Black Bunny's Bushrangers (T) - John O'Meally Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia
By
Black Bunny on 25-Sep-17. Waypoint GA6011
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | Traditional |
| Container: | Small |
| Coordinates: | S34° 38.042' E148° 2.676' (WGS 84) |
| 55H 595745E 6167043N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 352 m |
| Local Government Area: | Cootamundra-Gundagai |
/148.0446,-34.634033,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
Bushranger Series - John O'Meally
John O’Meally.
One of Frank Gardiner’s gang who robbed the gold escort coach at Eugowra.
On 15 June 1862 the gold escort coach that took the gold from the goldfields of Forbes to Bathurst was robbed. This was one of Australia's biggest robberies. O'Meally and several of his friends were in the gang led by Frank Gardiner. A week after the robbery the police, led by Sir Frederick Pottinger, captured two of the robbers, Henry Manns, and Charlie Gilbert. Charlie Gilbert was the brother of gang member John Gilbert. John Gilbert had nearly been captured but was able to escape. He went straight to "The Weddin Inn", and together with Ben Hall and O'Meally, captured the police and released the prisoners.[2]
Bushranger with Ben Halls gang
In July 1863, O'Meally and Gilbert tried to rob the bank at Carcoar in broad daylight.[2] This is believed to be the first daylight bank robbery in Australia.[3]
On 30 August 1863, O'Meally tried to rob John Barnes near Wallendbeen station (farm). Barnes owned shops in Cootamundra and Murrumburrah. O'Meally tried to take Barnes' saddle. Barnes rode off to try and get away, but O'Meally shot and killed him. Barnes is buried in the Cootamundra cemetery.[4]
O'Meally was shot and killed while trying to rob Goimbla station (farm) near Eugowra, on 19 November 1863. Buried at Gooloogong.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_O%27Meally
Bushrangers.
Over 2,000 bushrangers are estimated to have roamed the Australian countryside, beginning with the convict bolters and drawing to a close after Ned Kelly's last stand at Glenrowan.
Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term "bushranger" had evolved to refer to those who abandoned social rights and privileges to take up "robbery under arms" as a way of life, using the bush as their base.
Bushranging thrived during the gold rush years of the 1850s and 1860s when the likes of Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner and John Gilbert led notorious gangs in the country districts of New South Wales. These Wild Colonial Boys typically robbed small-town banks and coach services.
In other infamous cases, such as that of Dan Morgan, the Clarke brothers, and Australia's best-known bushranger, Ned Kelly, numerous policemen were murdered.
The number of bushrangers declined due to better policing and improvements in rail transport and communication technology, such as telegraphy. Kelly's capture and execution in 1880 effectively represented the end of the bushranging era.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushranger
Hints
Va gbc bs fghzc haqre ebpx frr fcbvyre. |
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Decode |
Logs
Found this one, fully exposed, at it's hiding spot.
Did put it back better hidden!
Nice quick find!
TFTC!
Interesting bit of history and a quick find here late in the day.
TFTC
I looked around a little bit for Mr O'Meally's grave but had no luck. I hope it wasn't in that multi here. I read the first sentence and decided 30 min was to long and didn't read further. haha.
Thanks for the cache here and bushranger info.
Just out of curiosity, have you read Robbery Under Arms by Thomas Browne? I loved that he used little bits and pieces of all sorts of bushranger true stories to make his fictional one.
Cache found with not too much trouble. Now back to finish the AL
thanks for the cache!Thanks,
Thanks
Albida
Mainly good safe hides and some quick finds.
Cache condition is OK/good.
Thanks for the cache Black Bunny,
Roostaman
This one took forever but not for the expected reasons.
There was a car at GZ with a muggle sitting in it and there was no way we could get this one without him seeing us.
So as not to compromise the hide we waited and waited. No movement so Mr Beetle grabbed his book and I started a crossword puzzle. We were fairly determined to win this stand off!!!
Then we became so absorbed in our activities that we didn't realise he had finally driven off!!!
Then it was a quick grab and sign before continuing on our caching way!!
Thanks.
It was a frosty morning as we headed out of Cootamundra towards Yass we visited the spot where this cache was hidden. Accurate coordinates had use make a quick find of a well hidden cache. The container and contents were in good condition.
Thanks Black Bunny for John O'Meally in your Bushrangers series. We were not familiar with him and his activities.
I was using GPX files from a week ago, so probably had the wrong coordinates.
This was the next one on the list to find. I parked the car within meters of it and I made a quick find here. Thanks for the information about John O'Meally. It was a good read. TFTC
Thanks again BB....just one to go...but that's still a bit of drive.
