Dowling C.J., 12 February 1838

(Before the Chief Justice and a Military Jury.)

William Blackhall, John Martin, alias Stingaree Jack, and Joseph Watkins, were indicted for stealing five £1 notes from the dwelling house of Edward Green, at Illawarra, on the 8th October, the said Edward Green and Ann his wife, being therein put in bodily fear.

Blackhall pleaded guilty, the other prisoners not guilty.

Edward Green - I am a settler, residing about three miles from Wollongong; my house is a slab hut covered on the roof with bark; my house was attacked about the 9th of October; on a Monday; my wife and I came from Wollongong and arrived at home about three o'clock; a man named Quin overtook us on the road and went with us to the hut; my wife asked him if he had a pass, he said he had as he had been into Wollongong on business for his mistress; he got a drink and sat down a little, while my wife and I had some dinner; he said Green I hear you have a nice piece, let me have a look at it; he asked if I had any powder and my wife said we had none; he had a cannister of power himself and loaded it and it missed fire; my wife said that she had never known it do that before, and asked him to try it again, and he did so, and it went off; he asked what had become of the dog, and my wife said it had died from the ticks; about an hour before sun-down he went away and bid us good night: Quin lived at Dapto; after he was gone I loaded the gun at my wife's request; I loaded it with swan shot; I brought £4 9s. from Wollongong with me; while we were at dinner I gave it to my wife and told her to lay it by; she went into the room and put it away; Quin was present at this time; my wife tried to conceal the notes and shook the nine shillings into the table-drawer and said it was easily put away; I afterwards asked her if she had put away what I had given her and she said she had, and Quin smiled and said take care of that; about twelve o'clock that night we were in bed and my wife woke me having heard somebody round the house; some men came to the door; there was a form outside and a bucket fell off which made a noise; they began to beat at the door as if they would beat it to pieces; my wife said, we are done now and gave me the gun; I asked the people what they wanted; they said d--- your old eyes if we get in we'll put you on the fire; they kept knocking at the house very blustrous trying to get in; my wife said, if you don't rack the house and do murder we'll give you anything we have; they said they were bushrangers starving; she said she would give them some flour and pork, when one of them said, d--- your victuals we want money; she said it is very little we have, one of them said, where is the money you brought from the branch; she being in a fright replied she did not know where she put it; and one of them said, we'll soon get in and commenced tearing the bark off the roof, on which my wife handed him three £1 notes, and said she had but one more and asked him to let her keep it; he was blustrous and said he would have all; she came out to the kitchen and gave me the office, that at the time she handed the note, I could shoot him; I followed her directions, and as soon as she handed the note, I fired through the roof where the bark had been removed; it was dark, and I could just see him wag his hand; he fell down, and I said to my wife, there's one down; hand me the other piece and I'll soon have another.  I wanted to go out, but my wife wouldn't let me until I had loaded the piece; when I went out I found the man was removed; we went over to a neighbour named Benjamin Rixon, and alarmed him; he went over to my house, and I went to the stockade about a quarter of a mile distant to alarm the soldiers; I told the sentry what had happened; the men were mustered by the sergeant; I saw Blackhall lying in the guard-room; he was wounded in the wrist, mouth and eye; I said to this sergeant that's the man, and Blackhall told me he had planted the money in the stump near my house; we went back and found two pairs of shoes near the stump about four rods from my house; with a candle we tracked the blood towards the stockade; in the morning we tracked the footsteps of two men through some green barley towards that stockade; these men wore shoes; it being dry weather we could not trace any one that was barefooted; to the best of my belief the prisoner Stingaree Jack is the man who said he would burn me in the fire; as soon as I heard him speak at Wollongong Court, it struck me that he was the man; he has a peculiar kind of voice; he speaks in his throat, as if he was hoarse; it is called an ironed gang at Wollongong, but there are not many that wear irons.

Cross-examined - I was at the stockade the morning after the robbery; I said the man that spoke to me did not speak his own language; and I did not think it was him till I heard him speak in the Court-house, to the best of my belief Martin is the man who threatened to burn me.

Benjamin Rixon - I am a farmer residing at Wollongong; Green is a tenant of mine, and lives about one hundred rods from me; between one and two o'clock on the morning of the 9th October, Green reported to me that he had been robbed; I went with him to his own house; a sheet of bark was removed off the skilling; we got a light and marked blood from the threshhold for fifty or sixty rods; he appeared to me to have walked; I marked three different people across a potatoe [sic] bed; we found two pairs of shoes about two o'clock after Green had returned from the stockade; two of the tracks were of barefooted men.

