Spotlight: The Melbourne Private Escort Robbery (03/09/1853)
R.— Intelligence reached Melbourne, yesterday of the self-destruction of John Francis, the approver in the…
Spotlight: The Private Escort Robbery. Examination of the Prisoners. (30/08/1853)
Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 – 1856), Tuesday 30 August 1853, page 1…
Spotlight: The Escort Robbery – Examination of the Prisoners (26/08/1853)
Yesterday, at the District Police Court, the following prisoners charged with being concerned in the…
Forgotten Bushrangers: Thomas Menard
The forgotten story of “Yankee Tom” Menard, who operated in Victoria during the gold rush.…
Spotlight: Victoria – The Escort Robbery (03/08/1853)
A report on the McIvor escort robbery and Francis Christie’s supposed involvement.
Spotlight: The Escort Robbery (25/07/1853)
The Melbourne Gold Escort Company was robbed last night. I have just been speaking to…
Spotlight: The Execution of Smith and Brady (13 May 1873)
Yesterday was enacted in the Beechworth Gaol, one of those tragedies which are the necessity,…
Spotlight: Young Kelly on remand (13 May 1870)
The Benalla Police Court was crowded yesterday to see the young bushranger Kelly, and to…
Spotlight: Smith and Brady on Trial (22 October 1872)
James Smith, Thomas Brady and William Happenstein, three men in the garb of bushmen, were…
Spotlight: Gipsy Smith the Victorian Bushranger (23 April 1904)
I have no hesitation in saying that he is identical with the Gipsy Smith who…
Spotlight: Smith and Brady Convicted (21 April 1873)
At the Beechworth Circuit Court on Friday last James Smith and Thomas Brady were arraigned…
Spotlight: Trial of Gipsey Smith and Twigham, for the Murder of Serjeant McNally (1857)
Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 – 1859), Saturday 14 March…
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
The Kelly Gang
The Kelly Gang: An Overview
Few figures in history reach the notoriety and cultural impact of the Kelly Gang. As so much is easily available on the subject already, here is an easily digestible summary of the so-called Kelly Outbreak.…
Spotlight: Execution of Edward Kelly (1880)
A report on Ned Kelly’s final days and execution from 1880.
Bushranging: A Female Perspective
A showcase of some of the female historians and authors that are reshaping our understanding…
Spotlight: Power’s Cub
Power’s cub has been taken, though (states the Benalla Ensign) the old fox has up…
Fact vs Film: Joe Byrne
It is well known that the story of the Kelly Gang is the bushranging tale…
Spotlight: The Police Commission at Greta
Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), Wednesday 18 May 1881, page 1 THE POLICE…
Ned Kelly’s Last Battle
While it is popularly considered that Ned Kelly’s lawless life came effectively to an end…
Stringybark (Review)
In 2019 there was much consternation about the new Kelly Gang films that were brewing.…
The Siege of Glenrowan (Part 2)
An overview of the police siege that destroyed the Kelly Gang.
