Ben Hall

**Ben Hall** (9 May 1837 — 5 May 1865) was a famous Australian bushranger. A bushranger is a thief who roamed the countryside and country towns of Australia, usually escaping on horseback when they get found out, like a highwayman. Most bushrangers were simply criminals and thieves. Ben Hall is one of the few bushrangers, like Ned Kelly, who were thought of as outlaw heroes.

Ben Hall lived at a time when gold had been discovered in New South Wales and Victoria. Thousands of people went out to the places where gold had been discovered to "seek their fortunes" and hoping to get rich. Like many bushrangers, Ben Hall and his gang robbed coaches that were carrying gold from the goldfields. Ben Hall was able to  being arrested by the police for many years because he had many friends and relatives to help him.

## Background: the outlaw hero
In folklore, a  outlaw hero is a farmer or other innocent person who is forced into crime by  police or government actions. Ben Hall is part of a long history of outlaw heroes that includes people like Robin Hood in England and Jesse James in the United States. The outlaw hero is said to be a friend of the poor, kind to women and children, and an  of the rich. He is said to have died ly in a battle against the more powerful forces of the law. in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. His  were Benjamin Hall (born in Bristol, England, 1802) and Eliza Somers (born in Dublin, Ireland, 1807). Both of his parents were convicts and sent to gaol in New South Wales. They married in 1834. Ben was their fourth child. After they were let out of gaol, they moved to the Hunter Valley. Benjamin worked for Samuel Clift on a farm called the "Doona Run". Around 1839, Benjamin moved to a  valley, north of Murrurundi. He built a hut and began farming cattle. He also found wild cattle and horses in the nearby hills. In 1842, he bought a small block of land at Haydonton, near Murrurundi, and started a butcher shop. The family worked hard, but there were problems with the police over stolen cattle and horses.
On 29 February 1856, at the age of 19, Hall married Bridget Walsh (1841–1923), a farmer's daughter, at Bathurst. On 7 August 1859, they had a son, whom they named Henry. One of Bridget's sisters was the mistress (lover) of bushranger Frank Gardiner; another sister married John Maguire. In 1860, Ben Hall and John Maguire leased the "Sandy Creek" farm of  about  south of Forbes. Hall built a house, sheds and stockyards. He raised cattle and sold them at the Lambing Flat goldfield. He met Frank Gardiner who had a  shop at Lambing Flat.

## Bushranger
Historians are unsure why, but Hall's life changed. By early 1862, his marriage was in trouble. Biddy left Ben and moved in with a neighbour, Jim Taylor, taking young Henry with her. There were many criminals living and working in the area where Hall lived. He became friends with Frank Gardiner. Gardiner was already wanted for  and had shot two policemen before escaping. On 14 April 1862 Gardiner and Hall robbed three bullock wagon drivers. One week later the drivers saw him at the Forbes horse races. Police Inspector Sir Frederick Pottinger, who was also at the races, told the police to arrest Ben for using guns in a robbery with Gardiner.

### Gold escort robbery
On 15 June 1862, Gardiner and a group of ten men, including Hall, robbed the Forbes gold coach near Eugowra. This coach carrying gold from the gold fields had an escort of police to guard it. The gang stole more than £14,000 in gold and money. This is about US$4 million in 2003 money value. This was definitely Australia's biggest gold robbery. Hall and several others were arrested in July. Once again the police were unable find proof that Hall was one of the robbers. The police let him go at the end of August. When Hall went back to his farm he found his house burned down. His cattle had been left in the stockyards and had died from starvation (not having enough to eat). There are claims that this was done by Pottinger to punish Hall, but not all historians agree. Hall and John Maguire needed money to pay their legal costs. They were forced to sell the lease of their farm at "Sandy Creek" to a Forbes hotel owner called John Wilson.

With his wife, young son, and his farm gone, Ben Hall slowly moved into a life of crime as a bushranger. On 1 March 1863, Hall and bushrangers Patrick Daley (Patsy) and John O'Meally, were nearly captured in the Weddin mountains by Police Inspector Norton and black tracker Billy Dargin. While the police were out looking for them, the gang stole guns and ammunition from the police camp. The police chased them but the gang had stolen better and faster horses and easily escaped. Hall's gang included John Gilbert as his lieutenant, his main helper. In 1863 the other three members were John O'Meally, John Vane and Michael Burke. Burke was only 20 years old. He was killed on 24 October 1863, during a robbery at Henry Keightley's house at Dunn's Plains. Vane wanted to shoot Keightley for killing Burke, but Ben Hall stopped him. Instead he asked for a £500 ransom. who had a warrant out for his arrest after failing to appear in court over a robbery-under-arms charge.

