Bradley and O'Connor - bushrangers
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:53 pm
Bradley and O'Connor were real nasty types. This article is one that I put in the book I edited which was a collection of such articles. Over time it is interesting how the story changed. Both men were caught and hanged. Google is your friend if you want to know more.
Reminiscences of Notorious Bushrangers
Bradley and O’Connor
A Stirring Narrative
Kilmore Advertiser, Saturday, 5 December, 1896
On the 4th ult.,86 there died at Brighton at the ripe age of ninety-three, a Mr. John King, who, in 1853, was stuck up by the two notorious bushrangers, Bradley and O’Connor. Subsequently Mr. W. J. Smith, now residing at Brunswick, has given some highly interesting particulars connected with the capture of the two bushrangers mentioned, from his own personal experience.
These men were convicts serving sentences at Port Arthur, which, through the medium of Marcus Clarke’s For the Term of His Natural Life, has been made familiar to all reading people. They made their escape and pushed into the interior of the island. They were not long before they began a career which ended on the gallows. Reaching a farm house, they bailed up its occupants, two men and two women, whom they tied together in couples, man and man and woman and woman. “The owner of the place,” said Mr. Smith, “whose name I have forgotten, made his escape through a window. The captives were asked as to the whereabouts of their master, and because they could not afford the information, one of the scoundrels deliberately blew out the brains of one of them. They then ransacked the place and provided themselves with firearms and ammunition and everything valuable or of a portable character.”
“Returning to the seashore they stole a boat and made their way to a small craft that was moored a short distance out. Having boarded it, they stuck up the crew – a very small one, of course, and compelled the master to make sail for the Victorian shore. After a somewhat stormy voyage they were landed at Western Port, and travelled then in the direction of Melbourne. The first that was heard of them after their landing was their sticking up a station, the homestead of which was at Brighton, belonging to Mr. King.”
“Were you there at the time of the sticking up, Mr. Smith?” was asked.
“No, I was not. I am coming to my encounter with them, and although it was forty-three years ago, I can remember every detail as though it were yesterday. A few days after the visit to Mr. King’s station I met them. I was then managing Mr. Jno.88 Clark’s station, Moranding, which was between Lancefield and Kilmore. But I had better finish about their visit to Mr. King’s. They tied that gentleman and his wife together, and they similarly fastened all in the place but a young son of Mr. King’s. They made the boy go to the stable and take a saddle down to a paddock where there was a man ploughing with two horses. They told the ploughman that they wanted his horses and he replied that he would be knocking off for dinner in a few moments, when they could have them. One of the bushrangers deliberately fired at him and shattered his arm, the bullet passing through his body.”
“Did he die?”
“Oh, no; his arm was taken out from the socket at the shoulder, and the bullet was removed from his body, and he recovered. Cobb and Co., who were then running coaches to Kilmore, used to kindly give him a free passage to Kilmore and back, and the poor fellow was thus able to make a fair living selling newspapers. He continued at that until the railway was built.”89
“Where did you first encounter them?”
“At Mr. Clark’s station, which I mentioned. Having secured Mr. King’s plough horses, they journeyed by back roads, avoiding Melbourne, to Moranding. Nearing the homestead they rode into a water hole, in which their horses got bogged, and there they left them. A short distance away there was a hut occupied by a shoemaker and his wife. The latter was at home, and they asked her to prepare them some dinner, which she did. For this service one of them gave her a sovereign, and told her they wanted no change. While they were at the hut they saw me going down the house paddock to catch a horse, and they asked the shoemaker’s wife who I was. She told them I was the manager, and on my return to the stable they came up, and O’Connor who was a very big, powerful man, asked me if I could give him a job hut-keeping or shepherding. I told him that Mr. Clark had just sold the station, but the new owner, a Mr. Flynn, had gone to the men’s hut, and they could see him there. They followed him thither, and I went into my own house, and the gardener employed on the station went with Mr. Clark into the latter’s house to get a newspaper. A few minutes afterwards a little terrier I had began to bark violently, and I went outside to see what was the matter. Both bushrangers were standing outside, and O’Connor presented a gun at my head, and bade me stand still, which, you may be sure, I did. Bradley then tied my arms to my body and my legs together, and then got my wife and secured her with a rope to one of my arms. After a while Mrs. Smith managed to free herself, and having done so, she cut my cords and released me. I had no difficulty in fixing the date, my eldest daughter was born only a few days before. It was 10th September, 1853.”
“Having got free what did you do?”
