GOADED TO MURDER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 88, 15 April 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

GOADED TO MURDER.

BLOOD LUST OF FURIOUS CONVICTS.

BRUTALITIES OF PRISON HELL CAUSE INHUMAN REVENGE — ATROCITIES OF NORFOLK ISLAND PENAL SETTLEMENT—JACKY JACKY, NOTORIOUS HIGHWAYMAN, LEADS HUNDREDS WHO RUN AMOK—DESPERATE BATTLE AGAINST CRUEL AUTHORITY ENDS IN MANY DEATHS—SOLDIERS STAND TO THEIR GUNS—EXTRAORDINARY LETTER AS PRELUDE TO GALLOWS SCENE.

(By B. CKONIN and A. RUS The history of the English highwaymen is particularly rich in tradition. People of those times had a great admiration for these swashbuckling gentlemen of the road, and attributed to,their favourites all manner of heroic exploits— some true, but most not. Still, it gave colour and romance to an otherwise 6ordid occupation. And, there was always this much to be that the gentry of the road almost invariably came to a bad end on Tyburn tree, and thus we cannot grudge them this little posthumous award in the lore of reckless and picturesque crime. Now there were a number of Australian bushrangers to whom was attached also a very great deal of meritorious legend, and among these are Gentleman Brady and Jacky Jacky. The real name of Jacky Jacky was William Westwood, and he was the darling of the old bands. Beginning fas an errand boy in England, be was transported for some very trifling offence wben be was sixteen years of age. Although of bumble origin he appears to have scraped up quite an education, and there is a story to the effect that upon one occasion he met Governor .Gipps, with whom be bad a long conversation, and from whopi he parted oa -the very best of terms. The old gentleman from whom the story emanated,' who claimed to have been, present upon this historic occasion, is reported to have said: "You and me couldn't have understood what they said, though it was all English; but they talked grammar." In other words, he intended to convey the fact that Jacky Jacky and the Governor used many words which were only .to be found in the dictionary in those days, an acquaintance with which naturally stamped both as being' cultured beyond the ordinary. In those days there was a curious inversion of the terms, good and bad. Prom the point of view of the old hands a man was good who was in defiance of the powers that were,. notwithstanding that his actions were very far from good in the ordinary accepted sense of the word. Similarly, those in authority were known as bad. The magistrates, clergy, the free men—anybody, in short, who was not one of themselves —were styled "bad" by the unruly element. Brutalised By 111 Treatment. Jacky Jacky was, in the opinion of his contemporary rascals, a thoroughly good man. And -it must be admitted that, until he became brutalised and driven to the point of madness by the inhuman treatment meted out to him at Norfolk Island, he actually never did anything mean or despicable, but was as gentlemanly a bushranger as it would be possible to find. Jacky Jacky landed in Sydney in 1873 and was assigned to the service of a gentleman in the Goulburn district. Here be stayed for three years, but the bfe apparently proved too dull for him ajd he joined company with a notorious scoundrel, one Paddy Curran, and stuck up and robbed his employer's house. ' Not very long after this, Jacky Jacky parted company with Curran on the score of the latter's brutality towards women. He -rf-as particularly on his best behaviour when in the presence of ladies. There is another story, probably quite untrue, to the effect that once he bailed up the carriage of the Commissary. On discovering the Commissary's wife to be within, Jacky Jacky—quite in the best manner of Robin Hood and the rogues of the Greenwood Tree, in old England— swept bis cabbage-tree hat from his bead, and bowing low invited the Commissary's wife to tread »a measure with ■him upon the green. One of Jacky Jacky's failings was the stealing of race-horses. Consequently, he was always well mounted. This possibly accounts for the stories as to the incredible distances which he rode within the space of 24 hours. Jacky Jacky had not taken to the bush very long before there came a day in January, *1841, when he galloped spectacularly' into the township of Bung'endore, in New South Wales, bis mount being a race-horse stolen from the - stables of Messrs. McArthur. He was clothed in resplendent garments to which be -had helped himself from a country store, a few days before. Unfortunately for Jacky Jacky, there happened to be in the township a number of men who were anything but overawed by this vainglorious exhibition. And the long and short of it was that presently Jacky Jacky found himself surrounded, and had no resource but to surrender. Attacked Guards and Escaped. He was placed in a room of the local im. with a couple of ticket-of-leave men to guard But suddenly be attacked his guards and escaped through the window. Mr. Frank Powell, a brother of the resident magistrate, seeing this manoeuvre, promptly pursued . and recaptured the bushranger. He was now handed over to Lieutenant Christie, who lodged bim in the Goulburn lock-up. The next day, on the way to Bargo Brush, he made a second attempt to escape, this time running a mile before he was nfceaptured: As a reward for this, he was tied to his horse. But that very night he once more broke out of gaol, taking with him a gun and ammunition belonging to the watch-house keeper. This time he was not immediately recaptured, and he is next heard of mounted upon a freshly-stolen horse, and bailing up and robbing Mr. Francis McArthur, on the Goulburn Plains. Now comes the incident of the toll-bar on the Parramatta Road, Sydney. This is truth, and not legend. It appears that one morning a very fine gentleman riding. a very fine horse, dismounted at the toll-bar end requested the keeper to oblige bim with a pipe of tobacco. This the tollkeeper did, and the fine gentleman alighted and stood chatting, as he smoked. His eye -catching sight of a musket hanging on the wall, he inquired what it was for, and was told it was for bushrangers, although none had been seen for many a long day. The fine gentleman asked if the toll-keeper had ever heard of Jacky Jacky, and was answered in the affirmative. "But," said the toll-keeper, "Jacky Jacky is a long way from here. He never comes near Sydney. If he did they'd soon make an end of him." Whereupon the fine gentleman laughed very heartily, and confessed that he was Jacky Jacky. Not so very long after, lie rode peacefully away from the toll-bar, after having treated the keeper to a drink of rum, and shaking bim heartily by the hand, in farewell. In spite of his good-natured boasting, however, Jacky Jacky was not able to keep his freedom for very long. Captured By a Woman's Wiles. It was through the action of a woman that Jacky Jacky was captured and returned to prison. One fine day, resplendent in his stolen clothes, and no doubt feeling very pleased with himself, be swaggered into an inn on the Berrima Road. Here he flung himself down upon the sofa and called for refreshment. Miss Gray, daughter of the house, recognised him, and while she prepared his drink her brain was busily planning bow she might capture this redoubtable "rascal of the '•"reads. ] V ' ~

