Joseph Bolitho Johns better known as
Moondyne Joe, was
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
's best known
bushrangerBushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
.
Biography
Little is known of Joseph Johns's early life. Born in
CornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
around 1826 and raised as a
Roman CatholicThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, he was the third of six children of
blacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
Thomas Johns and his wife Mary. It is likely that he contracted
smallpoxSmallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
in his youth, as later records describe him as "pockmarked". His father died some time between 1832 and 1841, and Johns and his three brothers took work as
copperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
minerA miner is a person whose work or business is to extract ore or minerals from the earth. Mining is one of the most dangerous trades in the world. In some countries miners lack social guarantees and in case of injury may be left to cope without assistance....
s. In 1841 the family was living at
IlloganIllogan is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated two miles northwest of Redruth.Originally a rural area supporting itself by farming and agriculture, Illogan shared in the general leap into prosperity brought about by the mining boom, which was experienced by the...
, Cornwall, but by 1848 Johns had migrated to Wales, taking work as an
iron ore miner, probably at the
Clydach Iron Works.
On 15 November 1848, Johns and an associate named
John WilliamsJohn Williams was a convict transported to Van Diemen's Land . He is best known as the man with whom Joseph Johns, later to become the bushranger Moondyne Joe, was arrested and tried for burglary....
were arrested near
ChepstowChepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
for "... stealing from the house of Richard Price, three loaves of bread, one piece of bacon, several cheeses, and other goods".
ArraignedArraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
at the
BreconBrecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...
Assizes on charges of
burglaryBurglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
and stealing, the pair
pleaIn legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a criminal defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response to a criminal charge, whether that...
ded not guilty. On 23 March they were tried at the Lent Assizes before
Sir William ErleSir William Erle PC QC FRS was an English lawyer, judge and Whig politician.-Early career:Born at Fifehead Magdalen, Dorset, William was the son of the Rev. Christopher Erle of Gillingham, Dorset and Margaret née Bowles, a relative of the poet William Lisle Bowles. His younger brother Peter Erle...
. Newspaper reports of the trial suggest that the pair gave an unexpectedly spirited defence, but Johns was abrasive and "contravened the conventions of court procedure". The men were convicted and sentenced to ten years'
penal servitudePenal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...
. Edgar (1990) observes that in several other cases brought before the same judge that day, guilty pleas to very similar charges resulted in sentences ranging from three weeks to three months.
Johns and Williams would have spent the next seven months working on a government work party in the local area, before being transferred to
Millbank PrisonMillbank Prison was a prison in Millbank, Pimlico, London, originally constructed as the National Penitentiary, and which for part of its history served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were transported to Australia...
. On 1 January 1850, they were transferred to
Pentonville PrisonHM Prison Pentonville is a Category B/C men's prison, operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not actually within Pentonville itself, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury area of the London Borough of Islington, in inner-North London,...
to serve their mandatory six months of
solitary confinementSolitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
. The pair were transferred to
Dartmoor PrisonHM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor...
on 21 October 1851, but shortly afterwards Johns was transferred to the
WoolwichWoolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
prison hulkA hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
Justitia, probably for
disciplinaryIn its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order –...
reasons. When the
Justitia was destroyed by fire, he was transferred to the
Defence. About a year later, he boarded the
Pyrenees for
transportationTransportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to what was then the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
penal colonyA penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
of
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
The
Pyrenees sailed for Western Australia on 2 February 1853, and arrived in
FremantleFremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
on 30 April. In reward for good behaviour, Johns was issued with a ticket of leave on arrival, and on 10 March 1855 he received a conditional pardon. He then settled in the
AvonThe Avon River is a river in Western Australia. It is a tributary of the Swan River totalling 280 kilometres in length, with a catchment area of 125,000 square kilometres.-Catchment area:...
Valley, one of the most rugged and inaccessible places in the Darling Range. The Aboriginal name for the area was
Moondyne. Johns 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 such animals.
In August 1861, Johns caught an unbranded stallion, and branded it with his own mark. This was effectively horse-stealing, and when the police heard of this they arrested him at their first opportunity. The horse was taken as evidence, and Johns was placed in the
ToodyayToodyay is a town located in the Wheatbelt region in the Avon Valley, 85 km north-east of Perth, Western Australia. Toodyay is connected to Perth via both rail and road.-History:...
lockup. Sometime during the night, Johns broke out of his cell, and stole the horse once more, taking also the local magistrate's brand new saddle and bridle. He was caught the next day, but while on the run he had killed the horse and cut his brand out of the hide, thus destroying the evidence. Consequently, he received only a three year sentence for jail-breaking, whereas a typical sentence for horse stealing was more than ten years.
