Sarah Ann Ward

and the Garbutt brothers

Introduction

Sarah Ann Ward's descendant, Barry Sinclair, has long claimed that Frederick Ward, aka Captain Thunderbolt, was not the son of Michael and Sophia Ward, but was instead the son of their daughter Sarah Ann Ward. [1] This claim has spread far and wide. However, not only is there little evidence to support such a claim, there is a wealth of evidence to refute it. In fact, the Birth Myths section of this website provides evidence showing that Fred was the son of Michael and Sophia Ward and was born in 1835 at Windsor. 

     As many people still believe Sinclair's claims, it is necessary to document the evidence regarding Fred Ward's relationship with Sarah Ann Ward for those interested in the truth.  

Sarah Ann Ward's birth

Sarah Ann Ward's birth is not in dispute. She was born around the year 1816 to Michael and Sophia Ward (see Michael and Sophia Ward and their family). 

Sarah Ann Ward's eldest child

Descendant Barry Sinclair claims that Thunderbolt was Sarah Ann's eldest child. Here is the gist of his arguments (they were not coherently laid out in his now defunct website): [1]

Argument 1

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 Haswell descendants had always believed that John Haswell fathered Thunderbolt.    
Yes, permission to marry was not granted to Sarah Ann Ward and John Haswell (as shown in the Timeline below). Sarah Ann Ward does appear to have borne a child soon after her relationship with John Haswell (as discussed below); however, the child was not Fred Ward. 

Argument 2

Fred Ward was especially close to Sarah Ann Ward throughout his life. 

This is unsupported by any evidence. In fact, evidence has survived of relationships between Fred and some of his other siblings – they visited him on Cockatoo Island – but Sarah was not among the visitors (see the Birth Myths).  

Sinclair's 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]

Let's start with the "conspiring to hide his true parentage" claim. 
     Sarah Ann Ward had many children (a dozen according to some claims) yet only two were born in wedlock, as shown in the timeline below. So how can Sinclair argue – in all seriousness – that the Ward family had any need to hide the “truth” regarding the birth of one such illegitimate child, a conspiracy of silence that has lasted, supposedly, for 170 years?

     The Wards were a convict family. They were members of the criminal classes in the eyes of the broader community. They had no reputation to maintain. Indeed, illegitimacy was a minor sin in convict Australia.

     Additionally, the Wards had no need to hide the truth so that Sarah Ann could make a socially advantageous marriage. In fact, she gave birth to an illegitimate child in 1834 and married the convict father fifteen months later, potentially while pregnant with their next child. [2]

Claims regarding Sarah Ann Ward's children
Sinclair claims that Sarah Ann Ward’s eldest four children were born as follows, although he provides no evidence to support his claims: [3]

1. Fred (aka Thunderbolt) in May 1833
2. John Garbutt in 1834
3. James Garbutt in 1835
4. Maria Garbutt in 1836

     It's important to note that, in the 1800s, most children were born approximately two years apart, so the timeframes between these four children are extraordinarily short. Short birth gaps between children usually occurred when an infant died soon after birth, which meant that the contraceptive effect of breast-feeding disappeared. Mothers sometimes had two children close together. However, this rarely happened over and over again as neither child flourished. Therefore, the claim that four surviving children were born in three-and-a-half years – or less – rings very loud alarm bells indeed.

     For evidence-based reasons, we can eliminate Fred Ward from this list of children as he was not one of Sarah Ann Ward's children. John Garbutt's baptism entry shows that he was born in 1834. Baptism ceremonies were not performed for James or Maria; however, other sources can be used to determine when, approximately, they were born.    

     Before we attempt to determine James and Maria's birth details, we can document some of Sarah Ann Ward's relationships and childbearing through church registers (for further information and source references see Timeline below):

• 1834 Sep 12: John Garbutt born to John Garbutt and Sarah Ann Ward.
• 1835 Dec 7: John Garbutt married Sarah Ann Ward.
• 1837: Sarah deserted John Garbutt.
• 1838 Aug 30: Susannah Shepper/Shepherd born to William Shepper and Sarah Ann Ward.
• 1839 August: John Garbutt senior drowned.
• 1839 Dec 15: William Shepper/Shepherd married Sarah Ann Ward.
• 1841 Jul 20: Sophia Shepherd born to William Shepherd and Sarah Ann Ward. 

