The Gilbert Brigade

Frank Gardiner on left and John William Gilbert (1842 - 1865) on right

On 15 June 1862 John Gilbert took part in the Eugowra gold escort robbery and had a £500 reward on his head. 

In May 1863 Gilbert returned to the Wedden Mountains and became Ben Hall's right-hand man although they did not always work together.

Australia’s largest gold robbery

Stage coach hold-up, Eugowra Rocks, oil on canvas, 137.5 x 183 cm

by Patrick William Morony (1858-1939) painted in 1894.

It was at Eugowra, on the 15th June, 1862 that Frank Gardiner, and his gang of bushrangers, robbed the Ford & Co. coach on its way from Forbes to Bathurst in New South Wales. It was Australia’s largest gold robbery - 14 thousand pounds worth of gold and banknotes.
The rock, in the painting, above, where the bushrangers waited to ambush the coach is now called Escort Rock after the fact that the coach was a gold escort meaning it escorted or carried gold from one place to another.
Gardiner's gang included Ben Hall, John Gilbert, Henry Manns, Alex Fordyce, John Bow, John O'Meally, and Dan Charters.
"...the greatest achievement of Gardiner's gang, the Lachlan escort robbery; at Engowra Rocks, about forty-five miles distant from the town of Orange. Here the escort coach, carrying a sergeant and two troopers, was impeded by two bullock teams, without drivers, drawn across, the road. The driver made a circuit round them to pass, and when the coach neared a clump of rocks four men rose from their shelter. They were attired in red shirts, their faces were blackened, and they were armed with rifles. They dis charged their rifles in a volley at the coach. A bullet pierced the driver's hat, and another perforated his coat skirt. The constables in the coach were not hit. Then four other bandits stood up, and fired a second volley, whereupon the horses bolted, and the coach was upset. The gang rushed upon it and fired again. The sergeant was wounded in three places, and Trooper Horan in two. Trooper Haviland was uninjured, and he fled into the bush with the driver. The robbers carried away the escort boxes, two rifles, and the coach horses. Haviland and the driver ran to Clement's Station, and re turned with a party of men, who found only the scattered contents of the mail bags. These they gathered up, and, after obtaining fresh horses, proceeded on the road to Orange with the wounded police. They also discovered the bullock drivers, who had been bailed up by the gang,  ordered to draw their teams across the  road, and hide themselves in the bush, with, their faces on the ground. The coach arrived at Orangeat six o'clock   on the following evening. Shortly after it left the post office, a bullet struck Constable Haviland in the head, and killed him instantly. Doubtless it came from the rifle of one of the gang, who must have been lingering on watch in the   neighbourhood unseen. The robbers'  booty was heavy ; the escort boxes con tained 5509 oz. of gold, representing £22,000 in value, and £7490 in Oriental Bank notes. The gang consisted of Gardiner, Ben Hall, Gilbert, O'Mally, John   Bow, Alexander Fordyce, Henry Manns, and Daniel Charteris. They divided the booty into eight shares. Gardiner, For dyce, and Charteris put their gold on one of the coach horses, and proceeded towards the Weddin Mountains. The others took their shares separately, and went on other tracks. On ths following day Sir Frederick Pottinger, who was district superinten dent of police, set forth in pursuit of the bandits with eleven troopers, twenty   armed volunteers, and two black track ers. They followed the trail of Gardiner  and his two companions, whose pack horse became exhausted at the foot of the Weddin Range. While they were engaged in removing the gold they caught sight of their pursuers approaching, and fled into the hills, leaving behind 1239 oz. of gold, which fell into the hands of the police. Some time after Charter is turned informer. Manns, Fordyce, and Bow were arrested; Manns was hanged, and the other two were sentenced to life imprisonment. Gardiner disappeared. Hall, Gilbert, and O'Meally went on their way of blood and plunder for three years longer in defiance of the police.

The huge escort robbery was Gardiner's final exploit." TROVE: The Capricornian Newspaper. Rockhampton, Qld. Saturday 14th October 1905.

Read the details of the robbery here.

Linked up at History and Home

Ben Hall's Death

"Don't let the traps take me alive."

Ben Hall did most of his bushranging in New South Wales, where he was known as 'Brave Ben Hall'.

Between1863 to 1865, Ben Hall and his gang are thought to have conducted over 100 robberies, including the robberies of 21 towns and many coaches.  Due to the amount of hold ups on their coaches the Cobb and Co. coaches published in their timetable the phrase: "Ben Hall permitting".

