Roy loves history, and he is always amazed at the number of extraordinary historic places which are to be found around NSW. Some of his favourite places are associated with Australias infamous bushrangers. These men are amazing figures in Australian history, some of them scary, but others remarkably suave and sophisticated! This week, Roy is sharng a visit he made to the grave of one of these men - Johnny Gilbert.
If you would like to visit the grave of Johnny Gilbert, it is located in the police paddock near Binalong. The address is on The Burkey Griffin Way, and there is a sign to mark this tiny, but historic site. The grave itself is up a flight of stairs, at the top of which is a well maintained, tiny paddock - what was once the police paddock.
Johnny Gilbert never became an old man, but although his life might have been short, it was certainly eventful! He was just 23 when he died, but he was also, at the time, Australia's most notorious criminal. Gilbert was born in Canada, in a place called Hamilton, in 1842. He was 10 years old when he came to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in 1852 with his family. It wasn't long before Gilbert struck out on his own, working first as a stable boy, before drifting to the goldfields. He was soon associating with thieves and gamesters, many of whom were suspicious of his seeming wealth and flashy way of dressing. He moved to NSW when he was 18, and it was here that he began, and ended his bushranging career.
Soon after moving to NSW, Gilbert met Frank Gardiner and between 1860 and 1861, joined Gardiner on his raids in the Whoego district. Gilbert was a superb horseman, and also had a good sense of humour and sense of courage, which appealed to the other bushrangers he worked with. In 1862 Gilbert and Gardiner took part in Ben Halls gold escort robbery at Eugowra, and soon gilbert had a £500 reward on his head. This didn't deter Gilbert though and by May 1863 he had become Ben Halls righthand man. By 1865 Gilbert had taken part in at least 40 armed holdups, including one where he shot and killed a police sergeant. In April 1865 Gilbert was officially declared an outlaw and the reward was increased to £1000. Gilbert was finally shot on May 13 by Constable John Bright and soon after was buried in the police paddock at Binalong.