Summary: Frederick Ward
This website had become so large with all the myth-debunking pieces, timelines, charts and blog posts, that I have decided to make it easier for users to access the different types of information by providing summary pages. The items relating to Fred Ward are shown below. For Mary Ann, click Summary: Mary Ann Bugg. For general topics, see General Summary.
Birth and Parentage
Claim: Fred Ward was not the son of Michael and Sophia Ward but rather was born in 1833 and therefore was the son of their daughter Sarah Ann Ward.
Fact: Fred Ward was indeed the son of Michael and Sophia Ward and was actually born in 1835, as he himself stated, a statement backed up by independent primary source records.
Evidence:
Frederick Ward's birth
When was Fred Ward born?
Where was Fred Ward born?
Who were Fred Ward's parents?
Was Fred Ward the son of his "sister"?
Blog: Harriot Ward's burial entry and What did Harriot Ward's burial entry say?
See also Timeline 1835-1863
See also Timeline: Michael and Sophia Ward and their family
See also Chart: Michael and Sophia Ward and their offspring
See also Timeline: Sarah Ann Ward and her family
See also Chart: Sarah Ann Ward and her family
Beginnings of criminal career
Claim: "The beginning of Fred Ward's 'life of crime' was caused totally by the action of the managment (sic) of Tocal Station, in sending his uncle (sic) George into Maitland to a cattle sale knowing that the Hunter River was in flood, causing the devestating (sic) death of George."[Barry Sinclair]
Fact: In 1856 Fred Ward joined forces with his conman nephew, John Garbutt, who had already conducted four large-scale horse and cattle stealing operations and had not been caught. On this fifth operation, they stole some half a dozen horses from Tocal, where Fred's brother George (not his uncle) had indeed been working when he drowned in 1854 and where Fred and another brother William continued to work in the aftermath. But most of the horses, some 40 or so, were stolen from neighbouring Bellevue Station. The fact that they stole so many more horses from Bellevue than Tocal indicates that, far from targetting the premier horse stud in Australia (as Tocal was claimed to be), they seemingly did Tocal management a favour.
Evidence:
Did the death of Frederick Ward's brother spawn his career in crime?
Fred Ward and the Garbutt brothers
Fred Ward's 1856 trial
Blog: Fred Ward in Queensland and Did Fred Ward's life of crime begin in Queensland
See also Timeline 1835-1863
See also James Garbutt
See also John Garbutt
Rapist and psychopathic murderer
Claim: Fred Ward was a rapist and psychopathic murderer.
Fact: The "rapist" was Fred's nephew John Garbutt. Murderer? Despite requests for evidence to back up the "murderer" claim, he who makes such a claim has never produced any – which is answer enough in itself.
Evidence:
Was Fred Ward a rapist?
Cockatoo Island imprisonment
Claim: Fred was not only incarcerated in the solitary confinement cells on numerous occasions for misbehaviour during his first servitude on Cockatoo Island, he was also flogged.
Fact: Fred was well-behaved during his first term of servitude, being locked in the cells on only one occasion for falling asleep on the job (he was a night wardsman). Flogging was no longer used as a form of punishment. During his second term, he was among the prisoners who rioted and, although he was sentenced to the cells, he was not incarcerated there as there were not enough cells for all the rioters.
Evidence:
What punishments did Frederick Ward receive on Cockatoo Island?
Cockatoo Island
Fred Ward's 1857 Interrogation Blog and Interrogation
Cockatoo Island riots
See also Timeline 1835-1863
Mudgee employment
Claim: Fred went to work for his "mother" Sarah Garbutt at Cooyal station near Mudgee upon receiving his Ticket-of-Leave in 1860.
Fact: While Fred did indeed have a sister who had once been named Sarah Garbutt (his mother was Sophia Ward and lived at Maitland from the mid-1840s until her death in 1874), and while he did indeed work at Cooyal station, Cooyal was not owned by Sarah. Rather, in December 1860, Fred's nephew John Garbutt married the owner, Elizabeth Blackman, and thereafter Cooyal became the property of John and Elizabeth Garbutt.
Evidence:
Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal
Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal?
See also Timeline 1835-1863
Cockatoo Island escape
Claim: Fred escaped from Cockatoo Island in 1863 with Mary Ann Bugg's assistance.
Fact: Mary Ann Bugg did not assist Fred Ward to escape from Cockatoo Island. She was living and working in Dungog, north of Newcastle, throughout his second term of servitude there (1861-1863).
Evidence:
Did Mary Ann Bugg help Frederick Ward escape from Cockatoo Island?
How did Frederick Ward escape from Cockatoo Island?
