Bushrangers John Donohoe

BUSHRANGER PROFILES

John Donohoe (Bold Jack)

In addition to being one of the first of the 'second wave' bushrangers or 'wild colonial boys', Donohoe was the first to pass into folk lore. According to myth he was a handsome, chivalrous Robin Hood, a hero to the oppressed convicts. In reality he was a very short man, only 5'4" tall, with indifferent looks, weak eyes and had a scar under his nose.

Donohue was born in Ireland in 1804 and was transported for life in late 1824 for "Intent to Commit a Felony." He arrived in January 1825 and was assigned to a John Pagan at Parramatta. He was soon in trouble and spent time on the road gang before being reassigned to Major West at Quaker's Hill. He soon absconded and took to the bush with two men named Kilroy and Smith. They began robbing drays and other travellers on the Sydney to Windsor Road before being captured and sentenced to death.

Donohoe escaped from custody and was soon back in the bush with three men named William Underwood, Walmsley and Webber, although Underwood eventually left to form his own gang. For the next four years the gang operated over an area ranging from the outskirts of Sydney through Liverpool and Campbelltown to the Illawarra in the south, to Yass, Bathurst and Burrandong in the west and to the Hunter Valley in the north.

A reward of 100 pounds was offered for Donohoe's capture and in August 1830 the Superintendent of Police proposed that no further Tickets of Leave be issued until Donohoe was captured. On 1 September 1830 a party of soldiers, mounted police and armed civilian volunteers under the command of Sergeant Hodson caught up with the gang at Bringelly, near Campbelltown. A pitched battle followed in which Donohoe was shot through the head by a soldier named Muggleston. With his death Donohoe passed into legend. A song about him was sung in the taverns around the Colony and became so popular that the authorities banned it as seditious. Over the years the words changed and today it is known as the classic Australian folk song, 'the Wild Colonial Boy.'
This article © Andrew Stackpool, 1998.