Topics covered below

• When was Fred Ward born?
• Where was Fred Ward born?
• Who were Fred Ward's parents?
• Was Fred Ward the son of his "sister" Sarah Ann Ward?

Links to additional information

Explanatory information

According to Fred Ward's entry in the Darlinghurst Gaol Description Book 1861, he was:

• "BC" (Born in Colony) at Windsor
• Protestant
• Aged 26
• 5'7½" tall. [3]

    The entry itself does not record Fred's date of admission to Darlinghurst Gaol as this information was noted in the associated Entrance Book (see image 3 above). [4] Although the admission year was not listed on the page showing Fred's entry, it was listed elsewhere in the document.

    Fred's entry records that he was committed at the Mudgee Quarter Sessions on 4 October [1861] and was admitted to Darlinghurst Gaol on 2 November [1861]. As the year 1861 was not listed in the above photocopy, independent confirmation from the associated newspaper article is provided to prove that this admission did indeed occur in 1861 (see image 4). [5] This confirms that Fred Ward stated that he was aged 26 in 1861.

4. The Mudgee Liberal, 11 October 1861

Sources
[1] Maitland Gaol – Description Book: Frederick Ward, 1856 [SRNSW ref: 2/2017, Year 1856 No. 175; Reel 759]
[2] Darlinghurst Gaol – Description Book: Frederick Ward, 1856 [SRNSW ref: 4/6306, Year 1856 No. 1772; Reel 859]
[3] Darlinghurst Gaol – Description Book: Frederick Ward, 1861 [SRNSW ref: 4/6309, Year 1861 No. 2103; Reel 860]
[4] Darlinghurst Gaol – Entrance Book: Frederick Ward, 1861 [SRNSW ref: 5/1895, Year 1861 No. 2103; Reel 2338]
[5] Mudgee Liberal 11 Oct 1861 p.4; a reference to Fred's Mudgee conviction was also included in the Sydney Morning Herald 9 Oct 1861 p.3

The Evidence

Four surviving references list Fred's responses to questions about his birthplace or "native place". In each instance he stated that he was born at Windsor, as follows:

• Maitland Gaol admission in May 1856 (see image 1, entry #175 at bottom). [1]
• Darlinghurst Gaol admission in August 1856 (see image 2, #1772 - second last). [2]
• Darlinghurst Gaol admission in November 1861. [3]
• Cockatoo Island admission in November 1861. [4]*

Conclusion

Such remarkable consistency indicates that Fred was telling the truth – as he knew it. Fred, by his own account, was born at Windsor. 

* Explanatory information

When Fred escaped from Cockatoo Island in September 1863, the Police Gazette reported that he was “a native of Windsor”. This information was provided by the Cockatoo Island authorities. It was presumably extracted from the Cockatoo Island Transportation Register (Colonial), which was the equivalent of a gaol entrance register. This register documented details of birth, physical description, etc., to assist in apprehending escaped prisoners.

    While the register covering Fred’s years of incarceration no longer survives, this Police Gazette notice serves, in this instance, as a contemporary copy of the information Fred provided at the time of his admission. However, the Police Gazette notice – from two years after his admission to Cockatoo Island – is useful only for "unchangeable" information, such as birth place and birth year as well as date and place of trial. As the Police Gazette’s reference to Fred’s age involves a calculation, it does not serve as a contemporary copy of any statement made by Fred regarding his own age.    

1. Maitland Gaol Entrance Book 1856

2. Darlinghurst Gaol Description Book 1856

Sources
[1] Maitland Gaol – Entrance Book: Frederick Ward, 1856 [SRNSW ref: 2/2009, Year 1856 No. 175; Reel 757]
[2] Darlinghurst Gaol – Description Book: Frederick Ward, 1856 [SRNSW 4/6306 Year 1856 No. 1772; Reel 859]
[3] Darlinghurst Gaol – Description Book: Frederick Ward, 1861 [SRNSW ref: 4/6309, Year 1861 No.2103; Reel 860]
[4] NSW Police Gazette 1863 No. 37 (16 Sep 1863) p.279

The Garbutt family connection

In 1856, Fred and a man named James Garbutt were sent to the Cockatoo Island penal establishment in Sydney Harbour for being in possession of stolen horses. A man named John Garbutt testified at their trial. He was already serving time on Cockatoo Island for horse theft. The two Garbutts play a crucial role in determining Fred’s family background, as discussed below.  