By May 1865, Ben Hall planned to leave New South Wales. He was betrayed by a man who had previously given him assistance and the police were prepared to catch him.  The illustration above shows his ambush by eight armed policemen at dawn on 5 May, 1865 at Billabong Creek near Forbes.  Ben Hall did not fire a shot and was shot 30 times and killed. It is said that while he was lying wounded he turned to Billy Dargin and said "Shoot me dead Billy! Don't let the traps take me alive."

More information on Ben Hall:
Timeline of Ben Hall's Life
His early life
Illustration

The Ballad of Ben Hall's Gang

Come all ye wild colonials And listen to my tale;
A story of bushrangers' deeds I will to you unveil.
'Tis of those gallant heroes, Game fighters one and all;
And we'll sit and sing, Long Live the King,
Dunn,Gilbert, and Ben Hall.

Ben Hall he was a squatter bloke Who owned a thousand head;
A peaceful man he was until Arrested by Sir Fred.
His home burned down, his wife cleared out,
His cattle perished all;
"They'll not take me a second time,'
Says valiant Ben Hall.

John Gilbert was a flash cove, And John O'Meally too;
With Ben and Bourke and Johnny Vane
They all were comrades true.
They rode into Canowindra And gave a public ball.
'Roll up, roll up, and have a spree,'
Says Gilbert and Ben Hall.



Painting of Ben Hall

They took possession of the town, Including the public-houses,
And treated all the cockatoos And shouted for their spouses.
They danced with all the pretty girls And held a carnival.
'We don't hurt them who don't hurt us,'
Says Gilbert and Ben Hall.

They made a raid on Bathurst, The pace was getting hot;
But Johnny Vane surrendered After Micky Burke was shot,
O'Meally at Goimbla Did like a hero fall;
'The game is getting lively,'
Says John Gilbert and Ben Hall.

Then Gilbert took a holiday, Ben Hall got new recruits;
The Old Man and Dunleavy Shared in the plunder's fruits.
Dunleavy he surrendered And they jagged the Old Man tall -
So Johnny Gilbert came again
To help his mate Ben Hall.

John Dunn he was a jockey bloke, A-riding all the winners,
Until he joined Hall's gang to rob The publicans and sinners;
And many a time the Royal Mail Bailed up at John Dunn's call.
A thousand pounds is on their heads -
Dunn, Gilbert, and Ben Hall.

'Next week we'll visit Goulburn And clean the banks out there;
So if you see the troopers, Just tell them to beware;
Some day to Sydney city We mean to pay a call,
And we'll take the whole damn country,'
Says Dunn, Gilbert, and Ben Hall. 

ANONYMOUS

Linked up at I Must Confess

Benjamin Hall, bushranger - a timeline

Wood carving of Benjamin Hall (1837-1865)

• 9 May 1837 Benjamin Hall  was born at Maitland, New South Wales. His father was also named Benjamin Hall and his mother was Elizabeth Somers.  Both of his parents were ex-convicts. Read more about his early life.
• became a stockman. 
• 29 February 1856  married Bridget Walsh.
• 7 August 1859 their son Henry was born.
• July 1856 detained for his share in the Eugowra gold robbery.  
• 1860 leased a run, Sandy Creek, near Wheogo with John Macguire. 
• April 1862 arrested for armed robbery with Frank Gardiner but was acquitted. 
• 15 June 1862 robbed the gold escort coach at Eugowra Rocks with 7 others including Frank Gardiner, John Gilbert and John O'Meally. It was the biggest gold robbery in Australian history.
• 14 March 1863 Hall's home was burnt down. 
• Hall joined  became leader of the gang of bushrangers when Frank Gardiner left for Queensland.
• 12 October 1863 held the entire town of Canowindra for ransom for 3 days.
• October 1863 daring raid on the town of Bathurst.
• 24 October, 1863  raid on Henry Keightley's homestead at Dunn's Plains.
• 1864 conducted robberies on the Sydney-Melbourne Road south of Goulburn
• 15 November 1864  robbed sixty travellers near Jugiong
• May, 1865 Hall and his companions were declared outlaws 
• £1000 on his head
• Hall decides to quit bushranging
• 5 May, 1865 he was ambushed and shot by the police near Goobang Creek in New South Wales
• 7 May 1865 buried at Forbes Cemetery

SOURCES:

Sydney Mail, Newspaper - 30 July, 20 Aug 1864 and 20 May 1865
Australian Stories by the Australian Government
Eugowra Historical Museum and Bushranger Centre

What does a bushranger look like anyway?

