While the eight year manhunt for the
Stoccos is currently grabbing much media
attention , extensive research has produced intriguing
information about the
Queensland arrest of Frank
Gardiner who masterminded Australia’s biggest
colonial gold escort robbery, escaped the gallows and became an American celebrity.
Magnetic Island
filmmaker , musician and composer , Gary Hunn , engaged in a massive project
investigating Australian
bushrangers and the part they
and convicts played in the development of the nation
, will this month
take his film team to
Apis
Creek, north of Rockhampton ,
where Gardiner and his “paramour ”, Kitty (Catherine) Brown , hiding from the law , ran a
respectable business which
catered to passing
diggers, at times entrusted to look
after large amounts of
gold.
The
now owner of the
property on which Gardiner was arrested will
point out the marker
his uncle placed in the 1970s
at the spot
where the couple ran
a wayside store .
In
recent weeks Hunn has been on the telephone
to America chasing new information
about
Gardiner . Gardiner called himself The Prince of
the Tobymen ( an English expression for a highwayman)
and The King of the Road.
Because
of his
dark skin, he was also dubbed
“the Darkie”, and it was both claimed and
denied that his mother had been a
part Aboriginal woman , Annie Clarke. Interestingly, one of his aliases was Clarke .
Some reports aver he was
born in Scotland and came out to Australia
with his parents , the Christies, when he was
four .
So
why the name
Gardiner ? While not confirmed , it has been written that
there was a man he liked of that
name who had
taught him how to
ride and
break in horses when he was a young man .
Over the years many colourful stories were penned about
Gardiner, including his later life in America, where
it was said he had
been killed in a drunken
row among his customers
in a
saloon and a mining camp brawl . However, Hunn’s probing
has turned up a death certificate confirming that
Gardiner died from pneumonia in
1904.
One
of the many fascinating aspects of the Gardiner saga is
the
suggestion that Gardiner’s twin sons, born in America, came out to Australia , not once but
twice , to retrieve money and gold
their
father had stashed
away as a bushranger .
A NEW
LIFE IN QUEENSLAND
In
1863, after 12 years of trouble with the law
involving horse stealing , highway
robberies , assault , attempted murder of
police , a
reward of 1000 pounds on his head , and having masterminded
the audacious June 1862
Eugowra Rock gold escort
robbery of 2700 ounces of gold and cash valued at 14,000 pound, said to
be equivalent to more than $12million today, Gardiner decided
to go north and
start
a new
life.
Gardiner left
his gang under the leadership of
Ben Hall, whose wife, Bridget (
Biddy ), was Kitty’s
sister . Hall was shot dead in a
hail of bullets in 1865. Several other
members were also
shot dead , two were sentenced to hard labour and one was hanged .
Gardiner and Kitty set out for
Queensland in a cart
with a team of horses , one of
which, Darkie , a well known racehorse stolen from Peter
Beveridge , a Swan Hill magistrate . Being known
as “the Darkie” himself, there seemed to be an affinity between the two ,
as it readily
responded to his commands
and whistles .
During
the trek north , Gardiner went under
the name , Francis Christie , using his Scottish father’s surname .
STUCK
IN QUAGMIRE
Because
of heavy
rain and flooding ,
it was slow going. Hunn told
Little Darwin how along the way they helped a couple, Archibald and Louisa
Craig, from Melbourne , whose dray had been bogged
in a flooded creek . Darkie , the horse , was used to help
pull the Craigs out of the mud
.
The
appreciative Craigs were building an hotel
at Apis Creek to cater for the
many diggers and others flocking to the Peak Downs
gold , tin and copper field . They were so impressed by the couple who offered assistance that they invited them to
open a business in
the hotel building , under the same roof .
“Mr
and Mrs Christie” accepted this kind
offer , set up a store, which was popular . Kitty, about 25, small, with dark eyes and a pleasant manner ,
helped sick diggers. The
two were highly regarded
.The two women got along extremely
well .
DETECTIVES USE SAGO RUSE
Somehow , bearded Gardiner,
32, strong , was identified and
authorities were tipped off in
Sydney. Like so many aspects
of the Gardiner story there
are varying accounts of who had
been
the informant .
One is
that Kitty wrote to
her sister , Biddy , and this blew their
cover in Queensland . Another was that an auctioneer recognised him and was paid hush
money by Gardiner to keep quiet.
From
Sydney came three
disguised detectives, McGlone
and Pye , and mounted trooper Wells , who passed themselves off as diggers
in a nearby camp.
Daniel
McGlone , a large Irishman , supposedly asked Kitty for
some sago for his sick friend . Once again , there are differing
reports that she became suspicious and said there was none , while Gardiner did provide some .
To
make sure it was Gardiner, the detectives took him to
the pub part of
the premises to thank
him for the sago, so
that they could check out distinguishing marks, he had on arms and
head ( a bullet graze on his forehead ) from his early
clashes in life.
