You should know we have you in our sights Mr Humphrey and I dare say you should be expecting us. A man with as desperate a character as yourself should not be expecting any less. It is no secret the way you treat the convicts under your charge, I have heard firsthand how you driveContinue reading “A Lesson from the Lawless”
Tag Archives: James Whitehead
A Body for the Gibbet
On the 20th of May 1815, the headless body of James Whitehead was gibbeted on Hunter Island near Hobart Town, after being brought down in a boat from New Norfolk the previous night. In his diary, Reverend Robert Knopwood wrote, “the man that was shot was Whitehead, a very desperate bushranger. He was hung upContinue reading “A Body for the Gibbet”
The Hut at Abyssinia
In early 1815, James Whitehead was brought to Michael’s Abyssinia hut by Burrell, a sympathiser to the gang and servant to John Ingle, the man Michael had been first assigned to. James had given himself up when the pardon had been offered to the gang in 1814 and had been assigned to Mr Gunning. HeContinue reading “The Hut at Abyssinia”
James Whitehead: Fact vs Fiction
Unlike the way he is presented in ‘The Outlaw Michael Howe’, James was not ‘John’, he was not Scottish and nor was he a cruel madman. In fact, the real James was a Yorkshireman like Michael Howe and hailed from Preston in the East Riding of Yorkshire. James was described as being “a good lookingContinue reading “James Whitehead: Fact vs Fiction”
The Gunfight with Denis McCarty
On the 24th of April 1815, the gunfight between Michael Howe and Irishman Denis McCarty took place on the banks of the Derwent River at “The Falls”, halfway between New Norfolk and Stoney Hut Plains (Gretna). Believing that there were “two or three parties of soldiers out”, Michael knew that gathering weapons was essential forContinue reading “The Gunfight with Denis McCarty”
Michael Howe: Governor of the Woods 