“I ran to the stable to which you know I told you I had taken my horse, I rode as fast as he would travel to Kilmore, which was four miles distant. In the meantime Bradley and O’Connor had gone up to Clark’s house, and met him as he was coming out with the gardener. They were ordered to bail up. Mr. Clark rushed into the house, but O’Connor before he could close the door, put his foot between it and the jamb. The gardener and Bradley had a struggle, in which the former tried to wrest Bradley’s gun from him, but without succeeding. Mr. Clarke90 then made an attempt to escape by running away in the direction of the men’s hut. Bradley followed him, and fired two shots at him, one of which passed through his hat, and the other through his whiskers. O’Connor shot the gardener through the body, so that we had to get a doctor. I brought the police with me from Kilmore. Mr. C. H. Nicolson,91 the present Police Magistrate, and then a cadet, was in charge, and he had with him Mr. Thompson, also a cadet, Sergeant Nolan and a trooper. On reaching the station Bradley and O’Connor had gone, and Mr. Nicolson sent for a black tracker. The following morning an early start was made, the men’s tracks picked up, and followed in the direction of the Tantaraboo ranges. The bushrangers had made their way on to Springfield, a run then owned by a Mr. Kane.92 They had heard a cock crowing at a shepherd’s hut, and to it they made their way. It was occupied by two shepherds, and the wife of one of them. The men they tied together, and made the woman cook victuals for them. They pierced the walls of the hut so that they could fire at anyone approaching it, and melted down the metal tea-pot belonging to the shepherd’s wife to make bullets.”
“They had plenty of powder then?”
“They must have had. Between 4 and 5 o’clock that afternoon the ration carrier’s cart arrived, and Bradley and O’Connor walked out of the hut and ordered the man to drive them to Kane’s homestead, threatening that if he did not arrive there before sundown they would shoot him dead. You may depend upon it that man drove his horse for all it was worth, and succeeded in saving his life. There were eleven men in the hut, and all were tied together, and so had been left for some time. Mr. Nicolson and his party rode up, knocked at the door, and demanded admittance. They were told that the occupants were all tied together, and that the homestead was in the hands of bushrangers. After one encounter the bushrangers got away, owing to the police running short of ammunition, but they were tracked by the blackfellow. Bradley and O’Connor had secured two horses. When the police party came up with them, Sergeant Nolan drew his sword and made a cut at O’Connor, which the latter warded off with his gun; but for which his head must assuredly have been cut off. Mr. Nicolson rode up, seized O’Connor by the collar, and tore him bodily out of the saddle, and secured him. Bradley threw down his gun and begged for mercy.”
“In the encounter Mr. Nicolson’s horse was shot through the fleshy part of the neck, and Mr. Thompson was shot through the body. He went to England for a trip and returned to the colony, but did not live long after that.93 Mr. Nicholson94 was riding his wounded horse next day, for he served me with a subpoena to appear against Bradley and O’Connor at Kilmore, whither they were taken. They were committed for trial at Melbourne, where they were tried, sentenced to death, and executed.”95 – Weekly Times.
My note: There are numerous versions of these events. One claims incorrectly that Clarke’s station was that of W. J. T. Clarke. Most claim that the man who was shot at King’s station died of his wounds; some accounts even claim that the bushrangers buried £200 somewhere on Cain’s station before being captured.
Reminiscences of Notorious Bushrangers
Bradley and O’Connor
A Stirring Narrative
Kilmore Advertiser, Saturday, 5 December, 1896
On the 4th ult.,86 there died at Brighton at the ripe age of ninety-three, a Mr. John King, who, in 1853, was stuck up by the two notorious bushrangers, Bradley and O’Connor. Subsequently Mr. W. J. Smith, now residing at Brunswick, has given some highly interesting particulars connected with the capture of the two bushrangers mentioned, from his own personal experience.
These men were convicts serving sentences at Port Arthur, which, through the medium of Marcus Clarke’s For the Term of His Natural Life, has been made familiar to all reading people. They made their escape and pushed into the interior of the island. They were not long before they began a career which ended on the gallows. Reaching a farm house, they bailed up its occupants, two men and two women, whom they tied together in couples, man and man and woman and woman. “The owner of the place,” said Mr. Smith, “whose name I have forgotten, made his escape through a window. The captives were asked as to the whereabouts of their master, and because they could not afford the information, one of the scoundrels deliberately blew out the brains of one of them. They then ransacked the place and provided themselves with firearms and ammunition and everything valuable or of a portable character.”
“Returning to the seashore they stole a boat and made their way to a small craft that was moored a short distance out. Having boarded it, they stuck up the crew – a very small one, of course, and compelled the master to make sail for the Victorian shore. After a somewhat stormy voyage they were landed at Western Port, and travelled then in the direction of Melbourne. The first that was heard of them after their landing was their sticking up a station, the homestead of which was at Brighton, belonging to Mr. King.”
“Were you there at the time of the sticking up, Mr. Smith?” was asked.
“No, I was not. I am coming to my encounter with them, and although it was forty-three years ago, I can remember every detail as though it were yesterday. A few days after the visit to Mr. King’s station I met them. I was then managing Mr. Jno.88 Clark’s station, Moranding, which was between Lancefield and Kilmore. But I had better finish about their visit to Mr. King’s. They tied that gentleman and his wife together, and they similarly fastened all in the place but a young son of Mr. King’s. They made the boy go to the stable and take a saddle down to a paddock where there was a man ploughing with two horses. They told the ploughman that they wanted his horses and he replied that he would be knocking off for dinner in a few moments, when they could have them. One of the bushrangers deliberately fired at him and shattered his arm, the bullet passing through his body.”
“Did he die?”
