G'day, thanks for joining us today. We're heading
80 kilometers from Perth to a stunning
part of bushland its rugged it's Avon
Valley, we've actually been out that way
a fair few times and it was during the
planning of this trip that I began to
research the name Moondyne that was the
name given to the Nature Reserve that's
out that way and the name honors Joseph
Bolitho Jones or as he became known
in WA Moondyne Joe so this led me down
the proverbial rabbit hole. In order to
give you a better feel for this episode
we'll just briefly go back in time we'll
give you a bit of a story about him, here
we go. Little is known of Joseph john's
early life. Born in Cornwall in the UK
in 1827 and raised as a Roman Catholic
he was the third of six children of
blacksmith Thomas John's and his wife
Mary Bolitho. Joe was a tall man with
black hair and hazel colored eyes it's
likely that he contracted smallpox in
his youth as later records describe him
as pockmarked. His father died in 1833 and at
age of about six John's and his three
brothers took work as copper miners. In
1841 the family was living in Iligan,
Cornwall but by 1848
age 21 Jones had migrated to Wales
taking work as an iron ore miner
probably at the Clydach Iron Works.
On the 15th of November 1848
Johns and an associate using the name
William Cross an alias used by convict
John Williams were arrested near Chepstow.
They were charged with stealing three
loaves of bread one piece of bacon
several cheeses as well as other goods.
Appearing in court accused of burglary
and stealing the pair pleaded not guilty
on the 23rd of March they were tried
before Judge Sir William Erle. The pair
gave a spirited defence however Johns
became abrasive and disorderly
the men were convicted and sentenced to
10 years hard labor. It was a harsh
punishment for a charge that saw many
others appearing at the time for similar
charges receiving sentences ranging
from three weeks to three months. The
pair spent the next several months
working in a prison party before being
transferred to Millbank prison on the 1st
of January 1850. They were transferred to
Pentonville prison to serve their
mandatory six months of solitary
confinement. The pair were then
transferred to Dartmoor Prison on the
21st of October 1851 but Jones was
transferred to the Woolwich prison hulk
"Justitia" probably for disciplinary
reasons. The ship was destroyed by fire
and Joe was transferred to the ship
"Defense." About a year later he boarderd
a prison ship the "Pyrenees" for
transportation to the British penal
colony of Western Australia, to serve out
the remainder of his sentence.
He arrived in Van Diemen's land now
known as Tasmania in March 1852. The
Pyrenees sailed for Western Australia on
the 2nd of February 1953. In a reward for
good behavior
Jones was issued with the ticket of
leave on arrival and on the 10th of
March 1855 he received a conditional
pardon. He then settled in the Avon
Valley, one of the most rugged and
inaccessible places in the Darling Range.
The Aboriginal name for the area was
"Moondyne" and this is where Joe learned his
bushcraft. He made a living by partly
fencing the springs in the area and trapping
escaped stock and horses. Often a reward
was offered for the return of lost
animals. A remaining relic that can still
be seen today is "Joe's Cage" however, only
a few rotting trees that were used as post remain.
Joe occupied these hills
from 1853 until the early 1860s and this
is where our journey begins today, at
Brockman River, where Joe preyed on the
remote settlers during his Bush ranging
days. So you know fourby tracks
pretty bad when they put up a "DANGER DO NOT ENTER"
tape on it! I've been down here a few times, it is pretty hairy.
The Avon Valley National Park in Moondyne is a
great location for a quick day trip from the city.
In the summer months,
this track is more of a scenic drive than any kind of challenge
for a four wheel drive, that said there is
one steep challenging descent down to
the river where you'll find Sapper's camp,
equipped with toilets and barbecues, we
unfortunately didn't head down there on
this trip as the track was incredibly
washed out. 37 mile break is a pleasant
campsite with a toilet five pit and
picnic table, camping fees apply in Avon
Valley National Park, it's $10 per couple and $2 per child.
Dieback is a real threat within the park
and vehicles need to be clean and free
of mud before entry. No open fires are
allowed during the summer months and
camping is only by prior arrangement with
the Ranger. Aborigines referred
collectively to the hills in the North
side of the Avon as Moondyne and this is where Joe learned his bushcraft
and later adopted his bushranger nickname.
It is... it's pouring down, it's
been pouring down for a while and the
puddles are getting deeper and deeper
and we've got a huge one in front of us.
It's gonna be interesting
we've got the snatch attached to the back
just in case, it looks like iwe are
going downhill so the puddles are getting
bigger and bigger and the rain is
getting heavier and heavier so this is
an interesting trip indeed. This wasn't
meant to be much of a four-wheel drive
trip at all but it's certainly turned into
one.
1961 John caught an unbranded Stallion
and branded it with his own mark. This
was effectively horse stealing. The horse
was taken as evidence and John was
placed in the Toodyay Lockup. Sometime during
the night
John's broke out of his cell and stole
the horse once more, taking also the
local Magistrates new saddle and bridle.
He was caught the next day but while on
the run
he killed the horse and cut his brand
out of the hide, destroying the
evidence. Consequently he received only a
three year sentence for jailbreaking
whereas a typical sentence for horse
stealing was more than ten years. While
John's was serving his sentence there
was a series of convict escapes and
attempted escapes but John's remained
well behaved. His good behaviour earned
him a remission on his sentence, he was
released on a ticket of leave in February
1864. He then found work on a farm
Kelmscott run by Henry Martin. In January
1865 a steer named Bright belonging to
William Wallace was killed and John's
was accused of the deed. He was arrested
on the 29th of March, found guilty on the
5th of July and sentenced to 10 years.
