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1789 - John Caesar
- Black Caesar, First Fleet Convict, Our first Bushranger 1812 - Michael Howe - Michael Howe, convict, rebel commander, bushranger, first Native Australian land claim 1813 - The Mainland to 1850 - John Donahoe - John Lynch - Scotchey and Witton - William Westwood - Comerford and Digman - McKeown - Wilson and Green - John Ellis - Codrington Revingstone 1820 - Matthew Bradey - Australia's Robin Hood, Convict Rebel Leader, Bushranger, Daemon's Land 1850 - Wild Colonial Boys - New South Wales - Lambing Flat Riots - bushrangers - Frank Gardiner, Ben Hall, and John Gilbert - highwayman 1850 - Bushranging on the Mainland to 1850 - John Donahoe - John Lynch - Scotchey and Witton - William Westwood - Comerford and Digman - McKeown - Wilson and Green - John Ellis - Codrington Revingstone 1851 - Gold and Bushranging - Victoria - Bushrangers - gold - Henry Garrett - Frank McCallum - George Melville - George Wilson - William Atkins - Black Douglas 1860 - Alpin McPherson, The Wild Scotchman, Bushranger, Queensland 1863 - Richard Dillingham, Convict, Van Dieman’s Land, David Lamb, Hobart 1864 - Captain Thunderbolt, Frederick Ward, Bushranger, Newcastle, Queensland border, Uralla, NSW 1865 - The retaliation of Ben Hall 1865 - Daniel Morgan, Mad Dog Morgan, Bushranger, Riverina, Monaro, Murray River, Victoria, Peechelba Station, Wangaratta 1865 - Clarkes of Araluen, Bushrangers, Thomas Clarke, John Clarke, Braidwood, Jinjeara Ranges, NSW 1866 - Latter Bushrangers, Bushranger, Perth, Fremantle, 1880 1867 - St Helena Island Prison, Civil prison, Brisbane River, Queensland, Proserpine, Moreton Bay, quarantine station, hell hole of the Pacific 1870 - Harry Power, Bushranger, Victoria, Beechworth country, southern New South Wales, King River valley, Edward Kelly 1874 - Bushranging revival feared, Mudgee, Wallerawang, Mudgee mail coach, bushranging, Mr Charles Mortimer, Ilford 1874 - Frank Gardiner released into exile, bushranger, Ben Hall, John Gilbert, Chief Justice, Sir Alfred Stephen, Premier Henry Parkes 1879 - Captain Moonlite , Andrew George Scott, Bushranger, New South Wales, Mt Egerton, Victoria, Ballarat jail, Thomas Rogan 1880 Ned Kelly is hanged 1880 - Ton Hughes - Bushranger, Perth, Fremantle 1882 - Robbery under Arms - Rolf Boldrewood, Novel, Dick Marston, Sydney Mail, bushranger |
Bushranger
A brush with Thunderbolt the Bushranger.
- by George Morgan.
Bushranging in Australia started early. Many Convicts escaped and turned Bushranger to feed off and fight against the System that had banished and enslaved them. The first of these Bushrangers were simply escaped prisoners on the run, but they quickly formed into mighty armies of rebellion, especially in Tasmania, where out fought the English military on many occasions. In the latter part of the Colonial era there was a second wave of Bushrangers who were much more political in nature. By the end of the century, they were being romanticised in comics and it was assumed that they helped trigger the Larrikin element in our national personality.
Small gangs were the normal pattern, but some noted bushrangers, such as Dan Morgan and Fred Ward worked alone. The term "bushranger" was in use at least as early as February 1805 when the Sydney Gazette mentioned that a cart had been stopped by three men "whose appearance sanctioned the suspicion of their being bushrangers". From 1805 onwards the term "bushranger" was applied to criminals who attacked people on the roads or in the bush. In 1821 John Bigge defined bushranging as "absconding in the woods and living upon plunder and the robbery of orchards". Charles Darwin recorded in 1835 that a runaway convict turned petty thief was termed a "crawler", whereas, he said, "a 'bush ranger' is an open villain who subsists by highway robbery, and will sooner be killed than taken alive". Some other terms require comment. According to Baker's The Australian Language, the term "bail up" meaning to hold up and rob a traveller or party of travellers on the roads - was current in the 1840s. "Stick up" has a similar but wider meaning, and was first brought into popular use by bushrangers. "Bush telegraph" is the passing of information by word of mouth, usually surreptitiously; the phrase was used as early as 1866 - in the Sydney Morning Herald of 30 January. In Tasmania, escaped convicts who became bushrangers were known as "bolters". "Duffing" means the stealing of horses and cattle, usually with the accompanying alteration of brands. |