The police seemed powerless to stop the Ben Hall gang. The gang were very busy in the district during 1864. For example:
* March: held up and robbed at gun point the mail coach between Wellington and Orange
* 20 March: held up and robbed at gun point the mail coach between Wagga Wagga and Yass
* March: held up and robbed at gun point the mail coach near Cootamundra
* 1 April: held up and robbed at gun point the Groggon Station (farm) near Young, New South Wales taking horses, saddles and food
* 11 April: robbed John Scarr and his brother on the road between Burrowa (now called Boorowa) and Marengo (now called Murringo).
* 11 April: robbed the hotel at Back Creek
* 5 May: robbed carts on the road at Marine Creek, near Gooloogong
* 12 May: tried to rob a man on the road near Forbes
* 20 May: robbed two men on the road between Cowra and Young, near the Bang Bang Hotel
* 20 May: robbed the Bang Bang Hotel, escaped after a gun fight with police
* 23 May: robbed a man called Ah Too near Burrowa
* 25 May: robbed three men camped at Cudgell's Creek
* 28 May: held up and robbed at gun point the mail coach between Young and Yass. Robbed all the people on the road during the two hours they waited for the coach.
* 28 May: tried to hold up the mail coach near Binalong. Hall was wounded during a gunfight with policeman Constable Gill.
* 29 May: robbed a farm near Binalong, taking a horse, saddle and bridle
* June: robbed a farm at Marengo belonging to John Pring
* 13 June: robbed a farm belonging to Charles Dunleavy, taking guns and food
* 23 June: robbed a store at Canowindra and burnt all the account books. Took the owner as a hostage and tried to get £300 for his release.
* 24 June: tried to rob a farm belonging to Mr. Rothery, but burnt the haystack instead
* 7 July: held up and robbed at gun point the mail coach between Bathurst and Carcoar. Also robbed the coach going the other way.

### Canowindra robbery
Hall's gang robbed Robinson's Hotel in Canowindra and held all the people of the town hostage for three days. Nobody was hurt and Hall even got the people to play music and dance. The local policeman was locked in his own cell. When the people were set free, Hall paid them money. The gang paid the hotel owner for the food and drink that they had used. On 15 November 1864, the gang tried to rob the Gundagai-Yass mail coach near Jugiong. While waiting for the coach, the gang captured and robbed over 60 people, who were traveling along the road. The policeman on the coach, William Roche, was ordered by Police Magistrate Alfred Rose, who was riding inside, not to shoot and draw fire. The driver, Bill Geoghegan, ordered him to get off the coach or he would kick him off. Hall and Dunn began firing at two other policemen who were riding behind the coach. Sub-Inspector William O'Neill was quickly captured. Two days later the gang robbed the mail coach between Yass and Lambing Flat. On 5 December, they robbed the mail coach between Binalong and Burrowa. Together with the girls the gang robbed a shop owned by Edward Morriss. The gang and the girls left the town. Christina McKinnon, along with Margaret and Ellen Monks were arrested by Detective James Pye for helping the bushrangers and were sent to Sydney for trial. Morriss joined the police force. He thought this would bring the gang out into the open where his men would be able to capture them. The Ben Hall gang did not appear and Pottinger lost his job. The Inspector-General of Police thought that Pottinger had disgraced the police force by riding in races while he was supposed to be working. Pottinger decided to go to Sydney to make the police force change its mind. On the way he accidentally shot himself and later died.

The police put more effort into the hunt for the bushrangers. In February, they went to a house near Queanbeyan and found the gang had only just left. The bushrangers began shooting at the coach and Constable Kelly was shot. He was badly hurt, but he crawled to side of the road and began shooting at the bushrangers. The police were able to keep the bushrangers away from the coach. Another policeman, Trooper Byrne, was also shot.The bushrangers quickly left when miners with guns arrived from the town.

### Outlawed
In two years Ben Hall's gang, as well as killing two policemen, had reportedly robbed ten mail coaches, held up 21 properties, stole 23 racing horses, and taken over the village of Canowindra three times.

