Tag: Thomas Jeffries

article, Matthew Brady, Spotlight, Tasmanian bushrangers, Thomas JeffriesLeave a comment

Spotlight: Jeffries and Brady and company on trial (as reported)

AJFPhelan56

Hobart Town Gazette (Tas. : 1825 – 1827; 1830), Saturday 29 April 1826, page 2 On Saturday, Jeffries the murderer, Perry, and Hopkins, were found guilty of stealing a gun, meat, and other articles, from the dwelling-house of Joseph Railton, near Launceston. They had been brought up on the Thursday previous, but owing to the absence of a witness on the part of Hopkins, the trial was postponed. Jeffries and Perry were afterwards arraigned for the murder of Mr. Tibbs’s child, an infant only five months old. When Mrs. Tibbs came into Court, and her eye glanced on the insatiate … Continue reading Spotlight: Jeffries and Brady and company on trial (as reported)

Spotlight, Tasmanian bushrangers, The BoltersLeave a comment

Spotlight: Reward Notice for Thomas Jeffries

AJFPhelan56

Thomas Jeffries may have referred to himself as “The Captain”, but he earned himself a more notorious nickname: The Monster. In his brief bushranging career, the former flagellator committed acts of robbery, murder, rape and cannibalism. Such was his reputation that after he was captured, Matthew Brady planned to break him out of Launceston Gaol just so he could have the satisfaction of lynching Jeffries himself. The reward for Jeffries and his companions (Hopkins and Perry) would have been adequate inducement for people to turn them in, but bushrangers always proved much harder to catch than what the authorities seemed … Continue reading Spotlight: Reward Notice for Thomas Jeffries