SBLOj.—All Eights Reserved.) In the' end, what she did was very simple. While be was engaged in drinking, she pounced upon him, threw her arms about his neck and screamed at the top of her voice. Very naturally, her father and mother came running to see what all the uproar was about. The surprised bushranger fought to the utmost of resistance, and he must have got awsy but for the fact that a carpenter named Waters rushed in and dealt bim a sharp blew with a shingling hammer, knocking him senseless. Miss Gray's pluck must be discounted a little by saying that there is very little doubt that the motive which actuated her was the fact that a reward of £30 was offered for Jacky Jacky, alive or dead. Thirty pounds, in those days, was worth a good deal more than it is to-day. But there is no doubt that the action of the girl was exceedingly plucky and that she rendered the community a very good service. Jacky Jacky's reputation for prison breaking was by this time almost as great as that of the notorious London criminal, Jack Sheppard, about whom eo many fascinating legends are told. At any rate, on being confined in Darlinghnrst Gaol, Jacky Jacky immediately got up to his old tricks again and attempted to escape. He failed, and was then transferred to CcckatoO Island, at the mouth of the Parramatta River. But 'it seems that nothing- could quell this irresistible gentleman for long. He- organised a band of 25 prisoners and again attempted to escape. Having overcome and bound a warder, they dived into Sydney Harbour with the intention of swimming across to Balmain.

