Thunderbolt

DESCRIPTION: "Thunderbolt came from the Hawkesbury River, He was a bushranger, he was a rover." All were afraid of him. Taken and imprisoned, he escaped. It's not known where he died. His ghost still roams
AUTHOR: W. N. Scott (source: Scott-BushrangerBallads)
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (Scott-BushrangerBallads)
KEYWORDS: outlaw prison escape death ghost
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
May 1870 - Death of Thunderbolt
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Scott-BushrangerBallads, p. 36, "Thunderbolt" (1 text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "A Day's Ride" (subject of Captain Thunderbolt)
NOTES [104 words]: Captain Thunderbolt was a famous bushranger, but this is not a traditional song. For some reason, Captain Thunderbolt doesn't seem to have attracted traditional attention.
Andrew and Nancy Learmonth, Encyclopedia of Australia, 2nd edition, Warne & Co, 1973, p. 539, has this to say about the subject of this song:
Thunderbolt, Captain (Frederick Ward) b. Windsor. A bushranger. He was gaoled for horse-stealing. He swam ashore from Cockatoo Island (1863) and became a 'gentleman' robber, specialising in courtesy, fast horses and highway robbery from Maitland to the New England plateau, until he was cornered and shot. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.1
File: ScBB036

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography