Author(s): DONOHOE, JOHN

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SYNOPSIS- CAPTAIN THUNDERBOLT'S FOLLYHow can it be that Frederick Ward, a master horseman and a good judge of horses, could find himself on a horse run down by a single mounted policeman and shot dead? It was indeed Captain Thunderbolt's Folly!This book examines the many unusual happenings on that fateful day, 25th May, 1870. What started out as a typical day of plundering for the man known as Captain Thunderbolt, became very complicated, leading to an unexpected finale at Kentucky Creek a few miles from Uralla.Added to the intrigue was the little-known fact that Thunderbolt was suffering from terminal tuberculosis, though probably didn't know it.After ranging about central and north western N.S.W. for almost 7 years, robbing all and sundry of their valuables, it seems Thunderbolt, perhaps unconsciously arrogant, tightened the odds of getting captured by the police. It was always too easy! He would have thought that, as usual, he could always escape capture, so long as he was mounted on a superior thoroughbred. On that fateful day, 25th May 1870, he found himself trialling a "suspect horse" when the police arrived. Not only that, he was quite inebriated! He had spent two hours imbibing at Blanch's Inn. This was where he made several critical wrong decisions. This was recklessness not exhibited in his earlier career. Put in the words of a man who knew Thunderbolt, Edward Hynes concluded, "He also declared that "Thunderbolt" would never have been caught but for the fact that he had been drinking, and when chased by the police took the wrong horse."We investigate what happened during the chase by the young policeman, the confrontation when Thunderbolt was shot dead and the aftermath, including the Magisterial Inquiry and the behavior of individuals involved in this epic event.