While Johns was serving his sentence, there were a rash of convict escapes and attempted escapes, but Johns remained well behaved. His good behaviour earned him a remission on his sentence, and he was released on a ticket of leave in February 1864. He then found work on a farm in
KelmscottKelmscott is a southeastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Armadale, and it is located southeast of Perth along Albany Highway....
, but in January 1865 a neighbour's steer was killed and eaten, and Johns was accused of having done the deed. Johns was to protest his innocence of this crime for the rest of his life, but was nonetheless found guilty and sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. Johns 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 Johns first adopted the nickname
Moondyne Joe. They were finally caught 37 kilometres east of
YorkYork is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated 97 km east of Perth in the Avon Valley near Northam, and is the seat of the Shire of York...
by a party of policemen that included the
Aboriginal trackerIn the years following British settlement in Australia, aboriginal trackers or black trackers, as they became known, were enlisted by settlers to assist them in navigating their way through the Australian landscape...
Tommy WindichTommy Windich was an Indigenous Australian member of a number of exploring expeditions in Western Australia in the 1860s and 1870s.Tommy Windich was born around 1840 near Mount Stirling in Western Australia...
. For absconding and for being in possession of a firearm, Moondyne Joe was sentenced to twelve months in irons.
In April 1865, Joe sent a petition to the
Chief JusticeThe Chief Justice of Western Australia is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the highest ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of Western Australia. The Chief Justice is both the judicial head of the Supreme Court as well as the administrative head...
, and received four years off his sentence. This was apparently unsatisfactory to him, for later that month he received a further six months in irons for trying to cut the lock out of his door. Early in August, he succeeded in escaping again. After cutting off his irons, he met up with three other escapees, and together they roamed the bush around Perth, committing a number of robberies and narrowly escaping capture on a number of occasions. Near the end of the month, one of the gang was captured by police. Realising that the gang could not elude the police forever, Moondyne Joe formulated a plan to escape the colony by travelling overland to the colony of South Australia. This would be a long and arduous journey through extremely arid land, and would have to be very well equipped if it were to stand any chance of success. On 5 September Moondyne Joe equipped his company by committing the biggest robbery of his career, stealing supplies and equipment from the Toodyay store of an old enemy, James Everett. The gang then started travelling east along the explorer
Charles HuntCharles Cooke Hunt was an explorer who led four expeditions into the interior of Western Australia between 1864 and 1866. He died in Geraldton....
's established route. Their tracks were discovered by police on 26 September, about 160 kilometres east of York. A team of police then set out after them, and they were captured on 29 September near the present-day site of the town of
WestoniaWestonia is a small town located in the Eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 10 kilometres north of the Great Eastern Highway. It is the main town in the Shire of Westonia.-History:...
, about 300 kilometres north east of
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
As punishment for escaping and for the robberies committed while on the run, Moondyne Joe received five years hard labour on top of his remaining sentence. Extraordinary measures were taken to ensure that Johns did not escape again. He was transferred to
Fremantle PrisonFremantle Prison is a former Australian prison located in The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia. The site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art...
where a special "escape-proof" cell was made for him built from stone, lined with jarrah sleepers and over 1000 nails. He was set to work breaking stone, but rather than permit him to leave the prison, the stone was brought in and dumped in a corner of the prison yard, where Johns worked under the constant supervision of a warder.
GovernorThe Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
John HamptonJohn Stephen Hampton was Governor of Western Australia from 1862 to 1868.-Early life:Little is known of John Hampton's early life. His death certificate states that he was born in 1810, but other evidence suggests 1806 or perhaps 1807; these latter figures are considered more likely...
was so confident of the arrangements, he was heard to say to Johns: "If you get out again, I'll forgive you". However, the rock broken by Joe was not removed regularly, and eventually a pile grew up until it obscured the guard's view of Joe below the waist. Partially hidden behind the pile of rocks, he occasionally swung his sledgehammer at the
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
wall of the prison. On 7 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, and he would not be recaptured for nearly two years. He did not return to any of his old haunts, and he committed no crimes, so the authorities received very little information about him. Also, many convicts were encouraged by Moondyne Joe's audacious escape, and a number of escapes were attempted in the following months, so that he was quickly forgotten.
A few days before the second anniversary of his escape, Moondyne Joe tried to steal some wine from the cellars at
Houghton WineryHoughton Winery is one of the earliest established vineyards and wineries in Western Australia. It is situated on Great Northern Highway in the Swan Valley near Upper Swan....
