The Clarke Gang : outlawed, outcast and forgotten

Resource Information

The work The Clarke Gang : outlawed, outcast and forgotten represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Randwick City Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The Clarke Gang : outlawed, outcast and forgotten

Title remainder

outlawed, outcast and forgotten

Statement of responsibility

Peter C Smith

Creator

• Smith, Peter C., 1947-

Author

• Smith, Peter C., 1947-

Subject

• Bushrangers -- Australia | New South Wales -- Biography
• Bushrangers -- New South Wales -- Biography
• Clarke Gang (New South Wales)
• Australian
• New South Wales -- History -- 1851-1891
• Clarke, Tom, 1841-1867
• Bushrangers -- Australia -- Biography

Genre

• Biography

Language

eng

Summary

Who were the Clarke Gang? Ten years or more before Ned Kelly became famous the Clarke brothers and their associates were terrorising an area stretching from present day Canberra to the coast from 1865 to 1867. They intimidated, assaulted, robbed and murdered police and civilians alike. They had no hesitation in killing any member of the gang suspected of being untrustworthy.The romantic appelation "bushranger" blurs their vicious anti-social behaviour. They were able to escape what was then the rather short arm of the law by the vast network of relations and "harbourers." The author details their exploits and the terror they aroused in the population. He asks why The Clarke Gang are hardly known whereas Ned Kelly is regarded as an icon. The Clarke Gang operated in sparsely populated areas, serviced by bad roads and a poor telegraph system. Reports of their crimes were reported in newspapers, sometimes months after the event. By the time Ned Kelly began his career the telegraph had improved, there were railways providing access - technology had improved. The improvement in technology meant that Ned could use the media and newspapers to publicise and romanticise himself and his motives. The Clarke brothers were illiterate and lacked Ned's media skills. The book is illustrated with contemporary pictures, numerous maps, and other details. The author shows bushranging stripped of its romantic, rebellious cloak

Biography type

collective biography

Cataloging source

ANL

Dewey number

364.155

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps
• portraits
• facsimiles

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Target audience

adult