History of the Australian BushrangersBoxall, George
History
History of the Australian Bushrangers
Boxall, George
Bushrangers -- Australia
Another batch of this gang of scoundrels which infested the river
side at Melbourne was secured in connection with the stealing of a
consignment of bank notes with the face value of £100,000. These notes
were brought to Melbourne in the ship _Strathedon_, consigned to
Messrs. Willis, Merry & Co. as agents for the Union Bank of Australia.
The notes were for £15, £10, £5 and £1. They were unsigned and were
therefore non-negotiable. They appear to have been taken from the ship
and dumped down on the wharf, pending the arrival of a dray to take
the case to the warehouse of Messrs. Willis, Merry & Co. When the dray
arrived, however, the box could not be found. The loss caused great
excitement and the police were notified of the robbery. Some days
later an unsigned £10 note was passed on Messrs. Brasch & Sommerfeld,
Collins Street, in exchange for clothing, and this led to the arrest
of William Young. During the following week William Layworth, William
Simpson, William Rogers, and Thomas Stroud were detected in attempts
to pass unsigned notes on various hotel and boarding-house keepers,
store-keepers, and others, and were arrested. Stroud's residence was
searched and a number of the unsigned notes were found there. His wife
was arrested, but was acquitted. Layworth turned Queen's evidence
and escaped punishment, but Young, Simpson, Rogers, and Stroud were
sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The jury commented on the
carelessness shown by the bank and its agents in leaving the box
unwatched on the wharf. The manager of the bank expressed his regrets
and promised that more care should be taken in future.
John Atkins went into the Cross Keys Hotel in Melbourne and called for
a drink. George Ellison, who was in the bar, asked him what he had done
with the gold he had brought from the diggings. Atkins replied that
he had none. Ellison called him a liar, and said that if he had not
come from the diggings his trousers would not be the colour they were.
Everybody knew a digger, because his moleskin trousers were always
coloured by the clay he worked in. A row started, and the landlord
interfered and told Atkins to leave. He did so, but was followed by
Ellison and another man, who knocked him down and robbed him of his
gold. Ellison was arrested next day and was sent to gaol.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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