Kali Bierens' The Captains Lady
Kali Bierens’ thesis The Captain’s Lady: Mary Ann Bugg, which was submitted for her Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Aboriginal Studies at the University of Tasmania (2008), is being promoted as an authoritative work on Mary Ann Bugg. The thesis is too long to exhaustively examine, however as some of Bierens’ claims regarding Mary Ann are either factually important or folklorically relevant, it is worth examining these in more detail. You can access the full thesis online; go to The Captain’s Lady: Mary Ann Bugg.
Bierens' thesis is not only interesting to read, it is an important addition to any Thunderbolt library. Her use of her own family history is both engaging and instructive, although it also demonstrates how myth and tradition have clouded the facts regarding the Thunderbolt legend.
Mary Ann’s birth
Bierens reports that Mary Ann was the daughter of James Bugg and his Aboriginal wife Charlotte, and that Charlotte was the mother of all of James Bugg’s eight children. She mentions other Thunderbolt/Mary Ann writings that refer to Mary Ann’s mother as a woman named Betty or Elizabeth, but quotes Charlotte’s death certificate as the source of her information about Mary Ann’s parentage (pp.8-9).
That Bierens identified Mary Ann’s mother as Bugg’s Aboriginal wife Charlotte and noted that Charlotte gave birth to all eight Bugg children is not only accurate but important. Most Thunderbolt writers have indeed identified Mary Ann’s mother incorrectly, or have incorrectly listed the number of children she bore, with some claiming that their information came from Aboriginal oral history and should therefore be relied upon. Bierens’ thesis plays an important role in helping to set the record straight.
Mary Ann moves to Cooyal
Under the heading “Mary Ann Bugg: The Making of a Legend” (pp.16-18), Bierens discusses Fred and Mary Ann’s meeting at Cooyal near Mudgee. She begins by stating that after Mary Ann married Baker in 1848, the couple “left the district for Mudgee where they obtained work at Cooyal Station, owned by Sarah Garbutt, the mother of Fred Ward.” Her source for this information is listed as a personal communication with Barry Sinclair in 2008.
The historical evidence reveals differently. Cooyal Station was not owned by Sarah Garbutt (the sister not the “mother” of Fred Ward), nor was it owned by any member of the Garbutt family prior to 1860. While Fred’s sister Sarah had indeed married Hawkesbury convict John Garbutt in 1835, she abandoned him around 1837 for William Shepherd, and married Shepherd after Garbutt's death in 1839. After she and Shepherd separated in the early 1840s, she took up with Edward Sackville Edwards, moving with him to the Warialda district where they remained for the next two decades (see Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal?).
Cooyal station was actually owned by the Blackman family. Henry James Blackman held it until his death in 1855 when his wife Elizabeth Blackman inherited the property. Elizabeth remained the owner until she married Sarah Garbutt’s son John in December 1860. At that point – and no earlier – the Blackman property became the Garbutt property (see Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal?). Clearly Mary Ann could not have gone to "Cooyal Station owned by Sarah Garbutt" after her marriage in 1848.
Mary Ann meets Fred Ward
On page 17, Bierens writes that “after serving four years of his sentence Ward was released on a ticket-of-leave … [to] Mudgee. He returned to work at Cooyal Station where Mary Ann, now a widow from her first marriage, continued to live.” Bierens, however, provides no source-references for this information.
No evidence has been found to suggest that Ward visited the Mudgee district prior to his conviction in 1856. Indeed, those granted the indulgence of a ticket-of-leave were not supposed to return to familiar territory. Moreover, there is no evidence to suggest that Fred actually worked at Cooyal station until after Elizabeth Blackman married his nephew John Garbutt in December 1860 (see Timeline: 1835-1863).
Nor was Mary Ann “a widow from her first marriage” when Fred arrived in Mudgee in 1860. Not only is there no evidence to show that Edmund Baker had died, the evidence shows that Mary Ann had abandoned him (or been abandoned by him) a decade previously and had had two other partners in the intervening years (see Mary Ann Bugg’s Family).
