Spotlight: Captain Thunderbolt and His Gang (06/05/1865)
It would seem that on the night of the day that the Warialla mail was…
Keep readingSpotlight: Miscellaneous Bushranging News (21/01/1864)
A collection of bushranging reports from January 1864.
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BUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Twelve)
On one occasion I chased a wild bull and fired at him repeatedly to train…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Eleven)
The fact is the natives are not required in the force. They are considered as…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Ten)
Now I was drilled and equipped in the regular way and was sent out to…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Nine)
As soon as we got them in the room Dr. Patterson examined John Clarke, and…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Eight)
The accounts of these murders, both oral and printed, and the description of them as…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Seven)
The Big Tailor gave the alarm at once to the Clarkes who were inside the…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Six)
Well, Carroll had everything to contend against. Officials were his enemies. He solicited information from…
Keep readingSpotlight: Britton and Thunderbolt at Gostwyck (07/11/1863)
It has been ascertained that the two men who stuck up a hut at Gostwick…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Five)
We were going along under the side of the hill, among some small oaks, when…
Keep readingBUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Four)
When we came out we heard some one walking ahead. We both (senior sergeant C.…
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The Lachlan Bushrangers
Frank Gardiner: An Overview
Few names stand out in bushranging history quite like the self proclaimed “Prince of Tobeymen” himself – Frank Gardiner. Often considered the godfather of bushranging, he was responsible for the largest gold heist in colonial Australian history and introduced many of the big names to bushranging.…
The Gilbert-Hall Gang: An Overview
Beyond the Kelly Gang, only one other bushranging gang has truly cemented its place in the culture of Australia so firmly and become synonymous with bushranging. The early 1860s belonged to a rotating roster of brigands that operated mostly on the Lachlan Plains and came to be known under the name of their most distinguished member, Ben Hall. They were said to have committed hundreds of crimes ranging from robbery to murder.…
Spotlight: The Diverting History of John Gilbert (29/10/1863)
John Gilbert was a bushranger of terrible renown for sticking lots of people up, and…
Keep readingSpotlight: Ben Hall and his gang (26/08/1864)
For the last three weeks Sir Frederick Pottinger and a party, consisting of two troopers…
Keep readingSpotlight: Gilbert (08/07/1865)
Gilbert was but twenty-five years old at time of his death, but was of a…
Keep readingSpotlight: Robbery Under Arms (17 June 1863)
At 8 p.m. on the 2nd instant, the house of George Gatewood, Norwood, near Goulburn,…
Keep readingSpotlight: Johnny Gilbert’s Late Exploit (10 June 1863)
This party of highwaymen consisted of four well mounted, and armed men, each leading a…
Keep readingSpotlight: Johnny Gilbert at Young (6 June 1863)
I have just received information to the effect that Messrs. Gilbert and Co , yesterday,…
Keep readingSpotlight: Johnny Gilbert at Burrowa (27 May 1863)
About seven o’clock this morning, as jockey in trainer Harry Wilson, was giving the horse…
Keep readingSpotlight: Local & General Intelligence, Tumut and Adelong (11 May 1865)
The Pastoral Times hears that Mr. Commissioner Lockhart is engaged in the district around Albury…
Keep readingSpotlight: Gilbert, Hall, and Dunn’s Raid on the Nubriggan (2 May 1865)
A correspondent of the Western Examiner reports that on the evening of Sunday, as Mr.…
Keep readingSpotlight: Bushranging reports in the Yass Courier (20 April 1864)
On Thursday night last Messrs. Collins, do Body, Brown, and Victor Frank arrived here, and…
Keep readingSpotlight: Ben Hall Wounded (22 March 1865)
Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 – 1880), Wednesday 22 March 1865, page 6 NEW…
Keep readingSpotlight: THE ESCAPE AND RECAPTURE OF DUNN, THE BUSHRANGER (1866)
