Frederick_Ward3

Frederick Ward(alias''Captain Thunderbolt")
Frederick Ward was born at Wilberforce District of the colony of New South Wales at around the year 1815.The exact date of his birth is currently unknown. His Father (a former convict) who lived by the name of Michael Ward. His wife Sophia came to him two months later to the colony. Much is undiscovered about the pair. Frederick was a child of a family of ten. They moved soon to the Maitland area and at quite a young age he had to adapt to work. Over a series of years he soon acquired a fantastic knowledge of the country surrounding his birth place. When Frederick reached the age of about 20 years of age it was discovered that his brother William Harry Ward was involved in a large scale horse and cattle stealing business. This is believed to be the start of his crimes as he was employed by a man named James Garbutt to help him drive away 75 horses down to Windsor. But still if he was employed remains unknown. Frederick and James were arrested and sentenced to around ten years of hard labour. He was soon released after four years on a ticket-of-leave on the 1st of July 1860.He journeyed to Mudgee district to work at a Cooyal Station during which time he came to love a half-caste woman by the name of Mary Ann Bugg. By the age of 14 she married another man called Edmund Baker who soon died leaving Mary Ann. She soon claimed to have been married to Ward wed by a Presbyterian minister by about 1860.He was well overdue with his ticket-of-leave which he should report to the police station regularly. He borrowed a horse in September 1861 but he was charged as people thought he had stolen the horse. He was again sentenced to serve the remaining of his sentence and also another three years for the stealing of the horse. Two weeks after Fred was returned to the gaol Mary Ann gave birth to Marina Emily Ward on the date of 26th of October 1861.On the 21st of December 1863, Frederick Wards name ceased to exist as he held up a toolbar house at Campbell’s hill and a bushranger emerged as Captain Thunderbolt. Mary Ann left her job to reunite with her husband in the Hunter Valley and was nicknamed “Queen Yellow Long.”She and her now two children along with Thunderbolt headed away to Currawillinghi Station. Mary Ann soon claimed that she was been held prisoner by Thunderbolt at a police station and then had a third child. Whether she was helping the police was unknown. Mary Ann soon died in 1867.Thunderbolt continued with a number of robbing until he was killed by Constable Walker who was rewarded greatly for his brave deed. Captain Thunderbolt was buried at the Uralla cemetery and a statue of him on a horse was also placed at Uralla. He died on the 25th of March 1870 .He died at the age of 34.

By maddie