Parliamentary Library documents regarding Ludwig Leichhardt
During her Thunderbolt research, Carol discovered a bundle of documents in the New South Wales Parliamentary Library that provided information about Fred Ward. This information hadn't previously been found by Thunderbolt researchers. It dealt with a statement made by John Garbutt about his alleged encounter with the missing explorer Ludwig Leichhardt. [1]

     In May 1857, Fred Ward, James Garbutt and John Garbutt were called before a Government Board of Inquiry that met on Cockatoo Island. [1] During their lengthy interrogations, they revealed details about their relationships with each other.
     When Fred Ward was questioned, the Inspector General of Police asked: “You are uncle to John and James Garbut?” Fred answered: “Yes.” (See image 1)

     When James Garbutt was questioned, Inspector McLerie asked: “Are you [the] brother of John Garbut?” James answered: “Yes.” (See image 2)

     James also indirectly confirmed that Fred was his uncle. The Board began by asking him about his crime and conviction. After James said that he didn't steal the horses, the investigator asked: “How came you to be apprehended on this charge?” James answered: “Through malice and envy of my uncle.” The Board responded: “Not the uncle who is here?” James answered: “No.” (See image 3)

     When John Garbutt was questioned, he mentioned his brother James. He was then asked: “You have also an uncle here?” He answered: “Yes.” (Questions 736-7).
     Two months later, on 9 July 1857, John wrote a letter to the Visiting Magistrate saying: “I expect the free pardon of myself, my brother and my uncle …” [1] John did not need to name his relatives as the authorities already knew their identities. This is revealed in Inspector McLerie's report to the Colonial Secretary on 28 August 1857: “After a rigid and lengthy examination of John Garbut, his brother James, and his uncle Frederick Ward …” [1] (see image 4).   

    These official government documents reveal that Fred Ward was the uncle of the Garbutt brothers. Since the Garbutt brothers didn't carry the surname Ward, these documents suggest that they were the offspring of Fred's sister . 

1. Interrogation of Frederick Ward,

8 May 1857, Cockatoo Island [1]

2. Interrogation of James Garbutt,

8 May 1857, Cockatoo Island [1]

3. Interrogation of James Garbutt,

8 May 1857, Cockatoo Island [1]

4. Inspector General of Police, John McLerie, to Colonial Secretary, 28 Aug 1857 [1]

Fred Ward's brother William

Fred was tried at Maitland on 13 August 1856. During her research, Carol discovered another previously unlocated document— the judge's transcript of his trial — which provides references to some of his family relationships. [2] 

    A prosecution witness, Charles Reynolds of Tocal, testified under oath: “I have known the prisoner [Fred] Ward for some years. He was employed by me for a year as stockman and horsebreaker. One William Ward, his brother, was also in my employment for 8 or 9 months after the prisoner had left me. William lives at Lamb Valley 9 or so miles from me.” (See image 5)

     Clearly, Reynolds, a “worthy” in his local community, was testifying that he knew Fred Ward and that he knew that Fred had a brother, William Ward, who resided at Lamb’s Valley.

5. Justice Cheeke's transcript of Charles Reynolds' testimony at Fred Ward's trial, 13 Aug 1856

Tracing the Garbutt family
Fortunately, the Garbutts proved easier to trace. The Maitland and Darlinghurst gaol registers reveal that John and James Garbutt were around the same age as Fred Ward and were also born in the Windsor district. [3] (See image 7)

    This suggests that the sibling who parented the Garbutt brothers was much older than Fred Ward, raising the possibility that Fred was born near the end of a large family.

