Bushrangers
Bushrangers
Description
Bushrangers in the early days of Australia lived in the countryside and they were usually convict escapees or just men looking for adventure. They survived by stealing horses, holding up farms and travellers and robbing banks and stores.
History
There are many reasons why bushrangers chose the bushranging path. They were either convicts on the run or because people needed more supplies. Australia's bushranging period spanned nearly 100 years, from the first convict bushrangers active from 1790 to the 1860s, through to the outlawed bushrangers of the 1860s and 1870s who were shot on sight, to the shooting of the Kelly Gang in 1880.
Famous Bushrangers
Jack Donohue
Donohue was an Irishman sent to Sydney for a life sentence for theft. He spent his first two years as an assigned convict in 1825. Later, he was in a road gang but in1828 he escaped with two other convicts. They stole and robbed from bullock drays. They were caught and hanged but Donohue escaped. For six more months he led another gang. The villagers told them where their masters were riding so the bushrangers knew where to hide and ambush them. At the end of 1829 there was a reward of £50 for his capture. In 1830, September, he was shot by a policeman.
Frank Gardiner
Born in 1830, Gardiner started his outlaw life by stealing horses when he was twenty. For this he got a 5 year jail sentence. He escaped and returned to horse stealing. Again he was captured and given a 7 year jail sentence but he was let out after three years after which he became a butcher. It was soon known that the meat he sold was stolen and a warrant was put up for his arrest. Instead of facing trial he ran away into the bush and gathered a gang. He was sick of small robberies and so he went out with 6 others and waited in the bush to ambush a stagecoach carrying lots of gold and money. While they were waiting, they forced two bullock drivers out of their bullock teams and left the drays to create a
Description
Bushrangers in the early days of Australia lived in the countryside and they were usually convict escapees or just men looking for adventure. They survived by stealing horses, holding up farms and travellers and robbing banks and stores.
History
There are many reasons why bushrangers chose the bushranging path. They were either convicts on the run or because people needed more supplies. Australia's bushranging period spanned nearly 100 years, from the first convict bushrangers active from 1790 to the 1860s, through to the outlawed bushrangers of the 1860s and 1870s who were shot on sight, to the shooting of the Kelly Gang in 1880.
Famous Bushrangers
Jack Donohue
Donohue was an Irishman sent to Sydney for a life sentence for theft. He spent his first two years as an assigned convict in 1825. Later, he was in a road gang but in1828 he escaped with two other convicts. They stole and robbed from bullock drays. They were caught and hanged but Donohue escaped. For six more months he led another gang. The villagers told them where their masters were riding so the bushrangers knew where to hide and ambush them. At the end of 1829 there was a reward of £50 for his capture. In 1830, September, he was shot by a policeman.
Frank Gardiner
Born in 1830, Gardiner started his outlaw life by stealing horses when he was twenty. For this he got a 5 year jail sentence. He escaped and returned to horse stealing. Again he was captured and given a 7 year jail sentence but he was let out after three years after which he became a butcher. It was soon known that the meat he sold was stolen and a warrant was put up for his arrest. Instead of facing trial he ran away into the bush and gathered a gang. He was sick of small robberies and so he went out with 6 others and waited in the bush to ambush a stagecoach carrying lots of gold and money. While they were waiting, they forced two bullock drivers out of their bullock teams and left the drays to create a