This notorious bushranger, the last of Ben Hall’s gang, after a series of robberies in…
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Riverina Bushrangers
Spotlight: Morgan the Bushranger (30/01/1864)
The old friend of the inhabitants of the Billybong, known as the celebrated Morgan, on…
Spotlight: Morgan’s Outrage at Kyamba (16/01/1865)
At about noon he made his apearance, at the camp of Mr. Adams, road contractor,…
Spotlight: Morgan the Bushranger (16/07/1864)
THIS miscreant, emboldened by the impunity with which he has for months past robbed travellers…
Spotlight: Morgan. Bushranger and Murderer (07/07/1864)
When and where is it to end? is the remark made by everybody. Are we…
Spotlight: Background on Morgan (05/07/1864)
Young Morgan “turned out” early in life, and while yet a lad, stole a horse…
Spotlight: Morgan the Bushranger – Latest Particulars (19 April 1865)
His last exploit in New South Wales was sticking up the Kyamba mail, after which…
Spotlight: Morgan, the Bushranger (Poem; 15 April 1865)
Dark, brooding, melancholy, and alone, Beast-like, the ruffian plundered, prowled and slew, Without a rival…
Spotlight: An Incident of Morgan the Bushranger (10 March 1899)
Molong Argus (NSW : 1896 – 1921), Friday 10 March 1899, page 7 An Incident…
Spotlight: The Executed Wantabadgery Bushrangers (1880)
Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, who expiated his last crime in Darlinghurst Gaol on…
Spotlight: The Capture and Death of Morgan (13/04/1865)
Daniel Morgan, who for two years has been the terror of the neighboring colony of…
Moonlite by Garry Linnell (Review)
In 2013 Paul Terry published what was rightly considered the most definitive account of the…
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Captain Thunderbolt
Captain Thunderbolt: An Overview
Frederick Wordsworth Ward has gone down in Australian history as the quintessential bushranger. Gentlemanly, daring, and a skilled horseman and bushman, he operated under the alias of Captain Thunderbolt until his fabled death in 1870.
Spotlight: William Monckton (various excerpts)
Among visitors at the Howell races on Monday last was Mr. William Monckton, interest in…
Keep readingSpotlight: Will Monckton meets Captain Thunderbolt
An extract from Will Monckton’s memoir that recounts his meeting with Thunderbolt.
Keep readingSpotlight: Capture of “Thunderbolt’s” Wife (10 April 1866)
A short time since, a police party, consisting of senior-sergeant Kerrigan, constable Scully, a black…
Keep readingSpotlight: Mrs. Thunderbolt (11 March 1867)
Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Monday 11 March 1867, page 5 “MRS THUNDERBOLT.”…
Keep readingSpotlight: Captain Thunderbolt Rides Again (1988)
A “MUSIC-DRAMA” about the relationship between a singing bushranger and his opera-fancying girlfriend opens in…
Keep readingSpotlight: Thunderbolt’s Wife
Grenfell Record and Lachlan District Advertiser (NSW : 1876 – 1951), Thursday 13 October 1927,…
Keep readingSpotlight: The Manning from 1865
A collection of news reports including updates on Morgan and Thunderbolt.
Keep readingSpotlight: Thunderbolt (1941)
A writer in Wingham ‘Chronicle,’ discussing the career of Frederick Ward, alias Thunderbolt, says he…
Keep readingSpotlight: ROBBERY OF THE NORTHERN MAIL, BY THUNDERBOLT.
On Sunday night, about half-past nine, as Mr. Brereton was driving the down Northern mail…
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Thunderbolt’s Last Ride
Captain Thunderbolt had established himself as one of the most elusive bushrangers of the 1860s.…
Keep readingSpotlight: Thunderbolt’s Popgun; Jewboy’s Shooter
A very fine collection of firearms and other relics of the bushranglng and pioneering days…
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Spotlight: Thunderbolt’s confession
Many tall tales are told of the various bushrangers from the “glory” days of the…
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The Clarkes
The Clarke Gang: An Overview
By some accounts, they were known as the “bloodiest bushrangers” and pushed their community into so much mayhem and chaos that for decades people refused to talk about them. Robbery, murder and gunfights were their stock and trade. But much of their real story remains shrouded in mystery even after more than 150 years.