Joseph Lavers, private of the 80th regiment - in October last I was stationed at Wollongong; on the 1 th [sic] October I went on sentry at one, to remain till three; I had been on duty about three quarters of an hour, when Blackhall came in all covered with blood; the gate was closed and I challenged him; I asked him what he wanted, and as I did not know him, and he made me no answer I told him if he did not go away I would blow his brains out; I called the corporal, and the man then said it was Billy; I thought I knew his voice, and asked if it was William Blackhall; he said it was and I let him in and gave him in charge to the corporal; I heard the report of a gun about an hour before in the direction of Green's house; about ten minutes afterwards I heard a second report; Green came about ten minutes after Blackhall; he said his house had been robbed and he had shot a man whom he did not know; he came to get a constable, and said he did not suspect any of the stockade men; I went round to the huts with the sergeant and every man was in his bed; we counted them first, and made every man shew his shirt and trowsers to see if they had been through the wet grass; every man's shoes were dry; if a person turned up his trowsers they would not be wet; Blackhall had no shoes on; we counted the men before we went to Green's, and when we returned we examined the clothes; we made every man get up.

Charles Newell - I am a prisoner of the crown – I was under sentence at the stockade at Illawarra in October last; I was sent to Goat Island on my first arrival in the colony; I arrived in the colony by the Fairlie; I was tried at Northampton, and transported for life: I recollect the night Green was robbed; Watkins came to the hut I slept in between nine and ten o'clock; I do not know how he got there; he called me into the blacksmith's shop; there is a partition between the hut and the shop with a door in it; I was up late reading the Sydney Gazette, newspaper; we often get pieces of newspapers from the military; I had a blacking bottle with some oil in it which I got from the lamplighter that was attached to the stockade; he often gave us some oil for the hut; we had a fire and light all night; I was a bullock driver and was exempted out of the other hut; Martin was a stock keeper and used to take the bullocks to the run after they were fed; Watkins asked me if I would step as far as the hospital and call Blackhall; I did so; Blackhall was sitting on the bench drinking something out of a pot; Watkins and Blackhall stood at the blacksmith's forge, talking; I could not hear what they were talking about; Blackhall shifted two loose slabs at the end of the shop, and they both went out; I went to bed and fell asleep; about the middle of the night I got up and smoked my pipe, and thought I heard some one walking outside; I went towards the end of the blacksmith's shop; I saw two of the slabs shifted, and asked who was there, and the answer was Brummy, and he came through; I went up towards him, and he said, is this you, Charley?  Watkins is the man; he asked me where was the sentry, and I said I did not know; he asked me if I would be kind enough to see where he was; I went to the corner of the shop where I could see all over the yard and saw the sentry sitting in the mess shed; his arms were folded and his head resting on his arms; when I came back Watkins was all in a totter of shaking; I said it was a fine night, and asked him if he was cold; he said I would shake equally as bad if I had been with him, as they had been at old Green's, and Blackhall had got shot; I asked if he was killed, and he said, very nearly; Watkins had no shoes on; he said he had lost them, and did not know what he should do for a pair, he said he had left them behind along with Blackhall's; I told him I would find him a pair in the morning, if that would do; about an hour after this there was a muster; Sergeant Walpole, Green and acting Corporal Lewis mustered us; they first called us by name, and then counted us; the sergeant counted us, called us by name, and then made us shew a pair of trowsers each; when I had had the conversation with Watkins, he asked me how I was to get into the hut; the door was bolted on the outside, and I went out with him and unbolted the door, and bolted it after Watkins; the sentry was fast asleep; this was about an hour before the sergeant mustered us; there was neither bolt nor lock on our door; it was hung on one hinge; it was unusual to see men out at night; any of the men could get out at night; several robberies were committed about that time by the Stockade men; the sentry's pistol was lying alongside him; I saw Martin the next day; he did not sleep in the Stockade; about half-past six I saw him and Denley standing near the gate, I went and fed the bullocks and Martin came over and said this is a bad job that has happened to Blackhall; I said it is a very bad job, you managed it very bad; he said how do you know I managed it at all, and I said I knew all about it for Brummy had told me; he said ``Brummy be ---, for  two pins I would go and knock his brains out;" I said what for telling me, and he said no, for letting Blackhall come as far as here, for if I had had time to have come with him I would have knocked his brains out; I asked his reason, and he said, I would not have let him reach here to tell tales; I said, it is better as it is, for I have known Blackhall a long time and never knew him to do any thing wrong; he asked me if he had better bolt or see it out; I said stop, for it may all wear away and come to nothing and he said he would take my advice; I then accused him of being a fool for going to a man's house knowing there were fire-arms; he said he knew there was a gun, but he had been told by one of Browne's falling party that it was good for nothing; he did not mention the man's name, but said he had something to eat and drink in the house, and if he had been there earlier in the night, he would have caught them drunk as he knew they had a bottle of rum; he did not say where he had met Blackhall and Watkins; I never heard from either of the prisoners what had become of the money; the next morning Watkins got an old pair of shoes from me; there were plenty of old shoes under my bed.