Fred Ward swims to Balmain
See also Timeline 1835-1863
See also Frederick Britten
Marriage and family
Claim: Fred and Mary Ann were married. Mary Ann's only children were the four that Fred fathered. Fred took "paternity leave" to be with her when their children were born.
Fact: Fred and Mary Ann were not married. Mary Ann gave birth to a total of fifteen children, of whom only three or four were fathered by Fred. Fred did not take "paternity leave".
Evidence:
Did Frederick Ward marry Mary Ann Bugg?
How many children did Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg have?
Did Frederick Ward take paternity leave?
See also Chart: Mary Ann Bugg's husbands and offspring
Bushranging Career
Claim: Fred Ward never shot at the police or anyone else.
Fact: Fred Ward is documented as having shot at the police or members of the public on five occasions.
Evidence:
Did Frederick Ward shoot at the police?
Thunderbolt's gangs
See also Gangs
See also Timeline: 1863
See also Timeline: 1864
See also Timeline: 1865 - First gang
See also Timeline: 1865 - Between gangs
See also Timeline: 1865 - Second gang
See also Timeline: 1866
See also Timeline: 1867
See also Timeline: 1868
See also Timeline: 1869
See also Timeline: 1870
Death
Claim: Fred was not the bushranger killed at Kentucky Creek near Uralla on 25 May 1870 and his body was not identified at the coronial inquest (sic) conducted the following day.
Fact: Fact was indeed the bushranger who died on 25 May 1870 and his body was indeed identified at the magisterial inquiry (not coronial inquest) conducted the following day. Not only did multiple witnesses identify him from personal knowledge, but the autopsy doctor and two policemen compared the body with the physical features listed on Fred's 1863 Reward Notice, which included details of a mole and warts, and testified under oath that the features "tallied exactly". A special correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald attended the inquiry and his transcript of these witnesses' testimonies was published a few days later.
Evidence:
When did Frederick Ward die?
What actually happened at Kentucky Creek?
Who lies in Thunderbolt's grave?
What did Sophia Ward's death certificate say about her children?
See also Timeline: 1870
Magisterial inquiry on 26 May 1870
Claim: The dead bushranger was not identified as Fred Ward alias Thunderbolt at the coronial inquest (sic) conducted on 26 May 1870.
Fact: The dead bushranger was indeed identified at the magisterial inquiry (not coronial inquest) conducted the following day. Not only did multiple witnesses identify him from personal knowledge, but the autopsy doctor and two policemen compared the body with the physical features listed on Fred's 1863 Reward Notice, which included details of a mole and warts, and testified under oath that the features "tallied exactly". A special correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald attended the inquiry and his transcript of these witnesses' testimonies was published a few days later.
Evidence:
What did Will Monckton say about Thunderbolt?
Blog: Fred Ward's eye colour
What colour were Frederick Ward's eyes?
Inquest or Inquiry
"Most conclusive" identification of Fred Ward
What Thunderbolt cover-up?
Glen Innes races
Claim:Fred Ward was seen at the Glen Innes races three days after his alleged death and a report to that effect was sent to the authorities, which confirms that he did not die on 25 May 1870.
Fact:The Glen Innes races were not held three days after Fred's death. They were an annual event held two months before his death. Fred committed a robbery in the vicinity on the second night of the races indicating that he was indeed in the Glen Innes district at that time. The alleged report stating that Fred Ward was spotted at the races has not been located, despite exhaustive searches by State Records staff.
Evidence:
What happened at the Glen Innes races?
Resurrection
Claim: Fred Ward did not die in 1870 but rather escaped to America where he was listed in the 1871 Census. He later moved to Canada where he died in the early 1900s and was buried in an Ottawa cemetery.
Fact: Fred did not escape the America. No census was taken in 1871 (it was taken in 1870) and he was not listed. Nor was he listed in the Death Indexes for the Canada state of Ontario (which includes the city of Ottawa).
Evidence:
Did Frederick Ward go to America?
Did Frederick Ward go to Canada?
Resurrecting Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt Rides Again Affair
Historians demolish bushranger conspiracy theory
Captain Thunderbolt conspiracy theory debunked
Conspiracy claims regarding Captain Thunderbolt
Blog: Exposing an Exposé: Thunderbolt conspiracy claims
Exposing an Exposé: Extract from Journal of Australian Studies article (March 2012)
Alleged family in America
Claim: Fred's "mother" Sarah Ann Ward/Garbutt/Shepherd/Edwards travelled to America with Fred in 1870, along with Fred and Mary Ann's son Frederick Wordsworth Ward Jnr.
Fact: Sarah Ann Ward "eloped" to Queensland with another man in 1864 and was never heard from again. Fred Jnr remained with his mother, took the surname of her final partner, John Burrows, and died in the Moree district in 1937.
