Bushrangers were criminals who operated in country districts of Australia from about 1790 until about 1900. The first bushranger was John Caesar, also known as Black Caesar. He was at large (free or not captured) in New South Wales in 1790. Over the next 110 years, bushranging outbreaks were frequent. Among the last bushrangers were the Governor brothers, who were at large in the New England region of New South Wales in 1900. The bushrangers’ crimes usually involved cattle theft, highway robbery, and murder. During the early years, their crimes also included cannibalism (eating people). The bushrangers quickly became part of Australian folklore and remain part of it today.
The reasons given for bushranging vary. Some historians argue that social conditions forced men into bushranging. Others argue that such men would have been criminals under any circumstances. Bushranging was concentrated in three colonies, Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania), New South Wales, and Victoria. Outbreaks in Western Australia and Queensland were minor. South Australia had no major bushranging activity.
There were three distinct periods of bushranging in Australia. The first period began in Van Diemen’s Land in about 1810 with the gang of bandits led by John Whitehead. It ended with the capture of Martin Cash in 1843. Bushranging during this first period was concentrated in the island colony. Several gangs were at large, particularly between 1810 and 1825, but the most famous were those led by John Whitehead (from 1810 to 1814), by Michael Howe (from 1814 to 1818), and by Matthew Brady (from 1824 to 1826).
The outbreaks of bushranging were so severe that they threatened the settlement of the colony. Some gangs were large and powerful enough to raid small towns. The authorities were forced to take harsh methods, which included declaring martial law (military rule) to suppress bushranging. The main cause of bushranging in this period was the convict system. Its harshness forced many men to flee to the bush. The large number of convicts in the colony ensured that convict bushrangers could rely on many people for support. On the mainland, Jack Donohoe was at large from 1827 to 1830 in New South Wales.
The second period of bushranging began with the discovery of gold in 1851 and ended in 1870 with the capture of Harry Power in Victoria. Highway robbery on the roads to the gold fields was common in both New South Wales and Victoria, and the level of cattle theft rose. Bushrangers operated both in gangs and alone. The best-known bushrangers of the period include Dan Morgan, Captain Thunderbolt and Harry Power. Other bushrangers include James McPherson in Queensland and Joseph Johns in Western Australia.
The most significant outbreak of bushranging in the second period occurred in the 1860’s in New South Wales. It was led initially by Frank Gardiner and later by Ben Hall. Failure to catch the Lachlan men, as they were called, toppled two colonial governments and led to the reorganization of the New South Wales police forces.
The last period of bushranging remains the most famous in Australian history. This was the time of the Kelly gang. This gang gave Australians their most controversial folk hero, Ned Kelly. The Kelly gang took to the bush in 1878, in northeastern Victoria. During the 18 months that followed, gang members shot four men and robbed two banks before the gang was trapped by police at Glenrowan.
Most bushrangers were quickly forgotten, but a few bushrangers became part of folklore as Australia’s equivalent of Robin Hood. Their deeds were romanticized in ballads and stories, and they became the bushranger of popular tradition—the underdog fighting injustice, who was courteous to women, loyal, brave, and defiant.
