THE CAPTURE AND DEATH OF GILBERT

Another of the gang of outlaws, whose crimes have for a considerable period made law and order a mockery, and a bye-word in the sister colony of New South Wales, has come to a violent end.

Gilbert had been associated with O’Meally and Hall in their more daring depredations, and his fate has been a similar one to theirs.

The police, who had been for some days on the trail of Gilbert and Dunn, his comrade in crime, at length, on Friday, the 12th ult., received in formation, which led them to suspect that the bush rangers were in the neighborhood of the township of Binalong.

Accordingly Senior Coristablo Hales, accom panied by constables King and Bright, proceeded that night to the house of a person named Kelly, on tho Binalong Creek, where they had reason to believe Gilbert and Dunn were, concealed.

The constables remained there from between nine and ten o’clock on Friday night until two o’clock on the Saturday morning, without observing anything confirmatory of their suspicions, no one enter ing or leaving the house during their watch.

Having, ‘ however, received positive intelligence that tho out laws were at Kelly’s, the police determined to proceed thither again r.bout nine o’clock the same morning. A difficulty presented itself as to their mode of action, as they well knew that to approach the hut on horseback would be to prematurely make their presence kndwnto the inmates. It was, therefore, resolved that tho party should divide, and, if possible, arrive simulta neously at the front and rear of Kelly’s hut.

On Arriving at the spot the constables concealed themselves behind a bush fence about 100 yards from the hut. After ‘waiting for some time, they saw the elder Kelly come out and walk for a short time in front of the hut. He was succeeded by Mrs Kelly, whe stood outside ‘ for about five minutes. – The boy Kelly, coming out arid * commencing to yoke . up some bullocks, was beckoned aside by Senior. Constable Hales, who questioned him|if there were any strangers in the hut. This the boy denied, as also that there had been any one there during the previous night.

Hales, however, determined to satisfy himself on the point, and therefore, accompanied by Constable King, made for the door of the hut. When about thirty yards off the dogs at the hut began to bark furiously, and this brought Kelly and his wife to the door. The former went a few yards off and called out, ‘Look out the house is surrounded’ with — — — troopers.’ Holes, who wa3 closely followed by King, made a rush for the door.

On entering the hut the door at the other end of the room was shut very quickly, but men’s boots could be seen under the bottom of it. Imme diately after the shutting of the door a shot was fired from an adjoining room into the one which Hales had entered. He returned the compliment, and then gave orders to the men under his command to surround the hut. He then challenged the inmates to surrender, threatening as an alternative to burn the hut about their heads. The challenge was followed by Gilbert and Dunn making their exit by a window at the rear of the building, followed by King, who fired aa he gave them chase. The bushrangers ran in the direction of a paddock some distance off, but occasionally stopped, and fired at the police.

They got through, the’ fence and creek, with the police in hot pursuit, and rapidly gaining on them. Seeing this, Gilbert took up a posi tion behind a tree, and aimed at his pursuers with a revolver, which, however, luckily ‘ missed fire. He then went down the bank, and, as he was running along the creek, the bed of which was dry, ho Was fired at simultaneoTisly by Hales and Bright, with fatal, effect, as he never rose again.

Previous to this, Hales had called out to him, ‘Gilbert, stand, and I’ll spare your life,’ but the announcement was either unheard or unheeded. During the pursuit, Dunn succeeded in distancing his pursuers, and was lost sight of in tho 3crub. On examining Gilbort’s body, there were found on it four £5 notes’ of the Bank of Now, South Wales.

Attached to his yeBt was a gold albert chain, and’ various trinkets., In his belt wero two Colt’s revolvers, one bearing the stamp of tho New South Wales police, with each chamber loadod and capped ; and ho also had two boxes of caps, and a great number o£ bullets of different Bizes.

Tho body was conveyed to the Binnlong court honso, and an inquest hell on it the following day. Tho post mortem examination was made by Dr. Allan. . Campbell, who, on divesting the upper part1 of tho body of its clothing — a rough pilot coat — found tho chest and lower part of the neck besmeared with blood.

