Young, daring and often dangerous, the bushrangers ruled the roads.
The bushrangers of the 'gold rush' era were active around
the goldfields areas of the Great Dividing Range - between Stawell and Ballarat in the south, and to near Albury and Wangaratta in the north of the state. Some came to Victoria from Tasmania and were ex-convicts transported to Port Arthur, but many were just unfortunate victims of hard economic times who took to the roads as an easy way to exist.
Many were born in the bush and had an expert knowledge of horses and firearms,
and the plains and mountain ranges they roamed in search of fortune and adventure.
They had little regard for authority and no sympathy for weakness. The rush
for gold following massive discoveries in Victoria in the 1850's
presented ideal circumstances for them to exploit their skills and delinquency.
Law and order in the colonies had been hampered by the mass exodus of law
enforcement officers from gaols and the police force to the goldfields. Thousands
of head of livestock went unattended as shepherds and farm workers walked off
the land to seek their fortunes, few succeeded. A bush-ranger found this easy
pickings, supplying stolen horses, cattle and sheep to the earnest diggers,
while the depleted law enforcement authorities had little chance and few resources
to restrain them.
They next turned to the easier business of stealing gold as it was transported
from the diggings to the major cities of Sydney and Melbourne. It became dangerous
to travel the roads around the diggings and even well-armed parties were under
threat if it was know they were carrying bullion.
While few of the bushrangers ever achieved the riches to enable them to
escape their circumstances, many gained notoriety, and some even achieved the
status of folk heroes. Sections of the poorer classes in Australia identified
with the bushrangers's contempt for authority, for their sympathies seemed
to lie much with the landed gentry. Many of the bushrangers curried favour with
these battlers to enhance their own perceived prestige and give credence to
the lawlessness.
The names of Ben Hall, Ned Kelly, Frank Gardiner, 'Mad Dan' Morgan,
Johnny Dunn, Johnny Vane, Martin Cash, and the Gilbert brothers are names indelibly
linked with the rich, colourful and dangerous history of the gold rush.
A little more about these will be found below as we research further 'in-depth' stories to
add to these pages.
MORE ABOUT VICTORIAN BUSHRANGERS:
Ben Hall | 'Mad Dan' Morgan | Ned Kelly |
THE NOTORIOUS NED KELLY
Ned Kelly is the most famous of all Australian bushrangers. he was born in the Glenrowan area in 1855 and at age 15 had his first altercation with the police. Although not convicted, he was first charged with helping bushranger Harry Power, during robberies.
He was sentenced to 6 months hard labor shortly after for assault and indecent behavior and began this before his 16th. birthday.
After his release, he got a job working in a sawmill and stayed out of trouble for a time. he developed a reputation as a trick rider and boxer during this time, and seemed to have learned his lesson well.
When the sawmill closed in 1876 he was accused of stealing a bull, and soon became a target of the police who took out their frustrations on his female relatives. Kelly's resentment of this harrassment grew and he developed a hatred for the police which lasted through his short lifetime.
Over the next few years the police tried many times to gain evidence on Kelly to get him behind bars until, on the 20th. of June, 1880, Kelly with a gang comprising his brother and others, attacked Glenrowan, cutting the telegraph wires and forcing railway workers to rip up the line. In the ensuing gun battle with police Kelly was shot in the knee and captured. He was hung in Melbourne on November the 11th. for his crimes. Some 4,000 Melbourne people attended the hanging.
The suit of armour which Kelly designed to protect himself in running gun battles with police is now a part of Australian folk lore. It comprised an iron helmet, something like an inverted bucket, with a slit for the eyes to see through.
A statue of Ned Kelly wearing his famous armour will be found in the town of Glenrowan, and a cell at the Beechworth prison is converted as it would have been during his incarceration there.
Ned Kelly is an integral part of Australian folk lore and expressions like "As bold as Ned Kelly" have become part of the language.
He is buried in the Old Melbourne Gaol.
'MAD DAN' MORGAN:
'Mad Dan' operated in the area around Culcairn on the Olympic Way between Albury and Wagga Wagga.
He was notorious for his brutality and daring. A museum detailing his exploits will be found at
Culcairn. AFTER his capture the head was removed from his body and sent to Melbourne for testing
to try and analyse the reason for his brutality and "insanity'.
HARRY POWERS:
Harry Powers was known as the 'Gentleman Bushranger', and roamed the area around Wangaratta
and the Ovens River just prior to Kelly's notoriety. In fact, Ned Kelly's first altercation
with the law at age 15, was when we was accused, but acquitted of assisting Powers in a robbery.
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