Facts sheet on the death of Thunderbolt.

1. A well known fact about Thunderbolt.

It is claimed in nearly ever book about Thunderbolt, that, throughout his career, he never shot at any one, including the police. However what is not so well known is the reason for this. Thunderbolt's wife, Mary Ann Bugg, by her Aboriginal heritage, had a total hatred of guns due to the way so many of her people had been murdered by the white population of the time. During her time with Thunderbolt she instilled in him this same total hatred of guns and of shooting at people. Also a simple checking of history will show that ALL ABORIGINAL PEOPLE OF THE TIME had a complete hatred of guns because of the numbers of their people that had been shot by the whites. There is no reason to believe other than that Fred hated using guns especially as he had been initiated into the local Kamilaroi tribe near Gunnedah & and would also have shared their hatred of guns. This is an important factor in the subsequent chasing and death of Thunderbolt.

The area at Stroud was once occupied by the Gringgai clan (Mary Ann's tribe) of the Wanaruah Aboriginal people. It is known that the Wanaruah had trade and ceremonial links with the Kamilaroi people.

2. What caused the beginning of the career of Thunderbolt?

In 1850 Fred's Uncle, George Ward, married Charlotte Nixon in St Peter's Church of England in Armidale. In the next 4 years they had 2 children. Fred and his Uncle George were employees of Tocal Station near Patterson. In 1854 George was instructed to take a herd of cattle to the Maitland sale despite the knowledge that the Hunter River was in flood. While crossing the river George was drowned. About 18 months later the Ward family, George's brother William (Harry), owner of nearby Lamb's Valley Station 12 miles west of Tocal, & 2 nephews, James & John Garbutt, commenced stealing horses from Tocal Station. Fred , also an employee of Tocal, was asked to assist in droving the cattle to the Windsor Sale Yards where Fred and James Garbutt were arrested. James was charged with stealing horses however Fred was initially charged with stealing horses but this was reduced to being in possession of stolen horses & should have been given a lesser sentence of 6 years served locally, instead he received the full sentence of 10 years, to be served in the hated Cockatoo Island prison. The beginning of Fred Ward's "life of crime" was caused totally by the action of the management of Tocal Station, in sending his uncle George into Maitland to a cattle sale knowing that the Hunter River was in flood, causing the devastating death of George.

3. Was Thunderbolt married?

Many authors claim that Mary Ann & Thunderbolt were not married despite this testimony shown in the article below. The problem is there seems to be no records at Stroud to the marriage, as often happened at that time. I have found several cases of well known family marriages in Stroud at the time, where there are no records of the marriage.

"We remember reading in the 'North-West Champion' of December 7, 1929, that an old lady whom I knew, Mrs Dreamer, in an article entitled "The Days That Were”, claimed that she saw Thunderbolt married at Stroud. The old lady seemed to have a clear recollection of the event, and she told the story in these words, I quote:

"It was at Stroud and I was going to school at the time. Frederick Ward, that was Thunderbolt's name, was a nice looking young fellow, and the girl he married was Mary Bugg, daughter of Mr Jimmy Bugg who looked after the Australian Pastoral Company’s station at Port Stevens. There was a great to-do at the church the day the wedding was on, and we were all let out of school to see them come out of church.”

At that time, Mary Ann was working in the Anglican School at Stroud, so it is certainly reasonable that the children would be given time to watch the wedding. The Parish at that time was not the parish of Stroud but part of the Church of England Parish of the Australian Agricultural Company, which included the area from Wollongong to the Queensland border with the exception of Sydney. The Stroud Website clearly indicates that Thunderbolt was married in the Stroud Anglican Church.

4. Thunderbolt , the new age parent

Arguably Thunderbolt was the first Australian male to take Paternity leave. A study of his crimes & personal family life shows that, whenever his wife was expecting, he took up to nine months off from his Bushranging career to look after his wife & family. So, out of his 6 & a half year career, he actually took nearly 2 years off looking after his family. According to some Aborigines, much of this time was often spent with one of their communities in the Gunnedah area, where he was well hidden and protected from the police. He was, by this time, regarded as one of them.

Now to the actual death.

5. The Police were warned of the presence of Thunderbolt.

On the 25th May, 1870 in the late afternoon the Italian hawker, Giovanni Cappissoti, while travelling past Thunderbolt's Rock near Uralla was held up and relieved of £2/13/6 and some jewellery. He was sent on his way to Tamworth. However after travelling a little over a mile, he hid his cart in the bushes near Dorrington's farm and rode back to Uralla, through the bush  to the east of Thunderbolt's rock so as not to be detected by Thunderbolt. He advised the police of the presence of Thunderbolt in the area near Blanch's Inn.