Escape from Cockatoo Island
Bierens writes that, in the aftermath of Fred and Mary Ann’s meeting, Mary Ann returned home to the Gloucester district (p.18):
When Mary Ann returned to the Gloucester region to take up work as a domestic at Dungog, Ward joined her and they were soon married (CSC Nicholls 1866). Mary Ann gave birth to their first child, Marina Emily, in October 1861. In September 1861 Ward borrowed a horse and rode to Mudgee Police Station to report as required. Arriving late he discovered that his ticket-of-leave had been revoked ... and he was returned to Cockatoo Island.
Bierens is saying that Mary Ann worked as a domestic at Dungog while Fred was out on a ticket-of-leave, that she and Fred were married after he joined her there, and that Fred was later returned to Cockatoo Island. Her source for the employment information is listed as "CSC Nicholls 1866". But that is not what Nicholls said.
In 1866 Magistrate Thomas Nicholls was asked to report on Mary Ann’s case in response to questions raised in Parliament about her vagrancy conviction. Nicholls, who had known the Bugg family for 30 years, was able to provide additional information about Mary Ann’s background from his own personal knowledge. In his report (click here for full report), Nicholls did not state that Mary Ann worked as a domestic at Dungog prior to Fred’s return to Cockatoo Island, he stated that she worked there in the aftermath, as shown below:
Bierens' thesis is not only interesting to read, it is an important addition to any Thunderbolt library. Her use of her own family history is both engaging and instructive, although it also demonstrates how myth and tradition have clouded the facts regarding the Thunderbolt legend.
Mary Ann’s birth
Bierens reports that Mary Ann was the daughter of James Bugg and his Aboriginal wife Charlotte, and that Charlotte was the mother of all of James Bugg’s eight children. She mentions other Thunderbolt/Mary Ann writings that refer to Mary Ann’s mother as a woman named Betty or Elizabeth, but quotes Charlotte’s death certificate as the source of her information about Mary Ann’s parentage (pp.8-9).
That Bierens identified Mary Ann’s mother as Bugg’s Aboriginal wife Charlotte and noted that Charlotte gave birth to all eight Bugg children is not only accurate but important. Most Thunderbolt writers have indeed identified Mary Ann’s mother incorrectly, or have incorrectly listed the number of children she bore, with some claiming that their information came from Aboriginal oral history and should therefore be relied upon. Bierens’ thesis plays an important role in helping to set the record straight.
Mary Ann moves to Cooyal
Under the heading “Mary Ann Bugg: The Making of a Legend” (pp.16-18), Bierens discusses Fred and Mary Ann’s meeting at Cooyal near Mudgee. She begins by stating that after Mary Ann married Baker in 1848, the couple “left the district for Mudgee where they obtained work at Cooyal Station, owned by Sarah Garbutt, the mother of Fred Ward.” Her source for this information is listed as a personal communication with Barry Sinclair in 2008.
The historical evidence reveals differently. Cooyal Station was not owned by Sarah Garbutt (the sister not the “mother” of Fred Ward), nor was it owned by any member of the Garbutt family prior to 1860. While Fred’s sister Sarah had indeed married Hawkesbury convict John Garbutt in 1835, she abandoned him around 1837 for William Shepherd, and married Shepherd after Garbutt's death in 1839. After she and Shepherd separated in the early 1840s, she took up with Edward Sackville Edwards, moving with him to the Warialda district where they remained for the next two decades (see Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal?).
Cooyal station was actually owned by the Blackman family. Henry James Blackman held it until his death in 1855 when his wife Elizabeth Blackman inherited the property. Elizabeth remained the owner until she married Sarah Garbutt’s son John in December 1860. At that point – and no earlier – the Blackman property became the Garbutt property (see Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal?). Clearly Mary Ann could not have gone to "Cooyal Station owned by Sarah Garbutt" after her marriage in 1848.
Mary Ann meets Fred Ward
On page 17, Bierens writes that “after serving four years of his sentence Ward was released on a ticket-of-leave … [to] Mudgee. He returned to work at Cooyal Station where Mary Ann, now a widow from her first marriage, continued to live.” Bierens, however, provides no source-references for this information.
No evidence has been found to suggest that Ward visited the Mudgee district prior to his conviction in 1856. Indeed, those granted the indulgence of a ticket-of-leave were not supposed to return to familiar territory. Moreover, there is no evidence to suggest that Fred actually worked at Cooyal station until after Elizabeth Blackman married his nephew John Garbutt in December 1860 (see Timeline: 1835-1863).