There was a ragged wound about an inch to the right’ side of the left nipple. A ragged circular wound was also observable on the left side, passing between the sixth and seventh- ribs into the cavity of the chest. The wound was turned’ through the lower.lobo of the left lung, near to its edge, the posterior part of the left ventricle of the heart, about an inch .and a half from its apex, thence passing through tho anterior wall of the left ventricle, whence it emerged to the surface of the body, between tho fourth and fifth ribs in the left side, anteriorly fracturing in its course tho fourth rib.

There were also traces of old sores, some of them only partially healed. After hearing the me diial and other evidence, the jury returned a verdict of justifiable homicide, and added a rider expressing their approval of the gallant manner in which the police effected the. capture of the deceased. Gilbert was between twenty-thrue and twenty-five years of age.

INQUEST ON THE SHOOTING OF JOHN GILBERT.

On Sunday, the 14th instant, an inquest was held in the Court-house, Binalong, before Mr. William D. Campbell, and a jury of twelve.

The proceedings commenced at 3.30 p.m., and termi- nated about 6 o’clock.

Charles Hales, being duly sworn, states : I am a senior-constable in the police force of New South Wales, stationed at Binalong ; on Friday evening last I received information that the bush- rangers, Gilbert and Dunn, were at one of Mr. Macansh’s stations, and I had reason to believe that they would be at or near the township ; I told off constables King and Bright to be ready at once ;

I went to the house of one Kelly, near the Binalong Creek, on Friday night, about 8 or 9 o’clock, and remained there unseen by the in- mates till about 2 o’clock in the morning; I could not get as near as I wished to the place because of the dogs, but kept watch, and saw no one enter or leave the hut; about 1 o’clock the lights were put out, and I afterwards left and withdrew to town ; on Saturday morning,about 8 o’clock (May 13th),

I received information that Gilbert and Dunn were at John Kelly’s, on the Binalong Creek; I then told off constables Bright, King,and Hall to be ready; as we could not approach the hut on horseback without being seen before reaching it, we went on foot, in different directions, so that we should arrive simultaneously at the back and front of the hut ; when we got about 100 yards from the hut we were concealed behind a bush fence, and watched till we saw John Kelly come out of the house and walk in front of the hut for a little ;

after he went in Mrs. Kelly came out and stood out for about five minutes; immediately afterwards a boy (Thomas Kelly, son of John Kelly) came out and yoked up some bullocks ;

I beckoned to him and when he came up to me I asked if there were any strangers in his father’s house ; he said there were not ;

I cautioned him about telling a falsehood; I asked him if there were any the night before ; this also he denied ; I then went to the hut, accompanied by Constable King ; the dogs began to bark, and immediately afterwards John Kelly come out and saw us approaching ;

we were then about twenty or thirty yards off; Mrs. Kelly then came out ; Kelly went a few yards from the door and called out, “Look out the house is surrounded with b—- troopers ;” I then made a rush for the door, Constable King following close after me ;

I did not see the other constables at this time ; when I entered the hut, the door at another end of the room was shut very quickly, and I could see under the doorway men’s boots ; immediately after the door was shut, there was a shot fired into the room where I was, from the adjoining room ; I returned the fire at once through the closed door ;

I then turned and ordered the men to retire and surround the place ; as I went out, I met Bright and Hall ; we surrounded the place, and called to those inside; “ Come out, or I’ll burn the house over your head—I’ll have you ;

