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In May
1844 the
inhabitants of the Stroud district were kept in a 'state
of excitement' for some time, fearing a visit from six
convicts who had made their escape from Newcastle Convict
Hospital. The men, two of whom were seamen, boarded the Brothers vessel
lying in Newcastle harbour on
21st April. The Brothers had just arrived from Sydney with a small
cargo of hardware and soft goods and only two of the crew was on board, so she
was easily taken by the escapees. They were seen
steering to the south however the wind changed, and they bore north.
Only having a small quantity of
provisions on board they landed at Sugar loaf Point, a narrow strip of low
sandy land separated from the interior by a succession of large lakes,
connected by impassable rivers.
Here they wandered about for eight
days without food, until they came upon a black woman in a canoe who paddled
towards them after they 'cooeed'. They told her they had been shipwrecked and
she agreed to take them to a cattle station six miles from Carrington where
they bailed up a stockman and robbed a hut.
When Captain King
of
Australian Agricultural Company
heard
of the escape from a native who galloped into Carrington
with the news, he immediately dispatched guards to out-stations and a party to proceed up the Myall River to
attempt to capture the escapees.
Nothing was seen of the
prisoners however and the Mounted Police under
Lieutenant Gall were then sent to the district. Although pursuit
parties were sent in two different directions, they also
failed to catch up with the bushrangers. The six men had
made their way to 'Bunderbot', a cattle station belonging
the the Company and bailed up all the inmates for several hours
before decamping with firearms, provisions, clothing and
horses.
Back in Carrington,
upon hearing of this, Captain King immediately set out
with two troopers of the Maitland Police and several other
well mounted citizens. A reward was offered and their
descriptions posted in the newspapers -
James Edwards
arrived on the
'Royal
Admiral in 1830. A native of Kent, he was a brass
founder by trade, 5ft 2 1/2" with a sallow complexion, brown hair, and dark
brown eyes. A tattoo of the moon adorned his right arm.
Henry Elgar arrived on
the
Waterloo in 1833. He hailed from Kent also and was 31 years of age. His
occupation was given as seaman and farm labourer. He was 5' 6 " with a fair
complexion, brown hair and hazel eyes.
Henry Hughes
arrived on the
Exmouth in 1831. He was 27 and was employed as an errand boy in
London. He was shorter than average age 4ft 5 in and had a ruddy fair and
freckled complexion and brown hair..
Samuel Ringwood arrived on the Henry Porcher to Van
Diemen's Land and the Moffatt to Sydney. He was 24 years of age and came from
Norwich where he had been employed as a groom. S. Ringwood was tattooed on his
left arm.
Buchanan Wilson arrived on the
Marquis of Huntley in 1830. He was 32
year of age and was born in Glasgow. He gave his occupation was farm boy and
weaver on the shipping indents.
Robert Whitehead
arrived on the
Lord Lyndoch
in 1838
and was 27 years of age with a fair ruddy and freckled complexion sandy
flaxen hair and light blue eyes. He had been a plastered and slater in Bath.
he had several tattoos and distinguishing marks - WSS MAY and woman, inside
lower right arm, half moon 7 stars W inside lower left arm, 7 dots on back of
left hand, blue ring on each finger of same, scar on back of fore and middle
finger of same, I am the Lord of all, outside right leg.
The pursuit party came upon the bushrangers twenty miles from 'Bunderbot'. The
six men were secured immediately and returned to the
Stroud lockup where they were examined before Captain P.P.
King R.N., and P.G. King, Esq., J.P., and fully committed
for robbery and being illegally at large with firearms.
Captain King generously rewarded the party who made the
capture with a gift of £30,
independent of the reward to be recovered under the
government regulations. From the fatigue the bushrangers
experienced since abandoning the vessel, one of them
became so ill that Capt. King kindly provided two horses
and a cart to take the whole of them to Raymond Terrace,
where they would go on board the steamer for Newcastle
under an escort of the mounted police.
'The men acknowledged that some of their party had been
in the bush before, which was very evident from the caution which had been
employed in defacing or removing everything, even the dung of their horses, by
which they might be traced, and the only fire they had made was carefully
covered over with soil and leaves; indeed, it was only the quick and practised
eye of the blacks that led the party to their encampment. Their horses they
had turned adrift about a quarter of a mile from their hiding place, and as
the traces of the feet were imperceptible, it was ten hours before they were
found, although the party was nearly the whole of that time within four
hundred yards of them' -
SH 13 May 1844
The six
bushrangers -
James Edwards per Royal Admiral; Henry Elgan per
Waterloo; Henry Hughes per Exmouth; Robert
Whitehead per Lord Lyndoch; Samuel Ringwood per
Moffatt and Buchanan Wilson per Marquis of Huntley, were later
sentenced to transportation for life to a penal settlement.
Buchanan Wilson, who took part in the infamous mutiny at
Norfolk Island in 1834 was sent to Van Diemen's Land for his part in the above
escape. He was executed there for robbery under arms in 1851.
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