Distracting Gardiner’s attention by asking him what was wrong with his
dog, Hunn said McGlone
grabbed him from behind when he bent down to examine the animal and they
fell to the ground.
The detectives drew Sharp four
barrel pistols and ordered people rushing in to help , not
knowing what was going on , to stand or be shot .
SINGING NATIVE
POLICE
Also
in the area had been a party of native police under the command of
a Lieutenant Brown and it had been arranged for them to
be about the building at the time of the arrest. It is
suggested the group may
have even marched
about singing before the arrest so as not to alarm
Gardiner. (Already there is surely enough material for a movie and maybe
even a
musical. )
The hotelkeeper, Craig, was also arrested for harbouring Gardiner , but it became clear he did not know his partner was the
notorious bushranger .
Gardiner
, surrounded by five armed police , was handcuffed , his legs tied under a horse during
the two day ride to Rockhampton. McGlone was astride Darkie .
There was great excitement in the town when Gardiner was
taken in chains to the courthouse. Kitty , not under arrest ,who had tagged along , arranged legal representation.
Gardiner was remanded to
Sydney and placed aboard the SS Brisbane for the
Queensland capital. Kitty and the horse
were also passengers on the
ship .
SOUTHERNERS ANNOY
QUEENSLAND
The
story becomes stranger and stranger . In Brisbane , according to Hunn , officials became upset
about “southerners” coming across the border of
the recently established new state
of Queensland (declared June 6 , 1859) and
making arrests.
No doubt due to Kitty hiring a legal eagle , a writ of habeas
corpus was taken out
ordering McGlone to hand
over the
prisoner to the local
court. Quick
thinking McGlone responded by removing the prisoner to the Enoggera
military training field and shipped
him out on a vessel to Sydney in the early hours of the morning . Once
again , the racehorse Darkie may also have been a passenger but Kitty had
to pay for and make her own way
to NSW, showing she had a considerable
amount of money
, its origins uncertain, to
engage lawyers and meet other
expenditure .
In
the
Supreme Court in
Sydney, Gardiner was found not guilty of wounding with intent to murder Trooper Middleton ,
which resulted in cheers , whistles and
clapping . However , appearing on
a number of other charges , one bearing the penalty of hanging , Chief Justice Sir Alfred
Stephen sentenced him to a
cumulative term of 32 years , with hard labour on the
roads. The court was silent , stunned .
Pleading
for mercy , Gardiner had admitted robberies,
but said he had decided to reform
and lead an honest and
upright life . He pointed out
he had
left in his
care at Apis Creek
700 ounces of gold by the Clermont
Gold Warden and large
amounts of money had been given him
for safe keeping.
TERRIBLE DEATH
IN NEW ZEALAND
Faithful
Kitty, and two of Gardiner’s sisters ,
campaigned for a reduction in Gardiner’s sentence ; in the process it was said
Kitty impoverished herself.
While
in Darlinghurst prison Gardiner turned a prayer book into a
gift for Kitty , below , with a special inscription to
her on the title page : Presented to Catherine by her affectionate Frank, 1865 . It was given to her the last time they were allowed to meet, they having been denied conjugal rights because she was not married to him .
That unusual item is now in the Lambing Flat Folk Museum-Young ,NSW- and has been perused by Gary and filmed. Kitty had the book with her when she worked as a domestic at a homestead, but left it behind when she departed.
Kitty’s
sister, Biddy , who had married Ben Hall , bore him a son and reportedly
later “ ran off ” with a man called James Taylor,one of those said to have alerted police about Gardiner and Kitty being in Queensland .
With Gardiner likely to be in prison for a long, long time , Kitty became involved
with Taylor’s brother, Richard , reputedly a heavy drinker, and went with him to New Zealand , hoping
to strike it
rich on a goldfield .
Ten days after
arriving in the country ,
however, she supposedly put a
gun to her mouth and pulled
the trigger. A short
suicide note , about which police were suspicious, was found nearby . She died a painful death 12 days later
.
One
account of her demise
simply said she passed
away at Waipatakuha at the age of 25. Another seemingly moralising
comment read : Such was the fate of a woman who left her home and husband
and followed the fortunes of an outlaw.
NEXT: Gardiner’s imprisonment causes tension between the NSW premier
and the governor ,
he is released and deported ; life in America and mysterious treasure hunters.
CELLAR NOTE
: During one of the long
interviews with Gary Hunn discussing bushrangers , Napoleon and politics he created the right
lubricated atmosphere by producing a bottle of
Baileys of Glenrowan
2013 Shiraz , with a label on which there was a convict , the text
stating there were 19 crimes which His
Majesty graciously declared
were punishable by
transportation , kicking off in
1788. The label continued saying the convicts, as pioneers
in a frontier penal colony , forged
a new country and new lives ,
brick by brick .
