Page 14 - eMuse Vol.9 No.10_Neat

Letters Though Mary Ann was half Koori she easily passed as European

in appearance. This allowed her to slip into town. Very much
the lady, she quickly gained trust as she gathered information for
to the Thunderbolt’s robberies. Disguised as a man, it is said she took
part in some of them herself.
Editor It’s interesting to note that both Mary Ann and Thunderbolt were
subject to rumoured sightings long after their reported deaths.
These rumours are fiercely defended and disputed. There are sev-
eral good books worth reading about this fascinating pair.
Thanks for the interest shown in the story about bushranger Capt. It’s pure speculation on my part, I know, but I find it easy to com-
Thunderbolt. I found this letter from David and Rona rather in- pare Mary Ann with the “boy” who led the troopers astray in the
teresting due to Rona’s family involvement. As I have said before poem, “Mick Dooley’s Pants”. I wonder if George Essex Evans had
“history is personal.” her in mind when he wrote it?
I dug into the eMuse archives for this article on Thunderbolt’s wom- Wally
an, Mary Ann Bugg. A very interesting lady. In many ways as inter- eMuse Vol 2 No 12, December 2013
esting as Thunderbolt himself.
G’day Wally and Mary.
I loved the story of Captain Thunderbolt (Fred Ward) in your latest
eMuse. Rona’s great grandfather, Benjamin Smith was the black-
smith in Uralla at the time Fred ‘roamed’ the area.
Fred used to send a messenger into Ben whenever he needed Ben
to do some blacksmithing for him such as shoeing his horse. They
would arrange for Fred and Ben to meet at the blacksmith’s store
in the middle of the night so Fred wouldn’t be caught by the local
constabulary and Ben would do the work.
Ben was a fairly hard man, him and his wife had 17 children (2 still-
born).
He was drinking in the local on April 1 one year when one of his
children was born. One of his other children went to the pub to tell Death of Thunderbolt,
Ben of the birth, and Ben went home and ‘belted’ his wife for mak- Australian Town and Country Journal, 4th June 1870
ing a fool of him, having his baby on April Fool’s Day.

One of Ben’s sons ( Oliver Gold Smith) left home when he was
about 11 and lived with the aboriginals to get away from his fa- W.A. Bush Poets
ther’s brutality. He eventually moved to Queensland and later set- & Yarnspinners
tled in Augathella. He was Rona’s grandfather.
Association
David
SILVER QUILL
Mary Ann Bugg

Thunderbolt’s mentor WRITTEN COMPETITION

Behind every good man is a good woman! How many times has that Conducted in conjunction with WA State Championships
been said? Is the reverse true? Who knows? Perhaps in this case, Friday 30th October – Sunday 1st November 2020
at least, it can be said that behind the notorious bushranger, Frederick Tooday. W.A.
Ward, aka Captain Thunderbolt, there was such a woman who led him Entries Close Friday 2nd Oct 2020
onto a series of successes he would never had achieved without her
help. 1. Open Serious }
Mary Ann Bugg was an educated, beautiful half caste Aborigine 2. Open Humorous } The Overall Champion Poet will be
judged across these 2 categories
woman from Cooyal New South Wales. She was equally at home
dining with toffs in flash houses or hunting tucker in the bush. 3. Novice Only for poets who have never won a Bush Poetry
Written Competition
Intertwining stories of Mary Ann and Thunderbolt are full of myths, 4. Junior 5 – 12 years old
legends, and, hearsay, making it very difficult to separate fact from 5. Junior 13 -17 years old
fantasy. Perhaps that adds to the mystique. 6. Local The best poem by a resident of the Avon Valley
When Thunderbolt did a second “stretch” in Cockatoo Island pris- Entry Fees: Adults $10 per poem; $5 per critique. Juniors Free.
on, she smuggled tools to him to aid his escape and she swam with
him through shark infested waters. Mary Ann taught him how to treasurer@wabushpoets.asn.au
read and write and live off the land. Through her, he was accepted “WA Bush Poets and Yarnspinners Ass’n
by local Koori people (Aborigines) who in turn helped him. c/o Rodger Kohn,
Thunderbolt was arguably Australia’s most successful bushranger 16 Stoddart Way,
and it was all due to Mary Ann’s influence. Bateman, WA, 6150,
14 eMuse October 2020