On 1 September 1830, the notorious Irish-born bushranger Jack Donahue, known as one of the Wild Colonial Boys, was shot dead during a confrontation between his gang and mounted police near Bringelly, New South Wales. A party of eight closed to within a hundred yards of Donahue and friends undetected. When the bushrangers spotted them, Donahue pulled off his hat and defied the officers: ‘Come on, you cowardly rascals, we are ready, if there’s a dozen of you.’ After a standoff of nearly half an hour, shots were exchanged. A carbine ball and pistol ball fired by a mounted trooper struck Donahue in the left temple and neck, killing him instantly.
An inquest was held the following day at the Fox and Hounds Bar in Sydney, with his death being ruled justifiable homicide.
Donahue had been one of the most wanted men in the colony for five years as the figurehead of the Wild Colonial Boys. His death ended one of the most romanticised outlaw careers in early Australian history.