     We also know that Sarah had another two children: James, who was born in 1835 according to Barry Sinclair, and Maria who was reportedly born in 1836. Let's start with Maria.

Maria Garbutt

Although Maria Garbutt was not baptised so her birth information hasn't survived, confirmation that she was the daughter of John Garbutt and Sarah Ann Ward is found in the names of the witnesses to her marriage: Sophia Ward, who was Sarah Ann Ward's mother; and Susan Sheppard, who was Sarah Ann Ward's daughter born in 1838. [5] 

     When was Maria born? As most breastfed children were born approximately two years apart, this suggests that Maria was probably born in 1836, two years after John's birth and two years before Susannah's birth. In fact, one wonders if John and Sarah decided to get married in December 1835 after discovering she was pregnant again.

     Support for a birth year of 1836 is found in the birth certificates of Maria's eldest two children, Henry and Rowland Dewson. These state that she was aged 22 in April 1858 and 23 in October 1859. [6] These date-specific ages produce a likely birth window between 13 October 1835 and 5 April 1836 (or perhaps as late as 15 May 1836, if Roland's certificate listed her age at the time of his birth registration rather than the birth itself).

     This birth window is generated from two ages rather than the more reliable three ages, and the ages were provided by Maria’s husband rather than herself. However, as the resulting birth window is only six months wide, this indicates that the ages listed for Maria were at least consistent. Moreover, the known birth dates of Maria's surrounding siblings (John in September 1834 and Susannah in August 1838) act as bookends in terms of when Maria could have been born, so the ages listed in her children's birth certificates and the resulting birth window calculated from these ages is likely to be accurate.
     If Maria was born no later than 15 May 1836 (as her age references suggest), then she was born no more than twenty months after John. As such, it is extremely unlikely that Sarah had a child born between John and Maria. Otherwise, Sarah would have fallen pregnant only ten months after the birth of her previous living child on not just one but two consecutive occasions. While possible, it is highly unlikely. 
     Other evidence supports the argument that Sarah did not have a child born between John in 1834 and Maria in 1836. While researching her Thunderbolt book, Carol discovered paperwork associated with the death of Sarah’s husband, John Garbutt Snr. He died in August 1839 and the paperwork discussing the administration of his estate reports: “He was a married man and had two children living by his wife, who is still alive, and living with another man at Liverpool Plains and the man with whom she cohabits, I have this day learnt, gave Garbutt a horse not to molest him in the possession of his wife and Garbutt took charge of both his children” (see below). [7] 

Inquest report regarding John Garbutt, died 1839

     This paperwork clearly states that John and Sarah Ann Garbutt had only two children, not three. John (baptised in 1835 on the same day as their marriage) was obviously one of these children. Maria, born in 1836 and alive until 1917, was undoubtedly the other. So where did James Garbutt fit into the family? 

James Garbutt? 
While the references to Maria Garbutt’s age are consistent, the references to James Garbutt’s age are inconsistent – astonishingly so, as follows:

• 1856 Maitland Gaol admission: James stated that he was born in 1835. Reliable as information from James himself as a young man. [8a]
• 1856 Aug: Darlinghurst Gaol admission: James stated that he was aged 23 (therefore born between August 1832 and August 1833. Reliable as above. [10]
• 1861 Jul: Darlinghurst Gaol admission: James stated that he was aged 27 (therefore born between July 1833 and July 1834) Reliable as above. [10]
• 1867 Jul: James' wife stated he was aged 36 when she registered the birth of their daughter Alice Mary Maud Garbutt (therefore born between July 1830 and July 1831). Less reliable as information provided by someone else. [9a]
• 1894: Bathurst Gaol Description Book: James stated that he was born in 1839. Less reliable as getting older. [8b]
• 1906 Jul: Death Certificate stated that he was aged 77 while burial entry stated that he was aged 76 (therefore born between July 1828 and July 1830). Less reliable as information provided by someone else. [9b] 

     The more reliable earlier ages suggest that he was born between August 1832 and 1835. 
     Additionally, one important source provides evidence of the Garbutt brothers’ birth order. When John and James were admitted together to Darlinghurst Gaol in 1861, James stated that he was aged 27 and John that he was aged 25 (see image below). [11]

Entries for John and James Garbutt from Darlinghurst Gaol Description Book, 1861

     Clearly, the Garbutt brothers were themselves asserting that James was the elder and John the younger. That being the case, James Garbutt must have been born no later than mid-1833.   
     If James Garbutt was indeed John's elder brother and was born in 1833 or earlier, this would explain why John Garbutt Snr did not get “custody” of him when Sarah Ann Ward ran off with William Shepper.

