A mention must be made about our bush-rangers, or outlaws which ever you prefer. The most famous of these was Ned Kelly who came from Irish emigrant stock and whose family did their utmost to make a go of it in the 'New' country. Although they were not beyond stretching the bounds of the law, brought on by the natural urge for survival, they were persecuted by the traps (law enforcement) until they were forced into a fight for their very existence. 

However, lets go back to the time when it all began as it was inevitable that something of this nature just had to happen. When such a large number of convicts were transported to New South Wales, who had to endure the harshness of the cruel establishment, there was always going to be number who would try to escape. These were called 'Bolter's' and they had to rely on others to help them. This led to other problems, they were often turned in to the troopers. Eventually they had to fend for themselves which meant they had to steal or rob to keep going. They became known as 'Bushrangers' and were relentlessly pursued by the police, and some people even blackmailed them in return for help and a share in the spoils. Eventually the gaols of NSW and Victoria were at bursting point and the worst cases were sent on to the penal settlements in Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) also remembering that 64,306 convicts were sent there from England as well. 

One of the first 'bushrangers' ( escaped convicts who 'ranged the bush') for extended periods was an escaped convict named Matthew Corbett or Corbin around 1788. The term bushranger today has a different connotation, more describing the bushranger as a type of highwayman and robber under arms. The first appears to have been a Negro named John Caesar who escaped in 1790 and stole food and clothing to stay alive and was finally shot and captured at Strathfield in Sydney.   

Sometime referred to as the first Australian bushrangers were Michael Howe who was transported from England pre 1813 for being a Highwayman, teamed up with a convict called 'Whitehead' and were soon in trouble in their new surroundings. Whitehead was shot dead in 1814 and Howe then took over as leader of the gang. One of his early bad deeds was to organise a raid on an aboriginal camp and wipe out the natives. This is believed be the start of further atrocities against the native population, ending with the total annihilation of all aboriginals in Tasmania. (Please read more about the Aboriginal problem in the Tasmania pages). 

Strangely enough, Howe met a native woman named Black Mary on one of these raids on aboriginal camps but she was not a bushranger only a very loyal woman. She helped Howe very much by providing him with campsites, troop movements and the like. In 1817 while being pursued by the troopers Mary found she could not keep up the pace, so Howe shot her and left her for dead. However, she recovered from her wounds and then she vowed revenge for his betrayal after all she had done for him. She led the troopers and showed them all his old haunts, hiding places and put the troopers on his trail. From that time on not much was heard of her apparently she returned to her tribal ways. 

In 1822 Lieutenant Governor George Arthur was appointed the administrator of Van Diemens Land, a post he held from 1824 until 1837. The penal settlement Port Arthur was named after him.

On the 20th Nov. 1822 an inmate named Alexander Pierce and 8 others escaped from the the recently opened penal settlement at Port Macquarie in the Gordon River wilderness area. They stole a boat and made their escape through the almost impenetrable dense bush along the river. The going was incredibly hard and food hard to find. When Pierce was finally captured he was the only one left, all the others had been killed and cannibalised. At his trial he stated" It tasted better than pork or fish." He was found guilty and was hanged on 16th Nov. 1823. Of some 112 who ran away from Port Macquarie, 65 perished in that terrible bush.

Martin Cash at age 60 years. The headstone on the grave of Martin Cash describes him as a brave but unfortunate Irishman. He was sent from England in 1827 to the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales (NSW) where he served his time for 9 years, quietly and without trouble, until one day he was branding some cattle for a friend. Two men who were strangers rode up and watched, then rode away. His friend then told him that the cattle were stolen and they would tell the police. Cash, 18 at the time, became panic stricken and fled for fear of being sent to Norfolk Island for life. He and Bessie Clifford his acquired girlfriend again fled into hiding. In 1837 they took a ship to Hobart Tasmania, and went to work, but twice he was wrongly accused of stealing. He was found guilty and sent to a penal colony near Hobart, but escaped within 24 hours and again went on the run with Bessie. They went to the Huon area where they weren't known and worked for a year to save money to get back to Melbourne. He was recognised in Hobart and arrested and sent to Port Arthur for 4 years. He and 2 others escaped and reached Eagle-Hawks Neck, a narrow peninsula which had a line of savage dogs across it, to stop convicts from escaping.

They cleverly swam around the line of dogs and sentries and made good their escape. Cash was finally arrested after several scrapes with the law and sent to Norfolk Island for life. While there he met & married a convict girl and when pardoned, he then returned to Glenorchy in TAS and saw out his life on a farm.  He, like Ned Kelly and Ben Hall were truly very, very unfortunate .

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