South Bourke and Mornington Journal (Richmond, Vic. : 1877 - 1920; 1926 - 1927), Wednesday 6 February 1889, page 2


:Tawell;the: Quaker Murder , and e `/ "Howe, the Bushranger.' The following is a page ;from the past history of New South Wales- : ; .John Tawell, born in S1784 in Allonby, u county of Norfolk, in.179S entered the. service of aRwidow who kept ;a general store, a and who b elonged to the Society of Friends, of which society he afterwards became a member. In 1804. hewent to London. and entered the service of- Mr. Janson, a :large linendraper. He married a housemaid in the i, employ of his master, and then left. He was engaged by Mr. Maisden, wholesale druggist t and chemist, to travel for the establishment, 0 a-nd evinced so much activity and. business -tact that for'seven.years he was trusted and :highly prized by his employer,- At length it was found;thait he had committed- extensive forgeries on the Uxbridge Bank, for which, ib?e had been tried, hoe would have Iqst- his life ;?ievertheless, the bank officials, being ' .members of thc Society.of Friends, were diinclined to be instrumental in -taking-life, . so proceeded against .him on the" charge of having a" forged, note in his passession, for which he was transported to. Sydney in 1S14. Here he was employed as an assistat in the :convict hospital. For; his asinduity, inteli- I Igence, and carefulness he eooi.:obtained a ticket-of:leavea from Governor iMaerp'urie, who very shortly afterwards gave him his emancipation: ticket....:Tawell then ,com. 'menced • as .a: chemist .in- Huter. street, Sydney, nd. also traded in iarionsI kindsi,of proiiue, lIp rapidly grew rici;"'eiimibarked; sn thepllipping trade asd in oilep?cdulatiininr ? .and was senucessful in all his venteres.'R He built a:chapel for the Socdety'of Friends in. ,lMacquarie street, Sydey, and emptied'6000 gallons of ram in Sydneiy.lsrhor in.orderito encourage temperance; His wife, hearing of his, altered condition,? came. out ini S124.. After., an absence of. 1 years he.returnei S ith a large-fortanes toEglaEndin 18?," and subsequenty made one or two trips; tbo, A" tralia on business which brongb'tlitualarge sum?, His wife, diing..her illness, 'was. ttended by a nurse named Sarah Hart,;with whom Tawell formed-an illicit .intercourse, iind kept her inseclusion at vario?s. plaees. He married again,.in 18-1,l; wido? naiimed Ifre.' Cotforth. Fearing that his conineition with .Sayab "Hart would be found out, he planned:and perpetrated her. mduider,.for which he was placed on his trial 'March.12, 1 .Si4 In his confessions he stated that. h had prieviously attempted to:kill her:with morphm put in some porter, and thiltonih'h lastarid fatal. occasion he had used prssic. adid, He .was executed=DMarch 21,. 1810. Throughout- his whole life he always ?p ?peared.to be religiods add charitable; to one school-he gave 30-per annum.- lie took apparcntily great interesti 'all mattles :1s. longing to the religious society of" which hc ,was so.unw-orthy a meinber. . -Michael Howe, who hsad been i seaman in the Royal Nayy; and who-was tfterwards the owner of a small coisting craft in whieh lie had acquired some notion of command, arrivid ins Van Diemen's -Land in 1812, sand was sent as an assigned servant to Mr; Io'gle; he, however, declared he would'be no mana's slave, and, escaping to the bunshjoined a gang Eommanded by a man named White. head. rn this gang, which consisted of about twenty outlaws, were' a-'deserter from the 7.rd regiment, and two native women.:Soon after Howe's joining them they attacked the 'settlement of New" Norfolk, and there pro-cured. a good supply of arms and snibmuni-tioi-; thence they marched on Pittwater, committing many depredations, and sacking -and burning the houses and stecks of those w-ho had made themselves obnoxious to them; again theyattacked New Norfolk, and hid a fight with thd settlers, in which the litter e:re worsted; but in the engagemeit "Whitehead was seriously wounded. Finding that he'could not recover, he appealed to Howe to- finish him and to cut his head off, 'to prevent the reward offered for his capture being b~tained` by any of thh settlers; this dwe- dide and then aesanmbd the command of the gatg. It was subsequently aseertedl by Howe (and there is a good reason to believe his 'tatetments) that some of-the polide .presumably most active in the pursuit of him and his gang'at the'time'were actually in communication with them, and received a. share in the profits of the men's crimes. Howe at this' time was accustomed to leave his gang for short periods, and retire to sooon mountain fastness with anative girl, to whom it Was stated he was" much attached; subsequently she was captured and became usefulto the soldiers in discovering his favorite haunts to them. At last Howe sent, through the miediiui- of a Yankee sailor, a prop?sal to the Governor to surrender. The Governor (Sorell)" sent Captain Nairne to the rendezvous to meetwith him and give him assurante of present safety and a promise of his inter! -cession for his pardon if hu'would come in, which offer Howe accepted. When, on the plea of illhealth, he was allowed to take exercise under the .charge of a constable, he managed to give his guard the slip and'again took to the bush. He found his gang nearly broken up, only two men remaining, Watts and Browne. Soon after his return Watts" conspirce with, a atoick-keeper named Drewe against Howe, and, taking him unawares,: they threw him down, disarmed him, andtied his hands behind his'back. Leaving him thus lying on the ground, they ate their breakfast, and then started with him to Hobart Town, with the- hope of obtaining the'reward. Watts walked in front of their prisoner, and.lrewe behind him. On the" road Howe maiaged to get his hand loose unperceived by his guard, when, suddenly springing upon Watts, he seized his knife and fatally stabbed him, and then, taking his gun, shot Drewe dead on the spot. Watts. managed to reached Hobart Town, but subecquently died of his wounds. A large reward was now offered for the capture or death of Howe,' together with freedom and a passage home, should his captor he a con. vict; but for a long time he escaped all I snares. But the temptation of the lsrge reward and the free pardon, together with-the passage home, was a bait that could not be long- withstood, and so a transported sailor nstinl Jack Worral oonspirel with one of Howe's mates, named WTarharton, to eqect his capture. Major Bll gave themh tle assistance of a eoldier of the 4Sth regimenti, namied Pugh, these two secreting themselves I in Warburton'a hut, who was to inveigle Howe into it. This Warburton did, but I Howe discovered his danger and omanged toc -break away, the shots fired at himnot taking effect. In runninog, however, he received1 a a severe fall which partiIallystannd hism, a

ad then he tored to fght; whilst engaged with one.the other crept up, and knocked him down with the butt end of his musket, and with the same weapon dashed his brains ont,?Otober.21,1819.- In a kangaroo skin I pouehorkeý pknsape k which he carried wea found aecord of his crimes and the names of many of hiaa apcomplices, with thoseeof 'the receivers of stolen 'property; hithertounsuspected. ;