Bushranger Series - Sam Poo

Sam Poo.

A roadside sign on the Golden Highway between Dubbo and Dunedoo marks the site where bushranger Sam Poo was captured on February 18, 1865.

Senior Constable John Ward was in pursuit of Sam Poo, a gold prospector who gained fleeting infamy as Australia's only Chinese bushranger.

Poo had taken to highway robbery after tiring of thin pickings on the Talbragar goldfields. He lived in an isolated camp on his own and is said to have continuously practised shooting at an old stump.

On February 3, 1865 Ward was returning to Coonabarabran after escorting a prisoner to Mudgee for a court appearance. Approaching an area known as Barney's Reef (between Birrawa and Dunedoo), he met two men droving a mob of sheep.

They reported the whereabouts of Sam Poo who had been carrying out armed hold-ups in the area.

Ward set off to investigate and tracked the bushranger to his camp. When Poo saw the constable he ran into the bush. Ward gave chase and ordered Poo to drop his weapon.

Poo is reported to have aimed a cutdown rifle at Ward calling out "You policeman. Me fire."

Police records indicate Ward jumped from his horse and attempted to use the animal as cover while he drew his Colt revolver.

Poo fired and hit Ward in the groin. Ward discharged one shot as he fell to the ground and fired twice more as Poo ran off through the bush.

Squatter James Francis Plunkett of Billaroy Station (later known as Birriwa Station) found Ward bleeding on the ground. He had the wounded man taken to his homestead and sent for the nearest doctor who lived 50 miles (80kms) away.

The trooper told Plunkett he knew he was dying and expressed concern about his wife and five children. He dictated a full statement about his encounter with Poo and asked Plunkett to pray for him.

Ward was beyond medical help when Mudgee doctor William King arrived the next day. The trooper had already been buried by the time his family travelled to Plunkett's homestead.

According to police records, Ward was 29 years old. He was described as being five feet 10 inches (179cm) tall with brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Born in Surrey in England, Ward sailed to Australia and joined the NSW police force on February 1, 1858.

At the time of his death he was the officer-in-charge of Coonabarabran police station

A public meeting at Coonabarabran expressed concern about the shooting and collected money for Ward's family. Reports suggest a similar meeting was held at Mudgee.

A widespread manhunt swung into action with armed police and mounted posse-men from as far away as Bathurst joining in.

The district was scoured in every direction for two weeks.

On February 18, 1865 Aboriginal tracker and stockman Harry Hughes helped mounted police constables Burns, McMahon and Todd locate Poo in an area of scrub near the present day Golden Highway.

As they approached the wanted man a rifle ball ripped through the brim of the tracker's hat near his ear.

The bushranger was shot as he attempted to escape. He is said to have continued to fire from the ground before being subdued.

A roadside sign between Dubbo and Dunedoo marks the date and location of Poo's capture.

Poo was seriously wounded and not expected to live when he was taken to Mudgee hospital. After lengthy medical treatment he was transported to Bathurst to stand trial for the murder of John Ward and the attempted murder of Harry Hughes.

The October 11, 1865 Sydney Morning Herald reported Poo pleaded not guilty when he faced Justice John Fletcher Hargrave.

Government interpreter Sing Shigh translated the evidence to Poo.

The case opened when John Cluff, an employee of James Francis Plunkett, was called.

"'I remember the day Constable Ward was shot," Cluff told the court.

"I saw the prisoner in the neighbourhood the day Ward was shot. I was coming through the scrub and I saw him covering me with a gun. He asked me where was I going. On my telling him I was going to Mr Plunkett's, he said, 'Go on or I will give you one too', pointing to a gun or pistol that was lying near him on a log. The gun shown me, one that had been cut down in the barrel, is the gun he had. It had a piece of leather near the ripple, like that now on the gun. I did not notice the pistol (and) could not swear it was a pistol. The prisoner was dressed in a serge suit and corduroy trousers like that worn by the prisoner now. He had a hat like the prisoner's."

Elizabeth Golding, the wife of Robert Golding, told the court:

"I live with my husband at Mr Plunkett's. On January 30, I saw the prisoner at my place. He came and spoke to my little girl. It was in the forenoon and he went away. Soon after he returned. I asked him what he came back for. He said, 'If I cannot have my will of the girl, I will of you'.' He had a gun with him, like that shown me. It has a precisely similar piece of leather around the barrel. I ran off to get assistance. The prisoner is the man. The prisoner was dressed then, as he is now. I never saw him before. My husband came back (but) the prisoner was gone.'

James Francis Plunket told the court:

"I remember Constable Ward being shot. I found Ward lying in the bush wounded. I remember seeing the prisoner the night before Ward was shot. I remember seeing him in one of my shepherd huts, some things strewn in confusion. There was a mess as if a flour bag had been emptied, and on the floor was a piece of leather legging that had been cut. The leather around the gun is similar to that of the leggings. I found the things disturbed in the hut three or four days after Ward was shot. I found Ward wounded and took him into my house, where he died at four o'clock in the afternoon. He said he knew he was dying, and asked repeatedly, 'What is to become of my wife and children?' He knew he was dying and I took down a statement in writing. Afterwards, he made other statements which I did not put down."

The newspaper reported no evidence was taken from the prisoner.

Poo, aged 35, was sentenced to death. He was hanged at Bathurst gaol on December 19, 1865.

http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/2866513/australias-only-chinese-bushranger-remembered-150-years-on/

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

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