     So who was James father?

     In mid-1832, sixteen-year-old Sarah Ann Ward was attempting to marry John Haswell, so any child born to her in 1833 was almost certainly Haswell’s child. Sarah evidently established a relationship with John Garbutt Snr when James was an infant (or perhaps even earlier while she was still pregnant), so it is not surprising that James carried the surname Garbutt and claimed John Garbutt Snr as his father (according to his own death certificate).

     However, Garbutt Snr was clearly unable (or unwilling) to lay claim to James when Sarah took up with William Shepper, indicating that he knew James was not his child. This would also explain why James Garbutt stated, with regard to his half-brother John, that: “I have never been much in his company”. [12] This is because John Garbutt Jnr was brought up by John Crowder of Lochinvar after John Snr's death [12], while Maria seems to have been brought up by her Ward grandparents. [13]   
     Seemingly, Haswell descendants were correct in their belief that John Haswell had an illegitimate child with Sarah Ann Ward and that the child had a connection with Thunderbolt. However, the child was not Thunderbolt himself, but Thunderbolt’s nephew, James Garbutt. This is a classic example of family stories being distorted over time.  

Conclusion

Clearly, bushranger Fred Ward could not possibly have been Sarah Ann Ward’s child, not only because he was born in 1835 when she was busy having other children, but because the child Sarah did bear in 1833 was evidently her son James: the very same James Garbutt who was tried with Fred Ward at Maitland in 1856. 

Sources

[1] The following Thunderbolt website by Uralla resident Barry Sinclair was the original source of much of this information; however, the website is no longer available. Sinclair does not make a coherent argument to this effect. It proved necessary to piece together the substance of his argument from bits and pieces on his website. [http://users.tpg.com.au/users/barrymor/John Haswell's-Sarah Ward's Banns Applications 1832.html].  
[2] Marriage: John Garbitt & Sarah Ann Ward [SRNSW ref: Vol.19 No. 1341; Reel 5004]; Baptism: John Garbitt [SRNSW Vol.19 No.717; Reel 5004]
[3] Sarah Ann Ward [http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thunderbolt&id=I00065] (no longer accessible)
[4] Baptism: Susannah Shepper [SRNSW ref: Vol. 121 No.8045; Reel 5046]
[5] Marriage: James Dewson & Maria Garbutt [SRNSW ref: Vol. 82 No. 238; Reel 5032]
[6] Birth certificates: Henry James Dewson and Roland Drew [RBDM ref: 1858/9715 & 1859/0010097]
[7] Intestate File: John Garbutt, 1839 [SRNSW 6/3492 No.291]
[8a] Maitland Gaol Description Book: James Garbut, 1856 [SRNSW  No.192; Reel 759]

[8b] Bathurst Gaol Description Book - 1894 [SRNSW ref: 3/5959 Photo No. 506 p.44; see http://srwww.records.nsw.gov.au/ebook/list.asp?Page=Gaol Photos/1998_a006_a00603_5959000044r.jpg&Remark=James GARBUTT]

[9a] Birth of Alice Mary Maud Garbutt registered in July 1867 [get source ???]
[9b] Death Certificate: James Garbett [RBDM ref: 1906/9535]; Burial entry: James Garbutt in St John’s Church of England, Mudgee [SAG ref: Reel 339]

[10]  Darlinghurst Gaol - Description Book: James Garbut, 1856 [SRNSW ref: 4/6306 Year 1856 No.1773; Reel 859]; Darlinghurst Gaol - Description Book: James Garbutt, 1861 [SRNSW ref: 4/6309 Year 1861 No. 1516; Reel 860]
[11] Darlinghurst Gaol - Description Book: John Charles Garbutt & James Garbutt, 1861 [SRNSW ref: 4/6309 Year 1861 Nos. 1515 & 1516; Reel 860]
[12] Legislative Assembly Tabled Papers: Statement of John Garbutt regarding Ludwig Leichhardt, 1857, &c. [NSWPA LA TP 1857/409]
[13] That Maria seems to have been brought up by her Ward grandparents is suggested by the fact that she was apparently living with them at the time of her marriage in 1856 rather than near Warialda with her mother Sarah Ann Ward and Edwards children (see Timeline below).  