Nor was Mary Ann “a widow from her first marriage” when Fred arrived in Mudgee in 1860. Not only is there no evidence to show that Edmund Baker had died, the evidence shows that Mary Ann had abandoned him (or been abandoned by him) a decade previously and had had two other partners in the intervening years (see Mary Ann Bugg’s Family).
Escape from Cockatoo Island
Bierens writes that, in the aftermath of Fred and Mary Ann’s meeting, Mary Ann returned home to the Gloucester district (p.18):
When Mary Ann returned to the Gloucester region to take up work as a domestic at Dungog, Ward joined her and they were soon married (CSC Nicholls 1866). Mary Ann gave birth to their first child, Marina Emily, in October 1861. In September 1861 Ward borrowed a horse and rode to Mudgee Police Station to report as required. Arriving late he discovered that his ticket-of-leave had been revoked ... and he was returned to Cockatoo Island.
Bierens is saying that Mary Ann worked as a domestic at Dungog while Fred was out on a ticket-of-leave, that she and Fred were married after he joined her there, and that Fred was later returned to Cockatoo Island. Her source for the employment information is listed as "CSC Nicholls 1866". But that is not what Nicholls said.
In 1866 Magistrate Thomas Nicholls was asked to report on Mary Ann’s case in response to questions raised in Parliament about her vagrancy conviction. Nicholls, who had known the Bugg family for 30 years, was able to provide additional information about Mary Ann’s background from his own personal knowledge. In his report (click here for full report), Nicholls did not state that Mary Ann worked as a domestic at Dungog prior to Fred’s return to Cockatoo Island, he stated that she worked there in the aftermath, as shown below:
Nicholls’ statement is extremely important as it reveals that Mary Ann was not in Sydney during Fred’s second period of incarceration on Cockatoo Island. Instead she remained in Dungog until after Fred escaped and rejoined her there. That Mary Ann remained in Dungog is also supported by two contemporary newspaper reports (see Did Mary Ann Bugg help Fred Ward escape from Cockatoo Island?).
Bierens follows with an account of Ward and Britten’s escape from Cockatoo Island, reporting (p.18): “There is no doubt that the duo [Ward and Britten] were greatly assisted by Mary Ann in their daring escape”. She adds that “all recent accounts credit Mary Ann with rescuing the prisoners as do contemporary accounts”. However, while she cites a number of secondary-source publications to support her claim regarding “all recent accounts”, she provides no source-references to support her claim regarding the “contemporary accounts”. No doubt this is because the earliest suggestion that Mary Ann was involved in Fred’s escape comes not from a contemporary account but from an anecdotal report published in a newspaper in 1927, sixty years after the event.
Bierens concludes the section by stating: “On the night of their escape, Mary Ann stood on the foreshore with a lantern to mark a safe site for the men to come ashore. She then supplied the prisoners with provisions and horses and they headed north to the Hunter Valley.” Bierens again provides no source-references to substantiate this statement.
The death of Louisa Mason in 1867
Bierens covers this subject on pages 41 to 45 under the heading "Mary Ann’s Last Days". She begins the section by writing (p.40): “Mary Ann was now gravely ill with pneumonia”, although she includes no substantiating source-references. She then says that:
Reports soon circulated that Thunderbolt had carried off another ‘half-caste girl’ from a settler near Scone, known locally as ‘Cranky Bob’ … Some writers have used this incident as evidence of Ward’s infidelity. However most recent historians agree that Mary Ann was seriously ill. It is highly likely that Thunderbolt was securing the assistance of another Aboriginal woman to care for his sick wife.
Bierens is evidently concluding here that there were indeed two women, and that Thunderbolt had taken the "half-caste" girl from Cranky Bob to assist his sick wife.