Cross-examined - The day before the robbery was done, I fetched the beef; Green came with me; I did not tell Blackhall that Green had gone home drunk; I did not tell Brewer that I had £4 belonging to Green; I was flogged once or twice for running away; I have been flogged different times; I was reckoned a trustworthy man, worthy of a secret, and I did not like to tell the sentry when Watkins went out; I was considered a game man; I was guilty of the highway robbery for which I was sent out; I do not know why I was sent Goat Island as soon as I arrived; I was often in trouble while I was at the Stockade; I cannot say properly how many robberies I have been concerned in at Illawarra; quite a dozen and always had my share; I had no share of the plunder of their robbery; I was charged with some things that I was innocent of; I have given information in several cases; I was a week in confinement and had given information on other charges before I spoke of this; Mr. Holden told me that I had better speak the truth, but he did not tell me that I should not be prosecuted; I was brought up to the seafaring business when I was a boy, but I went over to England and lived several years by gambling; I was however sent to gaol for gambling at fairs; I have been four years in the Colony and have taken every opportunity of plundering; that was my study.

Sergeant Walpole, 80th Regt. - I recollect the night that Green was robbed; about two o'clock I was alarmed by the guard that a man had been shot; Travers was on sentry; I went to the hospital and saw Blackhall covered with blood; I asked what had been the matter and Green requested me to go round and count the prisoners and I went round and they were all present; I did not call their names, I could see them as they lay in bed; I went with Green to his place and saw two pair of shoes lying against the stump of a tree; I came back again and went into the blacksmith's shop, where some of the prisoners slept and examined their shoes and clothes, and I said it was no use going to the other huts for they could not get out there without either the sentry seeing or hearing them; I sent for the Doctor and gave orders that no man should be allowed out until I saw whether he had a pair of shoes; each man had a pair on; I requested the Doctor to wait with me until the stockkeepers, Martin and Denley came in; Martin had a pair of shoes that were sown in the uppers; I asked him if he had no better shoes and he asked me if I didn't remember he shewed me the same shoes before he went out the previous night; I remembered he did; about six men slept in the blacksmiths' shop, which was unfastened; the other huts were fastened on the outside with a bolt; there was nothing to prevent men in the blacksmiths' hut from going out of their own hut and letting the other men out; there were fifty men in the Stockade at that time guarded by thirteen soldiers; I went down there in August last; I heard of one or two robberies being committed; at that time none of the men were in irons; that Stockade is now removed about seven miles from Wollongong; they are kept in boxes and locked up at night; they are not allowed either fire or candles; there is a dining shed for them by day: the men were removed to that station on January 5th; I do not recollect where Watkins slept that night; one of the pairs of shoes fitted Blackhall; the other was a larger pair of good shoes; I am not positive whether they were fellows; I did not particularly notice Watkins but I am sure they all had shoes on.

Cross-examined - I recollect Green said he thought one of the men must be an Irishman by his voice; from their voices I should think that both Watkins and Martin are Englishman.

Green recalled - I said I believed the tall man was an Irishman; I said he was tall because he hit above the door; I believe Martin to be the man that stood at the door.

This was the case for the Crown. - Martin said that his voice was not anything like a Irishman's; Watkins pointed out that the sergeant positively contradicted Newell, as he swore that when he came out of the hut he had shoes on.  Martin called -

Thomas Brewer - I belong to the Illawarra Stockade; I remember Newell asked me for the loan of a few shillings until he could change a £1 note; it was three or four days after Green's robbery; I lent him four shillings; Mr. Sheaffe used to allow us to work in our own time; I was a blacksmith.

Cross-examined - This was in October; Mr. Sheaffe left several months before that; I got the money from a man at Kiama, that I made an axe for; working for people is all knocked on the head now; I did not ask Newell where he got the £1 note, but I knew that he used to work.

Notes

There was a new bushranging Act in 1838, 1 Vic. No. 1.