Ebook: The Clarke Gang: Outlawed, Outcast and ForgottenÃ#x82;Â

Who were the Clarke Gang? Ten years or more before Ned Kelly became famous the Clarke brothers and their associates were terrorising an area stretching from present day Canberra to the coast from 1865 to 1867. They intimidated, assaulted, robbed and murdered police and civilians alike. They had no hesitation in killing any member of the gang suspected of being untrustworthy. The romantic appelation "bushranger" blurs their vicious anti-social behaviour. They were able to escape what was then the rather short arm of the law by the vast network of relations and "harbourers." The author details their exploits and the terror they aroused in the population. His asks why The Clarke Gang are hardly known whereas Ned Kelly is regarded as an icon. His conclusion is interesting. The Clarke Gang operated in sparsely populated areas, serviced by bad roads and a poor telegraph system. Reports of their crimes were reported in newspapers, sometimes months after the event. By the time Ned Kelly began his career the telegraph had improved, there were railways providing access - technology had improved. The improvement in technology meant that Ned could use the media and newspapers to publicise and romanticise himself and his motives. The Clarke brothers were illiterate and lacked Ned's media skills. The book is illustrated with contemporary pictures, numerous maps, and other details. (Two maps are attached showing just where their activities took place). The author shows bushranging stripped of its romantic, rebellious cloak. The author: Peter Smith became a foundation member of the Wild Colonial Days Society in 1963 when he was 15 years old. He has taken part in centenary re-enactments of bushranging events throughout New South Wales. His other books include Tracking Down the Bushrangers, My America's Cup Adventure and The Deua River Track. His main field of study extending over nearly fifty years has been the Clarke Gang and their associates. Upon retirement he and his wife Robyn moved to Araluen, within easy reach of where it all happened.;Ch. 1: Down and out -- ch. 2: Shannon to Shoalhaven -- ch. 3: The seeds of crime -- ch. 4: Places and early bushrangers -- ch. 5: Gold -- ch. 6: Neighbours and families of ill repute -- ch. 7: Horse stealing to highway robbery -- ch. 8: The New South Wales bushranging outbreak -- ch. 9: Surrender and escape from Braidwood gaol -- ch. 10: Serious bushranging -- ch. 11: Robberies and shoot-outs -- ch. 12: The crime wave continues and the territory broadens -- ch. 13: The Nerrigundah raid and murder of Constable O'Grady -- ch. 14: Summoned to surrender -- ch. 15: Outlawed! -- ch. 16: The death of Pat Connell -- ch. 17: Constable Woodland provides an insight into police operation -- ch18: Introducing special police -- ch. 19: Recruits and robberies, death of Old Clarke and Tom Connell's arrest -- ch. 20: James Dornan, wholesale arrests, rising tensions -- ch. 21: The murder of the special police -- ch. 22: A call to action -- ch. 23: The Braidwood commission and the state of crime -- ch. 24: arrests and reinforcement -- ch. 25: The beginning of the end -- ch. 26: The captures of the Clarkes -- ch. 27: Trial and convictions -- ch. 28: execution -- ch. 29: harbourers on trial -- ch. 30: The aftermath -- Summing up -- The families of the Clarke country -- The police in the Clarke hunt -- Bushranger country -- Epilogue: The Clarke gang in perspective.