6. The Two policemen chased after Thunderbolt?

Constable Mulhall was on duty, however Constable Walker was also present in plain clothes, having been ill for several days. Both policemen set after Thunderbolt. By the time Constable Mulhall reached Thunderbolt's Rock, having the faster horse, he was about 500 yards ahead of Walker. He said his gun went off  and his horse turned around and bolted back to Uralla. (A police trained horse did this?) On passing Walker it is claimed by Walker, Mulhall said "There they are. I have exchanged shots with them. Go and get the wretches."(i)

Walker then commenced his chase of Thunderbolt, knowing that he would not be shot at. Just imagine the turmoil that must have gone through his mind when "this Thunderbolt" started shooting at him. Despite knowing it could not be the real "Thunderbolt" he continued chasing him , shooting the man he was chasing, then advising his superiors that he had shot "Thunderbolt". They advised their superiors in Sydney immediately , who advised the press. The next day the truth was discovered when they found that the body did not have the recorded markings of Fred Ward. Thus commenced the police cover up which has continued to this day.

7. Why didn't Thunderbolt have his favorite horse "Combo"?

Fred Ward used to follow the races and after the race would often take possession of the best of the horses so he always could outrun the police. At this time he had a special horse called "Combo" which he had taken from Goonoo Goonoo Station south of Tamworth. On this particular day "this Thunderbolt" at Uralla did not have "Combo". His own horse was exhausted.

A young man, James Coghlan, was leading 3 horses, which his employer had recently purchased at Scone and was taking them to Ebor. He had been leading the horses all day in an attempt to get home as quickly as possible, so the horses were totally exhausted. Not knowing this, Thunderbolt commandeered one of the horses to try it out. At that moment Walker arrived on the scene.

Walker chased "Thunderbolt" for approximately 2 miles in a South Westerly direction until they reached Kentucky Creek, where Thunderbolt abandoned his exhausted horse and proceeded to cross the Creek. Walker then states that he shot the horse,(ii) to the later upset of James Coghlan.

8. Now let us look at the "facts" of the killing of Thunderbolt.

According to the second statement of Constable Walker writen on Sunday 29th May 1870 “…he immediately plunged his horse into the water and his horse stumbled and went underneath the water when Ward made a rush at the Constable into the water with his Revolver in his hand. The Constable fired and Ward fell forward into the water and went under and when he came up he tried to catch hold of the Constable who then struck him on the top of the head with the Revolver, the Constable rode his horse out of the water and tied him up, he then drew Ward out of the Creek and believed him to be quite dead…….. the Constable then took him out to look for the body of Ward but could not find it, returned to Blanch's………found the body at daylight." (iii)

Phillip Pomeroy, in his paintings of the event in the McCrossin’s Mill Museum Uralla, using the description by Constable Walker shows Walker on his horse above Ward shooting down upon him. If as portrayed, and according to Walkers own statement, the bullet entering the left chest above the heart it would have passed through the body exiting at the rear of the body above the right hip. There is also the following "Walker returned and found the body next morning about 9 0'clock." There is  no direct evidence, but the more reliable secondary sources basically claim

"When they returned next day they found that Ward had crawled a little distance into the bush, and was still alive, but he did not survive the trip back to Uralla…. when the police examined the body and clothing they found that Ward's revolver had been empty when Walker shot and clubbed him."(100 Australian Bushrangers, 1789-1901, Allan M Nixon.)(iv)

