It appears that the belief that Constable Alex Walker shot dead someone other than bushranger Captain Thunderbolt was born three days after the shooting at Uralla in May 1870, when at least two police constables recognised Frederick Wordsworth Ward at Glen Innes races. They, apparently, chased Ward for a very long way on horseback.
Greg Hamilton, a co-author of the book "Thunderbolt: Scourge of the Ranges", believes that the real Thunderbolt fled to California, where government records show an Australian by the name of Frederick Wordsworth Ward arriving by boat, and died in 1903 in Canada. He has been trying unsuccessfully for years to persuade the government and the police to release 140-year-old records relating to the shooting and subsequent sightings, and recently he won the support of the Nationals' Upper House whip, Rick Colless, who, in turn, won the agreement of the Upper House to call on Governor Marie Bashir to table the records in Parliament.
What follows is, first, the Upper House request to the Governor for the papers and, second, the response of the Governor's office.
"Motion by the Hon. Rick Colless agreed to: That, under Standing Order 53, an Address be presented to the Governor requesting that her Excellency may be pleased to cause to be laid upon the table of the House within 35 days of the date of the passing of this resolution, the following documents in relation to the administration of justice:
"(a) written reports from two Armidale constables made to their superior officer, during the week following the 25 May 1870, to the effect that the two constables observed and pursued the bushranger Thunderbolt and his horse Combo at the Glen Innes races three days after he was shot dead at Uralla,
"(b) all documents originating from the Officer in Charge of the Uralla Police Senior Constable John Mulhall with respect to the pursuit and capture of the bushranger Thunderbolt,
"(c) all documents originating from Superintendent S. Dowling Brown of Armidale police with respect to the pursuit and capture of the bushranger Thunderbolt,
"(d) all documents comprising police staff records of Senior Constable John Mulhall of Uralla for the period 1 May 1870 up to the time he ceased to be employed by the New South Wales police force,
"(e) all documents relating to the identification procedures of the corpse presumed to be the bushranger Thunderbolt following his fatal capture by Constable Walker on 25 May 1870,
"(f) all documents comprising Dr Spasshatt's original autopsy report of the person presumed to be the bushranger Thunderbolt, dated 26 May 1870, and presented to the inquest on Thursday 26 May 1870,
"(g) all original documents relating to the inquest of the person presumed to be the bushranger Thunderbolt conducted at Uralla, dated 26 May 1870, excluding the amended documents forwarded to Sydney during the first week of June 1870, and
"(h) any document which records or refers to the production of documents as a result of this Address."
The reply of the Governor's office:
"Further to your letter dated 18 March 2010, concerning the production of state papers relating to Bushranger Thunderbolt, I am directed by His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to reply as follows.
"The matter was considered at the Executive Council Meeting of 21 April 2010 and, on the advice of the Executive Council, the Lieutenant-Governor refused the request on the grounds:
"(a) The documents requested are over a century old and relate to a pre-federation period in which New South Wales did not exist as a state.
"(b) The documents may be of historical interest but it cannot be said that they are reasonably necessary in order for the House to review the conduct of the Executive Government of the State of New South Wales.
"(c) In accordance with the State Records Act, historical research of archived colonial records can be undertaken by any member of the public through the State Records Authority. It is arguably inappropriate for Members of the Legislative Council to seek to use the constitutional powers of the House to ask the Governor to undertake this research for them.
"Yours faithfully
"Stephen Patfield
A/Official Secretary."
Well, Mr Colless tells me that the State Records Authority has confirmed that departments are not required to submit all documents for archiving, that they are free to keep any they want to. He is seeking access to 140-year-old police records.
Do you smell conspiracy?
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