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Sarah Ann Ward's family

18/8/2012

Marilyn Dietiker, a descendant of Thunderbolt's sister, Sarah Ann Ward, through her youngest child, Thomas Henry Edwards, attended a talk I recently gave and was able to provide me with certificates confirming his existence. I had been told about this child in the past but without primary source evidence I couldn't add the details to my website. My thanks to Marilyn for providing this information.
To access the certificates, either go to the Index or to Sarah Ann Ward and her family.

PS. More exciting news regarding my writing career. See Blog on my Carol Baxter website.

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Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal

28/11/2011

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An important component of the myth-debunking process is to determine the genesis and development of the relevant myths. I have been exploring many of the Thunderbolt myths with Dr David Andrew Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Australian History at the University of New England, for articles to be published in scholarly journals. For today’s blog post I thought I would explore one of the minor myths. This is the claim that when Fred Ward chose to settle in Mudgee in 1860 upon receipt of his ticket-of-leave (a colonial version of a parole pass), he went to stay with his sister Mrs Garbutt at Cooyal (or, as some say, his “mother” Mrs Garbutt).
As I make clear in my myth-debunking article Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal? (recently updated), the said Mrs Garbutt was neither Fred’s “sister” nor his “mother”. In fact, “Mrs Garbutt” didn’t come into existence until Fred’s nephew, John Garbutt – who had also received a ticket-of-leave to Mudgee – managed to woo and wed the widowed heiress of Cooyal inn and station, Mrs Elizabeth Blackman nee Aldridge.
So how did this erroneous claim develop? See Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal?

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Garbutt family

14/11/2011

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The website continues to grow larger! The decision to include all my back-up documentation on a website has proven an excellent choice because it allows me to add new information and documentation as it comes to light, and also allows me to alert you to these additions.
    Today's post links to three certificates that were sent to me by a lady who did some research for a Ward descendant. These certificates relate to children of Maria Garbutt (wife of James Dewson), who was the daughter of John Garbutt and Sarah Ann Ward, who was herself the sister of Frederick Ward aka Thunderbolt.
The certificates include:

     - Birth Certificate of Myallas Maud Dewson (1875)
     - Marriage Certificate of Frederick William Dewson (1897)
     - Marriage Certificate of John Herbert Dewson (1912)

Although poor in quality (the lady who sent them, Alice Jansen, only had photocopies), they show something rather surprising. Maria's sons listed her surname as Shepherd on their own marriage certificates. Shepherd was the surname of her short-lived stepfather, William Shepherd. Why would Maria's children list her by this surname? Why would Maria's children not list her by her actual surname Garbutt, the surname Maria used at the time of her marriage and on her children's birth certificates. One can only speculate that it might have been to hide the connection with her executed brother, John Garbutt.

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Fred Ward and the Garbutt brothers

12/10/2011

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Some Thunderbolt romantics like to describe the young horsebreaker Fred Ward as the innocent victim of a nefarious plot crafted in 1856 by a man named Pelican, a plot that led to his apprehension for horse-stealing and consequent servitude in Cockatoo Island. Others claim that Fred’s brother William (whom they call his “uncle” Harry) was the evildoer, and that Fred was “driven to crime” by the management of Tocal station because their decision to put profits over lives led to the death of his brother George Ward in 1854 (see Did the Death of Fred Ward’s brother spawn his life of crime?).
     In truth, Fred had an eye for a quick buck as well as a good horse, and he willingly joined forces with his con-man nephew, John Garbutt.
     Garbutt was a blond-haired, blue-eyed charmer who decided that horse-stealing was more lucrative than station work. After a Queensland warrant was put out for his arrest in 1855, he fled south to the Hunter Valley district where he committed four large-scale horse and cattle thefts. For his fifth bold plan, he enticed his Ward relatives to join him.
     In March 1856, Fred offered his services to assist in a cattle muster at Tocal station on the Paterson River, which was also New South Wales’ pre-eminent horse stud. A few weeks later some four dozen horses were stolen from Tocal and neighbouring Bellevue station. In the aftermath, the horses were hidden for around ten days at the nearby Lambs Valley farm of Fred’s brother William Ward. John Garbutt then decided to drive the stolen horses south to the markets at Windsor. Fred accompanied them, but he, Garbutt, and the horses’ brands were recognised.
     Fred and his nephews, John and James Garbutt, ended up at the brutal Cockatoo Island penal settlement. Fred’s two surviving brothers were fortunate enough to escape the law’s clutches: William Ward was committed but never brought to trial while Joshua went a-droving before charges were laid against him.
     Fred and his Garbutt nephews worked hard and behaved well so after serving only four years of their ten-year sentences they were granted the colonial equivalent of a parole pass to the Mudgee district. There the 26-year-old John Garbutt managed to charm – and marry – the 42 year-old widowed heiress of Cooyal inn and station. There, probably on the wedding day, Fred met his famed lover, Mary Ann Bugg.
     For one crime or another, the trio ended up back on Cockatoo Island. James Garbutt served the longest term on the island and struggled in the aftermath: drunkenness, petty thievery and, eventually, an inability to keep his pecker in his pants. Between 1879 and 1902, he served five gaol terms for “exposing his person” or “indecent assault”. Ironically, his abandoned daughters were arrested under the Industrial Schools Act in 1874 and admitted to the newly-established girls’ home on Biloela, the recently renamed Cockatoo Island. Taking a leaf from her great-uncle’s book, one of the girls escaped from the island a few years later.
     John Garbutt’s charmed life continued until 1862 when a tumble from a horse led to brain damage and soon afterwards another conviction for livestock theft. Although the Mudgee doctors had claimed that he was fit to stand trial, the Darlinghurst gaol authorities disagreed and shunted him off to the Parramatta Psychiatric Institution. There the doctors diagnosed a “delusional mania”. Medical reports noted that he expressed a constant terror of imaginary persons and particularly of “blackfellows”, that he would remain naked day and night wearing only a pair of stockings and would hide under a bed or in a corner if people approached him, that he was frequently sullen and morose, refusing to speak to those about him and even refusing food which had to be administered forcibly.
     Garbutt made a remarkable recovery in the early 1870s and was eventually released to the care of his wife, but soon drifted north to Queensland. In September 1873 at Taroom near Roma, Queensland, he murdered a travelling companion, Thomas Conroy, by axing the man while he slept and burning the body. Garbutt was executed at Brisbane Gaol on 10 March 1874. No one realised that the “Taroom murderer” was Captain Thunderbolt’s nephew, let alone that he was the man whose bold plans first enticed the young horsebreaker onto the criminal footpath.
     James and John Garbutt were the sons of Fred’s elder sister, Sarah Ann Ward. Some have claimed that Sarah was Fred’s mother (see Was Frederick Ward the son of his “sister”?), however these claims are easily disproved – fortunately for Sarah. If she had indeed been Fred’s mother, she would have managed the ignoble achievement of giving birth to a gunned-down bushranger, a rapist, and an executed murderer. What a hat-trick!