7. Darlinghurst Gaol Description Book: John Charles Garbutt and James Garbutt, 1861   

     The early church registers do not include a baptism for James Garbutt; however, they do include a baptism for John Garbutt. The church registers for Pitt Town (near Windsor) record that a John Garbitt was born on 12 September 1834 and baptised on 7 December 1835. [4] His parents, John Garbitt and Sarah Ann Ward, were married the same day. [5] 

     This shows that Fred Ward not only had a brother named William Ward; he had a much older sister named Sarah Ann Ward, who was the mother of the Garbutt brothers. 

Who was Sarah Ann Ward?

Muster and census returns for the 1820s reveal that Sarah Ann Ward was born around 1816. She was the daughter of Michael Ward (a convict who arrived in New South Wales on the Indefatigable in 1815) and his wife Sophia Jane Elizabeth Ann Ward. Sophia arrived the same year and brought a daughter Sophia with her. [6] (See images 8 and 9 below)

Michael and Sophia Ward and their family

Michael Ward and his wife Sophia resided in the Hawkesbury River district and had a large family born in the colony. However, they rarely baptised their children. (Significantly, bushranger Fred Ward was not baptised either.)

     Muster and census returns for the 1820s (supplemented by other sources) reveal that they had the following colonial-born offspring in their first dozen years in the colony: [6]  

• Sarah Ann   - born circa 1816; mother of the Garbutt brothers   
• Edward George   - born circa 1818; died 1851   
• Amelia Brenchley   - born circa 1820 (aka Emily); married James Gough in 1838   
• Joshua Michael   - born circa 1822; died 1879   
• George   - born circa 1824; died 1854  
• Esther Berfield   - born 14 Nov 1826 (baptised in 1836); married Michael James Wells in 1850     
• Selina Maria   - born Sep/Oct 1828; married John Thomas Bussell in 1848 

     These family connections can be seen in the muster and census lists shown below:

8. Listing for Michael Ward and for Sophia Ward and her offspring in General Muster Lister of NSW 1823, 1824, 1825 (edited by Carol Baxter).

9. Listing for Michael Ward and his family in Census of NSW November 1828

     Michael Ward later became known as Hanley Thompson Ward and died under that name in 1859. His identity is confirmed by the family members listed on his Death Certificate. [7]

     Michael’s death certificate also reveals that he had additional children born after Selina's birth in 1828, namely two sons named William and Frederick. William was listed as being aged 30 at the time of his father's death. [7] This indicates that he was born around 1829, which explains why he was not listed with Michael and Sophia's family in the muster and census returns of the 1820s. These returns ended with the NSW census in November 1828. 
     Frederick was listed as either 30 or 20 on Michael's death certificate (the number “3” was written over “2” or vice-versa, hence the confusion). [7] This indicates that he might have been born as early as 1828/9 or as late as 1839. Importantly, this birth window includes the year that bushranger Fred Ward declared himself to have been born: 1835. (See "When was Fred Ward born" above)
    The Death Certificate for Michael's wife Sophia, who died in 1874, omits these two youngest sons, William and Frederick, and indicates that four of her sons had predeceased their mother. [8] Significantly, bushranger Fred Ward had died in a shootout with the police in 1870.

Conclusion

The above information reveals that Michael and Sophia Ward lived in the district where bushranger Fred Ward said he was born and that they, in fact, had a son named Frederick who was born around the time the bushranger said he was born. They also had a son named William and grandsons named James and John Garbutt. Clearly, Michael and Sophia Ward were the parents of bushranger Fred Ward.      

BUT ... 
Extraordinarily, this evidence analysis (originally published in 2011) did not convince those who propagated and perpetuated absurd claims about Fred Ward's birth (as well as every other aspect of his life). After Carol's book was published, they threatened to sue her for not repeating their claims.  

