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Trove Tuesday: Knew the Bushrangers and how to beat them.

Today's Trove Tuesday article concerns my Great Great Grandfather Joseph Robert Jones, his death and bushranger tales from his younger days that he liked to tell.  Unfortunately it seems he was guilty of embellishment as he was born in 1857 and Ben Hall died in 1865 making it highly unlikely that Ben Hall's gang had robbed him as described in the article.  That is not to say that he wasn't held up, it just probably wasn't anyone associated with Ben Hall's gang.  He does sound like a very good story teller though and obviously enthralled his audience with his bushranger tales!



Source: KNEW THE BUSHRANGERS. (1939, December 22). The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser (NSW : 1886 - 1942), p. 4. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125949802

Transcript:

KNEW THE BUSHRANGERS AND HOW TO BEAT THEM.

Mr. Joseph Robert Jones, 82, who died at Young last week, could tell many an interesting tale of the bush-rangers whom he had met in his youth.
On one occasion, when he was staying at an hotel at Orange, Ben Hall's gang paid a surprise visit one night and Mr. Jones awakened to find a pistol held at his head and hear a demand for £5, which he unwillingly handed over.  A month or six weeks after the hold-up Mr. Jones met a man who disclosed it was he who had pointed the pistol at him and demanded the £5.  Handing Mr. Jones back the £5, the self-confessed bushranger said, 'Thanks for the 'loan' of it.  I needed it very badly.'
Another time, after Mr. Jones and other men had delivered goods to Lambing Flat and were camped near the roadside, they received an unexpected visit from bushrangers.  However, Mr. Jones and his party had previously taken the precaution of hiding the cash they had received for the goods in their boots, and the bushrangers did not discover it, having to be satisfied with the meal which was supplied to them on demand.

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