, Ted Kelly, stuck up Mr.
Goodall. The prisoner said he was at Curbin, five miles away, but as
he was positively identified and was well-known in the district he
was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years' hard labour. The judge
said that Kelly had been tried for his share in the crime and had been
sentenced nearly twelve months since. Circumstances connected with
bushranging had greatly altered since then, and this would naturally
induce him to be less severe; yet, having passed a sentence on one man,
he could not now pass a lighter sentence on an accomplice who was no
less guilty.
On the 24th of November, 1867, a party of forty or fifty shearers and
others had assembled at Mr. William Whittaker's store on the Willandra
Billabong, about a mile and a half from Mossgiel station, for the
purpose of holding a race meeting, when they were bailed up by John
Williams, William Brookman, Edward Kelly, and John Payne, and robbed
of a considerable amount. Afterwards Michael McNamara, a constable
stationed at Booligal, about sixty miles from Mossgiel, but who was
at Mossgiel on duty at the time, was talking to Mr. Dobbins on the
verandah of the store, when Williams and Brookman came up, and asked
Dobbins if he was Constable McNamara. Dobbins replied "No." Brookman
then turned to the constable and asked him the same question. The
bushrangers each had a revolver in his hand, and so the constable
also said "No," and made a rush at Brookman. In the struggle they got
inside the store, and Brookman's pistol exploded, the bullet shattering
McNamara's wrist. Brookman was shouting for help, and another shot
was fired, wounding Constable McNamara in the back of the head. Mr.
Peerman, overseer of the Mossgiel sheep station, and Mr. Edward Crombie
rushed up and secured Williams and Brookman, who were placed in a
hut and watched by Messrs. F.G. Desailly, Robertson, and others. The
two bushrangers had five revolvers all loaded, except two barrels
which had recently been fired. Williams had £82 1s. 10d. and Brookman
£34 8s. 8d., making in all £116 10s. 6d. The two bushrangers were
charged on January 14th, 1868, at Deniliquin, with having wounded
with intent to kill Michael McNamara, a constable in the execution
of his duty. Williams, it was said, was a bullock driver, who had
recently sold his team for the purpose of turning bushranger. Brookman
was under seventeen years of age, and very boyish in appearance. Mr.
George Milner Stephen, who appeared for the prisoners, pleaded hard
for a light sentence on Brookman on account of his youth, and also
because his family were respectable people. The Chief Justice said
that in a recent case of a bushranger who put a pistol to the head of
an advancing constable, the jury had found that there was no intent
to kill, for what reason no one could tell. In the present case the
arresting constable had not been killed, and the jury must decide as to
the intent. With regard to the youth of one of the prisoners, it was
an ascertained fact that lads when they became bushrangers were more
bloodthirsty, brutal, cruel, and fiendish than grown men. The prisoners
were sentenced to death, and the boy when he heard the sentence said
"Thank you." His sentence was afterwards commuted to imprisonment for
life.
Edward Kelly and John Payne pleaded guilty to the robberies at
Whittaker's, and to two other charges of bushranging. They had been
followed by the police, and Payne was captured while Kelly got away,
but not without a wound. Subsequently Payne led the police to the camp,
and thus assisted them to capture his wounded mate. For this act of
humanity, the judge sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment on two
charges, the sentences to be concurrent; while Kelly was sentenced to
two terms of fifteen years each, or thirty years in all.
Walter Maher, another bushranger, also pleaded guilty to a charge of
highway robbery, and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.
Charley Johnson and Miller, alias Slater, who had been arrested and
lodged in the lock-up at Denison Town, on April 3rd, 1868, made a rush
on the watch-house keeper when he entered their cell, knocked him
down and took his revolver. They fired two shots at him and walked
away. They called at the blacksmith's shop and made the blacksmith take
off their irons. Then they left the town, to resume their bushranging
career. On the following morning they stuck up and robbed Mr. Ashton of
about £10. On the 6th they stuck up the Green Swamp Inn, kept by Mr.
McNaughton. In the evening they walked into Mr. Tuckerman's Hotel, in
Mudgee, and called for drinks. When these had been served they ordered
all in the bar to bail up, and began collecting the money. When they
had obtained all they could they walked away, no attempt being made
to detain them. They went into Langbridge's hotel, and collected the
money in the same way. Then they returned, mounted their horses, and
left the town by the Green Swamp Road. They stopped for supper at
Landell's Hotel, about a mile from the town. In the meantime a party
under Constable Campbell, composed principally of those who had been
robbed, started in pursuit. They rode rapidly, and as they came up to
the front of Landell's Hotel the bushrangers left by the back door,
the horses they had ridden being captured, as they were hitched to
the verandah. On the following morning Mr. Farrar was returning from
Gulgong to Mudgee when he saw three mounted men, whom he took to be
bushrangers. He started to gallop away, when he recognised Constable
Webb's voice, and pulled up. He informed the police that he had stayed
at Matthew Horner's Inn on the previous night, and had been suddenly
wakened by a blow on the head from the butt of a revolver. He was
ordered to keep quiet and to get up. He did so, and was compelled to
lead the way to the stable, saddle and bridle his horse, and give the
animal to the bushrangers. He had no idea who they were, and had been
too much confused by the blow on his head to notice their appearance.
