What now is the Braidwood Museum was built as the Royal Hotel in the 1840s. The pink building (also in PiP) is the Braidwood Hotel, built in 1850, still operating and restored as near as possible to original condition. These buildings would have been frequented by the people in my history story and are close to the former (now removed) Braidwood Gaol, mentioned below.

Continuing my bushranger story:

I should give some background: back in the 1850s-60s, this was isolated and frontier territory. Travel to Sydney took several days, there were few facilities and no schools for the children of small farmers or working families on the large properties. Tom Clarke and his brothers were totally uneducated. Horse and cattle theft was common and there was an element of camaraderie between families and friends.

Tom Clarke, like most of his family, was involved in stock theft and normally would have expected a local trial and a light sentence, if any, when he surrendered to the police in July 1865. Instead, he found himself on more substantial charges, including the highway robbery of three Chinese. Pending trial, likely to be tried elsewhere and with a less receptive jury, he was placed in gaol and faced a long sentence.

Early on the morning of 3 October 1865 he climbed over the gaol fence and onto a racehorse that someone had tethered outside, then galloped away. A subsequent review found that several prison guards had links to the Clarke family. A reward of 50 pounds was offered for the Tom's capture. And, I guess, this is where the story really begins.....

Explored.