Two days after the death of Thunderbolt, Walker reenacted the shooting for a photographer, Mr Cunningham of Armidale. "Mr A Cunningham has taken several excellent  photographics to illustrate the end of Thunderbolt, and other matters connected with it. Of Ward's dead horse there are two views. There are three different views of the spot on which the final struggle took place, Mr. Walker being shown supposedly in the same dress and on the same horse as he had when he came upon the W. side of the creek; the reality of the scene being added to by Mr. Smoker, of Uralla, representing, on the E. side, Ward - each with weapon levelled at his opponent. To secure a good view, Mr Cunningham took the trouble to cut down several trees. Then there are two portraits of Mr Walker, one being full length; while there are  three of Thunderbolt when he was lying dead, after the post-mortem examination. One represents him with his hat off, another with his hat on, and the third is his profile."(iv) (A copy of this photo can be viewed in the Uralla Visitors Centre). Unfortunately he turned up in uniform. As a result many of the later drawings of the death of Thunderbolt shows Walker in uniform. The photo shows a different view of the shooting to the one in Walker's original statement. It shows Walker directly across the other side of the creek and several metres from Ward and just slightly above him, this however is more in line with Dr Spasshat's autopsy report, except for the difference in the distance between them, “…..; mark of a gunshot wound below left collar bone towards the armpit; on examination I found the aperture communicated with the lungs, both of which, right and left, had been penetrated; there was an aperture as if the exit of a ball on the right side of the chest, three inches below and two inches anterior to lower point right shoulder blade; there was a large quantity of fluid blood in cavity of pleura; the wound was just such as might have been inflicted by a pistol bullet discharged in immediate proximity to and rather above the body; I am of the opinion that the wound was the cause of death……”(v)

(In September 2003, I gave copies of all material pertaining to the death of Thunderbolt - Dr Spasshatt's autopsy report, Constable Walker’s statement, and the copy of the death photo of Thunderbolt – to Dr Godfrey Oettle, the recently retired Director of the Division of Forensic Medicine in the Department of Health of New South Wales. His finding states that, according to the details of the autopsy, Thunderbolt could only have lived a maximum of 3 minutes after being shot. (see Appendix 1). This certainly does not agree with Constable Walker’s report.)

9. What happened to Thunderbolt’s Body

Early on the 27th May the body of Thunderbolt was taken back to Blanch’s Inn and examined by Dr Spasshatt from Armidale. It is interesting to note that although there were positive identification marks recorded in police records for the identification of Fred Ward especially the mole and warts (….Ward is a native of Windsor, New South Wales; a laborer, 27 years of age, 5 feet 8 ¼ inches high, hazel grey eyes, mole on right wrist and two warts back of middle finger of left hand.")(vi) they were not used to identify this body as that of Fred Ward. It is also interesting that the report by Dr Spasshatt given at the inquest was not the one sent to Sydney but the one rewritten on the Sunday at the police instructions after the burial. It was carefully dated 29th May, by Dr Spasshatt, as proof of the cover up. During the next few days over 300 people viewed the body and all agreed that  “It's Thunderbolt alright.” Many authors and researchers misused this statement to show “It's Fred, alright” despite the fact, at that time he was known by the general public only as “Captain Thunderbolt“ and the various other names suspected of belonging to the person, such as Fred Britten , Michael Blake, Fred Ward, William (Harry) Ward, Fred Blake etc were only rumors.

It was left for young Will Monckton, who had served one year of a five year gaol sentence in Darlinghurst (viii) for being the companion of Thunderbolt, & was, by chance, returning to Armidale on the Saturday, was ordered to identify the body at Uralla on Sunday, May 29th, four days after the shooting(viii). Will had been caught with Thunderbolt in the Tenterfield region 12 months earlier and gaoled. While in gaol he had heard that Thunderbolt had been shot by the police in the right knee at the top of the Moonbi’s but had escaped. At that time he knew he had been with Fred Ward aka as "Thunderbolt" near Torrington, not long before he surrendered to the police, and that Fred Ward was not the “Thunderbolt” shot at Moonbi.

He was taken off the carriage in Uralla to identify the body and used the scar on the right knee as positive identification that the body was that of Fred Ward. The police immediately accepted his identification and excused him from the remainder of his sentence, even though they did not have that right under the law to do this. The body was buried that Sunday afternoon in the edge of the Uralla Cemetery in unhallowed ground. After the burial the amended report was filled out by Walker to confirm the person deceased was Fred Ward aka “Captain Thunderbolt”. Constable Walker's statement given on the Sunday was the one sent to Sydney, as the evidence given as part of the autopsy report, not the actual one used on the Thursday, as it did not include the name Fred Ward. Thus began the official police cover up of the truth of "The Death of Thunderbolt"

Present at the funeral was a very tall women, for those days, (5ft 8inches) dressed in a full-length black gown and a heavy black veil. A journalist stated that "after the funeral it was noted that she left without speaking to anyone", however it was also noted "she walked away with a very manly gait." Was this Fred saying goodbye to his Uncle Harry? This has always been held by the family as fact.