“ I shortly after saw King running, and heard a shot fired ; on looking, I saw two men running in front of him ; they went off through a paddock, turning occasionally and firing, until they got to the fence of the pad- dock through which they went ; the constables had been firing at the men during this time ; we were gaining on them, and we all got through the fence ;

when the men got near the creek deceased took up a position behind a tree and aimed at me or some one of the constables with the revolving rifle produced, but it missed fire ; we were then under fifty yards from him ; he then went down the bank of the creek, and con- stable Bright and I almost simultaneously fired at him ;

at this time he was running along the bed of the creek, which was dry; he fell immediately after the two shots were fired and never got up again ; the other man ran off ; we pursued him, each party firing at the other until we lost him in the scrub ; on returning I found constable King in charge of the body ; deceased was quite dead then ;

on examining him I found four £5 notes of the Bank of New South Wales ; attached to his vost was a gold albert and sundry trinkets, two gold rings, two boxes of caps, and a great number of bullets of different sizes—chiefly re- volver bullets ; inside one of the rings is en- graved the name “ W. Cohen ;” also a flask of powder; in his belt were two Colt’s revolvers, each chamber of which was loaded and capped— one of these is stamped “ New South Wales Po- lice, No. 425;” the revolving rifle produced is a Tranter, No. 149541 ; there are five chambers in this rifle, and four were loaded when got ; pre- vious to the time when the rifle missed fire the deceased had discharged one chamber in the direction of where I and the other constables were ;

I got the deceased’s body brought to the Court-House, in Binalong, and I identify it now as the same body ; from description I believe that it is the body of John Gilbert, but I had no personal knowledge of him ; the deceased’s mate fired a great number of shots, many more than the deceased did ;

when I saw the deceased and his mate running I called out, “ Gilbert, stand, and I’ll spare your life ;” I believed the parties to be Gilbert and Dunn ; I did not see deceased throw away any pistols or revolvers, but he might have done this without my observing ; so far as I know, there is only one door to Kelly’s house, but there was an open window in the room at the end of the hut, from which I believe the men escaped; this window was sufficiently large to allow a man to pass through ; when I came to the deceased in the creek,

I found his breast and shirt covered with blood, and on examining I found a bullet-mark in the left breast, and a similar hole in the back of his coat; when constable Bright and I fired at deceased before he fell, we fired from rifles loaded with ball cartridge, John Bright, being duly sworn; states :

I am a constable in the police force at Binalong ; on the morning of Saturday, 13th May. I went in con- sequence of instructions from constable Hales, in company with constables Hall and King, in the direction of the hut of John Kelly, near Binalong ;

as I got within forty yards of the hut I heard several shots fired from within Kelly’s hut, and immediately afterwards Hales and King retreated and took up a position near the hut ; I went round the hut and saw two men come out of a window at the opposite side of the hut from the door ; I fired at the men and they immediately returned it ;

they fired several shots in the direction of where King and I were, and then they ran off ; I joined the other constables after reloading my rifle, and fired again before they got to the fence ; when they got within fifty or sixty yards off the fence they fired about a dozen shots at us; they then went through the fence and we followed ; they went towards the creek, and one of the men (deceased) took up a position behind a tree and fired a shot at King from a rifle, and aimed again at Hales and myself, but the rifle missed fire ; he then went into the bed of the creek, and constable Hales fired at him ; he turned his head, and I imme- diately fired at him and he fell ;

I then crossed the creek and we pursued the deceased’s mate until we lost him in the scrub ; when I returned to deceased he was quite dead; he was lying on his back when I saw him, and then saw a bullet hole in his chest ; the wound seemed to be caused by the rifle ball ; after deceased fell, constable King was wounded in the ankle by deceased’s mate, who I believe to be John Dunn; I have known John Gilbert for upwards of five years, and I have seen him so often, and know him so well, that I have no hesitation in identifying the body now shewn to the jury as that of John Gilbert, the bushranger ; I did not know him to be Gilbert when I saw him and the other man run from the window of Kelly’s hut ;

I recognised him when I saw him at the side of the tree, before he went into the creek before he was shot; I heard constable Hales call on th men in the hut to turn out and surrender, but did not notice that he called deceased by name ; I did not hear him call to them again ; I saw Gilbert fire several shots from a revolver when in the paddock , I am almost certain it was my shot that took effect on Gilbert;

I saw Hales fire, and Gibert then turned his head ; I then fired, and he fell ; I think I was from fifteen to twenty yards from Gilbert when I fired. Michael King, being duly sworn states ; I am a constable in the police force stationed at Bina- long ; on the morning of the 13th of May (Saturday) I received information that the two bushrangers, Gilbert and Dunn, were at the hut of one John Kelly, near Binalong, and I informed constable Hales, and by his instructions I and others went to Kelly’s place ;