     Clearly, nothing will convince those who prefer to believe whatever they want to believe rather than accept the clearly documented evidence. However, more evidence has been found that reveals Fred's connection with the family of Michael and Sophia Ward. For the purposes of posterity, this information has been included below. 

Michael and Sophia Ward's daughter Harriot (born 1833)

Michael and Sophia Ward settled in Wilberforce (near Windsor) prior to 1820. [14] They were apparently still residing there in February 1835 when a 22 month-old colonial-born child named Harriot Ward of Wilberforce was buried. The child’s burial entry indicates that she was born around April 1833. [15] 

     Michael and Sophia and their family were the only Wards known to have been living in Wilberforce at that time. Wilberforce was little more than a hamlet in these early colonial years, making it highly likely that Harriot was Michael and Sophia's daughter.

     According to the age listed for mother Sophia in the 1828 Census, she would have been around 41 years of age at the time of Harriot's birth. [16] Some women continued to bear children until they were in their mid-40s. Thus, Sophia was not too old to have been Harriot's mother.
     Naming patterns support the contention that Harriot was a member of this particular Ward family. The name Harriet (and spelling variations) was an uncommon name, falling 27th in the list of adult female names found in the New South Wales colony in 1811. [17] As 75% of the women living in the colony at that time were named Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah, Jane, Catherine or Margaret, a name falling 27th on this given names list was not especially common.

     Significantly, the Ward’s daughter, Amelia, named her eldest daughter Sophia after her mother, her second daughter Amelia after herself, and her third daughter Harriet, suggesting that the name carried a deep personal meaning. [18] As Harriet was not a name used by members of her husband's family, this suggests that the connection lay with the Ward family.

     Additionally, Sarah Ann Ward, mother of the Garbutt brothers, named a daughter Harriet. [18] 

     Clearly, the infant Harriot Ward was a child of Michael and Sophia Ward and was mourned and commemorated by her elder sisters. 

Michael and Sophia Ward's son William (born c.1830) 

The 1841 Census (which named household heads only) recorded that the youngest two members of Michael Ward’s household were a boy aged between 7 and 13, and a boy aged between 2 and 6. [20] These were undoubtedly the sons William and Frederick listed on Michael's death certificate.  
     This census information indicates that William was born between March 1827 and February 1834. He was listed as aged 30 on his father’s death certificate in April 1859, suggesting that he was born between April 1828 and April 1829. However, errors frequently occur in the ages of children listed on death certificates, so this information cannot be considered reliable. Moreover, other sources reveal that the Wards had a daughter, Selina, born in late 1828 (as shown above) indicating that there was no "gap" for William's birth at that time. 

     The list of Michael and Sophia Ward's children shown in image 8 (above) indicates that the couple bore children every two years or thereabouts during their first dozen years in New South Wales. This was a normal gestational pattern for the time. As such, it seems likely that their son William was born no earlier than mid-1830. As Harriot Ward was born around April 1833 [18], it seems likely that William was born between mid-1830 and mid-1831. This indicates that William was a year or two younger than the “30” listed on his father’s death certificate.

     Just as an aside, it's worth noting that other ages were listed incorrectly on that same death certificate, including the age of the informant herself! Selina stated that she was “32” at the time of her father’s death, whereas her entry in the November 1828 Census (aged 1 month) reveals that she was only 30 in April 1859.

Michael and Sophia Ward's son Frederick (born mid-1830s) 

Michael Ward's death certificate listed that his son Frederick was aged either 30 or 20 (difficult to decipher) at the time of Michael's death in April 1859. However, as the ages listed on this death certificate were clearly unreliable, other sources are required to more accurately pinpoint his age.

     The NSW Census taken in March 1841 includes a notation for Michael and Sophia Ward's youngest son in the section "aged over 2 and under 7", indicating that this son was born between March 1834 and February 1839. [20] This tallies with the 1835 birth year claimed for himself by bushranger Fred Ward in the Maitland Gaol entrance book in 1856 (see "When was Fred Ward born?" above). 

