THE WHITE RIBBON GANG REBELLION

THE "AFFRONTED" GOVERNOR DARLING Source: historyservices.com

Ralph Entwistle was an unlikely lad to be leading a full scale rebellion. He was twenty-five, a bricklayer from Bolton, England and had been sentenced to life for stealing clothes.

The origins of the convict rebellion lay with Ralph and a mate having a “skinny-dip”. Ralph and his mate had been hauling wool on a bullock dray all day. It was hot and the two convicts decided to cool off in a nearby creek. Unfortunately for them, Governor Darling and his entourage were passing by on their way to Bathurst. The two nude convicts were spotted enjoying nature. The Governor was “affronted” and the two convicts were arrested. The punishment was severe. For causing “affrontment” to the Guv, each convict was flogged publicly, receiving fifty lashes each. That would have hurt.

Entwistle seethed for nine months and finally snapped. Ralph persuaded nine other convicts on the property to join him. Escaping one night, the convicts roamed the country for the next few days, stealing guns, horses and food as they went. By the end of two weeks, the gang had now grown to fifty.

 As many of the escaped convicts were Irish, they decided to wear white ribbons in their hats as a visible sign of rebellion. The convicts were imitating the Irish secret society known as the Ribbon Men. They were now calling themselves the White Ribbon Gang.

One morning, the convicts stormed a property of a magistrate seeking vengeance for his harsh treatment of the convicts. The magistrate wasn’t there but the unfortunate overseer was. When he refused to release the convicts on the property, the overseer was shot and killed.

The Ribbon Gang had now swelled to one hundred and thirty escaped convicts. The authorities in Sydney and Bathurst were expecting a full scale convict uprising. The convicts vastly outnumbered the free citizens of the colony. It would be a bloodbath.

ESCAPED CONVICTS. Source: halfacentury.

Two regiments of soldiers were dispatched from Sydney which was days away. Bathurst was closer, and the six local police troopers (Daniel Geary included) were on the spot. The police and the twelve citizen volunteers were soon on the trail of the convicts. The parties finally met at a place called Abercrombie Caves. In my next blog; the final shootout.                 

THE FIGHTING IRISH.

DOING TIME COLONIAL STYLE. Source: flickr.com 

Daniel Geary, son of Michael Geary. A wild, wild colonial boy. Daniel was so at odds with authority that he probably punched the midwife who delivered him. Daniel was born fighting. A true fighting Irishman.

Things were not helped much when he married a Bridget McLucas in the 1820s. She had a very interesting pedigree. Bridget like Daniel was born in the colony and also descended from convicts. The McLucas family were renowned in the colony as a family of thieves. They were also not shy in assaulting the police.  Sometimes I feel I’m descended from Australia’s first criminal family. Hold on, it does get worse.

In an altercation with a Thomas Campbell, Daniel Geary pulled a gun and shot him. Campbell survived but Daniel was sentenced to life for attempted murder. It looked like it was all over for Daniel. Poor Bridget was left behind with three children to raise in a state of dire poverty. Now this is something that the authorities don’t do anymore. Bridget petitioned the Governor (the Guv ran the colony) asking if she could join her husband in prison as she had no means to support herself. The Governor approved. So Bridget and the three kids soon joined Daniel in prison.

CONVICTS. Source: smh.com.au

However, that didn’t stop Daniel Geary escaping. He escaped several times. Maybe Daniel wanted to get away from the missus and the screaming kids. But he was recaptured and labelled a “notorious character”. But the Geary family had connections because in 1824 Daniel had been released and was working for a John McArthur, son of James McArthur, the colony’s richest man and the founder of the wool industry (Australia is the world’s leading producer of wool). 

Again there is another change of fortune. One right out of left field. Geary became a police officer constable and was posted to Bathurst (an inland town from Sydney). He’s swapped sides? The reason for the change of sides is that a convict would have their sentence markedly reduced if they became a police officer ( too many convicts, not enough lawmen) . Constable Geary would be soon putting his life on the line. In 1830, fifty convicts rebelled and were roaming the district killing and burning. They had to be stopped.

Strangely, it was a rebellion that started when the subsequent leader of the rebellion was caught bathing nude in a creek. All will be revealed in my next blog. 

THE IRISH REBELLION

REENACTMENT. The Daily Telegraph. 2011.

THE VINEGAR HILL UPRISING. National Library of Australia.

By 1804, the young settlement of Sydney was ready for rebellion. There were one thousand Irish convicts in the colony, eight hundred of whom were political prisoners. They had been transported to Australia in the aftermath of the 1798 Irish rebellion in which thirty thousand people died. They had had enough.

The Irish were regarded as sub-human and disloyal by the English and received harsher treatment. The poor Irish could be flogged for just speaking their native language. The Irish had also had enough of the oppressive heat and flies.

FLOGGING. Mitchell Library. New South Wales.

All hell broke loose when one thousand Irish convicts stormed a settlement called Castle Hill just outside Sydney and burnt it to the ground. Weapons were seized from a government store. The Irish convicts were marching on Sydney. The plan was to kill the English soldiers, steal ships and sail happily into the sunset. So they thought.

Four hundred of the rebels were met by only sixty English soldiers at a place called Vinegar Hill. It didn’t look good for the English. Before fighting started a truce was called between the rebel leaders and the English commanding officer. During the truce the leaders were seized and taken to the rear, surprising the rebels. The soldiers quickly opened fire and the rebels fled. Fifteen rebels were killed during the uprising and nine were later hung. Australia’s largest insurrection was over.

Where was Michael Geary in all this? He was Irish. You’d assume he’d be on the Irish side. Michael Geary instead joined an irregular contingent of men loyal to the crown. They helped guard Sydney and later hunted down the Irish stragglers.

For proving his loyalty,Michael Geary was rewarded with a grant of land and allowed to draw cattle and beer from the government store on credit. What ! He betrayed his countrymen for beer? Michael Geary died, aged fifty-eight in 1820 not long after having his wheat crop ruined by flood.  

In my next blog: from villain to hero. The life of Michael's son, Daniel.