By John Horne
The Dharug people created the first tracks and pathways through what is now Blacktown City. These ancient routes were used for travel and trade long before European settlement.
When Europeans arrived, bushrangers soon became part of life in the district. Many were escaped convicts desperate for food and supplies, while others were hardened criminals who robbed travellers on lonely roads or raided homes, often using violence. The roads where these crimes took place were among the earliest colonial thoroughfares through the bush, and many of the estates targeted by bushrangers were built nearby.
So, which roads in Blacktown City were most closely linked to bushranger activity?
Old Prospect Road
Old Prospect Road was the oldest road in the Blacktown district. Built in 1791, it connected the convict settlement at Prospect with Parramatta. Bushrangers frequently targeted travellers along this route, robbing them and threatening their lives.
Old Windsor Road
Construction of Old Windsor Road began in 1794, making it one of the earliest major roads in New South Wales. It linked Parramatta with Windsor and became an important transport route through the colony. One of the most notable buildings along the road is the heritage-listed Rouse Hill House, built in 1816.
Richmond Road
Richmond Road, established before 1815, connected Prospect to Richmond. In the 1820s part of the road became known as Black Town Road because the Native Institute was located nearby in present-day Oakhurst.
Several important colonial properties stood along Richmond Road, including the original 1819 land grant to Nurragingy and Colbee, later owned by Dharug woman Maria Lock in 1843. Reverend Robert Cartwright’s property, Upperby, was also nearby.
Other historic estates included Riverston, granted in 1810 to Lieutenant Colonel Maurice O’Connell and his wife Mary Putland, daughter of Governor Bligh, and Clydesdale House, also known as Lang’s Farm, built in 1823 near South Creek at Marsden Park.
The Western Road
The Western Road, now the Great Western Highway, carried travellers west from Parramatta through Blacktown and across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst. It was developed during Governor Macquarie’s administration after 1810.
Many notable colonial properties lined this important route, including:
There were also numerous roadside inns, including The Fox Under the Hill at Prospect, a popular stop in the 1820s.
The Wild Colonial Boy
The most famous bushranger associated with the Blacktown area was Jack Donohue, better known as the “Wild Colonial Boy”. Donohue robbed travellers on the Western Road, Old Windsor Road and Richmond Road, along with many other parts of western Sydney.
Among his gang members were John Walmsley, William Webber and William Underwood. Donohue later shot Underwood after discovering he had been keeping a diary detailing the gang’s crimes, fearing he would betray them.
The gang relied on supporters among local settlers who hid them, sold stolen goods and provided supplies and companionship.
Following a string of robberies near Richmond, Donohue, Walmsley and Webber held up magistrate Robert Lethbridge near Flushcombe at Prospect. They stripped him of almost all his clothing and left him standing roadside while they escaped across the countryside to their hideout near Prospect.
One of the gang’s favourite hideouts was near The Fox Under the Hill Inn, in the area now occupied by Fox Hills Golf Club. Donohue often drank there and used the inn to help dispose of stolen goods.
The gang regularly moved through the Bungarribee estate, and several bushranger gangs invaded Bungarribee House over the years, tying up residents and stealing valuables and clothing.
The End of the Gang
Jack Donohue was eventually shot dead in 1830 during a confrontation with mounted troopers near Campbelltown. At the time of his death, he carried a silver watch, pistols, a fowling piece, stolen land deeds belonging to a Prospect family, and several items of women’s clothing. His packhorse was loaded with flour and meat supplies.
John Walmsley was captured on 5 January 1831 after mounted police cornered the gang near Mount Philo on the Western Road. According to the New South Wales Advertiser:
“Walmsley was secured with little difficulty, but Webber made his escape closely pursued by two of the policemen.”
Walmsley avoided execution by agreeing to testify against his accomplices. He was later sent to Van Diemen’s Land to complete his sentence and received a conditional pardon in 1843 before disappearing from historical records.
William Webber was captured soon afterwards at Minchinbury and was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol on 18 July 1831.
Many other bushrangers roamed the Blacktown district during the colony’s early years. While the bushrangers are long gone, crime still exists today in a very different form.
For more information on local bushrangers, the Blacktown and District Historical Society publication Bushrangers of Doonside, Bungarribee, Eastern Creek, Rooty Hill, Prospect, Seven Hills and Blacktown by Carol Horne is available by contacting secretary@blacktownhistory.org.au.
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