1828-Martin Cash
- convict - bushranger - Port Arthur - Van Diemen's Land - Marquis of Huntly - Sydney Town -
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Martin Cash (baptised 10 October 1808–27 August 1877) was a notorious convict
bushranger known for escaping twice from Port Arthur, Van Diemen's Land. His
1870 autobiography The Adventures of Martin Cash, ghost-written by the former
convict James Lester Burke, became a best seller in Australia.
Born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland, Cash was brought up in a wealthy
family and was literate. His memoirs describe that he shot at a man in a jealous
rage for making advances on his sweetheart, but records list the original crime
as house breaking.
He was sentenced to seven years penal transportation and left Cook Harbour on
the Marquis of Huntly, arriving in Sydney Town on 10 February 1828. Cash
received his ticket of leave and worked as a stockman in New South Wales,
settling with Bessie Clifford. However, he became suspected of cattle stealing
and relocated to Tasmania.
Martin and Bessie found employment around Southern Tasmania until once again
Cash was accused of stealing from an employer. This time he was sentenced to
seven years in a Hobart prison. He briefly escaped and 18 months was added to
his time. Again he escaped and almost made it across the Bass Strait with Bessie
but was caught and faced 10 years at Port Arthur, the so called escape proof
colony.
His first attempt at escape from Port Arthur failed, however, he managed to swim
across the shark-infested Eaglehawk Neck, the first person to do so. This
experience would later prove useful as it earned him much respect from other
prisoners.
On Boxing Day 1842 Martin Cash, George Jones and Lawrence Kavenagh absconded
from a work party. Hiding in dense scrub land and with little food they made
their way 15 km to the neck. Swimming with their clothes tied in bundles above
their heads, they made the other side, all three of them having lost their
bundles. Now naked the trio robbed a road gang's hut for clothing, and began a
twenty month spree of bushranging, robbing mail coaches, homesteads and inns.
The three became known as Cash and Co and their reputation grew, however in
August 1843 Cash discovered his partner Bessie was with another man in Hobart.
Enraged, Cash swore to kill them both and he made his way to Hobart. He was
quickly spotted and a gunfight ensued. After a police constable was shot by Cash
and killed, Cash was overpowered and tried for murder.
Cash was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, but a last minute
reprieve saw him sent to Norfolk Island.
There he eventually became a trustee, and later a constable. He married in 1854,
and was granted his ticket of leave later that year. He had a daughter named
Monique. Subsequently he travelled to Christchurch, New Zealand where he kept
several brothels, in 1860 and became a free man in 1863.
Cash died in his own bed in Glenorchy, Tasmania in 1877. During the late 1860s
he had dictated his autobiography to an amanuensis, James Lester Burke. This
account, although often embellished, provides a fascinating insight into convict
life. Buck Thor and Joan Dehle Emberg later transcribed this account from the
original manuscript and released it as The Uncensored Story of Martin Cash.