Forgotten Bushrangers: The Leabrook Bushrangers

One of the more enigmatic tales associated with the history of bushranging is that of the so-called “Leabrook Bushrangers”. While most cases of bushranging are fairly clear cut, this 1909 cold case sees the definition of what can fall under the banner of bushranging stretched to its outer limits.

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Forgotten Bushrangers: John Johnston

With the death of Captain Thunderbolt and the arrest of Harry Power, many believed that bushranging was a thing of the past, a disgraceful chapter to relegate to the history books. However, despite the lack of big names in the majority of the 1870s, there was plenty of bushranging happening throughout the colonies. One of the various bushrangers in New South Wales during the early 1870s left out of the books is John Johnston. Continue reading Forgotten Bushrangers: John Johnston

Forgotten Bushrangers: Robert Burke

Robert Burke (aka Bourke) was a small time bushranger who had one major incident in his career that made him particularly noteworthy, as many bushrangers tended to. Hardly prolific, Bourke gained his spot in the pantheon by an unfortunate incident that ended in disaster at a station in Diamond Creek. Continue reading Forgotten Bushrangers: Robert Burke

Forgotten Bushrangers: “Scrammy” Jack Moreland

There are many Jacks in the pantheon of bushranging, but “Scrammy” Jack Moreland is one of the more obscure. Moreland was nicknamed scrammy because he was missing two fingers on his left hand (“scrammy” being a term for people with busted hands). He was one of the few notable Queensland bushrangers and operated near the Cape River district in the late 1860s, emerging to prominence in 1870. Moreland, who would be referred to in the press as Three-Fingered Jack, worked with an Irishman named John Sullivan and an unnamed Aboriginal boy, emerging to raid the store at Francis Town in … Continue reading Forgotten Bushrangers: “Scrammy” Jack Moreland