Please wait. Contacting image service... loading
Hide article pages Show article pages
  1. Page 2
    Page 2 thumbnail
  2. Page 3
    Page 3 thumbnail

Article text

On this Page 2
BIOGRAPHY OF BEN HALL.
The Forbes correspondent of the Western Examiner
(Orange) of May 13 furnishes the following very friendly
biography of Ben Hall :—
In estimating the character of this man, who has ob-
tained such an unenviable notoriety throughout the
colonies during the past three years, an insight into his
early life may be of some assistance, and I have therefore
taken some pains to collect the following brief history of
certain incidents concerning him. I can assure the
reader that the facts were obtained from what I believe
to be the most authentic sources.
He was born at Breeza, Liverpool Plains, in February,
1837, and was therefore twenty-eight years old last
February. His parents are still living at Murrurundi,
where his father is a freeholder and well-to-do farmer.
It was at Breeza and Murrurundi, where the eldest Hall
had charge of a station (Duna), that young Hall lived
until he was about ten years old. While at Murrurundi
he attended school for about two years and a half, and
learned to read and write, and obtained sufficient know-
ledge of arithmetic to enable him to conduct his own
business. Thus early in life, and while assisting his
father upon the station, it is related that he evinced a
remarkable degree of perception and aptness in regard
to stock. If he saw a calf dropped he could, in a year
afterwards, identify the cow and the calf and locate
them. When this lad was about ten years old his father
Benjamin Hall, senior, who is a native of Bedminster,
Devonshire, and who has resided in New South Wales
more than forty years, removed to the Lachlan districts
and took charge of a station belonging to Mr. Hamilton,
called Uah. This station is about fifteen miles from
Forbes, on the road to the Pinnacle. The son resided
with his father upon this station until he was about eigh-
teen years old, and was almost exclusively engaged in
stock-keeping, looking after the stock of Mr. Hamilton,
as well as that belonging to himself and father. About
thirteen years ago the elder Hall returned to Murrur-
undi, purchased a farm, and has since cultivated the land.
The father and son have never seen each other since. It
was very much against the father's desire that the son
remained behind. The young man, however, had
formed an intimacy with Bridget Walsh, the second
daughter of Mr. John Walsh, of Wheogo, and no-
thing could induce him to leave. The father, intent
upon separating his son from this connection, not
only removed his own, but the cattle belonging to
his son, to the other side of the country. A short
time previous to his father's departure, Ben surrepti-
tiously left home, and went into the employment of Mr.
Walsh, at Wheogo, as stock-keeper. In about one year
after, he was married to Miss Bridget Walsh—two
children were born to him by this marriage ; the
youngest, Henry, is still living, and about six years old.
It was not far from twelve months after the birth of
this child, and while he was yet in arms, that his wife
eloped with Mr. James Taylor, with whom she has not
continued to live since. They reside somewhere on the
Fish River. Shortly after his marriage, he, in company
with Mr. John Maguire, obtained a lease of a run ad-
joining Wheogo, called Sandy Creek, which they stocked
with cattle and horses. Sandy Creek, Wheogo, and
Bundaburra are estimated to be among the very best
runs in the Lachlan district. Up to this period Ben
Hall was held in high esteem by the settlers through-
out the district, not only for his generous, open-
hearted qualities, always shewing a disposition to assist
his neighbours, but for the enterprise and energy he
displayed in conducting his business affairs. Very
shortly after the elopement of his wife with Taylor,
which occurred while he was absent attending a muster
at Bland, and after he had taken a most affectionate
leave of her, without for one moment entertaining the
slightest suspicion of her infidelity—he was arrested by
Sir Frederick Pottinger at the Wowingragong race-
course, charged with highway robbery under arms. The
surprise that was expressed by the residents of this dis-
trict that such a charge should be made against Ben Hall
is well remembered. However, after lying in the lock-up
four or five weeks, and being taken to Orange and under-
going trial, the jury acquitted him without leaving their
seats. He then returned to his station, Sandy Creek,
and commenced mustering his horses. This was during
the latter part of May, 1862. Mustering necessarily
required several weeks, and the business was still pro-
gressing, and before the mustering was completed,
during the latter part of July, 1862, he was again
arrested by Sir Frederick Pottinger and Sub-in-
spector Saunderson, charged with being in some way
implicated in the celebrated escort robbery. He re-
mained in the Forbes lock-up some six or seven weeks,
being brought before the Bench of Magistrates from time
to time, and remanded at the instance of Sir. F. Pottin-
ger and Inspector Saunderson, for the production of fur-
ther testimony. He was ultimately admitted to bail,
himself in dept of £500, and two sureties of £250 each, to appear
when called upon. He was not committed. When he
returned to Wheogo and Sandy Creek he found that all
his labour in mustering his horses had been in vain.
The horses had all dispersed. Some had perished in the
yards. After looking about to see if he could recover
them he found they were hopelessly scattered, and gave
up the idea of collecting them that season.
About this time the police station at the Pinnacle was
stuck up and robbed of firearms and other things by
Patsy Daley. The same night this was done, Ben Hall,
unfortunately for himself, happened to be stopping, by
mere chance, at the house of a Mr. Allport, on the Lamb-
ing Flat road. It was to this house that Patsy Daley
went after robbing the police station. It was further
unfortunate that Ben Hall left Allport's in company with
Daley. The police tracked the single horseman to All-
port's, and from that point they tracked two horsemen,
Daley and Hall. It may be remarked that when the
police station at the Pinnacle was stuck up only one con-
stable (Knox) was in charge, and he had gone to Mrs.
Fechley's for his breakfast, and was thus engaged when
Daley took the firearms. It should also be remembered
that Frank Gardiner, Gilbert, and O'Meally were at that

time operating rather extensively upon the road be-
tween Lambing Flat and Forbes. It is supposed
that Daley intended to join Gardiner and com-
pany—in fact, he had joined them, but it was un-
known to the police, and was making himself acceptable
to that fraternity by this preliminary exploit by which
he supplied himself with arms. Hall knew at this time
that Daley was compromised with Gardiner and Co., but
the police did not. But Hall did not know that Daley
had just robbed the police station. When he discovered
that they were being pursued by the police, knowing
that he was in company with one of Gardiner's gang, he
fled, and from that time took to the roads and made his
name notorious. The police pursued and fired upon
them, but they escaped. From that time both were lost
to all and everything desirable in life. Some two or
three months afterward, Patsey Daley was captured,
having secreted himself in a shaft at the Pinnacle.
Upon being tried, he was convicted at Bathurst, and

sentenced to fifteen years.

Hall was not taken, but continued to pursue a daring
and desperate career, the particulars of which are too
well known to the public to need comment. But with
all his crimes, I believe he has never been accused of
being bloodthirsty, nor did he directly kill any of the
victims he robbed. The particulars of his tragic end I
gave in last Wednesday's Examiner.

It is claimed by his relatives and these who knew him
best he was affectionate and generous. It is said that
the miniature found upon his person by the police after
his death is that of a favourite sister, now living on the
Maitland side, and that he has constantly worn it upon his
person during the last three years

Such then, in brief, are some of the incidents connected
with the early life of a most desperate bushranger, who
has eluded the grasp of a strong and active police force
for three years, and who was ultimately captured, but
not until his body was pierced by bullets and slugs from

his feet to the crown of his head.

$