Essay Plan
Introduction/Thesis
In 'Spiders in the Centre of Their Webs': The NSW Police and Bushranging in the 1860s, Susan West speaks of bushrangers that rose to prominence in late 19th century Australia. This paper will look at the rise of bushranging in Australia and discuss the culpability of Australian Law in regards to the rise of the bushrangers. The sources that will be utilized were chosen because they seemed to be upon initial inspection relevant to the thesis topic.
This paper uses a number of primary and secondary sources including books, online websites, and PDF’s. The purpose of all of the sources utilized is to discover how responsible the law was when it came to the rise of bushrangers. It will also be used to decide rather it is the government or the local law enforcement that was to blame.
Body of essay
Bushrangers- Bushrangers were outlaws, who lived in the bush. They were supported by other settlers when it came to escaping law enforcement. Bushranging in Australia lasted for about 100 years beginning with John Caesar in 1795 and ending with Jimmy Governor in 1901. Despite the violent acts of many of the bushrangers they were generally seen in a positive light as “Robin Hood” figures who worked to help others in need.
Police Corruption- It has been generally believed by many critics that the Australian police force during the time of the bushrangers were either inept or corrupt. In her article Spiders in the Centre of Their Webs': The NSW Police and Bushranging in the 1860 Susan West argues that the police force was not corrupt or inept but rather they were inhibited from being able to ascertain many of the bushrangers due to the fact that they were protected by their communities. West argues that in many cases a long- term bushranger’s supporters would provide them with alibis and aid them when it came to evading capture. There was also that fact that the police force was poorly equip to handle many situations they would encounter when dealing with bushrangers and the people who supported them
Development of argument:
A bushranger had been originally defined as an escaped convict that evaded capture by hiding in the Australian bush, later the term came to mean any criminal who lived in the forest and engaged in robbery and violence. In Jane Wilson’s article “Bushrangers in the Australian Dictionary of Biography” she writes about the history of the bushrangers in Australia. While it is speculated that the number of bushrangers that existed in the 100 years that they were active are somewhere near a thousand individuals Wilson’s essay concentrates on the 25 most important. She tells of how Australia had been set up as a penal colony. However, the convicts were not imprisoned in a correctional facility. Rather they were able to come and go as they pleased and to make money working for people outside of their assigned employment. Even though their environment was rather lenient many prisoners were driven to steal food and clothing due to low rations As bushranging grew the laws became stricter, many of the freedoms that convicts had enjoyed were taken from them, including that ability to earn extra money . The new system was based of favours and favouritism. Under this new more brutal system many convicts escaped into the bush.
In his book “Australia” Jeffery Pike speaks of how the lack of loyalty between the Australian colonies played an important part in the legacy of the bushranger. In 1851 Edward Hargreaves discovered gold. This led to the Australian gold rush which was according to Pike a mixed blessing because even though prices on goods rose triple in value, there was no one to sell them because they had all went to find gold. The gold rush also meant a rise in bushrangers, who would rob stagecoaches as they were returning from their digs.
In his essay “Kelly, Edward (Ned) (1855-1880), John V. Barry tells the story of the most well-known bushranger Ned Kelly, who has hung in 1880 at the age of 26 after only three years as an outlaw bushranger. The Kelly family was known to be thieves but saw themselves as being victims of police persecution. There were a number of serious police incidents involving the Kelly family as there were substantial rewards for the capture of members of the gang. In one of their heists the gang dressed as police officers and robbed the Bank of New South Wales. During this time Ned Kelly wrote the “Jerilderie Letter”. The Jerilderie Letter” was an 8,000-word manifesto by Ned Kelly in which he gives a justification and explanation of the crimes he had committed
In her book” Settler Society in the Australian Colonies: Self-government and Imperial Culture” Angela Woollacott speaks of the development of Australia from a penal colony to that of a self-governing unified country. In her book she also speaks of the causes and rise of bushranging and the number of laws that were passed in order to discourage such acts and to relieve that general panic that existed in Australia at the time. Woollacott looks at how the indigenous population, the penal system and the support of the populace may have played a part in law enforcements inability to persecute a number of bushrangers. A major reason for this was because the country had not yet united and was essentially five territories that were aligned with England rather than with each other. This lack of police cohesion made it impossible for law enforcement to capture and convict someone if they were able to escape into another territory.
Timeline:
1788-Arthur Phillip begins Australia’s first penal colony in Sydney. He arrives with approximately 800 convicts
1795 -John Caesar aka Black Caesar a West Indian who is an escaped convict is recognized to be Australia’s first bushranger
1805 The term bushranger is first used by the Sydney Gazette
1816 the convicts had lost their privilege/ right to earn extra money
1827 John Donohue one of Australia’s most notorious bushrangers commits a number of robberies after being captured he escaped. Donohue becomes the first bushranger to be celebrated by the populace
1851 gold is discovered. This causes a substantial growth in population as well as a rise in bushranging a crime.
1862 The Police Regulation Act is passed. This enables the control and organization of the law enforcement to be brought under a central administration
1862 Frank Gardiner and his gang of bushrangers robbed a stagecoach of its gold. The value being £14,000
1865 The Felons Apprehension Act was passed. The act allowed for citizens to shoot any alleged bushranger of sight
1865 Ben Hall a bushranger was betrayed and shot on sight by police. His death was followed by closely by the deaths of other members of his gang. John Gilbert was shot by police in 1865 and John Dunn was hung in 1866
1877-Ned Kelly starts the Kelly gang with his family
1880-Kelly in hung and becomes a cultural icon
1901 Jimmy Governor is the last of the bushrangers to be executed
Bibliography
Barry, John, V. 'Kelly, Edward (Ned) (1855–1880)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 29 May 2016. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kelly-edward-ned-3933/text6187
Crittenden, Victor. 'Ward, Frederick (Fred) (1835–1870)' Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1976, Accessed May 29, 2016. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ward-frederick-fred-4801.
Oxford Dictionaries, "Definition of Bushranger in English." Bushranger. Accessed May 29, 2016. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/bushranger.
"Early Australian Bushrangers | Australia.gov.au." Early Australian Bushrangers | Australia.gov.au. Accessed May 29, 2016. http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/early-austn-bushrangers.
Kelly, Ned. "Jerilderie Letter Transcription." National Museum of Australia -. Accessed May 29, 2016. http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/collection_interactives/jerilderie_letter/page_5.
Miller, Teagan. 1 Ruffians and Criminals: An Exploration of Bushrangers in South Australia. PDF. South Australia: Flinders University of South Australia, November 14, 2011.
Pike, Jeffery. Australia. Singapore: Apa Publications, 1998.
West, Susan. Spiders in the Centre of Their Webs': The NSW Police and Bushranging in the 1860. PDF. Western Sidney University, 2006.
Wilson, Jane 'Bushrangers in the Australian Dictionary of Biography', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, originally published 14 April 2015, accessed 29 May 2016, http://adb.anu.edu.au/essay/12/text31129
Woollacott, Angela. Settler Society in the Australian Colonies: Self-government and Imperial Culture. Oxford University Press, 2015
