Early Hunter Valley Bushrangers - 1800 - 1820

Bushranger collection at the Powerhouse Museum

What made men take to the bush?

A writer to the Queenslander in 1866 explained it when he wrote of the bushrangers of thirty years previously:

'Bushranging and crime was the rule in New South Wales thirty years ago - the working hands prisoners and freedmen or ticket of leave holders. Your bushranger of the olden times was a much more dangerous character than his modern successor; working hard for his masters for bare food and scanty clothing, with no wages and 2oz or tea and 1lb of sugar per week given as an indulgence, he was frequently driven by hard usage and flogging to take to the bush; sometimes to work for low wages until again driven forth by being discovered, and always finding sympathy and shelter among the convict servants on stations. On the roads he was most desperate, for he had not the lenient laws we have now, and he knew well that if taken with arms in his hands he would be hanged; and they hanged them by scores in those days at the old gaol in George Street - three, four, seven at a time - Monday after Monday. Many a desperate encounter took place, many were shot sooner than yield; civilians were murdered, and the police often wounded and killed, for they were plucky fellows, and always stood their ground, emulating each other in tact and courage. The mounted police were chosen from the regiments serving in the colony with a major commandant in Sydney, and lieutenants of detachments in districts over small parties of three or four mounted men, and one not mounted, including a sergeant or corporal, stationed at remote towns. I was a constant habit of theirs to start singly disguised, and stick to the trail of two or even three bushrangers till they took them. Numerous anecdotes were told of the wonderful deeds of some of these men; and their names are familiar as household words among the old colonists to this day. The ordinary police were foot police and parties of them under a chief constable stationed wherever a Court of Petty Sessions was held, in a village or by the roadside as deemed necessary; and were under orders of the magistrates, and these men also often did good service. A favourite dodge of the police, I remember was to disguise themselves as horse drivers and take a team along the roads'......online>

What might a bushranger have worn?

In 1830 when two elderly men on Sir John Jamison's estate were robbed, Jack Donohoe and his companion were supposed to have been the perpetrators. Later it was reported that one of them wore a blue jacket, light cord trousers, coloured waistcoat, half boots, white shirt, no neckerchief and a black hat. He was armed with a double barrelled pistol and three pairs of pistols fastened to a belt round his body under his jacket, and the other was dressed in a blue jacket, dark waistcoat and trousers, worn out half boots, white shirt, coloured neckerchief, and black hat

In 1833 an incident took place at Castle Forbes, the estate of James Mudie. Several desperate assigned servants (convicts) revolted after years of being ill nourished, poorly treated and punished repeatedly. They threatened Mudie's son-in-law, robbed the homestead and then took to the bush to join one of their cronies who had already absconded. When they robbed the house, they took with them new sets of clothing for each, hoping it was said, to disguise themselves and make their escape. Their own clothing was poor. Worn out shoes and probably thin, ragged smocks and trousers.

When a notice was placed in the newspaper soon afterwards, it was revealed what the five men had taken with them - John Poole wore white duck trousers; James Reilly wore a white shirt and duck trousers with a white jacket and straw hat; David Jones wore a white shirt, white trousers, duck frock and a straw hat; John Perry wore a white shirt, duck trousers, duck jacket and a straw hat, and another man, unidentified got away with a blue cloth jacket with yellow buttons and fustian trousers.  

Other clothing items that bushrangers may have worn:

Fustian jackets and trousers (a mixture of linen and cotton twill) was used for coats and jackets for everyday men's wear because of its hardwearing durability. Colours could range from white and buff to brown and bright blue or red

Neck 'kerchiefs were often cotton and worn during the day. 

Nankeen trousers were made from a kind of pale yellowish cloth, originally made at Nanjing from a yellow variety of cotton, but subsequently manufactured from ordinary cotton which was then dyed

Moleskin trousers and Jackets - made from brushed heavyweight cotton

Duck Trousers and jackets - Duck was a kind of waterproof canvas material

Shirts - Checked and red shirts, Regatta shirts, striped cotton shirts,

Crimean shirts (after 1856) were sometimes of grey wool and had a simple band instead of a collar. They were often worn outside the trousers

Guernsey frocks - a kind of smock used as a coverall

Pea Jacket - A pea coat , or pilot jacket was an outer coat usually of navy coloured wool

Monkey jackets - A monkey jacket was a waist length jacket tapering at the back to a point. Often worn by sailors

Cabbage Tree Hats - broad brim hat woven from palm leaves - often made by convicts

Forage Caps - Small cloth caps worn by soldiers

THE BUSHRANGING ACT

Twelve Years' Wanderings in the British Colonies. From 1835 to 1847 By J. C. Byrne

Excursions and Adventures in New South Wales With Pictures of Squatting and of Life in the Bush John Henderson