Here are just some of the cads you will find on this site. They were all bushrangers.

The Term 'Bushranger' was first used in February 1805, in the Sydney Gazette which mentioned men "whose appearance sanctioned the suspicion of their being bushrangers". From this time, the term was used to describe those who attacked people on the roads or in the bush. Over 2000 bushrangers roamed the Australian countryside, from the convicts who escaped until just after the Kelly Gang's last stand.

Besides being called bushrangers (and all being dead) what else do all these men have in common? Oh yes they lived in AUSTRALIA but what else?

Well we all know Ned Kelly came from Irish stock and he had a gang and one of the gang was his brother. We also know he was tried and hung. So what about the others?

 

Henry Johnson was from Ireland, was convicted for stealing a pair of shoes and changed his name to Harry Power.

 

Thomas Rogan (middle row at left) had stolen horses before the age of 22 when he joined a gang of bushrangers, and he was later tried and hung.

Ben Hall's parent's were sent to gaol for minor stealing offences, he loved horses and died in a shootout with police. He was at one stage called 'Brave Ben Hall'.

Frederick Wordsworth Ward's father was a convict. He had worked with horses and went to prison for receiving stolen horses. There is mystery about his death with some thinking he died in a police shootout and others saying it was his relative. He was called Captain Thunderbolt.

Steve Hart was born to Irish parents, he worked as a jockey, he was in the Kelly gang. He may have died at the Glenrowan Inn shootout but some say he and Dan Kelly escaped.

 

So there seem to be some common threads such as Ireland and convicts and stealing but no one thing they all had in common. Maybe it was falling on hard luck.

What is a cad?
  Origin: 1780–90
  Meaning: bounder, rotter, rascal, rogue; heel.

John Dunn

Teenage Bushranger:  The Story of John Dunn Who Rode with Ben Hall and John Gilbert in 1864-65 and Was Hung at the Age of 19  By Kerry Medway.

"Through the influence of his grandfather, Dunn was invited to join Ben Hall and John Gilbert's bushranging gang. His father chased after him for two days to try and rescue him. Dunn's wild adventure went horribly wrong. He shot a policeman and later when caught, was charged with murder and hung at Darlinghurst Goal."

John Dunn (14 December 1846 – 19 March 1866)

John Dunn was born near Yass, NSW. His parents, Michael and Margaret Dunn, nee Kelly, were both convicts and John was the first of their nine children.

Dunn joined Ben Hall's gang in 1864 robbing coaches, stations, inns, and stores. Two years later he was captured, tried and hung for being an outlaw and murderer.  In January 1865, Dunn had shot dead Constable Samuel Nelson in the robbery of Kimberley's Inn near Goulburn. This was the crime for which he was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol. He was 19 years of age and both Hall and Gilbert were dead.

John Dunn was buried in the Devonshire Street cemetery. The  headstone, erected by Dunn's Godmother, read: "Memory of John Dunn, who died March 19th, 1866. Aged 19 years. May he rest in peace. Amen. He has gone to his grave but we must not deplore him though sorrow and darkness encompass his tomb - the Saviour has passed through its portals before him and the light of his love was the lamp through his doom".

The reward for the capture of the Ben Hall, John Gilbert and John Dunn had been substantial sum of 1,000 pounds each.

Benjamin Hall - the gentleman bushranger

Portrait of Benjamin Hall

commissioned by Edgar Penzig

Benjamin Hall (1837 - 1865)

But with all his crimes, I believe he has never been accused of being bloodthirsty, nor did he directly kill any of the victims he robbed.

It is claimed by his relatives and those who knew him best that he was affectionate and generous.

The Forbes correspondent of the Western Examiner (Orange) May 13, 1865.

See also:

Ben Hall's early life

Death of Ben Hall

Another depiction of Ben Hall

Benjamin Hall - a timeline

A book about Ben Hall

BEN HALL - The Bushranger - paperback by Frank Clune

Ben Hall

See:

Ben Hall's early life

Death of Ben Hall

Another depiction of Ben Hall

Frank Gardiner led a notorious gang

Frank Gardiner 1829 - ? date unknown

Frank Gardiner was born Francis Christie in 1829 in Ross-shire, Scotland to Charles Christie (1791 – 1864) and Jane Christie (1800 – 1842), née Whittle. He came to Australia in 1834 with his parents.

He began his career as a criminal in 1850 by stealing horses and was apprehended and tried at the Geelong Circuit Court and sentenced to five years imprisonment, with hard labour, as Francis Christie, in Pentridge, Melbourne.  He escaped and was recaptured 4 years later when he was again arrested for horse-stealing and given seven years hard labour.