Birth gaps

Michael and Sophia had children who were born at the following times:

• Esther born November 1826
• Selina born September/October 1828
• William born circa 1830-31
• Harriot born around April 1833.

     This allows us to calculate the length of the various gaps between the children's births to help us determine when their youngest son Frederick was likely to have been born.

     The periods between births tend to increase as a woman ages and her fertility declines. Here are the estimated birth gaps between these children:

• Esther (1826) and Selina (1828) = around 22.5 months.
• Selina (1828) to Harriot (1833) = approximately 54 months — except that William was born somewhere in the middle. Averaging that figure, we get:
• Selina (1828) to William (early 1831) to Harriot (1833) = an average of 27 months each.

     Evidently, Sophia’s fertility was declining.

     Adding 27 months to Harriot’s birth month of April 1833 brings us to July 1835 for the approximate birth of Sophia’s next child, Frederick.

     However, the timeframes between births are rarely exact, so a 27 month-period between the births of each of Michael and Sophia’s four youngest children is too rigid. Assuming a gradual decrease in fertility as Sophia neared and passed the age of 40, the averages can be adjusted slightly to, say, 25.5 months between Selina and William (therefore born late 1830), and 28.5 months between William and Harriot. These periods also add up to 54 months and reflect a more natural decrease rather than an abrupt decrease in fertility although this, of course, is only speculative.

    Adding that same 28.5 month gap to Harriot’s approximate birth month (April 1833) produces a possible birth around August/September 1835 for Michael and Sophia Ward’s youngest son, Frederick.

     If we assume another decrease in fertility similar to the previous decreases (say 22.5 to 25.5 to 28.5 to 31.5 months as ballpark figures although this is again merely speculative), and if we add 31.5 months to April 1833, this produces a possible birth around November/December 1835. Clearly, this simple averaging suggests that Michael and Sophia’s youngest son Frederick was born between July and December 1835.

    Significantly, bushranger Fred Ward not only stated that he was born in 1835, but the ages he provided at two of his gaol admissions suggest a birth-window between late August 1835 and early November 1835 (see "When was Fred Ward born?" above). 

Residence of Michael and Sophia Ward in the mid-1830s
Harriot Ward’s burial entry indicates that the Ward family were still living in Wilberforce in February 1835. [18] In October 1836, however, when Michael and Sophia’s ten-year-old daughter Esther Ward was baptised, Michael was listed as a farmer at Windsor. [19]

     Evidently, Michael and Sophia Ward moved from Wilberforce to Windsor at some stage between February 1835 and October 1836. Significantly, bushranger Fred Ward stated that he was born at Windsor in 1835 (see "Where was Fred Ward born?" above)., and was probably born in the latter half of that year.  

Ward naming patterns
Bushranger Fred Ward's full name was Frederick Wordsworth Ward, as shown on the Birth Certificate of his daughter Marina Emily Ward. Fred's name was passed to other members of Michael and Sophia Ward's family. 
     Joshua Ward (born circa 1822) had a large family. His children included an eldest son named Handly/Andlee Thompson Ward, which was the name recorded for his father, Michael Ward, on his death certificate.   

     Joshua also named a daughter Sophia J. E. A. Ward (the birth certificate index doesn't list her name in full). It turns out that his mother's full name was Sophia Jane Elizabeth Ann Ward as listed on her own death certificate. This shows that Joshua liked to honour his family members by bestowing their full names on his children.

     Significantly, Joshua did so after their deaths. His father died in 1859 and his namesake grandson was born in 1861. His mother died in 1874 and her namesake granddaughter was born in 1875. 

