Spotlight: Historic Old Gaol – Darlinghurst Closed – 1914

Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 – 1931), Saturday 8 August 1914, page 37 HISTORIC OLD GAOL DARLINGHURST CLOSED “‘Gallows Hill’. we called it.”“There were many executions in those ‘good’ (?) old days.”“Early in the morning there sounded the clanking of irons as as the chain gang wended its weary way from Hyde Park Barracks to work on Flagstaff Hill or Fort Phillip. In the evening the tired convicts clanked wearily back through Jamieson and Hunter streets to the park. But ‘Gallows’ Hill is no more. Hyde Park and Carter’s Barracks are but memories. Now Darlinghurst is gone. For the first … Continue reading Spotlight: Historic Old Gaol – Darlinghurst Closed – 1914

Spotlight: Examination of “Blue Cap”, the Bushranger

Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 – 1946), Saturday 30 November 1867, page 15 INTERCOLONIAL. NEW SOUTH WALES. EXAMINATION OF “BLUE CAP,” THE BUSHRANGER. (FROM THE BURRANGONG ARGUS.) At the Police court, Young, on the 11th and 14th instant, the following … Continue reading Spotlight: Examination of “Blue Cap”, the Bushranger

The most grisly bushranger stories

[Warning: The content in this article may be distressing for some readers. Discretion is advised.] Justin Kurzel’s hyper-stylised and ultraviolent interpretation of True History of the Kelly Gang received positive reviews when it debuted in Toronto in September 2019 and … Continue reading The most grisly bushranger stories

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

Captain Moonlite and Society (Opinion) 

Captain Moonlite is a name well known by bushranger enthusiasts, but his story is often overlooked. Yet, Moonlite’s tale is perhaps one of the most tragic in the pantheon of bushranging. It is a tale of a ragtag bunch of men and boys from social disadvantage being pushed so far into desperation by capricious and vindictive agents of the law and a lack of support from society or their families that they become violent criminals and pay the ultimate price for their fall from grace. For those of us who take an interest in social justice it becomes an intriguing look at what contributes to delinquency. Continue reading Captain Moonlite and Society (Opinion) 

Spotlight: PATRICK AND JAMES KENNIFF ON TRIAL for the MURDER OF CONSTABLE DOYLE (Part Two)

Last week we began looking at the report on the trial of the Kenniffs featured in the Brisbane edition of Truth. This week we continue the feature as the Kenniffs give their own evidence. Jim and Paddy maintain that they were travelling around Roma for the races while their old man and brothers Tom and John maintained that they were gathering horses around Skeleton Creek. Two additional witnesses, Thornton and Mulholland, do their best to back up Jim and Pat’s story. Continue reading Spotlight: PATRICK AND JAMES KENNIFF ON TRIAL for the MURDER OF CONSTABLE DOYLE (Part Two)