Unfortunately Shayne Cantly will not have Empty Grave: the Thunderbolt mystery ready for the Thunderbolt Festival this weekend. It was going to be down to the wire anyway, but to make matters worse he caught influenza a couple of weeks ago, just before the Uralla film shoot, and instead of recovering in bed, he was outside for those four days filming in inclement weather. He nearly ended up with pneumonia! With new information having come to light as well, he's decided to take the pressure off and focus on producing the best documentary he can rather than sticking to the Thunderbolt Festival launchdate. But he will still be at the Festival with products to sell. For further information, go to Empty Grave.
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When researching true historical stories, it is always exciting to find information that no one has previously found. I made many such discoveries while researching Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady and today's post is about one such find.
Most researchers are unaware that many "Justice's Notebooks" have survived and contain transcripts of the trials conducted before them. Having determined the name of Fred's trial judge from newspaper reports, I accessed the listing of surviving judge's notebooks stored at State Records of New South Wales at Kingswood (near Penrith) and held my breath as I flicked down the alphabetical listing until I came to the letter "C". Yes, Justice Cheeke was listed. Then I looked down the list to see if it mentioned Quarter Sessions trials (it did), then the relevant time period (it did), so I ordered the volume and waited with every finger and toe crossed. Because sometimes the judges used their own shorthand script making their notes unintelligible. Or sometimes they took notes so quickly that their scrawl was unreadable. When I opened the notebook and turned to the correct date I found page after page of notes relating to Fred's trial. Justice Cheeke's handwriting was bad but at least he hadn't written in shorthand. So I paid for the expensive photocopies and took them home and began transcribing. It took a number of passes and even then there were words I couldn't decipher, but what was written was very interesting indeed (see Trial Transcript 1856). Until I made this discovery, Thunderbolt researchers had seen only the newspaper reports of Fred's hearings and trial which provided an abbreviated account of the proceedings (see Trial Reports 1856). Not only did the transcript provide detailed information about the crime that led to his first Cockatoo Island incarceration (which is covered in Chapters 8 and 9 of Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady), it assists in debunking some of the Thunderbolt myths. For example, it helps determine Fred Ward's true parentage (see Who were Fred Ward's parents?). It helps overturn the myth that Fred was retaliating against Tocal station for the death of his brother George (see Did the death of Fred Ward's brother spawn his life in crime?). And it overturns the myth that he was an innocent victim of his brother William's duplicity. In fact, William risked his own legal safety in attempting to defend his brother. For more detailed information about the events of that important year, see Timeline: 1835-1863. A book written for a major publisher like Allen & Unwin goes through many edit stages and sometimes the respective editor says “chapter too long: consider deleting this section”. I knew the copy-editor was right when she suggested deleting the following paragraphs from the long chapter dealing with the Cockatoo Island riots, but I did so with great regret. So I am delighted to be able to include the deleted section in this blog post.
Those who have read Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady will know that Chapter 14 covered Fred’s return to Cockatoo Island in 1861 through to the riots in 1863. The following was originally included near the end of that chapter. ___________________________ How should we deal with the problem of prison discipline? asked the newspapers in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in the aftermath of the Cockatoo Island riots. Melbourne’s Argus reported that recent Irish attempts to rehabilitate prisoners were proving successful and should serve as a guide. Other suggestions were less enlightened. ‘The lash,’ was the most common. ‘Some weak-minded people pity the prisoners,’ wrote a Brisbane Courier correspondent, ‘and say that the desperation of their case ought to be some palliation, but flogging is the only resort in cases like these.’ One Sydney Morning Herald letter-writer remarked that the government continued to ignore the maxim that prevention was better than cure. The study of phrenology* had determined that criminals had badly-shaped craniums, the correspondent reminded the Herald’s readers, and that their vicious propensities were evident by the age of seven. So the government should fund phrenologists to examine the heads of all seven year-olds and, if they found criminal propensities, the children should be smothered. ‘It might be somewhat difficult to carry into practice on account of angry parents and weeping mothers,’ the facetious correspondent added, ‘but it is not one whit more absurd than the theories now endeavouring to be carried out at Cockatoo.’ *Phrenology is the belief that skull configurations reflected mental acuities and character traits, and that these could be mapped and used to assess future behaviour. ___________________________ Great stuff, wasn't it. One of the joys of researching true stories is finding delightfully facetious remarks -- or those reflecting a biting wit. When researching another book I came across a Punch observation about capital punishment that I think of whenever I hear people advocating an eye-for-an-eye solution as a punishment for murderers: "We hire the hangman to preach the sanctity of human life." A wonderful review of Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady has just been published in the Good Reading magazine. For those who don't know the publication, it is a magazine for book-lovers so authors and publishers always hope for a good review.
