The Clarke Brothers

Thomas and John Clarke were Australian bushrangers from the Braidwood, New South Wales. They committed a series of crimes which led to the Felons' Apprehension Act (1866), a law that introduced outlawry in the colony and authorised citizens to kill bushrangers on sight.

... ... ... was an Australian Bushranger

John Clarke, Thomas and John's father was a shoemaker a convict who was transported for seven years aboard the Royal Charlotte, John Clarke married Mary Connell Clarke, Mary had two brothers, Tom and Pat Connell who were also involved in the gang , although they committed numerous highway robbery under arms, and supposedly were guilty of, or accessories to murder, they were never charged and therefore it was never proven that they killed anyone ,another of Mary's brothers, John Connell, stole horses on two occasions and did time for that, he also was sent to prison for 10 years for receiving a stolen goods from one of the robberies, but none for highway robbery. John Clarke took up a leasehold in the Jingeras, which proved too small to support his family of five children he took to selling sly-grog, initiated his sons Tom and John into cattle duffing, they constantly raided crops and livestock, aided by their uncles Pat and Tom Connell ,their gang the Jerrabat Gully Rakers were regarded as the best in the art of cattle duffing and horse stealing the Clarke gang of relatives and friends was well trained in bushcraft and heavily armed.

John and Mary Clarke had three sons, Thomas, James and John, and there were also some daughters their mother and the girls kept out of trouble the rest of the family were cattle-duffers and horse-stealers. The father, John, died in Goulburn Gaol while he was waiting to be tried for the murder of Billy Noonang, an Aboriginal.On 3rd October, 1865, the eldest son Thomas was arrested on a charge of highway robbery, but escaped from the Braidwood gaol, he than stole horses (including race-horses), stuck up the Araluen mail, robbed the post office at Michalago, as well as some shops and numbers of travellers on the Braidwood and Moruya roads earlier in 1865 they surrendered to a magistrate who let them out on bail,this allowed them to attend the Araluen Races where Tom collected prize money and won the admiration of hundreds of spectators for his riding skills they later reported to court and were acquitted on insufficient evidence of a robbery in March 1862.

On 12th January 1865, the other son James was imprisoned at Cockatoo Island for seven years he was involved in the robbery of the Cowra mail together with Ben Hall and Johnny Gilbert, some banknotes stolen from the mail were found on him, and he was sentenced for receiving stolen property this sentence had saved him from the gallows - the fate of his brothers Thomas and John.

On April 9th, 1866, Thomas, together with uncles Patrick and Thomas Connell and four other criminals, William and Joseph Berriman, Bill Scott and William Fletcher robbed Several people including a a Chinaman, who was on the way from the gold diggings at Deep Creek to the bank, after that, they called on Mr. John Emmott, the storekeeper from Moruya to surrender he wasn't about to lose the £100 and a parcel of gold dust on him both Thomas Clarke and Patrick Connell fired at him with their revolvers one of the shots wounding Emmott in the thigh and the other killing his mount because of his wound Emmott could not walk quickly so the bushrangers pistol-whipped him over the head and left him lying semi-conscious and helpless on the road ,it was told later at the trial of Tom Connell, that the intervention of John Emmott, saved Tom's life ,Tom had intervened to stop one of the bushrangers from causing more harm with his pistol,Tom brought John a hat full of water from the creek Emmott brought these facts to the notice of the authorities after his release, 10 years later, Tom was said to have often written to his former victim

The gang continued to rob with violence, be it shops, or people returning from the races Thomas Clarke even robbed women, one of them being the wife of storekeeper James Polock from the Gulph Diggings they broke into Pollock's store, Mrs Pollock stopped them by throwing the keys of the safe into the street, they tried to find them with the aid of a candle, but were unsuccessful. The first newspaper report said gold had been taken, but a more accurate account in the Police Gazette said pipes, tobacco, clothing and Wellington Boots ,during one of the shop robberies two policemen Constables O'Grady and Smythe Smith were shot at, and Constable Miles O'Grady who was severely wounded died after three hours of agonising pain. After this murder, the Clarke brothers Thomas and John were proclaimed outlaws O'Grady had walked down the main street shooting at anything he shot and killed William Fletcher, who had been a bushranger for a day, before getting wounded himself no one was ever charged with killing Miles

On the 16th July 1866, Tom and Pat Connell and two others held up Morris' store at Mudmelong the next day 4 police and a black tracker George Emmott, chased the bushrangers for four hours through the bush until they camped for the evening at Wyambene the police opened fire into the camp, scattering the bushrangers Pat Connell was killed by Constable Thomas Kelly Pat was in the company of his brother's Tom and John at the time Pat was buried in the family vault at Jerrabat Gully.

Capture of the Clarke Brothers

In January 1867, the New South Wales government offered a reward of £5,000 for the capture of the murderers, but the Clarkes still continued robbing travellers and holding up the mail coaches in the following April the famous blacktracker, Sir Watkin Wyne led a police search party with Senior Constable Wright and Constables Walsh, Egan, Lenehan and James Wright they received a tip-off by one of the bushrangers cousins Thomas Berry, who later collected the reward money and was forced to leave the district for his and his family's safety ,on the 7th January a shoot out took place during which Constable Walsh, John Clarke and Sir Watkin were wounded. Sir Watkin's wound was very dangerous, and later his arm had to be amputated when Sergeant Byrne turned up with six more troopers the outlaws decided to give up and surrendered. The bushrangers shook hands with Walsh as they surrendered, and said they would have surrendered to him before if he had been there,Tommy Clarke asked to be treated as he should and Sergeant Wright said: "All right, old boy." At the time of their trial the police had gathered a list of charges against Thomas Clarke, and excluding the murder of five police constables, there were nine robberies of the mails and thirty-six robberies of individuals,the offences committed by John Clarke, excluding murders, were twenty-six robberies. Tried by Sir Alfred Stephen, they were sentenced to death,Tom Clarke, 26, and his brother John, 24, were hanged from twin gallows at Darlinghurst Jail on 25 June 1867 and buried at Haslem's Cemetery, Rookwood.

Bushrangers Tree in Nelligen which is believed to be the tree the Clarke brothers were chained to after their capture

Sources

• Truth (Perth, WA : 1903 - 1931) p.2; 10th March, 1906 Article BUSH TRAGEDIES. THE CLARKE BUSHRANGERS.Slaughter of Spy
• Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954) p.2; 20th August, 1903 Article STAND AND DELIVER! PART 3.A Complete History of the Bushranging Days of Australia.(From the most authentic records).
• Truth (Sydney, NSW : 1894 - 1954) p.24; 28th April, 1935 :Article Clarke brothers meet the hangman
• Clarke Brothers Wikipedia
• Clarke Brothers Ned Kelly's World
• The Original Gold Rush Colony Clarke Brothers
• Painting of the Capture of the Clarke Brothers State Library N.S.W
• Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVL7-RMJL : 21 June 2017), Thomas Clarke, 1867; Burial, Rookwood, Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Australia, Rookwood Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria; citing record ID 90019061, Find a Grave
• Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK1Z-YZ9J : 21 June 2017), John Clarke, 1867; Burial, Rookwood, Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Australia, Rookwood Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria; citing record ID 142777406, Find a Grave