Bierens then discusses the death of the woman at Mrs Bradford’s. She notes that some newspaper reports referred to the dead woman as “Louisa Mason, commonly known as Yellow Long”, adding that “Some historians have argued that ... the deceased ‘… was in fact Mary Ann, the wife of Ward …’ who had been identified by one of her many aliases”. She adds that, following the woman’s death, there were no further reports of Fred with a female accomplice and that the alias Yellow Long “fits Mary Ann’s complexion”. Accordingly, she concludes:
Rev White’s eye witness account only referred to her as “ ‘… the woman who usually accompanied Thunderbolt”. If this description is taken to be correct then the deceased woman was certainly Mary Ann, who had remained loyal to her husband until death.”
Unfortunately, there are three problems with Bierens’ account of this incident, as follows:
1. Bierens fails to mention that the “half-caste” woman Fred took from “Cranky Bob” was actually named by the local press as Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long. She does reveal, though, that the local magistrate identified the dead woman in his inquest report as Louisa Mason. That being the case, if there were indeed two women, as Bierens says was “highly likely” (one brought to assist the other), then the dead woman (Louisa Mason) was clearly the woman Fred “carried off” (Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long) rather than Mary Ann Bugg.
That this woman Louisa Mason did exist there can be no doubt. As Louisa Jane Clark she was married just a few months previously to Robert Michael Mason of Rouchel near Scone – that is, “Cranky Bob … a settler near Scone”. Moreover, no further references to this Louisa Mason have been found in the aftermath of the documented death of “Louisa Mason”. Logic alone would indicate that the woman Fred carried off was the woman who died.
2. As support for her argument that Thunderbolt probably carried off the “half-caste” woman to help his dying wife, Bierens notes in footnote 14:
A baptism of a fourth child to a Mary Ann and Frederick Wordsworth Ward was registered in Tamworth August 1868. Mary Ann may have given birth to her fourth child Frederick Wordsworth Junior late in 1867 with the assistance of the Aboriginal midwife from Scone. The birth of her fourth child may have contributed to her death (see NSW Register of Baptisms, V 1868 1400 161).
Yet the actual baptism certificate quoted by Bierens – that is “NSW Register of Baptisms, V 1868 1400 161” (click here to see certificate) – shows that Fred and Mary Ann’s son Frederick Wordsworth Ward junior was not only baptised in August 1868, but was born in August 1868, nine months after the woman “Louisa Mason” died.
Clearly, we have two choices here. Either:
a. Mary Ann Bugg died as Louisa Mason in November 1867 and someone else (who by an astonishing coincidence also bore the name Mary Ann Baker/Ward and was the "wife" of Frederick Wordsworth Ward Snr) gave birth to Frederick Wordsworth Ward Jnr in August 1868; or
b. Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long (the absconded wife of Robert Michael Mason aka Cranky Bob) died in November 1867 – as both the local press and inquest report announced – and Mary Ann Bugg/Baker/Ward gave birth to Frederick Wordsworth Ward Jnr in August 1868.
Logic again provides the answer.
3. Bierens refers to “Rev White’s eye witness account” as being important in determining that the woman who died in 1867 was Mary Ann Bugg. However Bierens has confused two people with the surname White who were involved in this important incident. Although Rev White did attend Louisa Mason’s deathbed, the report mentioning “the woman who usually accompanied Thunderbolt” was written by Parliamentarian James White, the local member for the district, in an official complaint about the police’s failure to respond to reported Thunderbolt sightings in the district. James White was one of the Parliamentarians who had supported Mary Ann when her vagrancy conviction was raised in Parliament in 1866, so he well knew that Thunderbolt had a “half-caste” paramour. However the dead woman was not named in this official correspondence, merely referred to as a “half-caste”, so White was probably unaware that the local magistrate had identified her as Louisa Mason. His conclusion that the dead woman was “the woman who usually accompanied Thunderbolt” was almost certainly an assumption based on the references to the dead woman as a “half-caste”, rather than any particular knowledge of her identity (see Did Mary Ann Bugg die in 1867?).
Presumably James White was also unaware of the press’ reports that Mary Ann was residing up at Scone, north-east of Muswellbrook, with the police following her in the hope of stumbling across Thunderbolt’s hide-out, or that the press had reported that Fred was actually hiding out south-west of Muswellbrook with his new “half-caste” mistress named Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long. Evidently Louisa Mason was not as hardy as Mary Ann, who had already survived four years in the bush. Louisa contracted pneumonia from exposure and died soon after joining Fred, whereas the resilient Mary Ann lived for another four decades and bore many more children (see When did Mary Ann Bugg die?).