     Joshua also named a son Frederick Wordsworth Ward. The infant was born in October 1870, four months after the death of bushranger Fred Ward. [12]
     Joshua’s son, Frederick Wordsworth Ward, was the younger of twin boys. The elder twin was named William Thompson Ward. [12] These twin sons had the same first names, William and Frederick, and were in the same birth order as Joshua's youngest two brothers.

     What about middle names?

     Joshua’s brother William acted as a witness to their sister Selina Maria Ward's marriage and signed his name as William T Ward. [13] The T almost certainly stood for Thompson, which was the middle name used by their father, Michael Ward, when he called himself Hanley Thompson Ward.This indicates that Joshua gave his twin sons not only the first names but the full names of his two youngest brothers.

     Importantly, both brothers were dead by the time the twins were born. This is evidenced by the fact that the 1874 death certificate of his mother, Sophia – signed by Joshua himself – omits the names of his youngest brothers, William and Frederick. They were among the “four dead male” children referred to on her death certificate. 
     Additionally, bestowing middle names on children was uncommon in the first half of nineteenth-century Australia, only becoming popular in the second half. When early colonial parents did bestow middle names on their children, they tended to use other given names for this purpose (e.g. Sarah Ann, Joshua Michael). The use of surnames as middle names (e.g. Brenchley and Berfield) was even more uncommon. As Michael and Sophia Ward gave some of their children surnames as middle names, they were clearly the type of parents who would name a son Frederick Wordsworth Ward. 

Other sibling connections
While undertaking her Thunderbolt research, Carol discovered a book listing visitors to the Cockatoo Island penal settlement during Thunderbolt's incarceration there. 

     Prisoners on Cockatoo Island rarely received visitors. Indeed, most received none at all. However, Fred Ward and his Garbutt nephews were fortunate to receive a number of visitors while on Cockatoo Island between 1856 and 1860, mostly members of Michael and Sophia Ward’s family.     
     On 13 January 1857, “John Gough and his wife and daughter” visited “J Garbutt and Fred Ward” on Cockatoo Island. This was almost certainly James Gough and his wife Amelia (born c.1820 to Michael and Sophia Ward). That the visitor was Amelia’s husband, James Gough, rather than an unknown John Gough is supported by the fact that James Gough visited Fred and the Garbutts on a later occasion as well. [9]    
     On 6 March 1858, Michael Wells and his wife visited the Garbutt brothers and Fred Ward on Cockatoo Island. Michael Wells' wife was Esther Berfield Ward (born 1826 to Michael and Sophia Ward). [10]
     On 30 May 1860, Joseph Ward and James Gough visited Fred Ward and the Garbutt brothers on Cockatoo Island. As mentioned above, James Gough was married to Amelia Ward while Joseph Ward was almost certainly Joshua Michael Ward (born circa 1822 to Michael and Sophia Ward). 

    Interestingly, James Gough was listed as a resident of Windsor while Joseph Ward was a resident of Maitland at the time. This suggests that they were travelling together to Sydney to visit their Cockatoo Island relatives as Ward family representatives. Apart from the Garbutts' mother, Sarah Ann (who lived in northern NSW and never visited her sons), James Gough’s wife and Joshua Ward were the eldest surviving Ward children. [11]    
     Clearly, bushranger Fred Ward and his Garbutt nephews had visits from three of Michael and Sophia Ward’s children during their years on Cockatoo Island. 

Conclusion

Bushranger Fred Ward was not only born around the same time as Michael and Sophia Ward’s youngest son, Frederick, but he also had a close relationship with their children. He also reported to the colonial authorities that he was the uncle to their grandchildren. Additionally, his rare full name, Frederick Wordsworth Ward, was given to one of Michael and Sophia Ward’s grandchildren shortly after Thunderbolt's death in 1870.
    The parentage of bushranger Fred Ward is no longer open to doubt. He was the son of Michael and Sophia Ward and was born in 1835, around the time his parents moved from Wilberforce to Windsor. 

