On the run...

 

On 1 April 1815, the Sydney Gazette published the following description concerning James Gough. It was noted that he had absented himself from his place of employment and that all constables were strictly required to use their utmost to apprehend him and return him to custody.

James Goff or Gough, Joiner, age 25 years, native of London, 5 feet 10 ½ inches high, ruddy complexion, brown eyes, brown hair, tried at the Old Bailey, London in 1812, and sentenced to transportation for life. Came in the Earl Spencer transport in 1813

On 6 May, Gough surrendered to the Superintendent of Convicts at Sydney and was later returned to the Parramatta Lumberyard and placed in an iron gang.

28 March 1814

Judge Ellis Bent was the Judge Advocate of NSW on the 28 March 1814 when he found James Gough and his companion Ann Traits (Cain), guilty of the theft of clothing from James Doherty who shared their house in Sydney. Although Doherty's evidence was confused, James Gough was sentenced to three years hard labour at Sydney Jail and Ann was sentenced to three years hard labour at Parramatta Jail.

Do you think they were both guilty? Was it just circumstantial evidence that convicted them?

St Patrick's Day

With a long history of Irish immigration to Australia, it is not surprising that St Patrick's Day is a day of celebration for many to share their Irish ancestry. With my 50% Irish ancestry (and 25% Scottish; 25 % English) I am certainly among those who claim Celtic origins. Of course everyone is Irish on St Pat's Day and invited to join the celebrations. 

For James Gough and his son John, the 17 March was not a day to celebrate. It was on St Patrick's Day in 1841 that a cow was stolen and within a month they were both detained at Berrima Jail for theft. Found guilty, John was sent to Tasmania for ten years and James was sent to Cockatoo Island prison.

But in the best traditions of Irish humour here is a joke to put a smile on your face:

Two Irishmen were working for the city public works department. One would dig a hole and the other would follow behind him and fill the hole in. They worked up one side of the street, then down the other, then moved on to the next street, working furiously all day without rest, one man digging a hole, the other filling it in again.

An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn't understand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger, "I'm impressed by the effort you two are putting in to your work, but I don't get it - why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner follow behind and fill it up again?"

The hole digger wiped his brow and sighed, "Well, I suppose it probably looks odd because we're normally a three-person team. But today the lad who plants the trees called in sick.''

Do you have Irish ancestors? How do you celebrate St Pat's Day? Add your comment.

The White Hart

The White Hart, Fyfield, Oxfordshire UK

The White Hart is one of the most popular names for pubs in England, including this pub in Fyfield, Oxfordshire. It was also the name of the inn that James Gough was managing on the Windsor Road in 1826, halfway between Parramatta and Windsor. It stood at the junction of old and new Windsor Road and the name is retained by the White Hart Bridge that crosses Caddie's Creek.

 UPDATE: White Hart Inn rediscovered

Captain Thunderbolt - Australian Bushranger

Death of Thunderbolt -  Australian Town & Country Journal 4 June 1870

Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835 -1870) was the colonial born son of the convict Michael Ward and his wife Sophia. He grew up in the Windsor district as one of a large family, and later worked as a rural worker on properties in the Hunter Valley. In 1856, with others, he was convicted of the theft of 45 horses and was sentenced to ten years hard labour at Cockatoo Island prison in Sydney Harbour. In 1860 Ward was released on a ticket of leave for the Mudgee district that restricted him to remain in that district to work. While there he met Mary Ann Bugg with whom he had several children, but after breaking his bond conditions, he was sent back to Cockatoo Island in 1863. 

On 14 September, with another prisoner, he managed to escape by swimming across the harbour from Cockatoo Island to the northern shore. From there they went north to the Hunter Valley and Ward later teamed up with Mary Ann and others to form a bushranging gang. With a variety of gang members over successive years Ward roamed across the New England District committing numerous offences including robbing mail coaches, inns and stores. Despite the mythology that later developed about Ward as Captain Thunderbolt, he was a notorious bushranger. Fred Ward was finally caught and killed in a shootout with the troopers at Kentucky Creek near Uralla on 25 May 1870.

Amelia Ward was Fred Ward's elder sister and in 1838 she married James Gough (junior) the eldest son of James Gough. They lived at Windsor in the Hawkesbury district and had eleven children. In 1857 they visited Ward while he was imprisoned in Cockatoo Island jail.

What would you like to ask James Gough?

If you could ask James Gough a question, what would it be? Would you ask him why he broke into the house in 1812 and stole the gun? Would you ask him why he split up with Ann Cain in 1822? I think I would ask him what was it like to live in Sydney in the 1820s. I'd also like to know if he had a Cockney accent...

Any questions? Feel free to add your comments.

Australia Day 26 January 1818

On Monday last His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR review[ed] the 48th Regt, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel ERSKINE, and we learn expressed himself much pleased with the military appearance of this distinguished corps.

The same day a dinner was given at Government House to the Civil and Military Officers at Head Quarters, in commemoration of the Establishment of this Colony, which on that day had attained its thirtieth anniversary. We understand that His EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR, in celebrating an event in which all present necessarily felt much interest, was pleased to pay a handsome tribute to the memory of the late Admiral PHILLIP.

In the evening a Ball was given by Mrs. MACQUARIE to a numerous party, which was continued with spirit to a late hour. We were particularly gratified with a likeness of GOVERNOR PHILLIP (executed by Mr. Greenway, who felt much pleasure in this opportunity of celebrating the memory of the Vice Admiral, who had ever been his steady friend and patron), suspended at one extremity of the room, in a wreath, supported by two banners; one being that of Vice Admiral, and the other containing the following inscription. "In Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Colony of New South Wales, established by ARTHUR PHILLIP, whose virtues and talents entitle him to the grateful remembrance of his Country, and to whose arduous exertions the present prosperous state of the Colony may chiefly be ascribed."

Sydney Gazette 31 January 1818 pp.2b-2c. 

On 26 January 1821, James Gough was granted a conditional pardon having served nine years of his life sentence. He was now free within the colony but could not return to England.