Anyone who takes historical studies seriously knows or is warned that one NEVER relies solely on secondary sources to base your hypothesis. Referring to Dr David Andrew Roberts’ letter March 21, “Bemused? Me too!’ May I remind readers Scourge is a fictional secondary source?
In the primary sources I have researched suggest:
On May 19 a letter sent by Inspector Brown of Armidale to defend accusations of police ineptitude states he was sending troopers to the area of Aberfoyle and Kangaroo Hills to hunt for Ward. Police were in the area! They didn’t return until May 30. THEIR REPORT IS MISSING?
The eye color of the man shot was different from Fred Ward’s recorded eye color.
On May 27 Armidale Coroner Markham wrote to the Colonial Secretary. He did not conduct an inquest on Frederick Ward. Although this letter was recorded as received – it is MISSING.
A statement from Walker stated Cappassotti did not reveal the identity of the man who had robbed him BEFORE they took chase (and the man was murdered?).
A statement from Walker dated 26th doesn’t state a name at all. Although mentioned in Stephan William’s referenced book “A Ghost Called Thunderbolt’. MISSING.
Walker and Mulhull’s statements differ dramatically, and only Walker’s was sent in with Brown’s report on May 30. Mulhull was subsequently demoted as mentioned in the Police Gazette.
A reply from the Inspector General to Brown dated May 27 did not mention the death of Thunderbolt, but inferred, “Ward’s non – capture was undermining the administration’.
In 1874 following a parliamentary inquiry prompted by Insp Quigley, twenty-four bushrangers were released from prison. Frank Gardiner was exiled, sent via China to California.
The reasons for this turn-around by authorities is thought to be related to the Thunderbolt shooting and Fred escaping to California. ALL documentation relating to this inquiry or subsequent release of the bushrangers IS MISSING OR RESTRICTED FROM PUBLIC SCRUTINY.
To quote George Orwell from 1984, “Those that control the past, control the future; And those who control the present control the past. … “
Pat Lightfoot,
Armidale