I was with constable Hales when I saw Kelly’s son come out of the house and com- mence driving some bullocks; constable Hales asked him if the bushrangers were inside ; he said they were not ; that he did not see them ; I then asked him to tell the truth, and told him that if he told a lie he would be accountable for it; he still denied it, but from his appearance I felt certain they were there; Hales and I then went to the door, and in we went to the house ;

Kelly came out and called, “There’s some troopers, or b— troopers surrounding the place ;” we went to the door and entered the hut, and I saw two men in a room adjoining that to which we entered ; this room was partitioned off by bark, I think, and through the cracks I saw the men ; I think constable Hales fired first into the room where the men were ;

I did not notice any shot being fired before he did ; I fired after him into the room ; we then went out of the house and watched them till I saw the two men running through a paddock adjoining the house ; I pursued them along with the other constable ; one of the men had a revolving rifle in his hand ;

when I got within about thirty yards of the men they both turned round and fired several shots at me from revolvers ; they both had revolvers, and both fired several shots ; a bullet discharged from one of them entered near my ancle,and I ran after them as far as the creek, when the men again took up a position behind trees and fired at us ; we returned the fire ; one of the men ran down the creek, and two shots were fired almost simul- taneously by constables Hales and Bright, one of which struck the deceased and he fell ; I was then within about twenty yards of him ; I ran past him after the other man for about twenty yards, when I felt so weak from loss of blood that I returned to the body ; the deceased was then quite dead ; the revolving rifle produced was lying within a few inches of his head ; I remained by the body till constable Hales came up ; I did not examine the body of the deceased as I was too weak and faint from the wound I had received ;

I did not know John Gilbert ; I did not call on the men to surrender, and I did not hear constable Hales or any other person call on them to do so ; I was present when constable Hales examined the body of the deceased and took four five pound notes from him, a gold chain, and other articles. Examined by Sub-Inspector Stephenson : Con- stable Hales might have called on the men to surrender without my hearing him. By the Jury : There was no shot fired, so far as I know, from the inner room, and I don’t think there could have been any fired without my knowing it ; being so excited at the time, I might not have noticed the firing ; I heard constable Hales call out to the men to sur- render or he would burn the house, but I do not remember his calling any one by name.

By the jury : I knew John Dunn, and recog- nised him as one of the men running from Kelly’s house in the paddock ; he was running with the deceased ; I believe it was a shot from a revolver discharged by Dunn which wounded me ; I re- cognised Dunn before Gilbert was shot. Thomas William Barnes, being duly sworn, said :

I reside at Illalong, near Binalong ; I have seen the body shewn to the jury, and recognise it as that of John Gilbert, the bushranger ; I was stuck up by him and others about September, 1863, and was in his company for two days, so that I had sufficient opportunities of noticing him ; I have no doubt as to the identity. Robert Henry Hewett, being duly sworn, states:

I reside in Burrowa; I was formerly a storekeeper at Wombat, and when there knew the deceased John Gilbert ; he was frequently in my store, and I saw him almost every day for about four months ; I saw him last on the 10th of March, 1863: I have seen the body now shewn to the jury, and identify it as the body of John Gilbert; I have no doubt whatever of the fact.

Allan Campbell being duly sworn stated, I am a duly qualified medical practitioner, residing in Yass ; I have this day made a post mortem ex- amination of the body on which the inquest is now being held ; the deceased appears to be from twenty-three to twenty-five years of age, 5 feet 8 inches or 5 feet 9 inches in height, light brown hair, without whiskers or beard, eyes greyish blue, deep set, nose long and nostrils expanding,mouth horizontal, large, and upper lip apparently swol- len ;

