Bushranging numbers grew in New South Wales with the rise of the colonial-born sons of poor, often ex-convict farmers, who wanted a more exciting life than mining or farming.
Much of the bushranging in these years was in the Lachlan Valley, around Forbes, Yass and Cowra.
Frank Gardiner, John Gilbert and Ben Hall led the most notorious gangs of the period. Other active bushrangers included Dan Morgan, based around the Murray River, and Captain Thunderbolt, killed outside Uralla, New South Wales.
The increasing push of settlement, increased police efficiency, better rail transport and communications, such as telegraphy, made it increasingly difficult for bushrangers to evade capture.
Among the last bushrangers was the Kelly Gang led by Ned Kelly, who were captured at Glenrowan, Victoria in 1880, two years after they were outlawed.
In 1900 the Governor Brothers scared many people in the north of New South Wales.
In Australia, bushrangers often attract public sympathy.
In the same way that outlaws feature in many movies of the American western genre, bushrangers regularly feature in Australian literature, movie, music and television. These include:
Some bushrangers became famous as a result of their activities. They include:
The bush
The bush is a phrase used to describe land where people do not live, land a long way from cities, or forests. The word is mainly used in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Canada, and Alaska.
In Australia, the phrase, "the bush", has a special symbolic meaning in Australian life. When used to describe the land, "the bush" means a wooded area, but not dense forest. It is usually dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly grassless, with thin to thick woody shrubs and bushes, with some eucalypt trees.
When talking about people, "the bush" means any unpopulated areas outside of the major metropolitan areas. This can include mining and farming areas. It is not unusual to have a mining town in the desert, such as Port Hedland, Western Australia (Pop. 14,000) called "the bush" in the media.
The word bush is also added to any number of other words, things or activities to describe their rural, country or folk nature, e.g. "Bush Cricket", "Bush Music", etc.
Moondyne Joe
Moondyne Joe (1826 – 1900), real name Joseph Bolitho Johns, is the most famous bushranger from Western Australia. He became famous, not for his crimes, but for his many escapes from gaol (jail).
Johns was born in Cornwall, England around 1826. His father Thomas Johns was a blacksmith. He might have had smallpox in his youth, as later his face is said to be "pockmarked". After his father died, Johns and his three brothers worked in the copper mines. In 1841 the family was living at Illogan, Penwith, Cornwall. By 1848 Johns had moved to Wales, working as an iron ore miner, at the Clydach Iron Works.
On 15 November 1848, Johns and a friend, John Williams, were arrested near Chepstow for stealing from the house of Richard Price, three loaves of bread, one piece of bacon, several cheeses, and "other goods".<ref name="The Welshman 30/03/1849"></ref> They were charged with burglary and stealing, but they said they did not steal anything. On 23 March they were tried in court with Sir William Erleas the judge. Newspaper reports say that the men were very determined to prove their innocence, but Johns was not polite and did not follow the normal court rules. The men were convicted and sent to gaol for ten years. Johns must have made the judge angry. In other cases before the same judge that day, people on the same type of charges were sent to gaol for times between three weeks to three months.
Johns and Williams spent the next seven months working on a government work party in the local area, before being sent to Millbank Prison. On 1 January 1850, they were sent to Pentonville Prison to serve six months of solitary confinement. On 21 October 1851, they were sent to Dartmoor Prison. Johns was sent to the Woolwich prison hulk "Justitia", probably for bad behavior. When the "Justitia" was destroyed by fire, he was moved to the "Defence". About a year later, he was put on convict transport ship, the "Pyrenees", and sent to the British penal colony of Western Australia.
The "Pyrenees" sailed for Western Australia on 2 February 1853, and arrived in Fremantle on 30 April. He was a well behaved prisoner, and as a reward Johns was given a ticket of leave. On 10 March 1855, he was given a conditional pardon. He moved to the Avon Valley, which was a remote valley, in the Darling Range. The Aboriginal name for the area was "Moondyne". Johns put a fence around a natural water spring in the area, and trapped lost sheep, cattle and horses when they came to drink. Farmers would pay a reward to get their animals back.
In August 1861, Johns trapped a horse without a brand (owner's mark). He put his own brand on it, which was really stealing. He was soon arrested by the police. The horse was taken as evidence, and Johns was placed in the Toodyay gaol. During the night, Johns escaped from his cell, took the horse and the magistrate's new saddle and bridle. He was caught the next day, but he had killed the horse and cut out the brand to destroy the evidence. Without the proof he was only sent to gaol for three years for escaping, not the ten years he would have been given for horse stealing.
Johns was a well behaved prisoner, so he was let out early with a ticket of leave in February 1864. He worked on a farm at Kelmscott. In January 1865 a bullock was killed and eaten, and the police said that Johns had done it. He said he had not killed the animal, but in court he was sent to gaol for ten years. At this time the only things he owned were one pair of trousers, one shirt, one pair of boots, one strap and one old hat. Johns decided he would not stay in gaol because he had not done anything wrong. In November he and another prisoner escaped from a work party. During the next month they robbed a few houses. Johns began calling himself "Moondyne Joe". They were captured east of York by the police with help from a black tracker, Tommy Windich. Black trackers were Indigenous Australian who had very good skills for finding things in the bush. For escaping, and for having a gun, Moondyne Joe was sent to prison for 12 months. He had to wear iron chains around his legs.
Moondyne Joe did not think he had been treated properly. In April 1865, he wrote a letter to the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice cut his gaol time by four years, but Joe was still not happy. A few weeks later he tried to cut the lock out of his door. He was given another six months in leg irons. In August, he escaped again, cutting off his leg irons. He met up with three other escaped convicts and together they robbed people in the bush around Perth. At the end of August, one of the gang was taken prisoner by the police.
Moondyne Joe came up with a plan to get away from Western Australia by going overland to South Australia. This would be a long and difficult journey through the desert. On 5 September, Moondyne Joe stole boots, blankets, clothing, guns and ammunition, knives and food from a shop at Toodyay, owned by an old convict, James Everett. The gang went east, following the track made by the explorer Charles Hunt. Their tracks were discovered by police on 26 September, about east of York. The police set out after them, and they were captured on 29 September, about north east of Perth. This is near where the town of Westonia is now.
Moondyne Joe was sent back to jail, and given another five years with hard labor. To make sure that he could not escape again, he was sent to Fremantle Prison where a special cell was built. It was made with stone, and lined with very thick pieces of wood. He was set to work in the prison yard breaking up rocks into small stones. He was watched all the time by a prison guard. The Governor of Western Australia, John Hampton, said to Johns: "If you get out again, I'll forgive you".