John's was to protest his innocence of
his crime for the rest of his life. He
was determined not to serve what he felt
was an unjust sentence and in early
November he and another prisoner
absconded from a work party. They were on
the run for nearly a month during which
time they committed a number of small
robberies. It was during this time that
John's first adopted the nickname Moondyne Joe.
They were finally caught 37 kilometres
east of York by a party of policemen
that included Tommy Windich an
Aboriginal tracker. For absconding and for
being in possession of a firearm
Moondyne Joe was sentenced to 12 months
in irons and transferred to Fremantle
prison.
in April 1866 Moondyne Joe sent a
petition to the Chief Justice and
receive four years of his sentence. This
was apparently unsatisfactory to him for
in July he received a further six months
in irons and trying to cut the lock out
of his door. Early in August he succeeded
in escaping after cutting off his irons
he met up with three other escapees and
together they roamed the bush around Perth
and narrowly escaping capture on a
number of occasions. Near the end of the
month one of the gang was captured by
police. Realizing that the gang could not
elude the police forever Moondyne Joe
formulated a plan to escape the colony
by traveling over land to the colony of
South Australia this would be a long and
arduous journey through extremely arid
land and the gang would have to be very
well equipped if they were to stand any
chance of success. On the 5th of
September Moondyne Joe equipped his
company by committing the biggest
robbery of his career, by stealing
supplies and equipment and the Toodyay store
of an old enemy James Everett.
The gang then started traveling east along the
Explorer Charles Hunt's establish route. Their
tracks were discovered by police on the
26th of September, about 160 kilometres
east of York. A team of police then set
out after them and they were captured on
the 29th of September 1866 at Boodalin Soak
about six kilometers northwest of
the present-day site of the town of
Westonia, approximately 300 kilometers
northeast of Perth.
As punishment for escaping and for the
robberies committed whilst on the run.
Moondyne Joe received five years hard
labor on top of his remaining sentence.
Extraordinary measures were taken to
ensure Moondyne did not escape again.
He was sent to Fremantle Prison and kept
in the yard with his neck chained to the
iron bar of a window while a special
escape-proof cell was made for him.
The stonewalled cell was lined with
Jarrah sleepers and over 1000 nails and
was almost air proof and light proof.
Moondyne Joe was kept in his cell on a
bread and water diet with only one to
two hours of exercise a day. In early
1867 due to his diminishing health
Moondyne Joe was sent to work breaking
stone in the open air but rather than
permit him to leave the prison, the stone
was ordered to be dumped in the corner
of the prison yard where Moondyne Joe
worked under constant supervision from
the guards. The then Governor John
Hampton was so confident with the
arrangement he was heard to say to
Moondyne Joe "if you get out again, I'll
forgive you."
However, the rock broken by Moondyne Joe
was not removed regularly and eventually
a pile grew up until it obscured the
guards view of him below the waist.
Partially hidden behind the pile of
rocks he occasionally swung his
sledgehammer at limestone wall of the
prison and on the 7th of March 1867
Moondyne Joe escaped through a hole he had
made in the prison wall.
Despite an extensive manhunt no sign of
him was found
he would not be recaptured nearly two
years. He did not return to any of his
old haunts.
He committed no crimes, so the
authorities received very little
information about him. Also, many of the
convicts were encouraged by Moondyne
Joe's audacious escape and a number of
escapes are attempted in the following
months so he was quickly forgotten. A few
days before the second anniversary of
his escape Moondyne Joe tried to steal
some wine from the sellers at Houghton
Winery. By chance, the owner had been
helping with a police search and
afterwards invited a group of police back
to the vineyard for a drink. When the
owner entered the cellar Moondyne
assumed that he was discovered and made
a run for the door and into the hands of
the police. He was promptly returned to
prison sentenced to a further 12 months,
half to be in solitary confinement for
absconding and on the 22nd of March 1869 he
was sentenced to an additional four
years in irons for breaking and
entering. Moondyne Joe made at least one
more attempt to escape, attempting in
February 1871 to create a key for his
cell in the carpenters workshop but it
was unsuccessful. Eventually in April
1871 General Wakeford heard from
Moondyne Joe of Hampton's promise. After
verifying with Superintendent Lefroy that
those words were spoken, Wakeford informed the
current Government Frederick Ward who
agreed that further punishment would be unfair
and Moondyne Joe was given a "Ticket Of
Leave" in May 1871. The remainder of
John's life consisted of periods of good
behavior and the occasional minor
misdemeanor with brief jail terms. In
January 1879 he married a widow named
Louisa Hearn and they spent some time
prospecting for gold near Southern Cross.
In 1881 while exploring the countryside
around Karridale he discovered Moondyne
Cave. In 1893 John's wife Louisa died at
the age of 40 and the death affected him
greatly. Years after he began acting
strangely and was eventually found to be
mentally ill he died of senile dementia
in the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum, now the
Fremantle Arts Centre building on the
13th of August 1900 and was
buried in the Fremantle Cemetery his
tombstone bears the word "Rhyddid" meaning
"freedom" in the Welsh language.