A botched execution

March 1863, a train from Sydney pulls into Campbelltown carrying the body of convicted bushranger Henry Manns.
The son of William Manns, a ticket-of-leave man and his wife Mary, Henry was baptised at St Peters, Campbelltown in 1839. The family went to the Adelong goldfields where Henry worked as a carrier before becoming involved with bushranger Frank Gardiner.
At just 24, Manns, with nine other members of Frank Gardiner's armed gang took part in the holdup of the gold escort at Eugowra on 15 June 1862.
Captured in Wombat (near Young) he stood trial with three other members of the gang on 3 February 1863 but was the only one sentenced to death at Darlinghurst Gaol on 26 March 1863.

The residents of Campbelltown tried in vain to save Henry's life, seventy one had signed a petition for mercy and ultimately fifteen thousand signatures were obtained, but to no avail. Henry Manns had confessed to his crime and was to be hung, but he suffered a terrible death in a botched execution that was reported in graphic and awful detail by the Sydney Morning Herald the following day:

         "When at length...the bolt was drawn, there ensued one of the most appalling spectacles ever witnessed at an execution. The noose of the rope, instead of passing tightly round the neck, the knot coming round in front of the face, while the whole weight of the criminal's body was sustained by the thick muscles of the poll (head). The rope in short, went round the middle of the head and the work of the hangman proved a most terrible bungle. The sufferings and the struggles of the wretched being were heartrending to behold. His body swayed about, and writhed evidently in the most intense agony. The arms repeatedly rose and fell, and finally, with one of his hands the unfortunate man gripped the rope, as if to tear the pressure from his head, a loud guttural noise proceeding from his throat and lungs, while blood gushed from his nostrils, and stained the cap with which his face was covered. The awful scene lasted for more than ten minutes when stillness ensued, and it was hoped that death had terminated the culprit's suffering..."

Darlinghurst Gaol (courtesy https://www.nas.edu.au/place/old-darlinghurst-gaol/

Unfortunately Henry's suffering wasn't over, thought to be dead, his body then started convulsing and at the risk of another sickening scene, the doctor present, with the aid of four confines, held the dying man up in their arms while the executioner readjusted the rope and the drop was completed. Further indignities followed with the gaoler caught trying to steal the new boots from the corpse.

At his mother's request, the body was handed over so he could be buried in his birthplace of Campbelltown. Manns' body was taken by train, where he was buried at St John's Cemetery by Father Roche on 27 March 1863 in an unmarked grave.
In one final act of indignity, while his grave was being prepared, it is believed that his body was put on show in one of the hotels (reportedly the Sportsman's Arms - later know as Lack's Hotel) in Queen Street as a terrifying deterrent to the local young men of Campbelltown of the fate of bushrangers.

Written by Samantha Stevenson
Sources:
Henry Manns Local Studies Pamphlet File
Campbelltown : the bicentennial history by Carol Liston
Gold : the fever that forever changed Australia by David Hill
Sydney Morning Herald 27 March 1863

Bushranger for a Day

A previous post was written about Henrietta Fletcher, the daughter of a female convict who settled in the area and is buried in St Peter's Church of England Cemetery at Campbelltown (see http://campbelltown-library.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/a-tale-of-two-ladies.html.) Henrietta was born on the First Fleet ship Lady Penrhyn in 1787 and married ex-convict Edward Fletcher. They later settled at Elderslie.

I recently discovered in Peter C. Smith's comprehensive publication The Clarke Gang: Outlawed, Outcast and Forgotten that Henrietta's grandson William Fletcher was involved with the Clarke gang of bushrangers and their raid on the gold town of Nerrigundah in 1866. Although it was William's first day as a bushranger, it was to cost him his life.

In 1838, William's family moved from Campbelltown to Mullenderee, on the northern side of the Moruya River, where they became small settlers. William was the seventh of eight children and the first of the family born at Moruya. He married in 1864 and had an eleven month old daughter at the time of the Nerrigundah raid.

It's not clear why William Fletcher became involved with the Clarkes. Peter C. Smith believes that Fletcher thought that with the support of the gang he could put his local knowledge to use, and that robbing someone of their gold was easier than digging for it. Prior to the raid on Nerrigundah, Fletcher had been working a claim at the Gulph diggings near the town. He knew the area very well and would've known Tommy Clarke through horseracing. He was described as an occasional jockey. William was with the gang when they returned from the Bega races on Sunday 8 April 1866 when they took possession of a miner's hut on the road to Nerrigundah.

After robbing a number of victims there the bushrangers made their way to Nerrigundah. It is believed they heard that the police sergeant was away and the only policeman in town, Constable Miles O'Grady, was ill in bed with a fever (they did not appear to know about a newly arrived constable). After raiding a number of people in the town as well as Pollock's store, Miles O'Grady received word of the bushranger's visit and bravely got off his death bed to confront the men. After a shoot out with the bushrangers, O'Grady was killed but not before shooting William Fletcher. Fletcher was shot just below the armpit and lingered on for an hour before dying. He was found with money and property indicating that he was a willing participant in the events.