For detailed information about Fred Ward’s pre-bushranging days, see Timeline: 1835-1863

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Frederick Ward's birth

7/10/2011

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Born in Wilberforce – or maybe Windsor. Born in 1833 or 1834 or 1835 or 1836 or even 1839. Born to Michael and Sophia Ward … or to his “sister” … or to a military officer and “adopted” by the Ward family. How does the ordinary reader know which claim is true? The answer lies in my previous posts: ignore the claims and examine the evidence.
    When we do so, we discover that the evidence clearly shows that Fred was born in 1835 (see When was Frederick Ward born?). It also shows that he was born either at Windsor, New South Wales, or around the time his parents moved from Wilberforce to Windsor leading him to believe that he was born in Windsor (see Where was Frederick Ward born?).
    The evidence also shows that Fred was the youngest child of convict Michael Ward (aka Hanley Thompson Ward) and his wife Sophia (see Who were Frederick Ward's parents?).
    Yet one family historian, Barry Sinclair, claims that Fred was not the son of Michael and Sophia Ward, but of their daughter Sarah Ann Ward (see Sinclair's Credentials). Sinclair’s only “evidence” – as he admits – is that Mary Ann Bugg listed Fred’s age as 28 on their daughter’s birth certificate in 1861, leading him to conclude that Fred could not have been Michael and Sophia Ward’s child because they gave birth to another child in 1833.
    Significantly, however, Fred did not himself register his daughter’s birth because he was in gaol at that time. In fact in November 1861, two weeks after his daughter’s birth, he told the Darlinghurst Gaol authorities that he was aged “26”, not 28 – information from the horse’s own mouth, so to speak. This indicates that he was actually born around 1835, not 1833, as the other information provided by himself and his parents confirms. So, not only is there no evidence showing that Fred was Sarah Ann Ward’s son, there is irrefutable evidence showing that he wasn’t Sarah’s son (see Was Frederick Ward the son of his "sister"?).
    Strangely, after the obvious conclusions are mentioned, some people say “so it is your belief that Fred was the son of Michael and Sophia Ward” or “so it is your opinion that Fred Ward was not the son of Sarah Ann Ward”. It is important to note that a person can “believe” in a religion or have an “opinion” about a political party and that they can change their belief or opinion at any time. However, to state the blindingly obvious, a person cannot be born at two different times to two different sets of parents. Nor does that person's birth or parentage change simply because one person wants to believe differently.
    Beliefs and opinions are irrelevant. All that matters is the evidence. And the evidence clearly shows that Fred Ward was born in 1835 to Michael and Sophia Ward around the time that they moved from Wilberforce to Windsor.
    But don’t just believe this blog post. This website is all about evidence and historical transparency. Check out the evidence by reading the hyperlinked myth-debunking articles which contain copies of relevant original records. Determine the truth for yourself.

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Sarah Ann Ward's family

Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal

Garbutt family

Fred Ward and the Garbutt brothers

Frederick Ward's birth

'Bolt & Bugg Blog

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