"Carol Baxter is doing for Australian history what our athletes are doing for sport: she's making it exciting, interesting and world class ... America has its wild west, yet Australia, just as wild and amoral, has always been portrayed by writers as grey and insipid. But Baxter's vivid descriptions and exciting narrative are set to change all that ... It is in her description of Thunderbolt's 'companion' and chief lieutenant, Mary Ann Bugg, that Baxter excels, giving us the most intense understanding of life outside civil colonial society ... This beautifully told story may change the way we see our history." As my publicist at Allen & Unwin said: "I can see the future cover quote now"! Thank you to the reviewer Alan Gold for understanding and appreciating my unique style of writing history. More exciting news. The trailer for Empty Grave: the Thunderbolt mystery is now up on Shayne Cantly's Thunderbolt website. It's looks so dramatic! Have a look for yourself. Anyone interested in purchasing a copy of the DVD can do so via Shayne's website as well.
Rumours seem to be spreading that I will be attending the Thunderbolt Festival on 28-30 October 2011 (wow, to be so "famous" that rumours spread of my movements!).
I am afraid that isn't the case. If you look at my Talks schedule, you will see that I am giving an Author Talk in Sydney on 28 October. You will also see that I am giving talks at Wollongong and Nowra two weeks later and at Bathurst and Mudgee the week after that. The south coast talks are booked in because I am heading to Jervis Bay for a family wedding at 11.11 on 11/11/11 (I hear there are many); I would have organised a talk or two for the trip home as well but my offspring protested that this would cut into their precious weekends! If I was coming up to the Thunderbolt Festival, you would be able to track my movements via a schedule of author talks up the New England Highway and back. But I will be with you in spirit. I hope it is loads of fun! What really happened to Fred Ward on Cockatoo Island? What privations or punishments did he suffer that led him to take the drastic step of escaping from Cockatoo Island and becoming the legendary Captain Thunderbolt?
Many claims have been made about his servitude there, particularly regarding his punishments. Some say that he received frequent and extended incarcerations in the solitary confinement cells. Some say that he was flogged. One book even suggests that he was raped! So what was Cockatoo Island really like? The nights were the worst. The men were locked up for twelve hours in five wards containing two tiers of bunks on either side of a central passage. Two wards had 88 bunks each while the other three had around 50 bunks each. The bunks were enclosed coffin-like tubes with openings only on the ends that faced the central passage, so the men had to crawl in on their hands and knees. The bunks were designed that way to prevent the “unnatural” activities that occurred in the dark when dozens of men were confined in one room. The ventilation was inadequate, comprising only four small windows in each ward, two on either side, made worse by the fact that the men were allowed to smoke in the wards. The men themselves stank. Bathing regulations were not enforced. Once a week the men were allowed to bathe in the seawater-filled dock, if they chose. Other than that, there were four or five tubs in the prisoners’ yard which were supposedly filled with clean water each day but in fact contained recycled kitchen water every so often. For the first few men to reach the tubs after they were filled, it wasn’t too dirty, but thereafter …! Some men never bathed. By far the worst stench came from the open tubs inside the wards that served as “necessaries” for the twelve hours the men were locked away. The stench was so bad that even the sentries remained as far from the windows as possible. They could often see faces at the windows gasping for fresh air, particularly on hot summer nights. The nights were made even more unbearable by the vermin. The bedding was never washed unless prisoners paid for it to be laundered. The wards were fumigated a few times a year, but this reduced the population of bed-lice and other bugs for only a couple of weeks. The men were shaved twice a week and their hair cropped but it didn’t eradicate the head lice. One witness told the Parliamentary committee that the men often looked more haggard in the morning than after a full day’s work. For five-and-half days a week the men worked hard at their duties yet their rations included only breakfast and dinner (the midday meal). After their day’s work ended, they had nothing to eat unless they had saved bread from a previous meal or used the money they earned by exceeding their work quota to purchase bread. It was a system designed to make the prisoners work hard, and they received indulgences if they did so. Every full day worked took that day plus another half-day off their sentence; that is, for six days of work they received nine days off their sentence. Those who continued to work hard and behave well were eligible for a ticket-of-leave, the colonial equivalent