James Garbutt

(c.1833 - 1906)

Nephew of Fred Ward

Horse rustling accomplice in 1856

James Garbutt's relationship to Fred Ward has been the subject of controversy. After exhaustive research, Carol has determined his true connection with the Ward family as discussed above. Other information is provided below. 

See Source 16 below

TIMELINE

1834 Sep 12    John Garbitt (sic) born at Wilberforce to ticket-of-leave convict John Garbutt and Sarah Ann Ward; baptised Pitt Town CE parish on 7 Dec 1835; John later reported that he went to live at John Crowder’s at Saint Clair in early childhood, that he was such a young age at the time that he couldn’t remember how old he was; Crowder lived at Lochinvar in the mid-1840s and John remained in his employ until 1849 when he left and spent three months with Mr Gordon and nine months with Mr Wyndham, both on the Macintyre, then he was not engaged by anyone else until he returned to Mr Crowder’s employ in 1852; by then Crowder lived at Weranga in the Darling Downs (Qld), a property neighbouring that of James Snowden Calvert who accompanied explorer Ludwig Leichhardt on his first expedition into the interior; 1853: John was employed by J.P Wilkie Esq of the Darling Downs; Mar 1855: a warrant was issued for his arrest for horse stealing, leading him to flee back to NSW; 7 Apr: John Clune of Ipswich advertised that John Garbutt’s horse, which had been left in his paddock, would be sold to defray costs. [1]

1856-61          Ringleader of a cattle and horse stealing operation; pleaded guilty at the Supreme Court on 2 Jun 1856 and sentenced to ten years on Cockatoo Island; received ticket-of-leave to the Mudgee district in 1860;  married Mrs Elizabeth Blackman nee Aldridge on 27 Dec 1860 at Cooyal inn; convicted of stealing sheep at Mudgee in Jul 1861 and returned to Cockatoo Island. [2] 

1861 Sep +      John Charles Garbutt. 16 & 18 Sep 1861: received visits from his wife; 27 Sep 1861: letter from Sheriff to Colonial Secretary mentioning confusion about where Garbutt was incarcerated; 30 Sep 1861: returned to Darlinghurst Gaol and forwarded to Mudgee to give evidence in perjury trial; 16 Oct 1861: unexpired term of last sentence remitted as Judge Dowling considered the evidence against Garbutt ‘by no means reliable or satisfactory’; 18 Oct 1861: Mrs Garbutt visited Cockatoo Island but her husband was not back from Mudgee; 19 Oct 1861: Garbutt received back at Cockatoo Island then returned to Darlinghurst Gaol for disposal in accordance with letter remitting sentence but returned to Cockatoo Island as Inspector of Police stated that remission letter had no reference to unexpired term of former sentence; 23 Oct 1861: acted as a witness in the Cockatoo Island hearing of William Sampson charged with clandestinely writing a letter to be sent off the island; 25 Oct 1861: discharged to Office of Inspector General of Police for disposal; 29 Oct 1861: ticket-of-leave restored to him per Colonial Secretary letter of that date; Oct/Nov 1861: Report that inquiry into alleged extortion being carried out at Cockatoo Island, some officers having received about £80 from John Garbutt’s wife without his knowledge (not mentioned in Cockatoo Island records). [3]

1861 late +       Back at Mudgee: 2 Nov 1861: summoned before Mudgee Police Court for wages due to a Chinese shepherd but case dismissed; 6 Dec 1861: brought Samuel Pegg to police court on charges of assault with Pegg being fined 20 shillings; 6 Dec 1861: brought servants John Ward and wife to court for disobeying orders of Mrs Garbutt and Ward fined and officially dismissed; 10 Dec 1861: John Ward brought claim against Garbutts for wages. [4]