. By chance, the owner had been helping with a police search, and afterwards invited a group of police back to the vineyard for refreshments. When the owner entered the cellar, Joe assumed that he was discovered, and made a dash for the door into the arms of the police. He was returned to prison, and on 22 March 1869 was sentenced to an additional four years in irons. He made at least one more attempt to escape, but was unsuccessful. Eventually, Governor
WeldSir Frederick Aloysius Weld, GCMG , was a New Zealand politician and a governor of various British colonies. He was the sixth Premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasmania, and Governor of the Straits Settlements.-Early life:Weld was born near...
heard of his predecessor Hampton's promise, and decided that further punishment would be unfair. Moondyne Joe was given a ticket of leave in April 1871.
The remainder of John's life consisted of periods of good behaviour punctuated by occasional minor misdemeanors and brief jail terms. In January 1879, he married a widow named Louisa Hearn, and they spent some time prospecting for gold near
Southern CrossSouthern Cross is a town in Western Australia, 371 kilometres east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway. It was founded by gold prospectors in 1888, and gazetted in 1890. It is the major town and administrative centre of the Shire of Yilgarn...
. In 1881, while exploring the countryside around Karridale, he discovered
Moondyne CaveMoondyne Cave is a karst cave in the Southwest region of Western Australia. It is located on Caves Road, eight kilometres north of Augusta.It has a pothole entrance, a vertical extent of 26 metres, and a length of 270 metres, with some large dry chambers....
. In his later years, he began acting strangely, and was eventually found to be mentally ill. He died of
senile dementiaDementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
in the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum (now the
Fremantle Arts CentreFremantle Arts Centre is a multi-arts organisation, offering a program of exhibitions, residencies, art courses and music in a historic building in the heart of Fremantle, Western Australia....
building) on 13 August 1900, and was buried in
Fremantle CemeteryFremantle Cemetery is a 46 hectare cemetery located in the eastern part of Fremantle, Western Australia. Established in 1898, it is known as the final resting place of Bon Scott and several other notable Australians....
.
On the first Sunday of May, the township of Toodyay celebrates the life and times of Moondyne Joe by holding the Moondyne Festival. This festival takes place in the main street and has street theatre, market stalls, demonstrations and the entire town is generally transported back to the early years. The most recent Moondyne Festival was on 1 May 2011.
Literature and film
While Moondyne Joe was bushranging in 1869, an
IrishIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
political prisoner named
John Boyle O'ReillyJohn Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australia...
was serving time in Fremantle Prison. Although it is very unlikely that O'Reilly knew Moondyne Joe, he must have heard many stories of Joe's exploits. In September 1869, O'Reilly escaped and was rescued by an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ship. After his arrival in the United States, he wrote a novel about convict life called
Moondyne: An Australian TaleMoondyne is an 1879 novel by John Boyle O'Reilly, which was made into a film of the same name in 1913. It is very loosely based on the life of the Western Australian convict escapee and bushranger Moondyne Joe.-Background:...
, whose central character was called
Moondyne Joe. The book is presented as fiction, and neither the character nor the plot bears much resemblance to the life of Joseph Johns.
In 1913, O'Reilly's novel was made into a movie entitled
Moondyne. Directed by
W. J. LincolnW. J. Lincoln was an Australian playwright, theatre manager, film director and screenwriter in the silent era. He produced, directed and/or wrote 23 films between 1911 and 1916.-Life:...
, it starred George Bryant,
Godfrey CassGodfrey Cass was an Australian actor in the silent era. Between 1906 and 1935 he acted in nineteen film roles. He played Ned Kelly three times, and also had roles in a number of other bushranger movies including A Tale of the Australian Bush and Moondyne .-Biography:The son of the Governor of...
and
Roy RedgraveRoy Redgrave was an English stage and silent film actor. Redgrave was the founder of the Redgrave acting family.-Early life:...
.
Randolph StowJulian Randolph Stow was an Australian writer.-Life:Born in Geraldton, Western Australia, Randolph Stow attended Guildford Grammar School and the University of Western Australia. He lectured in English Literature at the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia and the...
wrote a humorous children's book
Midnite: The Story of a Wild Colonial Boy in 1967 which told the story of an Australian bushranger based on the life and exploits of Moondyne Joe and a Queensland bushranger Captain Starlight.