on the right arm below the elbow joints a mark of old sores,not even now completely healed ; the body was clothed in a rough pilot coat, fancy coloured shirt, cord pants, and boots ; on dives- ting the upper part of the body of the clothing, the chest and lower part of the neck were be- smeared with blood ; there was also a ragged wound about an inch to the right side of left nip- ple, one in line with it ; on turning the body over, a ragged circular wound was observable on the left side, passing between the sixth, and seventh ribs into the cavity of the chest ; on making a post mortem examination of the body the wound was turned through the lower lobe of the left lung near to its edge,

the posterior parts of the left ventricle of the heart, about an inch and a half from its apex, from thence passing through the anterior wall of the left ventricle, from whence it emerged to the surface of the body between the fourth and fifth ribs in the left side, anteriorly fracturing in its course the fourth rib; the cavity of the chest was filled with effused blood and bloody serum ; the wound described appeared to have been inflicted by a bullet—no bullet however was found ; at the same time I have no hesitation in stating that the wound is a gunshot wound ;

deceased’s death was caused by that wound, and death must have been instantan- eous ; I am a magistrate of the territory, and occasionally see the Government Gazette; I believe in a recent number of that publication a sentence of outlawry has been published against John Gilbert and others. All the evidence having been heard the jury found,

“ That the said John Gilbert came to his death by a gunshot wound inflicted on Saturday, 13th May, 1865, near Binalong, in the said colony, by one of the constables in the police force of New South Wales, in the execution of their duty, and that they were justified in inflicting the said wound which caused his death.”

The jury further expressed their approval of the conduct of the constables for the gallant manner in which they effected the capture of Gilbert. It may be added that after Dunn escaped through the scrub spoken of in the foregoing evidence, he travelled on foot to Julian’s station, Bogolong, some ten miles from Binalong, where he stuck up the inmates (Mrs. Julian and her servant), but did no more than help himself to a horse, saddle and bridle.

If report speaks truly, he is wounded in the side. I have closely examined Gilbert’s corpse, and I find that he has received many wounds during his career on the roads, a number of bullet marks appearing on different parts of the body. The wound he re- ceived in the last engagement at Cullingur, near Buckley’s, in the arm was just healing up. His body is still lying in the court-house at Binalong, and it is in anticipation to get a plaster-of-paris cast of him, if the material can be got in time. The rifle taken from Mr. Davidson has sustained no further injury than the stock being slightly bro- ken. The loss of this to the now solitary bush- ranger of that party will, no doubt, be very serious. John Bright, who fired the fatal shot, is a native of Bathurst, and is the same man who accidentally shot himself through the abdomen while with Jagger’s party ; he has always borne the name of being a brave man, and this the first opportunity he has had of showing his courage has confirmed the general opinion.

Hales also, deserves great praise for the resolution and pluck shown by him in rushing into the house where the two armed ruffians were. King behaved in a most courageous way by standing against every shot fired at him without the protection of trees, as is too often the case, and then manfully pro- secuting his duty, and even long after he was wounded he kept in pursuit till actually worn out by weakness and fatigue. Greater bravery could not have been displayed by any man, and Hull, though last, but not least, performed his duty with exemplary courage and fought as bravely as man could fight. It is hoped that the Government will consider the rider added to the verdict arrived at by the jury, and that ere long we shall hear of each of these brave and good men being advanced more than one step.

A list of incidents involving offences committed by Johnny Gilbert as prepared by the Inspector General of Police in 1865.

1862

June 15: Attacked the Gold Escort at Eugowra Creek, carried off a large amount of gold, and wounded one policeman.

1863

Feb 2: Robbed a store at Spring Creek, and stole a saddle and bridle.

Feb 7: Stole from the Pinnacle Police Station a rifle, carbine, ammunition, pair of saddle-bags, and a bridle.

Feb 28: Robbed Mr. Green’s house, Lambing Flat Road, of a quantity of spirits.

Mar 14: Robbed a store at Fisher’s Creek of a saddle, bridle and goods.

May 16: Robbed Mr. Barnes’ store at Cootamundra, and attempted to fire the place.

May 19: Stole a racehorse at Burrowa.

Jun 1: Robbed a store at Spring Creek.