1862 Sep 13    Armed gang robbed group of men camping at Garbutt’s Cooyal property. [5]

1862 Oct 22     Convict Classification Board recommended Garbutt for a conditional pardon; 27 Nov 1862: Conditional Pardon granted (against advice of Chief Justice Alfred Stephen). [6]                     

1862/63           John Garbutt suffered concussion when thrown from his horse; at trial in March 1863 two doctors gave the opinion that “there was a change in [Garbutt’s] demeanour since the accident” but agreed that he could still distinguish right from wrong; Dr King said that he had known Garbutt for years and was called to attend him after the fall and that Garbutt “suffered for some weeks of a concussion of the brain”, that his character, manners and brains had undergone an alteration; while Dr Ramsay deposed that he had known Garbutt for three or four years and that his manner had “totally changed” since the accident. [7]

1863 Feb +      25 Feb & 2 Mar: John Garbutt brought before Mudgee police magistrate on charges of cattle stealing; 12/13 Mar: tried, convicted and sentenced to 7 years’ hard labour despite his counsel’s plea that if the jury found his guilty they should acquit him on the grounds of insanity, in which case he would be sent to Tarban Creek or some other place where he would receive medical treatment. [8]

1863 Apr 16    Transferred from Darlinghurst Gaol to Parramatta Psychiatric Institution as he was reported to be under a “delusional mania”. He expressed “a constant terror of imaginary persons and particularly of blackfellows”; he would “remain naked, day and night, wearing only a pair of stockings and would hide under a bed or in a corner if people approached him”; he was “seldom much excited unless he saw a blackfellow”; he “disliked everything black and frequently threatened to kill a fellow black patient ‘like a cat’”; he was “frequently sullen and morose, refusing to speak to those about him”, he sometimes refused food which had to be administered forcibly; and he made no mental improvement for many years until making a sudden improvement; he was then kept under observation for some months until he was discharged by the Medical Board to the care of his wife on 16 Aug 1873. [9] 

1863-1866       Problems with John’s 1863 trial regarding presence of judge at Quarter Sessions raised in Queen versus Garbutt[10]

1864 Nov 22   Five armed men rob Mrs Garbutt of Cooyal; they were arrested over the next few months, including three by Brisbane Police in March 1865, and remanded to Mudgee; police report that one of these men, John Ellis, was believed to be identical with Thomas John Ellis alias Tommy Richards alias Tommy the Native alias Frederick Britten alias John Thomas Clarke, escaped prisoner from Victoria[11]
NB. This is suggesting that the property belonging to Fred Ward’s nephew's wife might have been robbed by Fred Ward’s escapee partner; interestingly, a John Ellis visited Fred Britten on Cockatoo Island, so Ellis and Britten were clearly not the same men. More research needs to be done to determine the connection.

1865 Aug 1      Report that little girl named Parker, adopted by Mrs Garbutt because the child’s father had died, had been seriously hurt in an accidental explosion of blasting powder. [12]

1867 Nov 8     Report in Western Post that little half-caste girl being brought up by Mrs Garbutt had been drowned. [13]

1868 Sep         Mrs Garbutt purchased allotments in Cudgegong. [14]

1872 Aug 16    Released from Parramatta Psychiatric Institution. [15]

1873 Sep 8 +   Murdered Thomas Conroy at Taroom by killing him with an axe while he was asleep then burning his body; 19 Oct: apprehended by police; etc etc ; 2-5 Feb 1874: tried and convicted; 10 Mar: executed at Brisbane Gaol; his wife Elizabeth tried to assist him by having details of his lunacy forwarded to the Brisbane authorities to no avail. [16] 