He conducted the largest robbery of gold in Australian history in 1862 with Ben Hall and Johnny Gilbert. Who were part of his notorious gang: (This list is from WikiTree)

1. Ben Hall - Shot dead by police

2. Frank Gardiner - Sentenced to 32 years in prison (served 10 years and then exiled from Australia

3. John Gilbert - Shot dead by police

4. John Davis, one of the Three Jacks-Sentenced to 15 years in prison

5. John McGuiness, one of the Three Jacks - Shot dead (probably by Gardiner for leaving Davis alone to fight police)

6. John Connors, one of the Three Jacks

7. John Youngman - Skipped bail and disappeared

8.  Patrick Daley - Sentenced to fifteen years in prison

9.Henry Manns - Hanged

10. Alexander Fordyce - Sentenced to death, later commuted to fifteen years in prison

11. Dan Charters - Caught, testified against the gang

12. John Bow - Sentenced to death, later commuted to fifteen years in prison

13. John O’Meally - Shot dead

14. Fred Lowry - Shot dead by police

15. Larry Cummins - Sentenced to fifteen years in prison

16. Francis Foley (younger brother of notorious bushranger, John Foley) - Sentenced to ten years in prison

17. Michael Burke - Shot himself dead after receiving a mortal stomach wound

18. John Vane - Sentenced to fifteen years in prison, paroled after six years

19. John Dunleavy - Sentenced to life in prison

20. Jin Gordon, AKA Old Man James Mount - sentenced to twenty five years in prison

21. John Dunn - Hanged

22. John Peisley - Hanged

This hold up, of the Lachlan Gold Escort coach, near Eugowra, N.S.W. was of 14,000 pounds.
Gardiner fled to Queensland and was arrested there in 1864, tried and found guilty on two charges and given a sentence of 32 years hard labour. In 1874 Gardiner was released, due to public petitioning. A large petition signed by Members of Parliament, magistrates, doctors and many notables was given to the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson. The Governor decided that Gardiner had been harshly sentenced and released him subject to his exile. This decision caused a public controversy which led to the fall of the Parkes government.

In 1874 Gardiner travelled to Hong Kong and then California where he later owned the Twilight Star Saloon in San Francisco. There are many rumours about his life in America, none of which have been proven. 
It is not know for sure when he died and his death was reported many times between 1880 to 1904. The uncertainty is mainly due to the destruction of records in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Unfortunately, as yet, I cannot find a better portrait of Frank Gardiner or Frank Christie (his real name).

SOURCES: 
Ancestry Family Tree.
Australian Dictionary of Biography Gardiner, Francis article by Edgar F. Penzig.
TROVE: The Capricornian Newspaper. Rockhampton, Qld. Saturday 14th October 1905.
Charles White, Australian Bushranging, Gardiner "King of the Road".
G. E. Boxall, The Story of the Australian Bushrangers.

Young Ben Hall

Ben Hall (9 May 1837 - 5 May 1865) 

Ben Hall was born in 1837, in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. His father was Benjamin Hall born in England and his mother Eliza was born in Ireland. His parents had both been transported to Van Dieman's Land due to minor stealing offences. His father was given his certificate of freedom in 1832 and he married Eliza Somers in 1834 in New South Wales. Ben was their fourth child and as a teenager he worked on numerous cattle properties gaining a good reputation as a hard-working stockman.
At 19 he married Bridget Walsh at Bathurst and 2 years later they had a son who they named Henry.
In 1860, Ben Hall and John Maguire jointly leased a  run of 10,000 acres near Forbes, in the Central West of New South Wales.  They built a house, sheds and stockyards and became successful graziers of cattle.

“I'm not a criminal. I've been driven to this life.  Pottinger arrested me on Forbes racecourse last year and I was held for a month in gaol, an innocent man.  While I was away me wife ran away - with a policeman.  Well, with a cove who used to be in the police force.  Then I was arrested for the mail coach robbery and held another month before I was let out on bail.  When I came home, I found my house burned down and cattle perished of thirst, left locked in yards." Ben Hall.

His life changed, his wife had left him, his house and cattle were gone and he met the notorious bushranger Frank Gardiner.

SOURCES:

• New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Freedom, 1810-1814, 1827-1867 about Benjamin Hall (his father)
• Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 about Benjamin Hall (his father)
• New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry, 1826-1851 about Eliza Somers