Frank Gardiner
Frank Gardiner was also called 'The Darkie'. He became a bushranger with John Peisley and robbed people on the roads near Cowra. In July 1861 he shot and wounded two policemen, Sergeant John Middleton and Trooper Hosie who had tried to capture him. He was captured but managed to escape. Trooper Hosie is thought to have taken a bribe and let him go. Gardiner and Peisley went to hide in the Weddin Mountains and joined up with other bushrangers John Gilbert and Ben Hall. The gang was able to move too quickly for the police to catch up because they had help from local people. On 15 June 1862 near Eugowra the gang robbed the gold coach and got away with £14,000. This is about $4 million in 2003 money value. This was Australia's biggest gold robbery. Other men in the gang were Daniel Charters, John Fordyce, John Bow and Henry Manns. The police were quickly at the scene of the robbery and began following the gang. The police found the horse used to carry the gold and recovered most of it. A couple of days later the police were able to capture Gardiner and two other gang members. The next day, six bushrangers led by John Gilbert, held up the police and released Gardiner. The police watched all Gardiner's friends very closely. Many were arrested. Gardiner and Kate Brown decided it was not safe to stay.