Thunderbolt - Uralla, NSW
Posted by: 
Tuena
S 30° 38.553 E 151° 29.951
56J E 356183 N 6609051
A statue of the bushranger Thunderbolt riding his horse is located at the intersection of the New England Highway & Thunderbolt's Way in Uralla.
Waymark Code: WMV5GK
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 02/27/2017
Views: 7
Thunderbolt, also known as Captain Thunderbolt, was born Frederick Wordsworth Ward in 1835. He was a bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour & also for his reputation as a "gentleman bushranger". He was the longest roaming bushranger in Australian history. His horsemanship skills were well known & he became a horsebreaker on Tocal Station.
His first brush with the law occurred in 1856 when his nephew convinced him to join him in horse & cattle stealing. He was caught & sentenced to 10 years in gaol on Cockatoo Island. He escaped from the island in 1863. He moved to the New England district where he took up bushranging & renamed himself Captain Thunderbolt. Over the following six-and-a-half years, Ward robbed mailmen, travellers, inns, stores and stations across much of northern New South Wales.
On 25 May 1870, after robbing travellers near the Big Rock, Ward was shot and killed by Constable Alexander Binney Walker at Kentucky Creek near Uralla. The bushranger had spent his last few hours in the Royal Oak Inn, close by Split Rock, at Church Gully. His judgement at that time was impaired by alcohol. Publican John Blanch, served the outlaw's last drinks at gun point. Thunderbolt ignored his warning to get away, the traps were in sight.
Source: Wikipedia (
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Thunderbolt today is a popular figure in Australian folklore. The Office of Environment & Heritage NSW Government states of Thunderbolt:
Captain Thunderbolt has captured the minds of the public as a gentleman bushranger or Robin Hood-type character.
The Big Rock has been renamed Thunderbolts Rock & the New England Highway passes within metres of it. Thunderbolt's Way is a major road connecting the coast to Uralla & Inverell. Various points that Thunderbolt used as a bushranger have been identified & are well sign posted.
He is buried in Uralla Old Cemetery & his grave is well tended.
There was controversy over the wording of the top plaque under his statue as many saw it as not presenting the full story of his bushranging years.