What was Fred Ward's eye colour
Copyright Carol Baxter 2012
_
The latest from the Fred-Ward-escaped-to-America camp is that the bushranger shot at Kentucky Creek in 1870 could not be Fred Ward because the autopsy doctor reported that the body had grey eyes whereas Fred’s 1863 Reward Notice reported that he had hazel-grey eyes. How, they ask (in all seriousness), could historians have failed to notice such a marked discrepancy?
Classifying a person’s eye-colour involves making a subjective judgement. It cannot be assessed objectively, like a ruler measures height, without the use of sophisticated scientific equipment that was not available in the nineteenth century. Moreover, objective scientific measurements will not necessarily reflect what we judge a person's eye colour to be. My own eyes sometimes look grey, sometimes grey-blue, sometimes blue, and sometimes blue-green depending on the weather, the sky colour, and my clothes. I actually don't know what colour to call them, and vary in my response when asked.
But in assessing Fred's eye colour, let’s attempt to be as objective as possible and examine all the surviving historical references to determine the correlations and differences. References for all of the sources listed below can be found in the relevant timelines for that particular person.
Fred Ward
The latest from the Fred-Ward-escaped-to-America camp is that the bushranger shot at Kentucky Creek in 1870 could not be Fred Ward because the autopsy doctor reported that the body had grey eyes whereas Fred’s 1863 Reward Notice reported that he had hazel-grey eyes. How, they ask (in all seriousness), could historians have failed to notice such a marked discrepancy?
Classifying a person’s eye-colour involves making a subjective judgement. It cannot be assessed objectively, like a ruler measures height, without the use of sophisticated scientific equipment that was not available in the nineteenth century. Moreover, objective scientific measurements will not necessarily reflect what we judge a person's eye colour to be. My own eyes sometimes look grey, sometimes grey-blue, sometimes blue, and sometimes blue-green depending on the weather, the sky colour, and my clothes. I actually don't know what colour to call them, and vary in my response when asked.
But in assessing Fred's eye colour, let’s attempt to be as objective as possible and examine all the surviving historical references to determine the correlations and differences. References for all of the sources listed below can be found in the relevant timelines for that particular person.
Fred Ward
|
|
The obvious conclusion to be reached from the various references to Fred's complexion, hair and eyes is that different people reach different conclusions when making colour judgements. To determine what is "correct", one has to run with the consensus of opinion. In Fred's case, the word "hazel" appears in four out of the five references so we can conclude, on the basis of statistical frequency, that his eyes were hazel.
Interestingly, hazel is a colour that – to me – reflects light and life, so it is not surprising that when the life left this body, the light also left its eyes, leaving them the dull colour grey. Most significantly, students of forensics are advised not to list eye colour in their reports because of the changes disease and death can bring.
What is surprising in the above list is that the one physical feature that can be judged objectively – height – varies as well, in Fred's case by as much as an inch. However, by using a range of statistical measurements, we can determine Fred's true height. The above references to his height produce a mean (simple average) of just over 5’ 8”, a mode (most frequent occurrence) of 5’ 8¼” and a median (half-way point) of 5’ 8¼”. Clearly, Fred Ward was indeed 5’ 8¼”.
Despite the variations, this list of physical features paints a distinctive portrait of Fred Ward showing that he was 5’ 8¼” in height with a pale complexion, lightish brown curly hair, and eyes of a hazel or perhaps hazel-grey colour. The features listed in the 1870 Autopsy Report tally neatly with this portrait.
So how do these references to Fred Ward's physical features compare with those found for others in terms of similarities and differences? Let's look at the references to his father, Michael Ward.
Michael Ward
Interestingly, hazel is a colour that – to me – reflects light and life, so it is not surprising that when the life left this body, the light also left its eyes, leaving them the dull colour grey. Most significantly, students of forensics are advised not to list eye colour in their reports because of the changes disease and death can bring.
What is surprising in the above list is that the one physical feature that can be judged objectively – height – varies as well, in Fred's case by as much as an inch. However, by using a range of statistical measurements, we can determine Fred's true height. The above references to his height produce a mean (simple average) of just over 5’ 8”, a mode (most frequent occurrence) of 5’ 8¼” and a median (half-way point) of 5’ 8¼”. Clearly, Fred Ward was indeed 5’ 8¼”.
Despite the variations, this list of physical features paints a distinctive portrait of Fred Ward showing that he was 5’ 8¼” in height with a pale complexion, lightish brown curly hair, and eyes of a hazel or perhaps hazel-grey colour. The features listed in the 1870 Autopsy Report tally neatly with this portrait.
So how do these references to Fred Ward's physical features compare with those found for others in terms of similarities and differences? Let's look at the references to his father, Michael Ward.
