Spotlight: Extracts from Australian, (10/09/1830)

It does not appear to be as yet quite certain, whether the man shot dead last week, by one of the mounted police, and reported to be Donohoe, is, after all, the real Donohoe, as several persons, of tolerable veracity, who say they knew Donohoe well, having inspected the corpse, do not hesitate to affirm that he is not the man some people would take him for.

Continue reading Spotlight: Extracts from Australian, (10/09/1830)

Spotlight: The Bushrangers, Windsor (1830)

The Windsor Police have received the most accurate information of Donohoe and his accomplice. It has been stated, by one reputed to have been in their confidence for a considerable time, that Donohoe is not connected with the notorious Underwood, but that one John Walmsley, an absentee from an iron gang, was introduced to his notice by the government servants of a gentleman at Mulgoa, on whose farm are shipmates of both the desperadoes, and that their connexion so commenced.

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Spotlight: Reward for Walmsley and Webber

Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 – 1842), Thursday 7 October 1830, page 1 GOVERNMENT NOTICE COLONIAL SECRETARY’S OFFICE, SYDNEY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1830. FORTY POUNDS REWARD. NOTICE is hereby given, that a Reward of TWENTY POUNDS will be paid to any Person or Persons who may apprehend and lodge in any of His Majesty’s Gaols, either JOHN WALMSLEY, or WILLIAM WEBBER, alias BALEY, who it appears were for some Months past the Companions of Donahoe in his Depredations ; and all Constables are hereby ordered and directed to use their utmost Endeavours for this Purpose. JOHN … Continue reading Spotlight: Reward for Walmsley and Webber

The Battle of Bringelly

As with most bushrangers who transcend history to become enshrined in folklore, Jack Donahoe (aka Donohoe, Donahue) made the leap from brigand to legend in his final stoush with the forces of law and order. His recklessness in the face of death seemed to strike a chord with Australians of a certain class.
This year marks 190 years since Donahoe’s death, so it seems appropriate to recount the final battle that sealed his place in history. Continue reading The Battle of Bringelly