William Fletcher had the shortest career in Australian bushranging history- just one day. He was buried not far from where the shooting took place in unconsecrated ground and not far from where a monument to Miles O'Grady was constructed by the people of Nerrigundah. His grave can still be seen today.

For a full account of the raid and the story of the Clarkes, I encourage you to read Peter's brilliant book. It is available from Rosenberg Publishing.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

Smith, Peter C. 2015
The Clarke Gang: Outlawed, Outcast and Forgotten
Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd

James Waterworth: a long and eventful life

Today the drive from Campbelltown to Wollongong takes about 45 minutes to complete. In your air conditioned car, the drive is pleasant as you meander along Appin Road passing through the quaint town of Appin. You eventually make your way to the steep but scenic Bulli Pass and on to Wollongong. Imagine what it would have been like for Campbelltown mail coach driver James Waterworth. Waterworth drove the mail coach from Campbelltown to Appin and on to Wollongong in the middle 19th to early 20th century, usually in the early hours of the morning, in all weather and on a rough track. There was also the constant threat of attacks by bushrangers. Little wonder that he once remarked in old age "reminiscences, I can give you a book full."

James Waterworth was born in Parramatta in 1830 and baptised by Samuel Marsden that same year. He was raised as a child by the explorer Hamilton Hume, who bequeathed James a coach originally purchased in 1842 by a Mr Campbell. During his early years he was employed at the Cobb and Co stables. By the 1860s, James was running a coach service using 'American vehicles' six days a week from Campbelltown to Wollongong, for which he was paid 490 pounds per year.

James Waterworth was held up by bushrangers on three separate occasions. On the first occasion he had as a passenger a little sickly man, who was coming back from Wollongong with 300 pounds, which he had collected in rentals. When the bushrangers stuck up the coach and began to search the passengers James picked the little man up and carried him into a nearby shed. "You surely wouldn't harm this poor sick fellow " he said, and the bushrangers let him go.

However on the second hold up a few weeks later he wasn't so lucky. The Sydney Mail reported on the 21 April 1866:

"The immunity which the Wollongong mail has enjoyed, at a time when in all parts of the colony the bushrangers were at work, appears to have ended, for twice within the last fortnight it has been stuck up, and the mail bags opened, and the passengers robbed.  About 2 o'clock am on Tuesday last, when the mail coach reached a place called Rose's Bush, about 4 miles on the Appin side of Campbelltown, three men came out of the bush and ordered the driver to 'bail up'."

Waterworth and his driver were tied up and the passengers robbed and left on the side of the road while the robbers drove the coach off back towards Campbelltown. The tree to which he was tied was known for many years as Waterworth's tree. The bushrangers were later caught.

James Waterworth driving the coach that travelled from Campbelltown to Wollongong via Appin and Bulli. His large horse drawn omnibus was called the "Sovereign". This photograph featured in the Town and Country Journal in 1902.


A few years later in 1869, James was involved in another dramatic incident. In 1869, the Nepean River at Camden was in flood. Between 1 and 2pm on the day that the flood was at its peak, the mail coach from Campbelltown to Camden arrived on the bank, and the mailbag was shipped in a boat. James was one of the passengers in the boat when it upturned and all were cast into the 'boiling stream'. James Waterworth escaped but some of the others were not so lucky.

James Waterworth remained in Campbelltown for the rest of his long life. He was prominent at Campbelltown's centenary celebrations in 1920 and along with James Bocking was feted as one of Campbelltown's oldest residents. In 1924 he was present when the memorial tablet was erected to commemorate the Hume expedition on Appin Road. By then he was aged 94.

James Waterworth in pictured on the left with his wife at Campbelltown's centenary celebrations in 1920. The other men are James Bocking and Rev. Alkin.

James Waterworth passed away at his home at "Bonnie View" in 1926. "Bonnie View" was located in Sturt Street on the hill somewhere in the vicinity of where it intersects with Stewart Street. At the time of his death he owned a large amount of land around the town and had stables in a paddock behind Railway Street. He was buried next to his second wife in St Peter's Cemetery.

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

LISTON, Carol 1988
Campbelltown: The Bicentennial History

Fowler, Verlie 1983
"A Stroll Through St Peter's Churchyard, Campbelltown NSW'

Whitaker, Anne-Maree 2005
Appin: The Story of a Macquarie Town

Sydney Morning Herald 10 May, 1869 p 10

Singleton Argus 4 December, 1920 p 6

Bushrangers Rob Redfern

As Dr William Redfern of "Campbellfields" at Minto was travelling along Liverpool Road in his cart one evening in 1824 he was bailed up a group of bushrangers. The bushrangers had struck as the cart was passing James Meehan's Estate at Macquarie Field. Redfern was speechless with anger and offered a reward of eighty Spanish dollars for information leading to the conviction of the bushrangers. This was a huge amount for the day.

A tin trunk containing some of Redfern's very best wearing apparel had been stolen. This included: black and blue dress coats; a dress uniform coat, blue with red cuffs and collar; black trousers, open and to fit the boot; black dress pantaloons; plus clothing belonging to Mrs Redfern.

It is not known if the culprits were ever tracked down.

Dr William Redfern

Written by Andrew Allen

Source:

The Crier, October 12, 1983.