They afterwards roused up Mr. Horner and compelled him to supply them
with horses, giving Farrar his horse back again. On obtaining this
information the party in pursuit rode on to Horner's Inn to make
further enquiries, while at the same time the bushrangers must have
been riding through the bush to Mudgee, and so passed their pursuers.
They called at Tuckerman's Hotel, and had breakfast. As soon as their
presence in the town was known, another party was made up to capture
them. When the bushrangers left the town they were again followed, and
were overtaken near Bambera Hill, where a fight took place, but when
the pursuers had expended all their ammunition they returned to Mudgee,
while the bushrangers proceeded to stick up and rob the Barragon mail.
They were captured subsequently, and sent to gaol.
The murder of the brothers Pohlmann, hawkers, was reported in the
_Wagga Wagga Express_ of April 11th, 1868. The hawker's waggon had
been found standing a little off the road which runs along the bank of
the Yanco Creek from Narrandera to Jerilderie. A few yards away was a
gunyah of boughs and bushes, supposed to have been constructed by the
brothers to shelter their camp fire from the wind. Not far away were
the ashes of a large fire, and on this being carefully examined some
metal buttons and remains of charred bones furnished incontrovertible
evidence that some human being had been cremated there. The drawers and
lockers with which the waggon was provided were open and had evidently
been ransacked. The clothes and drapery were disarranged and scattered
about the waggon, while of the large stock of jewellery which the
brothers were known to carry with them nothing could be found. When
the report was first published a rumour spread around that one of the
brothers had murdered the other and had made off with the more valuable
articles. A sister, who resided in Sydney, wrote to the Press stating
her opinion that this was not true. Her brothers were too fond of each
other to quarrel, and as they had been very successful there was no
motive for the robbery. She added that there was a secret receptacle in
the axle bed of the waggon known only to herself and her brothers, and
it was their custom to carry their money and the most valuable articles
of jewellery in this _cache_. She felt certain that if the police
searched they would find this secret hiding place with its contents
intact. The police did search, and found £73, some gold watches, and
other valuables hidden as Miss Pohlmann declared they would be. This
effectually disproved the rumour about one brother having murdered the
other, and made it evident that both had been murdered. A number of
suspicious characters were arrested and discharged, and it was thought,
as time passed away, that this murder would have to be included among
the many undiscoverable crimes. Two years had elapsed, and the murder
was almost forgotten, when a man named Robert Campbell was arrested
and charged with the crime. One witness said he had been camped on the
sand hill near the Yanco Creek, on March 13th, 1868. This sand hill was
a favourite camping ground, because there was plenty of scrub on it,
and there was no timber for firewood for miles on either side. He had
just finished his supper when Campbell came up and asked him to take
some tea to his mate who was lying ill about a quarter of a mile away.
Witness told him he could take the tea himself, but he refused. The
reason why witness would not take the tea was because Campbell bore a
bad character. Campbell went away, and witness removed his camp some
distance away, as he believed that Campbell was "up to some mischief."
The following morning, soon after he resumed his journey, he met the
Pohlmanns going towards the camping ground. No one could be found who
had seen the Pohlmanns after this, and the evidence as to the time when
they left Gillenbah tallied with the time when they were seen by this
witness. The police succeeded in tracing some of the jewellery which
had belonged to the Pohlmanns, and which Campbell had sold. He was
convicted of murder, and was hung on October 5th, 1870, but as he made
no confession the manner in which he carried out his crime can never be
known.
On April 20th, 1868, Robert Cotterall, alias Blue Cap, was tried at
Wagga Wagga for having stuck up and robbed Carl Seeman at Rock Station,
Reedy Creek, in June, 1867; and William Marshall, Jeremiah Lehane, and
several others at various places, between July 15th and October 24th.
The prisoner had made a hard struggle when run down by the police, and
had been wounded. He was still very ill when brought to trial. He was
deathly pale, and wore a green shade over his eyes. He looked very
little like the popular ideal of a bold bushranger. He was convicted
and sent to gaol for ten years.