Michael Ward
|
|
In these two references to Michael Ward, not a single feature is exactly the same. Most significantly, one source lists his eyes as hazel and another as blue. Unlike the negligible difference between hazel, hazel-grey and light grey, this is actually a marked difference.
What about other members of Fred's family?
James Garbutt
What about other members of Fred's family?
James Garbutt
|
|
James Garbutt was also reported variously as having blue or hazel eyes. While we, today, would define blue and hazel as quite different colours, the fact that the eye colours of both Michael Ward and James Garbutt (grandfather and grandson) were recorded variously as blue and hazel suggests that some people in those days classified the greyish colour that my own "blue" eyes can look as hazel. Again, this shows how subjective the judgement of eye colour is.
John Garbutt
John Garbutt
|
|
_ Three references; two different eye colours. I think you will agree that I have made my point!
In preparing this blog post, I also collected details for other people associated with Thunderbolt. What stood out was the fact that no two references to an individual listed identical physical features except when the information had been copied from a previous record, which was itself obvious because of the word-for-word repetition of additional information about scars or moles or tattoos and the like.
And speaking of moles: the final two official references to Fred Ward mention more than height and complexion and hair and eyes. They list two other features. These are not only distinctive, they can be assessed objectively as shown below:
In preparing this blog post, I also collected details for other people associated with Thunderbolt. What stood out was the fact that no two references to an individual listed identical physical features except when the information had been copied from a previous record, which was itself obvious because of the word-for-word repetition of additional information about scars or moles or tattoos and the like.
And speaking of moles: the final two official references to Fred Ward mention more than height and complexion and hair and eyes. They list two other features. These are not only distinctive, they can be assessed objectively as shown below:
|
Source
1863 Reward Notice 1870 Autopsy |
|
Clearly, the bushranger who died in 1870 had a mole and warts in exactly the same places as Fred Ward. What are the odds? When combined with the details about Fred's height, complexion, eye colour, hair colour and hair curliness (interestingly, "curly hair" was not mentioned for his other relatives or associates), these features provide a pen portrait of Fred Ward that is, effectively, as distinctive as a finger print. These features prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the dead bushranger was indeed Frederick Ward.
Yet the Thunderbolt conspiracy camp have ignored the distinctive mole and warts and, instead, focused on the most subjective feature of them all: eye colour. They claim that the difference between hazel grey eyes on a living body and light grey eyes on a dead body is enough to eliminate Fred Ward from contention as the bushranger who died in 1870. This indicates that they believe that the identically positioned mole and warts are irrelevant in the identification process. I doubt if any forensic pathologist would agree – on either count!
Let's consider another point. The four people listed above are all members of the same family: father, son, and two grandsons. Look at their heights. They are all different. Using statistical mode and mean measurements, I have listed below the likely height of these four family members:
Yet the Thunderbolt conspiracy camp have ignored the distinctive mole and warts and, instead, focused on the most subjective feature of them all: eye colour. They claim that the difference between hazel grey eyes on a living body and light grey eyes on a dead body is enough to eliminate Fred Ward from contention as the bushranger who died in 1870. This indicates that they believe that the identically positioned mole and warts are irrelevant in the identification process. I doubt if any forensic pathologist would agree – on either count!
Let's consider another point. The four people listed above are all members of the same family: father, son, and two grandsons. Look at their heights. They are all different. Using statistical mode and mean measurements, I have listed below the likely height of these four family members:
|
|
The Thunderbolt conspiracy camp claim that the bushranger shot in 1870 was not Fred Ward but his brother William (whom they call "Harry"). But how likely is it that William would also have been exactly 5’ 8¼”?
What about your own family? I am not the same height as my mother or my sister or my daughter, and none of them are the same height (unfortunately, I am the smallest!) My husband is not the same height as his father, his brother or our son (and none of them are the same height). If Fred and his brother William were identical twins, they probably would have been the same or a similar height. But they were not twins.
Moreover, what are the odds that William would ALSO have the same curly brown hair as his brother Fred AND moles and warts in exactly the same place? I doubt if we need a forensic pathologist to answer that!
NB. When arrested for the "Taroom Murder", Garbutt was listed as being "about six feet high" (Brisbane Courier 30 Oct 1873 p.7) so 5’ 11” also serves as the median and is just above the mean.
What about your own family? I am not the same height as my mother or my sister or my daughter, and none of them are the same height (unfortunately, I am the smallest!) My husband is not the same height as his father, his brother or our son (and none of them are the same height). If Fred and his brother William were identical twins, they probably would have been the same or a similar height. But they were not twins.
Moreover, what are the odds that William would ALSO have the same curly brown hair as his brother Fred AND moles and warts in exactly the same place? I doubt if we need a forensic pathologist to answer that!
NB. When arrested for the "Taroom Murder", Garbutt was listed as being "about six feet high" (Brisbane Courier 30 Oct 1873 p.7) so 5’ 11” also serves as the median and is just above the mean.