Timeline: 1865 - Between the gangs
This Timeline documents all the information discovered for bushranger Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg for mid-1865, with associated source-references. Many of the referenced newspapers are now accessible online (see Online Newspapers).
Copyright Carol Baxter 2011
|
Jun-Oct 1865: Child born to Fred and Mary Ann, probably in June or July rather than October; this child was reported to be around 9 months old in March 1866 which tallies with the female informer’s report in the same month that she had been engaged ten months previously to assist Mary Ann during child-birth; another report in January 1867 said that the child was around 15 months but this seems less likely as Mary Ann would have been only three months pregnant in April 1865 when she feigned labour and convinced the policemen to leave her at Wilby Wilby, a ploy they probably wouldn’t have fallen for if she wasn’t showing signs of advanced pregnancy. Mary Ann’s death certificate suggests that this child was her daughter Eliza, so it is interesting to note that descendants of an Elizabeth Ann Ward, who was born in the early-mid 1860s in Maitland to a Frederick Ward (according to her marriage certificate), report that she claimed to be Thunderbolt’s child and said that she was brought up by his Maitland relatives. While the details Elizabeth provided for herself suggest that she was born in 1862 or 1863, this could not be correct if she was indeed Fred and Mary Ann’s child; their eldest daughter was born a month after Fred was admitted to gaol and Fred and Mary Ann were not together again until after his escape to Cockatoo Island, so the earliest Fred and Mary Ann’s second child could have been born was mid-1864. As Elizabeth Ann Ward's photograph suggests Aboriginality, it must be considered feasible that she was indeed the child of Fred and Mary Ann who was born mid-1865 although DNA tests will probably be necessary to confirm her parentage.[1] (For further information see Mary Ann Bugg and her offspring)
Mid-1865: The female informer in March 1866 reported that Fred and Mary Ann resided near Parnell’s station from June 1865 to January 1866 (in fact, Fred was only there for part of that time); the Parnell Trust Act (reportedly published in the NSW Government Gazette on 12 Feb 1864) described the boundaries for the Tulcumbah run on the north side of the Namoi River, which included Borah Gap, which was part of the Borah Ranges north of Manilla where Fred committed many of his robberies and evidently had a camp; around August 1866 Mary Ann was waiting for Fred in that vicinity when she encountered another woman. Parnell’s “Tulcumbah” run property is described as follows: “At the south-west extremity from the gully on the north side of the Namoi adjoining to Larnach’s sheep station called Gunnumbene to the mountain half a mile thence along the top of the main mountain range on the western side of the Tulcumbah Valley bearing northerly across the Big Gap commonly called Parnell’s Gap at the point of the ridge thence along the main mountain range bearing north-easterly across the Little Gap as far as the Borah mountains thence along the mountain range dividing the Borah waters from the Burundi waters as far as the head of Tarpaulin Creek hence along the western bank of Tarpaulin Creek to the point of a range forming part of the main range that runs into Borah Gap thence across the Borah Gap as far as a point on the west side of Baldwin’s Mountains opposite to the mouth of a gully considered as the boundary between Balwyn and Larnach thence up the said gully to the range dividing Bell’s run on the north side of the Namoi from Larnach’s and along the same chain of hills between Bell and Larnach to a point on the north bank of the Namoi fixed by Commissioner Allman thence across the Namoi to the south bank along the opposite ridge also fixed by Commissioner Allman and continued along Bell’s and Cobcroft’s side lines to a point on the Peel River fixed by Commissioner Mitchell and thence down the north side of the Peel to its junction with the Namoi and along the north bank of the Namoi to the aforesaid gully adjoining to the Gunnumbene station.”[2] 9 Aug 1865: Thunderbolt robbed Warialda-Tamworth mail (Martin Hurley) at Oakey Creek some 10 miles north of Manilla (now Upper Manilla); police searched for four days without success and returned on evening of 15 Aug [3] NB. As Mary Ann was living in the nearby area, it is highly unlikely that he would have committed this robbery while staying with Mary Ann or while on his way to stay with Mary Ann, so logically it must have been committed as he was leaving the district Sep 1865: Report that notorious outlaw John Dunn was towards the Culgoa, seeking Thunderbolt’s haunts with the intention of joining him[4] Late Oct 1865: Report that three bushrangers connected with Thunderbolt’s gang had received sentences of 17 years each; these men (William Harris, James Cohen and John Robinson alias Henry Anderson/Henderson) were from the four-member gang that robbed the Gineroi and Singapore stations on the Gwydir River on 14 Aug 1865, and were convicted at the Tamworth Quarter Sessions on 16 Oct 1865[5] Sources: [1] Maitland Mercury 29 Mar 1866 p.2, 3 Apr 1866 p.2, 12 Jan 1867 p.8 [2] Maitland Mercury 29 Mar 1866 p.2; also Thomas Parnell & Agnes Shales [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sealark/tommy.html] [3] NSW Police Gazette 1865 p.293; Sydney Morning Herald 11 Aug 1865 p.4, 17 Aug p.5, 24 Aug p.4 (from Tamworth Examiner 19 Aug); Singleton Times 16 Aug 1865 p.3 & Argus 28 Aug 1865 p.5 (from Tamworth Examiner 12 Aug) [4] Maitland Mercury 26 Sep 1865 p.3 [5] Brisbane Courier 28 Oct 1865 p.4, 4 Nov 1865 p.5, 18 Nov 1865 Supp p.3; Sydney Morning Herald 23 Aug 1865 p.4 (from Tamworth Examiner 19 Aug 1865); NSW Police Gazette 1865 No.35 (30 Aug 1865) pp.308 & 313, No.37 (13 Sep 1865) p.328, No.39 (27 Sep 1865) p.346, No.44 (1 Nov 1865) pp.384 & 386 |