Michael and Sophia Ward's children

Here is a complete list of Michael and Sophia Ward's children based on Carol Baxter's research: 

• Sophia Jane  - born circa 1808; married Andrews Gardner in 1829 and Robert Turroll in 1846; died 1846
• Sarah Ann  - born circa 1816; married John Garbutt in 1835, William Shepper in 1839, and James Barr in 1887; died 1892   
• Edward George  - born circa 1818; married Jane Bussell in 1848; died 1851   
• Amelia Brenchley  - born circa 1820 (aka Emily); married James Gough in 1838; died 1872   
• Joshua Michael  - born circa 1822; married Sarah Hardy in 1861; died 1879   
• George  - born circa 1824; Charlotte Nixon in 1850; died 1854  
• Esther Berfield  - born 14 Nov 1826 (baptised in 1836); married Michael James Wells in 1850     
• Selina Maria  - born Sep/Oct 1828; married John Thomas Bussell in 1848 
• William Thompson  - born circa 1830; unmarried; died between mid-1860s and 1874
• Harriot  - born circa April 1833; died February 1835 (infancy)
• Frederick Wordsworth  - born later in 1835; unmarried; died May 1870

Was Fred Ward born to his "sister" Sarah Ann Ward?

Introduction

The analysis "Who were Fred Ward's parents?" (above) reveals that bushranger Fred Ward was the youngest son of Michael and Sophia Ward of Windsor.

     So why do some Thunderbolt works claim that Fred was not the son of Michael and Sophia Ward, but that he was instead the son of their daughter Sarah Ann, and that he was raised by Michael and Sophia as their own child? 
     This claim first surfaced on the website and in the writings of Sarah Ann Ward’s descendant, Barry Sinclair, and has spread into many website entries, articles, a thesis and a novel. While Sinclair's website is no longer available on the internet, it's important to debunk his claims as they have spread so far.

Sinclair's claims

The gist of Sinclair’s claims (which were not coherently described) are as follows: [1]

• Argument 1: That bushranger Fred Ward was listed as aged 28 on his daughter’s 1861 birth certificate, so he was clearly born in 1833.
• Argument 2: That Windsor historian D.G. Bowd listed Fred’s birth-date as 16 May 1836 but that this date should therefore be 16 May 1833 rather than 1836.
• Argument 3: That Michael and Sophia Ward had a child, Harriot, born in April 1833, so they could not have been the parents of bushranger Fred Ward.     
• Argument 4: That Michael and Sophia Ward’s 16-year-old daughter Sarah Ann Ward was refused permission to marry serving convict John Haswell in mid-1832, and that Haswell descendants had always believed that John Haswell fathered Thunderbolt.
• Argument 5: That Fred Ward was especially close to Sarah Ann Ward throughout his life.
• Concluding argument: Therefore, Fred was the illegitimate child of John Haswell and Sarah Ann Ward and was raised by Michael and Sophia as their own child, with the Ward family conspiring to hide his true parentage. [1]

     The following evidence analysis explains the problems with these claims.

Refuting these claims
Argument 1: That bushranger Fred Ward was listed as aged 28 on his daughter’s 1861 birth certificate, so he was clearly born in 1833.
While Fred was indeed listed as aged 28 on the birth certificate of his daughter, Marina Emily Ward, in 1861, he was not the informant. He was in gaol at the time. Instead, Marina's mother, Mary Ann Bugg, provided the details. [2]

     As such, the personal information listed for Fred is second-hand information – that is, “hearsay” evidence – and must be treated accordingly. Hearsay evidence is rarely accepted in a court of law because the person who made the original statement is not being examined to determine the veracity of their statement.

     Even so, Sinclair has used this type of unreliable second-hand information as the foundation for his historical revisionism, information that by its very nature must be of questionable accuracy. 
     Has first-hand information survived – that is, information provided by Fred or his parents? Indeed it has. Fred was admitted to Darlinghurst Gaol two weeks after his daughter’s birth and told the gaol authorities that he was aged 26 at that time, not 28. [3]