Evidence:
What happened to Sarah Ann Ward and Fred Ward Jnr?
Books about Thunderbolt
See Reviews
Birth and Parentage
Claim: Fred Ward was not the son of Michael and Sophia Ward but rather was born in 1833 and therefore was the son of their daughter Sarah Ann Ward.
Fact: Fred Ward was indeed the son of Michael and Sophia Ward and was actually born in 1835, as he himself stated, a statement backed up by independent primary source records.
Evidence:
Frederick Ward's birth
When was Fred Ward born?
Where was Fred Ward born?
Who were Fred Ward's parents?
Was Fred Ward the son of his "sister"?
Blog: Harriot Ward's burial entry and What did Harriot Ward's burial entry say?
See also Timeline 1835-1863
See also Timeline: Michael and Sophia Ward and their family
See also Chart: Michael and Sophia Ward and their offspring
See also Timeline: Sarah Ann Ward and her family
See also Chart: Sarah Ann Ward and her family
Beginnings of criminal career
Claim: "The beginning of Fred Ward's 'life of crime' was caused totally by the action of the managment (sic) of Tocal Station, in sending his uncle (sic) George into Maitland to a cattle sale knowing that the Hunter River was in flood, causing the devestating (sic) death of George."[Barry Sinclair]
Fact: In 1856 Fred Ward joined forces with his conman nephew, John Garbutt, who had already conducted four large-scale horse and cattle stealing operations and had not been caught. On this fifth operation, they stole some half a dozen horses from Tocal, where Fred's brother George (not his uncle) had indeed been working when he drowned in 1854 and where Fred and another brother William continued to work in the aftermath. But most of the horses, some 40 or so, were stolen from neighbouring Bellevue Station. The fact that they stole so many more horses from Bellevue than Tocal indicates that, far from targetting the premier horse stud in Australia (as Tocal was claimed to be), they seemingly did Tocal management a favour.
Evidence:
Did the death of Frederick Ward's brother spawn his career in crime?
Fred Ward and the Garbutt brothers
Fred Ward's 1856 trial
Blog: Fred Ward in Queensland and Did Fred Ward's life of crime begin in Queensland
See also Timeline 1835-1863
See also James Garbutt
See also John Garbutt
Rapist and psychopathic murderer
Claim: Fred Ward was a rapist and psychopathic murderer.
Fact: The "rapist" was Fred's nephew John Garbutt. Murderer? Despite requests for evidence to back up the "murderer" claim, he who makes such a claim has never produced any – which is answer enough in itself.
Evidence:
Was Fred Ward a rapist?
Cockatoo Island imprisonment
Claim: Fred was not only incarcerated in the solitary confinement cells on numerous occasions for misbehaviour during his first servitude on Cockatoo Island, he was also flogged.
Fact: Fred was well-behaved during his first term of servitude, being locked in the cells on only one occasion for falling asleep on the job (he was a night wardsman). Flogging was no longer used as a form of punishment. During his second term, he was among the prisoners who rioted and, although he was sentenced to the cells, he was not incarcerated there as there were not enough cells for all the rioters.
Evidence:
What punishments did Frederick Ward receive on Cockatoo Island?
Cockatoo Island
Fred Ward's 1857 Interrogation Blog and Interrogation
Cockatoo Island riots
See also Timeline 1835-1863
Mudgee employment
Claim: Fred went to work for his "mother" Sarah Garbutt at Cooyal station near Mudgee upon receiving his Ticket-of-Leave in 1860.
Fact: While Fred did indeed have a sister who had once been named Sarah Garbutt (his mother was Sophia Ward and lived at Maitland from the mid-1840s until her death in 1874), and while he did indeed work at Cooyal station, Cooyal was not owned by Sarah. Rather, in December 1860, Fred's nephew John Garbutt married the owner, Elizabeth Blackman, and thereafter Cooyal became the property of John and Elizabeth Garbutt.
Evidence:
Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal
Who was Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal?
See also Timeline 1835-1863
Cockatoo Island escape
Claim: Fred escaped from Cockatoo Island in 1863 with Mary Ann Bugg's assistance.
Fact: Mary Ann Bugg did not assist Fred Ward to escape from Cockatoo Island. She was living and working in Dungog, north of Newcastle, throughout his second term of servitude there (1861-1863).
Evidence:
Did Mary Ann Bugg help Frederick Ward escape from Cockatoo Island?
How did Frederick Ward escape from Cockatoo Island?
Fred Ward swims to Balmain
See also Timeline 1835-1863
See also Frederick Britten
Marriage and family
Claim: Fred and Mary Ann were married. Mary Ann's only children were the four that Fred fathered. Fred took "paternity leave" to be with her when their children were born.