10. Where was Fred’s horse Combo?

On the Saturday after the death of Thunderbolt (28th May) 2 young policemen were at the races in Glen Innes and saw Combo tethered there. Hiding, they watched the horse for some time until they saw a man, who they personally identified  as “Thunderbolt”, appear and quickly mount the horse, before they could stop him. He left the area in a south easterly direction towards Wards Mistake. He went over the steep cliff into the gorge area. Being inexperienced horsemen the young policemen were not able to follow him. On returning to Armidale they submitted their report of the days activities to their commanding officer, only to be told that “Thunderbolt” had been shot 3 days previously. To justify what they had been doing during the day, they insisted on filing their report. I have been told the report was been seen  in the police archives in Sydney as recently as several years ago, however I have not been permitted to view it.

11. What happened to this “Thunderbolt”

In the Ebor area where he was heading, lived his mother Sarah Ann (Ward) Edwards, my G-G-Grandmother. I believe he went to his mother's home. If you go out to Hernani and talk to the families of the oldest residents in the area they will all tell you that  “Great Aunty or Great Grandma danced with Thunderbolt at the weekly Saturday night dances for 6 weeks after "the death of Thunderbolt". It is my belief that during those 6 weeks Fred used his day times to call on all his caves and hiding places in the area at Lansdowne near Taree, Barrington, Moonbi, Uralla, Black Mountain, Torrington, and Boonoo Boonoo, near Tenterfield and rescue his “earnings”. It has been reported as being as much as 20,000 pounds about $1,000,000 in today's money. Despite people searching the area of his caves for the last 138 years all that has been reported as having been found is one bottle containing about 20 pounds.

I believe that at the end of the 6 weeks Fred, with his mother Sarah Ann Sheperd (her real married name as she does not appear to have married our Grandfather Edwards) as a companion, went to Morpeth on the Hunter River near Newcastle, then by boat to San Francisco. An 1871 American state census shows that a Frederick Ward (file #SC 289) and a Sarah Shepherd (file #SC 319) both arrived in America in late 1870. This seems to be an amazing coincidence. Sarah Shepherd (My G-g-grandmother’s correct married name) was the mother of Fred Ward. According to our family records she disappeared at about the same time as Thunderbolt's death, yet her mother, Sophia Ward's death certificate in 1874 shows Sarah as still being alive. It is my belief that these are our Fred Ward & his mother, Sarah, who went to America in late 1870 and then moved on to Canada. When the gold petered out in California they moved to Alberta, Canada where Fred stayed until the end of the gold rush there in the late 1800’s, then moved to live out his life in Ottawa, Canada - dying in the early 1900’s.

12. The Burial of Fred Ward in Canada

Two days before her death old Granny Walker asked her daughter if she remembered a visitor coming to "Rosedale" one night and said, "I promised to tell you someday who he was. It was Thunderbolt the bushranger . . . and if every thing went off right with him, he is now in Canada".

**********************************

The next piece of evidence ... was supplied by a Mr (Charles) White, a cousin of Fred Ward's, in 1886, and it came to light through Aubrey Spencer's father making the accidental acquaintance of White at Narrabri West a few years after the stranger's visit to Rosedale . . . Naturally enough on one occasion their conversation turned on bushrangers, and speaking -of Thunderbolt, Matthew Spencer remarked that he had known him very well, and regarded him as a fine fellow, and one who had been driven to bushranging. Fred Ward had actually worked for him in his youth.

White replied "Since you have such an opinion of Thunderbolt, it might interest you to know that he is my cousin. I'll show you something." He went into the house and returned a few minutes later with a letter, the top and bottom of which were turned down, so that the address, date and signature were all concealed. "Do you know that handwriting?" he asked.

"Know it anywhere" declared Matthew Spencer. "It's poor old Fred Ward's"

"It is" White confirmed, and he flattened out the sheet of paper; the signature was unmistakable, "Fred Ward" . -. . the date proved to be less than six months old. It must, therefore, have been written some sixteen years after Thunderbolt had been officially declared dead.

Moreover, the address showed the letter to have come from Canada, and in this detail confirmed the independent statement of Old Mrs Walker on her death bed, and, incidentally, of my father's belief that Ward had gone to some place in North America.

(from 'The Early History of Moree and Adjacent Districts' Article No. 22, Moree Public Library)

A story told by Mr R S Spencer (quoted from the “Western Stock & Station Journal in the ‘Uralla Times’, 4/9/1969

…. the letter was written in Canada, the date January 21st 1892. The signature was one word – Fred. After a careful examination of the document, my father remarked, “But, good  God, man, it can’t be true?”