of a parole pass. However every day in the solitary confinement cells – the usual punishment for minor infractions – added another full day to their sentence. Effectively, each day in the cells (which meant they could not work) added two-and-a-half days to their sentence. That was the world of Cockatoo Island servitude during Fred Ward’s first stint there between 1856 and 1860 under what became known as the “Old Act” regulations. The system worked. The “Old Act” men rarely attempted to escape from the island because they had a legal way of reducing their sentences. When Fred Ward returned in 1861, however, he was a “New Act” man. The “New Act” regulations came into force for those convicted from 1 July 1858 onwards. They abolished the ticket-of-leave system. With no “rewards” available for hard work and good behaviour, Fred took his future into his own hands … ! For detailed information about Fred's punishments, see What punishments did Fred Ward receive on Cockatoo Island? Other references to his servitude are found in Timelines: 1835-1863 Sources: Anyone interested in a detailed description of the conditions on Cockatoo Island can read the reports from the Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry in 1858 (Report from the Board of Inquiry into the management of Cockatoo Island, 1858, New South Wales Legislative Council, 1858 [ML Q365.99441/2]), and 1861 (‘Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on the Public Prisons in Sydney and Cumberland’ in Votes & Proceedings of the NSW Legislative Assembly, 1861, Vol.1, pp.1063-1310), and 1863 (‘Penal Establishments’ in Votes & Proceedings of the NSW Legislative Assembly, 1863-64, Vol.2, pp.919-20). UnfNo one has yet written about the Cockatoo Island penal establishment in any depth. “Regarding Captain Thunderbolt only two things are not in dispute: the quality of the horses that he stole and rode, and the fact that he never killed or injured those whom he robbed or who went in pursuit of him. Everything else is the subject of controversy.”
So wrote Stephan Williams in the introduction to his book A Ghost called Thunderbolt (1987). Of course, the fact that no one was injured was more by luck – or rotten marksmanship – than intention, despite Williams’ intimation. When bullets buzz around, as they did on at least five occasions when Fred was holding a gun (see Did Fred Ward shoot at the police?), they have a tendency to hit people. Fred, his robbery victims, and the police were fortunate. But Williams was correct in his suggestion that controversy surrounds Thunderbolt – even though Williams himself was partly responsible for perpetuating it. A better understanding of how to weight primary-source and secondary-source information would have nipped some of it in the bud. Go to Review of Stephan Williams’ A Ghost called Thunderbolt. The words of the week seem to be enthralling and engrossing, according to reviews of Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady published during the last week. There was a great one by a blog reviewer (see Out of Shadows) and a lengthy article in the Maitland Mercury, among other items added to the Reviews page.
During a radio interview on 3MDR (Victoria) yesterday, the interviewer, who goes under the grand name of "The Magnate", commented that the book was so intriguing it made him want to find out more about Thunderbolt and Mary Ann, and that he appreciated being able to access the back-up website. It's nice to hear that all my hard work is not in vain!!! With my previous books, my research had been packed up long before the book reached the bookshops. I was already half-way through researching/writing Breaking the Bank when An Irresistible Temptation was published. However it will be a long time before my Thunderbolt research is packed away (people keep asking me what I am working on next but there is no "next" yet). Meanwhile I will keep blogging and keep adding to the other web-pages – or, in the case of the Home page, abbreviating it and moving information elsewhere as it was too long. Enjoy! Exciting news. Shayne Cantly of Evolution Studios has been working on a docu-drama called Empty Grave: The Thunderbolt Mystery – ooooh!! – and his website is now up and running (see Empty Grave). He is intending to launch the DVD at the Thunderbolt Festival at Uralla on 29 October 2011 so you can purchase copies there or via his website. Hopefully it will screen on TV in the next few months.
Dubbed the "docu-drama that explores both sides of the story", it includes talking heads, dramatic re-enactments and other exciting features, and allows you, the viewer, to determine the truth for yourself. Whose body lies in Thunderbolt's Uralla grave? Or is the grave empty...? |
'Bolt & Bugg BlogGreetings all. It's time to blog about Fred and Mary Ann. My website is now so large it is almost overwhelming so I decided to add a blog to make it easier for users and also interractive. Additionally, much is happening and more is to come ... so stayed tuned. You can use the RSS Feed below to be alerted when new posts are added. Enjoy! Archives
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