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.

Thunderbolt's cave




Sign pointing to Thunderbolt's cave, one of his hideouts in the New England area of New South Wales.

Thunderbolt's Cave, named for Captain Thunderbolt - Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835–1870), is off the New England Highway, not far from the village of Black Mountain near the major towns of Armidale and Guyra in northern New South Wales.

I am presuming Thunderbolt used the cave in 1867 and 1868 the years when he conducted many robberies in the Tamworth and New England districts, some with Thomas Mason.

If you are visiting the cave don't forget to call in at McCrossin’s Mill Museum at Uralla, which houses the definitive collection of artifacts connected with the legendary bushranger, Captain Thunderbolt.

READ MORE ABOUT THUNDERBOLT:

Find out more about Captain Thunderbolt:

Frederick Wordsworth Ward alias Captain Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt's Death

Thunderbolt: a biography of the last of New South Wales' notorious bushrangers.By Bob Cummins

INTERESTING WEBSITES ABOUT THUNDERBOLT:
Captain Thunderbolt-Bushranger by Barry Sinclair 

FREDERICK WARD (alias "Captain Thunderbolt") by Glen Rowen Cobb & CO

Thunderbolt's Cave

Frederick Wordsworth Ward alias Captain Thunderbolt

This photo was taken when he was dead or then again it may be his uncle Harry! (read on to find out why) 

First of all I would like to say there is much contention and misinformation about Frederick Ward even including his date of birth and death. 

During the last seven years of his life Fred Ward had supposedly done more than eighty robberies of coaches, farms and hotels and became known as Captain Thunderbolt. He was also known for never killing or shooting those whom he robbed.

Frederick Wordsworth Ward was born in the Windsor District of the Colony of New South Wales in the mid 1830's, possibly 1833. His father was John Haswell who was born in Middlesex, England in 1808 and his mother was Sarah Ann Ward but he was brought up by Sarah's parents Sophia and Michael Ward.

His first work was as a very young station hand but he went to prison for receiving stolen horses. His sentence was for 10 years but he was given a ticket of leave after 4 years which meant he had to report to police once a week. He met an aboriginal girl named Yellilong, also known as Mary Ann Bugg. When he reported late to police he was sent back to prison. In 1863, he escaped by swimming across from Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, to the mainland and hid with another escapee in an old boiler in the Balmain area. No one had ever escaped from Cockatoo Island before.

His first robbery was late in 1863, but when he found the toll keeper on the road between Maitland and Rutherford had only a few shillings he gave the money back.

Some believe he was shot by police in May 1870 and died the next day near Uralla in northern NSW, others believe he attended his own funeral, dressed as a woman with a veil, and that the man buried was his uncle William, known as Harry. For more in this fascinating story please go to Barry Sinclair's site.

One of his vantage points, for robbing approaching mail coaches in the 1860's, now called Thunderbolt's Rocks, can be seen today from the highway near Uralla.

There is also a statue of Captain Thunderbolt where the New England Highway and Thunderbolts Way intersect at Uralla, NSW.