“Yes, Mr Spencer” said White. "It’s quite true”

(…) During my visit to Canada in 1937 my enquiries at Ottawa resulted in the production of further evidence to support the claim I have advanced herein. I was informed that in Ottawa Cemetery an Australian named Frederick Ward lies buried

Is it the grave of Thunderbolt?

To me, the irresistible conclusion, drawn from the foregoing evidence, is “Yes”.(x)

13. Who then is buried in Uralla cemetery?

It has always been the belief of the family that the person buried at Uralla is Fred's uncle William (aka Harry). By the late 1860's things started to get "too hot" for Harry in the Maitland area & he came to join Fred, mainly operating in the southern area around Uralla. I believe he was the "Thunderbolt" shot by the police at Moonbi in early 1869. On the death of William's mother Sophia in 1874, her death certificate shows both Fred & William ("Harry") as being deceased. Fred is naturally shown because of his death certificate, however there is no death certificate in Australia for William (aka Harry) Ward despite a thorough search of all states BDM registers by myself and other direct family members. I believe the death certificate for Fred is in fact the death certificate for Harry.

Recently talking to a local Aboriginal elder from Gunnedah I was told  that it was "their knowledge that it was not Fred Ward buried here in Uralla in unhallowed ground." As he was married "to one of them", Mary Ann (an Aboriginal girl) and had lived with them in the bush for several years, they regarded him as "family". If it had been Fred buried in unhallowed ground they would have dug him up & buried him in their local secret burial ground. She was very emphatic that it was not Fred Ward buried in Uralla. They normally don't talk about such things to we "whiteys", however she was in total agreement with what I had said especially regarding who was in the grave.

As a further confirmation of this story I received this information in the last week of October, 2003. "But one last thing - the local Aboriginal community claim  Captain Thunderbolt as one of their own, a fellow Aboriginal. This could have been true in traditional Aboriginal culture where a person of any ethnic background who goes through the initiation ordeals was considered a member of the tribe! This was true when we lived with an Aboriginal tribe (the Miruwung in the Kimberlies in the 1970's)"(xi)

(i) Page 1 Constable Walker's handwritten statement dated 29th May, 1870.
(ii) Page 2 Constable Walker's handwritten statement dated 29th May, 1870
(iii) Page 3 Constable Walker's handwritten statement dated 29th May, 1870
(iv) "A Ghost Called Thunderbolt" by Stephan Williams page 146
(v) The Armidale Express, Friday June 3, 1921 - "Armidale 51 Years Ago [Reminiscences from the 'Armidale Express' of June 4, 1870]""
(vi) Police Gazette, 14/10/1983, p. 307
(vii) Dr Spasshatt's autopsy report - Newling Library UNE
(viii) "A Ghost Called Thunderbolt" by Stephan Williams page 135
(ix) "A Ghost Called Thunderbolt" by Stephan Williams page 148
(x)  “Western Stock & Station Journal in the ‘Uralla Times’", 4/9/1969
(xi) Helen Duley , history graduate, UNE Nov 18 2003

Appendix 1

Report of Dr Oettle, Former Director of the Division of Forensic Medicine in the Department of Health of New South Wales - dated  December 4th, 2003

As stated to you previously, Dr.Spasshatt has defined injuries clearly and refers to only two bullet wounds, the one on the front of the chest being the entry wound and that on the right side of the chest, being the exit. He mentions that both lungs were penetrated by the bullet, that the mouth contained blood which was consistent with blood rising from the lungs into the pharynx during the terminal attempts to breath. The blood flow to the rest of the body was diverted by that lost by the lungs injuries, to the chest cavities and the air passages. I would expect him to loose both motor and cognative function within about ten seconds because of the blood being lost through the lung injuries and both lungs collapsing. This figure is bourne out both by my experience of similar circumstance and by others documented in the USA. On occasion life as evidenced by occasional deep breaths can extend for about 3 minutes depending on the severity of the injuries received, but, in any case, no motor function can be expected after about the shorter figure given above and this might be very much less depending on whether the great vessels at the base of the heart were involved in the injuries, let alone the heart. However, Dr. Spasshatt mentions only the lung injuries. Lung collapse together with the injuries would be more than enough to cause sudden death and rapid lack of motor function compounded by breathing in water if the account of the incident is correct.   He also makes no mention of any head injury or any other gun shot injury.

I hope this answers your questions and I would be happy to hear from you should you wish to discuss it further.

Godfrey Oettle