Australian bushranger Frank Gardiner - Gunslingers - Family History & Genealogy Message Board - Ancestry.com.au. Francis Gardiner went by many aliases, including "Darkie" Clark, "The Highwayman", "The King of the Road", the "Father of Bushranging", the "Prince of Tobymen", and Francis Christie, whom most believe was his real name.
Frank Gardiner was born in Scotland around 1830, and became skilled at riding and shooting while growing up on a farm at Boro, Australia. He was tall (five foot - eight), with black hair, dark eyes, and was very polite, a gentleman to the core and Australia's "Most Wanted" bushranger and first world famous celebrity. He began his crime career as a horse thief in 1850 when he was arrested for horse stealing and sent to the Pentridge Stockade at Melbourne, and escaped. He was arrested again for the same crime in 1854, was sent to Cockatoo Island and remained there until 1859 until he got a ticket of leave and broke his parole. Australian Bushrangers. John (Johnny) Gilbert. John Gilbert (1842?
-1865), bushranger, was born in Hamilton, Canada, son of William John Gilbert. In October 1852 he arrived at Melbourne in the Revenue with his family. He soon left home and worked as a stable-boy in Kilmore before drifting to the goldfields where he associated with gamesters and petty thieves and attracted suspicion by his flashy dress and 'flush of money'. At 18 after moving into New South Wales he met Frank Gardiner at Kiandra and in 1860-61 joined his raids in the Wheogo district. 'A superb horseman', his 'certain cheerful charm and courage' appealed to Gardiner. In May 1863 Gilbert returned to the Weddin Mountains and became Ben Hall's right-hand man although they did not always work together. Gilbert and Dunn were proclaimed outlaws in April under the Felons Apprehension Act with £1000 on each of their heads.
Citation details Edgar F. Bushranger. History[edit] More than 2000 bushrangers are believed to have roamed the Australian countryside, beginning with the convict bolters and drawing to a close after Ned Kelly's last stand at Glenrowan.[3] 1850s: gold rush era[edit] The bushrangers' heyday was the Gold Rush years of the 1850s and 1860s as the discovery of gold gave bushrangers access to great wealth that was portable and easily converted to cash.
Their task was assisted by the isolated location of the goldfields and a police force decimated by troopers abandoning their duties to join the gold rush.[3] George Melville was hanged in front of a large crowd for robbing the McIvor gold escort near Castlemaine in 1853.[3] 1860s to 1870s[edit] Bushranging numbers flourished in New South Wales with the rise of the colonial-born sons of poor, often ex-convict squatters who were drawn to a more glamorous life than mining or farming.[3] Much of the activity in this era was in the Lachlan Valley, around Forbes, Yass and Cowra.[3] BUSHRANGERS - Frank Gardiner. Francis (Frank) Gardiner. Francis (Frank) Gardiner (1830-1903?)
, bushranger, was born in Scotland, son of Charles Christie and his wife Jane, née Whittle. The family reached Sydney in the James in 1834 and settled at Boro near Goulburn. He went to Victoria and in October 1850 as Francis Christie was sentenced to five years' hard labour at Geelong for horse stealing. Next March he escaped from Pentridge gaol and returned to New South Wales. In March 1854 he was convicted as Francis Clarke at Goulburn on two charges of horse stealing and imprisoned on Cockatoo Island. Gardiner joined up with Johnny Piesley; after ranging the old Lachlan Road they moved to the Weddin Mountains and were joined by John Gilbert, Ben Hall and others. On 15 June 1862 at the Coonbong Rock near Eugowra Gardiner's gang held up the gold escort and got away with £14,000. On 27 July Gardiner embarked for Hong Kong and by February 1875 was in San Francisco where he ran the Twilight Saloon.
Citation details Edgar F. Frank Gardiner. Frank Gardiner (born c. 1830, Ross-shire, Scotland; died California, USA) was a noted Australian bushranger of the 19th century.
He was born in Scotland in 1830 and migrated from to Australia as a child with his parents in 1834,.[1][2] His real name was Francis Christie, though he often used one of several other aliases including Gardiner, Clarke or Christie. He supposedly took the name Gardiner after a man who lived for some years with his family and who had taught him how to ride and break in horses. Although almost all legend states that his real name is Francis Christie, he signed his name 'Frank Gardiner'. He used the surname Gardiner while in America and he remains one of the more enigmatic Australian bushrangers. Appearance[edit] Gardiner was 5 ft 9 inches tall with an athletic build, with his brown wavy hair and hazel eyes, he was attractive with a face of a corsair and a smooth voice.[3] Early career[edit]