Open Writing

There is much written about Australian bushrangers, but very little about those who were female. The Macquarie dictionary’s definition of a bushranger is 'a bandit or criminal who lived in the bush and led a predatory life.' So Mary Ann Bugg qualifies for the title Bushranger.

Mary Ann rode with the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt (Fred Ward). Although they led the classic lives of bushrangers it is said that she may have played a significant role in Thunderbolt’s aversion to violence.

Mary Ann was born on 7 May 1834; her mother was an Aborigine and her father an English convict. She has been described as five feet tall with black hair and brown eyes. Well-educated in both white and aboriginal ways she learned to read and write at school and was taught to hunt and track by her mother. These skills served her well during her bushranging days.

Mary Ann was fourteen when she married Edmund Baker, a former policeman who was working as a shepherd. They had one child but Baker died and Mary Ann was left alone. Before her husband’s death Mary Ann met Fred Ward, who was a cattle thief. He was sent to gaol for ten years but served only four. On his release he returned for the widowed Mary Ann and her child.

Ward was again arrested and sent to Cockatoo Island, off the New South Wales coast. It was 1861 and two weeks before Mary Ann had their first child. As soon as the baby was weaned Mary Ann found a place to leave her two children and moved to Balmain, not far from the island. Legend has it Mary Ann swam across the shark-infested waters to the island carrying a file. Ward used the file to break his chains and they swam back to Balmain. Mary Ann hid him and a fellow escapee in a disused boiler until the search died down. When it was safe enough Mary Ann and Ward moved to the Hunter Valley and Ward took on the persona of Captain Thunderbolt—a daring bushranger. Mary Ann referred to herself as the Captain’s Lady.

Mary Ann was an important member of Thunderbolt’s gang. She found them food and shelter in the inhospitable, rugged region. She was also the one who would venture into towns to obtain badly- needed supplies and gather important information on police activities. To help her move around undetected she dressed in men’s clothes; this was an effective disguise in a time when women only wore skirts.

But Mary Ann was not invisible and was arrested on at least three occasions. In 1865 she was arrested while in the possession of stolen goods. The police left her at Wilby Wilby station only to have Thunderbolt ride in and rescue her.

Because she spent a lot of time with her children she was always vulnerable to being caught out by the police. In 1866 she was arrested again, this time with three of her children. The eldest two were taken away from her while the baby accompanied her into court. She was charged with 'being an idle and disorderly person and a companion of reputed thieves', and 'having no visible means of support or place of residence'. Mary Ann was sent to East Maitland gaol for six months.

But the case did not end there. It was taken up in the Legislative Assembly and caused so much debate and controversy that the Governor stepped in. Mary Ann was released after serving only a small part of her sentence and legal reforms were made to 'ensure that such perversions of justice would not happen again'.

So Mary Ann was back riding with Thunderbolt, but not for long. She became very ill; Thunderbolt left her in the shelter of a cave and rode to a property near the Goulburn River to get some help. A Mrs Bradford accompanied him back to the cave where she found Mary Ann. They moved her to Mrs Bradford’s house but it was too late. Mary Ann Bugg died on November 17, 1867. An autopsy was performed and it found she died from acute inflammation of the lungs.

© Paula Wilson

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Paula writes for Bonzer magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au