In early 1865, the government made a new law to help capture Ben Hall, John Gilbert and John Dunn. The *Felons Apprehension Act* was rushed quickly through the New South Wales Parliament. This would make Hall and his friends "outlaws" if they did not surrender within thirty days. This meant that they could be killed by anyone at any time without . They also put a reward of £1000 for the capture of Ben Hall. The gang escaped into the bush. They made their way to a shepherd's hut and forced the shepherd to put a bandage on Gilbert's arm. Hall and Dunn walked to a  farm, Beggan Beggan station. They held up the 16 farm workers and took horses, saddles and bridles. They went back to get Gilbert and then robbed the farm again, taking guns, ammunition, and food. He did not shoot his pistol once. The first rifle shots of the police cut his belt in two, and his guns fell to the ground. Goobang Mick was given a £500 reward. The police were given another £500 reward. A lot of people went to see him buried. The tree that Hall slept under before he was killed became an attraction. People in the 1920s were still able to see bullets in the tree trunk. The tree was destroyed in a bushfire in 1926. Ben Hall's gun, a Colt pistol, is now in the National Library of Australia.

Gilbert and Dunn were nearly caught by the police a week later at Binalong. Gilbert was killed as he tried to run away. Dunn got away, but six months later a friend told the police where Dunn was hiding. He was captured, tried for murder and hanged in Sydney on 19 March 1866.

There is memorial called "Ben Hall's Wall" at Breeza, south of Gunnedah, New South Wales. "Ben Halls Gap National Park" is a small section of State Forest south of Nundle, New South Wales. It is not named after the bushranger, but after his father, Benjamin Hall.

## Hall in popular culture
### Music
Many folk songs celebrate Hall's life and actions. These include:
* "The Streets of Forbes": The most famous song is "The Streets of Forbes". The song may have been written by Hall's brother-in-law, John Maguire. It has been recorded by many singers and groups including Paul Kelly, the Bushwackers, Gary Shearston, June Tabor, Martin Carthy, Chris and Siobhan Nelson, Warren Fahey and Weddings Parties Anything.
* "The Ballad of Ben Hall's Gang"
* "Brave Ben Hall", sometimes called the "Ballad of Ben Hall", "Bold Ben Hall", and The Death of Ben Hall . The words are the same, but each song has its own tune.
* "The Ghost of Ben Hall".
* "Ben Hall" –  by John Meredith from Sally Sloane. Sally claimed Hall's sister-in-law was the midwife at her birth.
* "Dunn, Gilbert and Ben Hall" – edited by Banjo Patterson in his book, *Old Bush Ballads*

### Movies
* *The Legend of Ben Hall*, an Australian movie finished in 2016. Written and directed by Matthew Holmes. Starring Jack Martin, Jamie Coffa and William Lee.
* *Ben Hall, Notorious Bush Ranger*, also called *A Tale of the Australian Bush* – made in Sydney in 1911. Script by Patrick William Marony. Directed by Gaston Mervale. No copies have survived.
* *Ben Hall and His Gang* – made in 1911. Directed by Jack Gavin and written by Agnes Gavin. Starring Jack Gavin as Ben Hall. Black and white silent movie, 33&nbsp;minutes long.
* *Ben Hall* – television show about Ben Hall was made in 1975. The BBC (England), and the ABC (Australia) worked together to make the series. It starred Jon Finch as Ben Hall. The director was Neil McCallum. The theme music for the show was written by Bruce Smeaton and played by the Bushwackers. The Bushwackers also had the song on their album "*And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda*".

### Art
The story of Hall has been shown in many works of art.
* Patrick William Marony (1858–1939) *The Death of Ben Hall*, an oil painting (1894), kept in the National Library of Australia.
* Patrick William Marony (1858–1939) *Night Raid on Bathurst*, an oil painting (1894), kept in the National Library of Australia.
* Patrick William Marony (1858–1939) *Bushrangers attacking Goimbla Station*, an oil painting (1894) kept in the National Library of Australia.
* Patrick William Marony (1858–1939) *Bourke (i.e. Burke) ; Ben Hall ; Frank Gardiner, King of the Road ; Gilbert ; Dunne (i.e. Dunn)* , an oil painting (1894) of the gang members (1894), kept in the National Library of Australia.

### Theatre
Hall's story has also been told on the stage:
* Lester Bellingham wrote *Bail Up*, sometime between 1887–1898, a drama based on Mrs. Keightley's famous ride to Bathurst to save her husband's life.
* Australian writer, Barry Dickins, wrote a one-man play called "*The Epiphany of Ben Hall*." It was performed in Grenfell, Cowra, Parkes and Forbes in 2007.

### Books
* 
* Peter Bradley – *The Judas Covenant – the betrayal and death of Ben Hall*
* 
* Frank McClune – *Ben Hall the Bushranger*. (1947)
* Edgar F. Penzig – *The Sandy Creek Bushranger – a definitive history of Ben Hall, his gang and associates* (1985) 
* Edgar F. Penzig – *Ben Hall : the definitive illustrated history*. (1996)

## References