Sources
[1] Baptism: John Garbitt [SRNSW Vol.19 No.717; Reel 5004]; Marriage: Garbitt & Ward [SRNSW Vol.19 No. 1341; Reel 5004]; Legislative Assembly Tabled Papers: Statement of John Garbutt regarding Ludwig Leichhardt, 1857 [NSWPA LA TP 1857/409]; Sydney Morning Herald 22 Mar 1855 p.4, 1 May 1857 p.4; Brisbane Courier 7 Apr 1855 p.3
[2] See Thunderbolt Timelines for more detailed information and source-references relating to John Garbutt’s activities
[3] Cockatoo Island – Daily State of the Establishment [SRNSW 4/6505, 1 Aug 1861, 16, 18 & 30 Sep 1861, 18, 19 & 25 Oct 1861] & Cockatoo Island – Letter Book, 19 Oct 1861 [SRNSW 4/6517 p.253?] & Cockatoo Island –Punishment Book: re William Sampson [SRNSW 4/6502 Year 1863 Oct 23]; CSIL: Re John Garbutt [SRNSW ref: 4/3455 No. 61/4042] & [SRNSW 4/3480 Item 62/5213] & [SRNSW 4/549 Item 65/1712]; Darlinghurst Gaol – Entrance Book [SRNSW 5/1896 Year 1861 Nos.1916 & 2032; Reel 2338]; Ticket of Leave: John Charles Garbutt [SRNSW 4/4233 No.60/30; Reel 893]; Brisbane Courier 4 Nov 1861 p.2
[4] Western Post 2 Nov, 7 Dec, 11 Dec 1861 from Annette Piper’s Newspaper Transcripts
 [http://www.addison.homedns.org/transcriptions/others/othersintro.html]
[5] Hobart Mercury 7 Oct 1862 p.6 (from Bathurst Free Press)
[6] CSIL: Petition for mitigation of John Garbutt’s conviction [SRNSW ref: 4/3480 File 62/5213]
[7] Western Post 17 Mar 1863 p.2
[8] Western Post 3 Mar 1863 p.2, 6 Mar p.2, 17 Mar pp.2 & 3 (x2), 24 Mar p.2; Mudgee Liberal 26 Feb 1863 p.2, 5 Mar p.2, 19 Mar p.3 (x2)
[9] Parramatta Psychiatric Institution – Medical Case Book, 1861-65 [SRNSW 6/5351 fols.296, 382, 463, 556 & 598] & 1865-70 [SRNSW 4/8257 fols.207 +] & 1871-72 [SRNSW 6/5353 fol.209]; CSIL: re Garbutt, a lunatic shortly to be tried in Queensland [SRNSW ref: 1/2251 No. 74/1548]
[10] Western Post 17 Mar 1863 p.3; Sydney Morning Herald 3 Apr 1863 p.5, 23 May 1863 p.5, 15 Jan 1864 p.2, 30 Aug 1866 p.3
[11] NSW Police Gazette 1864 No.47 (23 Nov 1864) p.368, No.48 (30 Nov 1864 p.378, No.50 (14 Dec 1864) pp.397 & 402, 1865 No.12 (22 Mar 1865) p.113; Brisbane Courier 21 Feb 1865 p.2, 28 Feb 1865 pp.2 (x2) & p.5, 7 Mar 1865 p.2; Maitland Mercury 26 Nov 1864 p.2, 23 Feb 1865 p.2
[12] Maitland Mercury 8 Aug 1865 p.2
[13] Maitland Mercury 14 Nov 1867 p.4
[14] Maitland Mercury 3 Oct 1868 p.6
[15] Parramatta Psychiatric Institution – Medical Case Book, 1861-65 [SRNSW 6/5351 fols.296, 382, 463, 556 & 598] & 1865-70 [SRNSW 4/8257 fols.207 +] & 1871-72 [SRNSW 6/5353 fol.209]; CSIL: re John Charles Garbutt [SRNSW ref: 1/2181 No. 72/6287] & [SRNSW ref: 1/2251 No. 74/1548]
[16] Brisbane Courier 4 Oct 1873 p.4, 24 Oct p.2, 27 Oct p.3, 30 Oct p.7, 17 Nov p.3, 24 Nov p.2, 15 Dec p.3, 4 Feb p.3, 5 Feb p.3, 6 Feb p.2, 7 Feb p.4, 11 Mar p.2; see also other newspaper under Garbutt (and spelling variations) and the “Taroom murder”; CSIL: re Garbutt, a lunatic shortly to be tried in Queensland [SRNSW ref: 1/2251 No. 74/1548]