…
BUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Three)
As he came up Tommy Clarke walked out and met him, and asked him who…
BUSHRANGING AND OUR POLICE SYSTEM (Part Two)
Just as the tracker came up I saw Clarke about forty yards off, running up…
Spotlight: The Bushrangers John and Thomas Clarke (22 June 1867)
After the surrender Tom Clarke was very communicative, and spoke of the many hair-breadth escapes…
Spotlight: Conviction of the Bushrangers, Thomas & John Clarke (1 June 1867)
The Solicitor-General, in opening the case said the jury had a duty of a most…
Spotlight: The Story of Constable Miles O’Grady
At the top of a street in the ancient gold diggings town of Nerrigundah, N.S.W.,…
Spotlight: Pat Connell Enquiry
The following is the evidence which was taken at the magisterial enquiry touching the death…
Spotlight: Shooting of Pat Connell
INFORMATION was brought into town on Wednesday morning last of the police having, the day…
Bushranging: A Female Perspective
A showcase of some of the female historians and authors that are reshaping our understanding…
Spotlight: The Execution Of The Clarke Brothers As It Was Reported
Mount Alexander Mail (Vic. : 1854 – 1917), Wednesday 26 June 1867, page 3 LATEST…
The Nerrigundah Raid
William Fletcher had a respectable trade before he joined Tommy Clarke and Pat O’Connell in…
The Clarke Bushrangers: A Clash of Cultures, First Edition (Review)
It always astounds that so few books have been published about the Clarkes. Of course,…
The Bloody Pound: The Wrath of the Clarke Syndicate
The Clarke gang were protected by a syndicate of sympathisers but the NSW government was…
“Mad” Dan Morgan
“Mad Dan” Morgan: An Overview
Daniel Morgan, real name unknown, is one of the most notorious bushrangers. Referred to as perhaps the most dangerous and sadistic by many, but others saw him as a ruthless but necessary champion of the underdog against overbearing police and crooked employers. His life is as mysterious as it is violent and thrilling.
Spotlight: Outrages by Morgan (03/01/1865)
On Monday morning last the mailman brought in the intelligence that the Albury mail had…
Spotlight: Morgan’s Last Exploit (14/11/1864)
On Sunday last, Morgan, the murderer, stuck up the Yarrabee Station, on the Yanko. Early…
Spotlight: The Bushranger Morgan (23/09/1864)
A party of police, consisting of Senior Sergeant Smyth, Senior Constable Baxter, Constables Connor, and…
Mad Dog Morgan by Rodd Sherwin
A new folk song about one of the most infamous bushrangers by Queensland artist Rodd…
Spotlight: MORGAN, THE BUSHRANGER. THE INQUEST.
The following account of the inquest of Daniel Morgan lays out what occurred at Peechelba…
The most grisly bushranger stories
[Warning: The content in this article may be distressing for some readers. Discretion is advised.]…
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A Guide to Australian Bushranging on tour, 2019 [Blog]
With November 2019 seeing the 140th anniversary of the Wantabadgery Siege, the decision was made…
Morgan and the Magistrate
After his release from prison, the man known as John Smith was compelled to head…
‘Mad Dog Morgan’ Blu-Ray (review)
Very few bushranger films are as deserving of the high definition restoration as Philippe Mora’s…
“Mad Dog Morgan”: An Analysis
On the face of things, Philippe Mora’s magnum opus Mad Dog Morgan is little more…
Spotlight: SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CAREER OF DANIEL MORGAN, THE NOTORIOUS BUSHRANGER
The following is an article that was published in the days following the death of…
Spotlight: £500 REWARD FOR THE APPREHENSION OF DANIEL MORGAN
In 1864 Dan Morgan’s reign of terror was moving into full swing. In January of…
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“Bold” Jack Donahoe
Spotlight: An Interior Settlement of White People (19/09/1828)
During the last month, a desperate party of bushrangers has been committing a series of…
Spotlight: The Bushrangers, Windsor (1830)
The Windsor Police have received the most accurate information of Donohoe and his accomplice. It…
Spotlight: Extracts from the Launceston Advertiser regarding Donohoe, 04/10/1830
Extracts from the Launceston Advertiser about Jack Donohoe’s death and inquest.
Spotlight: DONOHOE. CORONER’S INQUEST ON HIS BODY
On Monday an Inquest was convened by MAJOR SMEATHMAN, Coroner, at the Fox and Hounds,…
Spotlight: Death of Donohoe
A short report conveying the death of Jack Donohoe.
Spotlight: The Bushrangers, August 1830
A letter to the editor of the Sydney Gazette discussing the bushranger Jack Donohoe.
Spotlight: Donohoe and Underwood Rob a Doctor
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 – 1842), Thursday 24 June…
Spotlight: John Walmsley on trial
A transcript from the trial of one of Jack Donohoe’s accomplices, Walmsley.
Spotlight: Reward Notice for John Donohoe
WHEREAS JOHN DONOHOE, who was convicted of Highway Robbery, and received sentence of Death on…
My Story: Julia Dąbrowska on Jack Donahoe
Julia Dąbrowska is a long time follower of A Guide to Australian Bushranging, and an…
The Battle of Bringelly
As with most bushrangers who transcend history to become enshrined in folklore, Jack Donahoe (aka…
Spotlight: Bold Jack Donohue
The first and possibly greatest bushranger Ballad is Bold Jack Donohue, a portrayal of the…
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