However, the water-police managed _ to capture the* whole of them. Perhaps it is a pity the water-police did so. It would undoubtedly bave saved much trouble for them and everybody else had the escapees met their end at this juncture. Incidentally, it is said that no prisoner ever did escape front* Cockatoo Island. Not because the distance to the shore is great—it is not—but there are guardians of a grimmer nature than the police. In other words, the sea in those days, whatever it may be now, was alive with ferocious sharks. In punishment, the gang was transferred to Port Arthur, in Van Diemen's Land. On the Tray across Bass Strait the prisoners mutinied and would no doubt have captured the ship had not the ship's officers promptly battened them down under hatcbes. There was very little kick left in them when they reached Port Arthur, for they were almost suffocated and very nearly starved. Not long after reaching Port Arthur, Jacky Jacky escaped and resumed his nefarious ocupa-s tion of bushranger. He was captured and sent to Glenorcfhy probation station. He again escaped. He was captured next in a house in Hobart Town and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life, and he was sent to. Norfolk Island—known as a convicts* hell. There were three or these hells—Norfolk Island, Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur—and it was to these places that the most violent and refractory of the convicts were sent. The name was entirely suitable, the -convicts being subjected to frightful, brutalities. A Hardened, Desperate Character. By this time Jacky Jacky was a hardened and desperate character. Norfolk Island was a simmering volcano of revolt. The horror of the place was such that convicts committed the most violent crimes in order to obtain the brief respite of being sent to Sydney for trial. Many killed themselves sooner than submit to the frightful rigours of old-time punishment. . It so happened that the privilege: of growing potatoes by the prisoners, granted to them by Captain Maconachie, was abolished by his successor, Major Joseph Childs, and the prisoners refused to go to work until some equivalent concession was granted theni. It was promised that they should have half a pint of peas per man daily, but after a few days this supply was exhausted. Various other happenings served to increase the mutinous indignation of the prisoners, and finally this culminated in a furious outbreak. The men finally gathered about the lumber yard, and here Jacky'Jacky took the opportunity to make tbe following speech:—"Now, men, I've made up my mind to bear this oppression no longer, but remember, I ani going to the gallows. If any man funks, let him stand out. Those who wish, follow me. Come on." There followed a frightful sequel. Led by Jacky Jacky, the mutineers attacked the police and warders. Clubs, reaping hooks, pitchforks beating, stabbing, cutting .... Stephen Smith, the police overseer, was in charge of the cookhouse. He was a decent fellow and something of a favourite among the convicts, but in their madness they cared not what they did. Seeing Jacky Jacky rushing toward him, Smith cried piteously: "For God's sake, don't hurt me, Jacky. Remember my wife and children." And, Jacky Jacky, a screaming madman, answered him as he brought the club down upon his head: "What do I care for your wife and children." The bushranger had, in short, run amok. His sole object apparently was to commit so many and such fearful crimes that it would be ins~ossible for him to escape being banged. "

Soldiers Stand to Their Guns. There were at that time 1800 prisoners on Norfolk Island, and 1500 of them joined in the mutiny. Opposed to them were 300 soldiers only, but they were armed and disciplined, and, when the soldiers stood firmly to their guns the mutineers lost heart and' were ; surrounded and arrested. in addition to Jacky Jacky, the prisoners included the notorious bushrangers Laurance Kavanagh and Michael Houlihan. At Norfolk Island also was the Tasmanian bushranger Martin Cash, but Cash took no part in the insurrection. Why, is not clear. He was certainly not afraid. It is thought that he was jealous of Jacky Jacky's leadership. Jacky Jacky and his confederates were tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The execution took place on October 13, 1846. Jacky Jacky wrote an extraordinary letter from the condemned cell to a former chaplain at Port Arthur, and this letter was afterwards published in the "Cornwall Chronicle." Reading it, one cannot avoid, the belief that it was indeed the sheer brutality of the penal system which turned Jacky Jacky into the inhuman fiend that he became. i "Sir," he wrote, "allow a dying man to speak a few words to one who has always shown a sympathy for the wretched outcasts of society, and ever with a Christian charity strove to recall the wretched wanderer to a sense of his lost condition. I started in life with a good feeling for my fellow men. Before I well knew the responsibility 9f my station in life, I had forfaited my birthright. I became a slave —torn from all that was dear to me, and that for a trifling offence. Since then I have been treated more like a beast than a man, until Nature could bear no more." A little later: "The crime for which I have to suffer is murder. You will shudder at my cruelty, but I only took life— those that I deprived of life, though they did not in a moment send a man to his last account, inflicted on many a lingering death—for years they have tortured men's minds, as well as their bodies. Mental and bodily torture sent them to a premature grave." Sweetness of Death. Elsewhere he says: "I have not the ability to represent what I feel on this subject, yet I know from my own feelings that it would never carry out the wishes of the British people. The spirit of the British law is reformation. The wretched man, under the present system,_ led by example on one hand, and driven by despair and tyranny on the other, goes on from bad to worse, till at last he is ruined, body and soul. Experience—dearlybought experience—has taught me this." Then comes a prophetic insight: "Will it be believed hereafter that this was allowed to be carried on in the 19th century?"

His letter closes: "Sir, out of the bitter cup of misery I have drunk from my 16th year, and the sweetest draught is that which takes away the misery of living death," and be signs it, "William Westwood. his writing." Jacky Jacky also mafle a flying declaration iu which he asserted the innocence of four of his fellows, in regard to the murders for which they were to be executed. This declaration concluded: "I die in charity with all men and now I ask your prayers for my soul." Sometimes, unfortunately, it is said that sucb letters are cant. Perhaps in many cases this is the case. But it is very hard to see why men should trouble to cant just for the sake of canting. How can there be any doubt whatever' of the truth of Jacky Jacky's assertion that he had been driven to his course by the inhumanities of his own kind? Jacky Jacky was only 26 years old when he died.