Australian History: Jack Donohue
The most famous of the convict bolters was Jack Donahue, an Irishman who arrived in Sydney in 1825, aged eighteen. He was serving a life sentence for theft. Donahue spent his first two years as an assigned convict and, later, in a road gang. But in 1828 he escaped and was joined by two other bolters. The gang started robbing bullock drays on the Sydney-Windsor road. The three men were soon caught: two were hanged but Donahue escaped. For the next six months he led another gang that worked in the area from Bathurst to Goulburn. Farm workers and servants would let Donahue know when their masters were travelling, which road they were taking and what they were carrying. This made it easy for Donahue and his men to wait in ambush for them or attack their farm while they were away. By the end of 1829 a reward of 50pounds was offered for the capture of Jack Donahue. He was shot in September 1830 by a policeman.
Many ex-convicts, servants and labourers admired Jack Donahue. They liked his courage and the way he managed to escape the police. To the Irish he was a special hero be- cause he rebelled against the English government which they hated. Soon after Donahue was killed, this song was being sung in pubs all over Sydney and around campfires.