1909: The Bushranger Who Vanished: Larry Cummins Died in Wodonga Under a Stolen Name

Lawrence Cummins once rode as a bushranger across New South Wales, but by the time disease caught up with him he had spent decades as someone else entirely. Living quietly under the assumed name James Long, he settled far from his old haunts and let the past disappear.

He died at Wodonga, Victoria, aged 66, of hepatitis, cirrhosis and Bright’s disease, and was buried in the local cemetery under the name his neighbours knew. Few, if any, of them ever learned they had been living alongside a man with a bushranging past.

Bushranger Larry Cummins
Bushranger Larry Cummins

⬅ See all events from 18 October

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1826: The Gun That Misfired Twice: Three Bushrangers Hanged Outside Sydney

At a settler’s hut near Burwood, outside Sydney, bushranger Thomas Mustin levelled a loaded musket point-blank at a visiting neighbour, and pulled the trigger. It merely flashed in the pan; he drew a pistol, and that misfired too, and in the scuffle that followed Mustin and his companions escaped briefly into the bush.

Mustin, Daniel Watkins and John Brown were convicted over this attack and a string of armed robberies around Burwood and the Liverpool Road, including one household where the terrified wife recognised Brown as a former constable but was too afraid to say so.

On 16 October 1826 the three were marched from Sydney Gaol under military escort. All three acknowledged the justice of their sentence on the scaffold and prayed for mercy, offering no claim of innocence. They hanged together on a temporary gallows at Burwood, and their bodies were left on display throughout the day.

Bushrangers holding up coach passengers illustrated scene
Bushrangers holding up coach passengers illustrated scene

⬅ See all events from 16 October

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1826: Sullivan Gang Bushrangers Hanged Near Parramatta, One Sobbing to the Last

Matthew Craven and Thomas Cavanagh rode with a bushranging gang led by Patrick Sullivan that terrorised stations around Bathurst for half a year, robbing homesteads, stealing horses and holding settlers at gunpoint. Captured after a shootout at a bark hut, the pair pleaded guilty at trial to burglary and theft and were sentenced to hang.

On 16 October 1826 they left Sydney Gaol with three other condemned men bound for Burwood, where they were hanged before a large crowd that morning. Straight afterwards, the two men, Craven and Cavanagh travelled further on on to the Western Road near Parramatta, arriving about noon to face their own gallows.

Witnesses said their contrition was conspicuous; Craven, described as barely twenty, reportedly hung his head and sobbed bitterly as the ropes were fitted.

Bushrangers in action: Water colour drawing created by George Lacy 1867
Bushrangers in action: Water colour drawing created by George Lacy 1867

⬅ See all events from 16 October

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1846: Jackey Jackey: the Bushranger Hanged on Norfolk Island for the Cooking Pot Uprising

William Westwood was already notorious as Jackey Jackey, a bushranger transported twice and flogged repeatedly, when he helped lead the 1846 Cooking Pot Uprising on Norfolk Island, a desperate convict revolt sparked by brutal rations and treatment. In the chaos, three constables and an overseer were killed.

He was 26 when he was hanged on 13 October 1846, one of the largest mass executions in Australian penal history.

Death mask of William Westwood known as Jackey Jackey
Death mask of William Westwood known as Jackey Jackey

⬅ See all events from 13 October

Spread the word on your favourite platform!
On This Day in True Crime History
1841·First Blood on the Gallows: Two Men Hanged at the New Darlinghurst Gaol
1857·Newly Freed, Then Shot by His Employer: A Convict Hanged in Perth for Attempted Murder
1880·Ned Kelly Sentenced to Hang in Melbourne
1907·He Knew Where She Kept Her Money, But Killed Her Instead: Hanged in Sydney for the Murder of a Widow
1927·Squizzy Taylor Buried in Melbourne as a Morbid Crowd Forces Police to Intervene
More Crime On This Day →

Subscribe to Dark Stories

True crime stories, dark history and tour news, straight to your inbox.