Jun 7: Robbed a store at Possum Flat.

Jun 16: Stole two racehorses at Currawong.

Jun 28: Robbed the coach passengers of some cash, on the Lambing Flat Road.

Jun 29: Robbed several people on the Forbes Road

July 3: Robbed a man of his watch and chain on the Lambing Flat Road.

July 13: Robbed a man of £7 in silver, near Burrowa.

July 30: Robbed a store at Caloola of money and goods of the value of £300.

Aug 19: Stole two horses from the Burthong station, near Young.

Aug 24: Robbed four storekeepers of a watch, money, and other property, on the Hurricane Gully Road.

Aug 27: Robbed two stores at Tirnee.

Aug 29: Robbed Mr. Edmonds’ house, at Demondrille.

Sept 11: Robbed the mail from Cowra to Bathurst, also a passenger of some money.

Sept 24: Robbed store at Caloola.

Oct 21: Attacked Mr. Keightley’s house, near Hockley; on which occasion Burke was shot and wounded whence he took his own life.

Nov 19: Attacked Mr. Campbell’s premises, at Goimbla; one of the party firing a shot which wounded Mr. “William Campbell. On this occasion O’Meally was shot and killed.

Dec 6: Robbed the mail from Burrowa to Binalong.

Dec 9: Robbed the mail from Binalong to Yass; also, stole two horses belonging to Mr. Garry of Mylora.

Dec 16: Stole a horse belonging to Mr. R. Salmon.

1864

April 1: Robbed Mr. Chisholm’s house of a gold watch and other property.

April 11: Robbed Messrs. Scarr, between Burrowa and Marengo, of two horses, with saddles and bridles; also robbed a public-house at Back Creek.

May 5: Robbed three drays at Marino Creek.

May 23: Robbed a Chinaman, at a station near Burrowa.

May 25: Robbed two men, near Cadgo Creek.

May 28: Robbed two carriers at Emu Flat, near Binalong.

May 29: Stole horse from Mr J. Ryan, of Corrigan.

Jun 13: Robbed Mr. D. C. Clement’s house, near Billibong, of firearms and other property.

Jun 22: Robbed Mr. Pearco’s Store, at Canowindra, and burnt his account books.

July 13: Robbed Mr. J. Grant’s station, at Belubula River, and stole a horse.

Aug l8: Stole three horses, three saddles, and bridle, the property of Mr. W. Gibson, of Whoego; also fired upon four police constables.

Oct 27: Robbed Mr. Mc’Cansh’s station, at Beggan Beggan, of jewellery; robbed a Chinaman of money and a gold watch.

Oct 29: Robbed the mail from Albury to Yass; robbed a store at Jugiong of a quantity of goods; also, stole two horses.

Nov 8: Stole from Rossir, near Goulburn, jewellery, three horses, and some saddlery.

Nov 9: Robbed the Sydney Mail six miles from Goulburn.

Nov 11: Robbed the mail from Yass to Goulburn.

Nov 16: Robbed the mail from Gundagai to Yass, firing on the police and killing Sergeant Parry.

Nov 19: Stole three horses from the Boloro Station.

Dec 10: Stole some property from Mr. M’Laughlin, of Young.

Dec 27: Robbed and burned Mr. Morris’ stores, at Binda.

Dec 30: Robbed Mr Davidson’s house, at Murrumburrah Plains.

1865

Jan 19: Robbed a store at Wheago.

Jan 24: Robbed John Ross, on the Yass Road.

Jan 26: Robbed a public house near Collector; when Constable Nelson was mortally wounded by Dunn.

Feb 1: Robbed the Braidwood mail, twelve miles from Goulburn.

Feb l8: Stole three horses at Molonglo.

Feb 23: Had an encounter with the Goulburn police at Mutbilly, when Constable Wiles was wounded.

Mar 4: Robbed the Goulburn and Gundaroo mail, near Geary’s Gap.

Mar 13: Robbed the Araluen Escort, when two constables were wounded [and Gilbert was shot in the arm]; stole two horses at Jinglemoney.