Conclusion
While most current writers have indeed stated that Mary Ann died in 1867 under the name Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long, contemporary writers were well aware that Louisa Mason and Mary Ann Bugg were two different women (see Did Mary Ann Bugg die in 1867?). The notion that Louisa and Mary Ann were the same person did not surface until the twentieth century when it was published in a bushranging history in 1901. Later historians simply copied this claim, or copied other historians who had copied this claim, rather than returning to the original records and determining the truth for themselves.
In her thesis, Bierens has a tendency to work on the basis of numbers, that the more authors/researchers who state something to be a fact, the more likely it is to be a fact. But this is simply a reflection of historians’ tendency to repeat each other rather than a guide to the accuracy of their research.
Unfortunately, what let Bierens down in producing this important piece of historical research was her uncritical reliance on the work of other Thunderbolt researchers and writers who had utterly confused fact and legend and had misread or manipulated the evidence to suit their own agendas.
Bierens follows with an account of Ward and Britten’s escape from Cockatoo Island, reporting (p.18): “There is no doubt that the duo [Ward and Britten] were greatly assisted by Mary Ann in their daring escape”. She adds that “all recent accounts credit Mary Ann with rescuing the prisoners as do contemporary accounts”. However, while she cites a number of secondary-source publications to support her claim regarding “all recent accounts”, she provides no source-references to support her claim regarding the “contemporary accounts”. No doubt this is because the earliest suggestion that Mary Ann was involved in Fred’s escape comes not from a contemporary account but from an anecdotal report published in a newspaper in 1927, sixty years after the event.
Bierens concludes the section by stating: “On the night of their escape, Mary Ann stood on the foreshore with a lantern to mark a safe site for the men to come ashore. She then supplied the prisoners with provisions and horses and they headed north to the Hunter Valley.” Bierens again provides no source-references to substantiate this statement.
The death of Louisa Mason in 1867
Bierens covers this subject on pages 41 to 45 under the heading "Mary Ann’s Last Days". She begins the section by writing (p.40): “Mary Ann was now gravely ill with pneumonia”, although she includes no substantiating source-references. She then says that:
Reports soon circulated that Thunderbolt had carried off another ‘half-caste girl’ from a settler near Scone, known locally as ‘Cranky Bob’ … Some writers have used this incident as evidence of Ward’s infidelity. However most recent historians agree that Mary Ann was seriously ill. It is highly likely that Thunderbolt was securing the assistance of another Aboriginal woman to care for his sick wife.
Bierens is evidently concluding here that there were indeed two women, and that Thunderbolt had taken the "half-caste" girl from Cranky Bob to assist his sick wife.
Bierens then discusses the death of the woman at Mrs Bradford’s. She notes that some newspaper reports referred to the dead woman as “Louisa Mason, commonly known as Yellow Long”, adding that “Some historians have argued that ... the deceased ‘… was in fact Mary Ann, the wife of Ward …’ who had been identified by one of her many aliases”. She adds that, following the woman’s death, there were no further reports of Fred with a female accomplice and that the alias Yellow Long “fits Mary Ann’s complexion”. Accordingly, she concludes:
Rev White’s eye witness account only referred to her as “ ‘… the woman who usually accompanied Thunderbolt”. If this description is taken to be correct then the deceased woman was certainly Mary Ann, who had remained loyal to her husband until death.”
Unfortunately, there are three problems with Bierens’ account of this incident, as follows:
1. Bierens fails to mention that the “half-caste” woman Fred took from “Cranky Bob” was actually named by the local press as Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long. She does reveal, though, that the local magistrate identified the dead woman in his inquest report as Louisa Mason. That being the case, if there were indeed two women, as Bierens says was “highly likely” (one brought to assist the other), then the dead woman (Louisa Mason) was clearly the woman Fred “carried off” (Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long) rather than Mary Ann Bugg.