Fact: Fred and Mary Ann were not married. Mary Ann gave birth to a total of fifteen children, of whom only three or four were fathered by Fred. Fred did not take "paternity leave".
Evidence:
Did Frederick Ward marry Mary Ann Bugg?
How many children did Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg have?
Did Frederick Ward take paternity leave?
See also Chart: Mary Ann Bugg's husbands and offspring
Bushranging Career
Claim: Fred Ward never shot at the police or anyone else.
Fact: Fred Ward is documented as having shot at the police or members of the public on five occasions.
Evidence:
Did Frederick Ward shoot at the police?
Thunderbolt's gangs
See also Gangs
See also Timeline: 1863
See also Timeline: 1864
See also Timeline: 1865 - First gang
See also Timeline: 1865 - Between gangs
See also Timeline: 1865 - Second gang
See also Timeline: 1866
See also Timeline: 1867
See also Timeline: 1868
See also Timeline: 1869
See also Timeline: 1870
Death
Claim: Fred was not the bushranger killed at Kentucky Creek near Uralla on 25 May 1870 and his body was not identified at the coronial inquest (sic) conducted the following day.
Fact: Fact was indeed the bushranger who died on 25 May 1870 and his body was indeed identified at the magisterial inquiry (not coronial inquest) conducted the following day. Not only did multiple witnesses identify him from personal knowledge, but the autopsy doctor and two policemen compared the body with the physical features listed on Fred's 1863 Reward Notice, which included details of a mole and warts, and testified under oath that the features "tallied exactly". A special correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald attended the inquiry and his transcript of these witnesses' testimonies was published a few days later.
Evidence:
When did Frederick Ward die?
What actually happened at Kentucky Creek?
Who lies in Thunderbolt's grave?
What did Sophia Ward's death certificate say about her children?
See also Timeline: 1870
Magisterial inquiry on 26 May 1870
Claim: The dead bushranger was not identified as Fred Ward alias Thunderbolt at the coronial inquest (sic) conducted on 26 May 1870.
Fact: The dead bushranger was indeed identified at the magisterial inquiry (not coronial inquest) conducted the following day. Not only did multiple witnesses identify him from personal knowledge, but the autopsy doctor and two policemen compared the body with the physical features listed on Fred's 1863 Reward Notice, which included details of a mole and warts, and testified under oath that the features "tallied exactly". A special correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald attended the inquiry and his transcript of these witnesses' testimonies was published a few days later.
Evidence:
What did Will Monckton say about Thunderbolt?
Blog: Fred Ward's eye colour
What colour were Frederick Ward's eyes?
Inquest or Inquiry
"Most conclusive" identification of Fred Ward
What Thunderbolt cover-up?
Glen Innes races
Claim:Fred Ward was seen at the Glen Innes races three days after his alleged death and a report to that effect was sent to the authorities, which confirms that he did not die on 25 May 1870.
Fact:The Glen Innes races were not held three days after Fred's death. They were an annual event held two months before his death. Fred committed a robbery in the vicinity on the second night of the races indicating that he was indeed in the Glen Innes district at that time. The alleged report stating that Fred Ward was spotted at the races has not been located, despite exhaustive searches by State Records staff.
Evidence:
What happened at the Glen Innes races?
Resurrection
Claim: Fred Ward did not die in 1870 but rather escaped to America where he was listed in the 1871 Census. He later moved to Canada where he died in the early 1900s and was buried in an Ottawa cemetery.
Fact: Fred did not escape the America. No census was taken in 1871 (it was taken in 1870) and he was not listed. Nor was he listed in the Death Indexes for the Canada state of Ontario (which includes the city of Ottawa).
Evidence:
Did Frederick Ward go to America?
Did Frederick Ward go to Canada?
Resurrecting Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt Rides Again Affair
Historians demolish bushranger conspiracy theory
Captain Thunderbolt conspiracy theory debunked
Conspiracy claims regarding Captain Thunderbolt
Blog: Exposing an Exposé: Thunderbolt conspiracy claims
Exposing an Exposé: Extract from Journal of Australian Studies article (March 2012)
Alleged family in America
Claim: Fred's "mother" Sarah Ann Ward/Garbutt/Shepherd/Edwards travelled to America with Fred in 1870, along with Fred and Mary Ann's son Frederick Wordsworth Ward Jnr.
Fact: Sarah Ann Ward "eloped" to Queensland with another man in 1864 and was never heard from again. Fred Jnr remained with his mother, took the surname of her final partner, John Burrows, and died in the Moree district in 1937.
Evidence:
What happened to Sarah Ann Ward and Fred Ward Jnr?
Books about Thunderbolt
See Reviews