“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman. In the case of Australia’s colonial outlaws it is just not conceivable to tell the stories of the men without drawing attention to the vital role played by women. The Kelly and Clarke women were just as notorious as the men, often getting into trouble with the law on their own accounts. Jimmy Governor, Captain Thunderbolt and Michael Howe all relied on women to aid them while on the run. Ben Hall and Johnny Gilbert had many doxies and partners during their time on the run from the law to give them a warm bed when the opportunity presented itself. Then there’s the reputation of Matthew Brady who set a standard for other outlaws by making a point of treating women well, which resulted in hordes of female admirers filling his death cell with love letters and gifts. Here we will look at a few notable examples of the women behind some of Australia’s most notorious men”. Source: The Women Behind the Bushrangers
Intrigued?
- She had five aliases. She ran a gang. Rumor was she killed her own husband. And the police couldn’t touch her. So when Jessie Hickman first rode into the Australian town of Kandos in the early 1900s, the locals steered well clear. They also gave her a name: “The Lady Bushranger“
- As the old saying goes, ‘behind every great man is a great woman’; however, in the case of bushranger Fredrick Ward and his First Nations wife Mary Ann Bugg, it could be argued the latter was always a few steps ahead.
- He was the gentleman bushranger … she was the woman who rode with him. This is the true story of Captain Thunderbolt and his lady.
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