That this woman Louisa Mason did exist there can be no doubt. As Louisa Jane Clark she was married just a few months previously to Robert Michael Mason of Rouchel near Scone – that is, “Cranky Bob … a settler near Scone”. Moreover, no further references to this Louisa Mason have been found in the aftermath of the documented death of “Louisa Mason”. Logic alone would indicate that the woman Fred carried off was the woman who died.
2. As support for her argument that Thunderbolt probably carried off the “half-caste” woman to help his dying wife, Bierens notes in footnote 14:
A baptism of a fourth child to a Mary Ann and Frederick Wordsworth Ward was registered in Tamworth August 1868. Mary Ann may have given birth to her fourth child Frederick Wordsworth Junior late in 1867 with the assistance of the Aboriginal midwife from Scone. The birth of her fourth child may have contributed to her death (see NSW Register of Baptisms, V 1868 1400 161).
Yet the actual baptism certificate quoted by Bierens – that is “NSW Register of Baptisms, V 1868 1400 161” (click here to see certificate) – shows that Fred and Mary Ann’s son Frederick Wordsworth Ward junior was not only baptised in August 1868, but was born in August 1868, nine months after the woman “Louisa Mason” died.
Clearly, we have two choices here. Either:
a. Mary Ann Bugg died as Louisa Mason in November 1867 and someone else (who by an astonishing coincidence also bore the name Mary Ann Baker/Ward and was the "wife" of Frederick Wordsworth Ward Snr) gave birth to Frederick Wordsworth Ward Jnr in August 1868; or
b. Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long (the absconded wife of Robert Michael Mason aka Cranky Bob) died in November 1867 – as both the local press and inquest report announced – and Mary Ann Bugg/Baker/Ward gave birth to Frederick Wordsworth Ward Jnr in August 1868.
Logic again provides the answer.
3. Bierens refers to “Rev White’s eye witness account” as being important in determining that the woman who died in 1867 was Mary Ann Bugg. However Bierens has confused two people with the surname White who were involved in this important incident. Although Rev White did attend Louisa Mason’s deathbed, the report mentioning “the woman who usually accompanied Thunderbolt” was written by Parliamentarian James White, the local member for the district, in an official complaint about the police’s failure to respond to reported Thunderbolt sightings in the district. James White was one of the Parliamentarians who had supported Mary Ann when her vagrancy conviction was raised in Parliament in 1866, so he well knew that Thunderbolt had a “half-caste” paramour. However the dead woman was not named in this official correspondence, merely referred to as a “half-caste”, so White was probably unaware that the local magistrate had identified her as Louisa Mason. His conclusion that the dead woman was “the woman who usually accompanied Thunderbolt” was almost certainly an assumption based on the references to the dead woman as a “half-caste”, rather than any particular knowledge of her identity (see Did Mary Ann Bugg die in 1867?).
Presumably James White was also unaware of the press’ reports that Mary Ann was residing up at Scone, north-east of Muswellbrook, with the police following her in the hope of stumbling across Thunderbolt’s hide-out, or that the press had reported that Fred was actually hiding out south-west of Muswellbrook with his new “half-caste” mistress named Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long. Evidently Louisa Mason was not as hardy as Mary Ann, who had already survived four years in the bush. Louisa contracted pneumonia from exposure and died soon after joining Fred, whereas the resilient Mary Ann lived for another four decades and bore many more children (see When did Mary Ann Bugg die?).
Conclusion
While most current writers have indeed stated that Mary Ann died in 1867 under the name Louisa Mason alias Yellow Long, contemporary writers were well aware that Louisa Mason and Mary Ann Bugg were two different women (see Did Mary Ann Bugg die in 1867?). The notion that Louisa and Mary Ann were the same person did not surface until the twentieth century when it was published in a bushranging history in 1901. Later historians simply copied this claim, or copied other historians who had copied this claim, rather than returning to the original records and determining the truth for themselves.
In her thesis, Bierens has a tendency to work on the basis of numbers, that the more authors/researchers who state something to be a fact, the more likely it is to be a fact. But this is simply a reflection of historians’ tendency to repeat each other rather than a guide to the accuracy of their research.
Unfortunately, what let Bierens down in producing this important piece of historical research was her uncritical reliance on the work of other Thunderbolt researchers and writers who had utterly confused fact and legend and had misread or manipulated the evidence to suit their own agendas.