“Oh, no; his arm was taken out from the socket at the shoulder, and the bullet was removed from his body, and he recovered. Cobb and Co., who were then running coaches to Kilmore, used to kindly give him a free passage to Kilmore and back, and the poor fellow was thus able to make a fair living selling newspapers. He continued at that until the railway was built.”89
“Where did you first encounter them?”
“At Mr. Clark’s station, which I mentioned. Having secured Mr. King’s plough horses, they journeyed by back roads, avoiding Melbourne, to Moranding. Nearing the homestead they rode into a water hole, in which their horses got bogged, and there they left them. A short distance away there was a hut occupied by a shoemaker and his wife. The latter was at home, and they asked her to prepare them some dinner, which she did. For this service one of them gave her a sovereign, and told her they wanted no change. While they were at the hut they saw me going down the house paddock to catch a horse, and they asked the shoemaker’s wife who I was. She told them I was the manager, and on my return to the stable they came up, and O’Connor who was a very big, powerful man, asked me if I could give him a job hut-keeping or shepherding. I told him that Mr. Clark had just sold the station, but the new owner, a Mr. Flynn, had gone to the men’s hut, and they could see him there. They followed him thither, and I went into my own house, and the gardener employed on the station went with Mr. Clark into the latter’s house to get a newspaper. A few minutes afterwards a little terrier I had began to bark violently, and I went outside to see what was the matter. Both bushrangers were standing outside, and O’Connor presented a gun at my head, and bade me stand still, which, you may be sure, I did. Bradley then tied my arms to my body and my legs together, and then got my wife and secured her with a rope to one of my arms. After a while Mrs. Smith managed to free herself, and having done so, she cut my cords and released me. I had no difficulty in fixing the date, my eldest daughter was born only a few days before. It was 10th September, 1853.”
“Having got free what did you do?”
“I ran to the stable to which you know I told you I had taken my horse, I rode as fast as he would travel to Kilmore, which was four miles distant. In the meantime Bradley and O’Connor had gone up to Clark’s house, and met him as he was coming out with the gardener. They were ordered to bail up. Mr. Clark rushed into the house, but O’Connor before he could close the door, put his foot between it and the jamb. The gardener and Bradley had a struggle, in which the former tried to wrest Bradley’s gun from him, but without succeeding. Mr. Clarke90 then made an attempt to escape by running away in the direction of the men’s hut. Bradley followed him, and fired two shots at him, one of which passed through his hat, and the other through his whiskers. O’Connor shot the gardener through the body, so that we had to get a doctor. I brought the police with me from Kilmore. Mr. C. H. Nicolson,91 the present Police Magistrate, and then a cadet, was in charge, and he had with him Mr. Thompson, also a cadet, Sergeant Nolan and a trooper. On reaching the station Bradley and O’Connor had gone, and Mr. Nicolson sent for a black tracker. The following morning an early start was made, the men’s tracks picked up, and followed in the direction of the Tantaraboo ranges. The bushrangers had made their way on to Springfield, a run then owned by a Mr. Kane.92 They had heard a cock crowing at a shepherd’s hut, and to it they made their way. It was occupied by two shepherds, and the wife of one of them. The men they tied together, and made the woman cook victuals for them. They pierced the walls of the hut so that they could fire at anyone approaching it, and melted down the metal tea-pot belonging to the shepherd’s wife to make bullets.”
“They had plenty of powder then?”
“They must have had. Between 4 and 5 o’clock that afternoon the ration carrier’s cart arrived, and Bradley and O’Connor walked out of the hut and ordered the man to drive them to Kane’s homestead, threatening that if he did not arrive there before sundown they would shoot him dead. You may depend upon it that man drove his horse for all it was worth, and succeeded in saving his life. There were eleven men in the hut, and all were tied together, and so had been left for some time. Mr. Nicolson and his party rode up, knocked at the door, and demanded admittance. They were told that the occupants were all tied together, and that the homestead was in the hands of bushrangers. After one encounter the bushrangers got away, owing to the police running short of ammunition, but they were tracked by the blackfellow. Bradley and O’Connor had secured two horses. When the police party came up with them, Sergeant Nolan drew his sword and made a cut at O’Connor, which the latter warded off with his gun; but for which his head must assuredly have been cut off. Mr. Nicolson rode up, seized O’Connor by the collar, and tore him bodily out of the saddle, and secured him. Bradley threw down his gun and begged for mercy.”
“In the encounter Mr. Nicolson’s horse was shot through the fleshy part of the neck, and Mr. Thompson was shot through the body. He went to England for a trip and returned to the colony, but did not live long after that.93 Mr. Nicholson94 was riding his wounded horse next day, for he served me with a subpoena to appear against Bradley and O’Connor at Kilmore, whither they were taken. They were committed for trial at Melbourne, where they were tried, sentenced to death, and executed.”95 – Weekly Times.
My note: There are numerous versions of these events. One claims incorrectly that Clarke’s station was that of W. J. T. Clarke. Most claim that the man who was shot at King’s station died of his wounds; some accounts even claim that the bushrangers buried £200 somewhere on Cain’s station before being captured.