The Siege of Glenrowan (Part 1)
An overview of the murder of Aaron Sherritt, the Kelly Gang taking control of the…
Aaron Sherritt: Persona non Grata
Aaron Sherritt has been enshrined in Australian folklore as a Judas figure, but what is…
Spotlight: Mother of the Kellys
The following article from 1923 begins with the death of Ellen Kelly then recaps the…
Ned and the Law (review)
Aidan Phelan reviews this year’s Greta Heritage Group Kelly event, which focused on addressing the…
Loading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Riverina Bushrangers
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: Morgan the Bushranger (30/01/1864)
The old friend of the inhabitants of the Billybong, known as the celebrated Morgan, on…
Keep readingSpotlight: Morgan’s Outrage at Kyamba (16/01/1865)
At about noon he made his apearance, at the camp of Mr. Adams, road contractor,…
Keep readingSpotlight: Outrages by Morgan (03/01/1865)
On Monday morning last the mailman brought in the intelligence that the Albury mail had…
Keep readingSpotlight: Morgan’s Last Exploit (14/11/1864)
On Sunday last, Morgan, the murderer, stuck up the Yarrabee Station, on the Yanko. Early…
Keep readingSpotlight: Country News (14/11/1863)
The overseer’s wife told him if he killed her husband, he must kill her and…
Keep readingSpotlight: The Bushranger Morgan (23/09/1864)
A party of police, consisting of Senior Sergeant Smyth, Senior Constable Baxter, Constables Connor, and…
Keep readingSpotlight: Morgan the Bushranger (16/07/1864)
THIS miscreant, emboldened by the impunity with which he has for months past robbed travellers…
Keep readingSpotlight: Morgan. Bushranger and Murderer (07/07/1864)
When and where is it to end? is the remark made by everybody. Are we…
Keep readingSpotlight: Background on Morgan (05/07/1864)
Young Morgan “turned out” early in life, and while yet a lad, stole a horse…
Keep readingSpotlight: Committal of Power the Bushranger (18 June 1870)
Thomas Oliver Thomas, storekeeper, residing at Wangaratta, stated that on 7th May, 1869 he was…
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 readingLoading…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Captain Melville
Captain Melville: an overview
Francis MacNeiss McNeil McCallum, better known as Captain Melville, is one of Australia’s most intriguing bushrangers. He at once bears the tropes of the traditional bushranger – a charming, adventurous highwayman and escapologist with a flair for drama – while also being something unique.…
Spotlight: Suicide of this notorious Captain Melville (29/08/1857)
Note: The following article discusses suicide in a frank and forensic manner. Some readers may…
Keep readingSpotlight: The Convict Melville (31/07/1857)
On Tuesday morning, however, Melville refused to permit the removal of the nighttub from his…
Keep readingSpotlight: Melville’s Defence and Charges Against the Convict Superintendent (1857)
Gentlemen, I never was a coward, and I feel nothing out the meanness of convicting…
Keep readingSpotlight: Notoriety (Geelong, 1853)
Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 – 1856), Wednesday 5 January 1853, page 2…
Keep reading
The Death of Captain Melville
Many bushrangers met grisly ends over the course of history, and a considerable portion of…
Keep reading
Ten Bushrangers Who Deserve Their Own Movie
With multiple film productions about Ned Kelly underway, it’s clear that bushrangers are becoming a…
Keep reading
Spotlight: The Trial of Captain Melville
[This report of the trial of one of the most infamous bushrangers of the 1850s,…
Keep reading
Hell on High Water: Victoria’s Floating Prisons
No examination of Victoria’s penal system is complete without mention of the prison ships that…
Keep reading
“Aye, Aye Captain”: The Captains of Bushranging
This week’s feature is about seven of the most renowned captains in bushranging history from…
Keep readingSpotlight: “You’ll Be Surprised” by Bill Beatty
This little piece was produced for the Sydney Morning Herald in 1947.
Keep readingHarry Power
Harry Power: An Overview
When we picture bushrangers we think of wild young men on horseback dodging police and sticking up coaches but Harry Power certainly did not fit that image. Power (alias Henry Power, Johnstone) is forever remembered as the tutor of Ned Kelly but there was a time when he could capture the imagination on his own terms.
Spotlight: Harry Power, a personal reminiscence
Hare’s one-sided “Last of the Bushrangers” had started the talk, and yarns of the Kelly…
Keep reading
Harry Power at Buckland Gap
While Victoria was home to plenty of bushrangers of various ilks, there was one highwayman…
Keep reading
Francis Augustus Hare
Forever remembered as the Kelly Hunter, Francis Augustus Hare was an intriguing man with a…
Keep reading
Spotlight: Capture of Power the Bushranger
By May 1870 bushranging was almost completely wiped out. Captain Thunderbolt met his inglorious end…
Keep reading
Spotlight: How Harry Power Escaped from Pentridge
Harry Power was one of the last bushrangers during the height of the bushranging era.…
Keep reading