In 2002, Cygnet Books published
The Legend of Moondyne Joe, a work of juvenile fiction written by Mark Greenwood and illustrated by Frané Lessac. The book won the award in the Children's Books category at the 2002
Western Australian Premier's Book AwardsThe Western Australian Premier's Book Awards is an award for books, scripts, digital narrative and a People's Choice. Awards are provided by the Government of Western Australia, and the awards process is managed by the State Library of Western Australia...
.
In song and verse
The Ballad of Moondyne Joe
- In the Darling Ranges, many years ago,
- There lived a daring outlaw, by the name of ‘Moondyne Joe’.
- He stole the squatter’s horses, and a sheep or two or three,
- He loved to roam the countryside, and swore he would be free.
- The troopers said we’ll catch him, but we know it’s all in vain,
- Every time we lock him up he breaks right out again.
- ‘Cause in he goes, and out he goes, and off again he’ll go,
- There’s not a gaol in W.A. can keep in ‘Moondyne Joe’.
Anonymous - sung by the public at the time of his 1867 escape
- The Governor's son has got the pip,
- The Governor's got the measles.
- For Moondyne Joe has give 'em the slip,
- Pop goes the weasel.
Anonymous
- It were Moondyne of course
- That took Ferguson's horse.
- He'd hidden the same
- In the hills of that name.
- When he found it had gone
- Ferguson searched all the Swan,
- And offered a pound
- For when it was found.
- But Joe has it hid
- And he pockets the quid.
- In a month to the day
- Again the horse goes astray.
- But Ferguson's no fool
- Goes along to Moondyne Pool.
- To see if it's true
- The police comes too.
- When his sentence is gone
- Joe is done with the Swan.
- They call me bushranger—
- I'll feel quite a stranger;
- So by the Mass
- I'll try the Vasse.
- At Ellensbrook
- The silly old rook
- Gets a job
- At Fifteen Bob.
- No more I don't know
- That's the story of Moondyne Joe.
Memorials
A railway siding on the
Eastern Goldfields RailwayThe Eastern Goldfields Railway was built in the 1880s to connect Perth, Western Australia with the rich goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The narrow gauge Eastern Railway line already connected Perth with Northam, and the EGR extended this line through semi-desert to the goldfields...
in Johns' area of operations in the Avon Valley has been named 'Moondyne', most likely after the man rather than the area.
See also
- List of convict ship voyages to Western Australia
- Convicts transported to Western Australia include:
- Thomas Bushell
Thomas Bushell was a convict transported to Western Australia. He was hanged in 1865 after attacking a warder.Thomas Bushell was born in Ireland around 1834; nothing is known of his early life...
- Daniel Connor
Daniel Connor was a convict transported to Western Australia, who became one of the wealthiest men in the colony.Daniel Connor was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1831. Nothing is known of his early life, but on 20 June 1850 he was sentenced to seven years transportation for sheep stealing...
- John Hislop
James John Henry Hislop was a convict transported to Western Australia. After the expiry of his sentence, he became the first ex-convict in Western Australia to be appointed a teacher....
- Joseph Horrocks
Joseph Lucas Horrocks was a convict transported to Western Australia in 1852, who established the town of Northampton.Joseph Horrocks was born in Cornwall in 1805...
- John Boyle O'Reilly
John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. As a youth in Ireland, he was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, for which he was transported to Western Australia...
- Robert Palin
Robert Thomas Palin was a convict transported to Western Australia. His execution in 1861 was the only time in the convict era of Western Australia that Ordinance 17 Victoria Number 7 was used to secure the capital punishment of a convict for a crime not normally punishable by death.Born around...
- George Sadler
George Keilor Sadler was an English convict transported to Western Australia.Nothing is known of his early life except that he was the son of farm labourer James Sadler and his wife Jemima. By 1848, he had command of a small fishing boat named the Randell, and he employed a deck hand named...
- William Sykes
William Sykes may refer to:* Bill Sykes, Member for Benalla in the Victorian Parliament* William Sykes , convict transported to Western Australia* William Sykes , Anglican clergyman* William Sykes , businessman...
- Henry Wildman
Henry Wildman was a convict transported to Western Australia in 1862, whose apparently false claims to have found gold in the Kimberley region of Western Australia prompted an exploring expedition to the area....
- James Wilson
James Wilson was a Fenian who was transported as a convict to Western Australia.Born James McNally in Newry, County Down, Ireland on 6 February 1836, little is known of his early life...
- Cornish Australian
Cornish Australians are citizens of Australia whose ancestry originates in Cornwall, United Kingdom, one of the six Celtic Nations. They form part of the worldwide Cornish diaspora which also includes large numbers of people in the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico and many Latin...
External links