William Henry Bryant

Photos from Robin Buck <Kangaroo.paws-at-bigpond.com>

William Henry Bryant

	Agnes Bryant, William Glanville with Eva, Athol and Alice and Andrew Brawn (Eva's Husband) Children standing: Ester, Kathleen and Andrew Brawn Stting: Ivy, Rueben and William Burtenshaw (Alice's Children) Alice was widowed in 1907, Photo taken around 1915-20 Photos from Robin Buck <kangaroopaws-at-harboursat.com.au>

The Rides in the Life of "Terrible Billy" Bryant.
By David Lee Glanville. (William’s Great Great Grandson) 4/3/01.

William Henry Bryant – (c.1819 to c.1894).
It was late in the evening on the 1st of February 1834, and out on the streets of London was the local locksmith’s boy, William Henry Bryant. William was 14 years old and stood about 4 feet and 3 inches tall, he had a light coloured hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. Poor little William was unaware, that on that evening, he was about to embark on the ride of his life.

William was approaching a hat shop on Carbuse Street, that at the time was occupied by the owner; a hatter named William Mason, and his lodger Edward Cruise, who was a music teacher. Edward was sitting in the parlor when he heard a strange noise coming from the front of the premises. He looked up and saw a hat in the hand of an arm that was extended through the door into the shop. He jumped up yelling "Stop Thief" and began chasing the culprit out of the shop and around the corner into Norton Street.

Upon hearing Edward's cry, Police Constable George Thornton (Badge No, E91) saw someone running down the street in the opposite direction. Accustomed to such events, he decided to chase the assailant down the street, eventually coming to a stop beside a hat on the ground and finding next to it, a boy with a confused look on his face.

Finding himself faced with a heavily panting police constable staring at him, William Henry Bryant looked down at the hat and back up at the policeman, and asked, "What's the matter?" At that point, Edward Cruise arrived and accused young William of stealing the hat. William denied the accusation stating "Upon my word you are mistaken, it was not me." This was not enough to convince Constable Thornton of William's innocence, so he marched William to the shop for further investigation. William at this point worked out that he was in deep trouble and upon arriving at the shop, threw himself on the ground crying "Murder" and "O Lord" and thrashed about, eventually hitting the policeman in the face. By this time Constable Thornton had had enough and decided to take young William for a cab ride to the local police station.

William was again questioned at the police station, giving his address as Rathbone Place and was then locked up pending his trial. The police discovered that the address that William gave was false and that other addresses, that he subsequently provided, were also false.

The Right Honorable Charles Farebrother was a Mayor in London in 1834. A duty that went along with the position was that of Judge of the Justice Hall, in the Old Bailey. On the Third day of the Third Session that started on the 20th February 1834, William Henry Bryant came before Judge Farebrother. I should think that William's case was common for the time and that the legal machine of the court would have been very efficient in dealing with it. The prosecutor had prepared a good case, organising for the appearance of witnesses to the crime. Proceedings got under way and the charge against William was read out loud by the bailiff, "William Henry Bryant, was indicted for stealing on the 1st of February, 1 hat, value 10s, the property of William Mason.". Statements were then heard from each of the witnesses. The first statement was from Edward Cruise, followed by that of the police constable, which included an account of William hitting him in the face, and finally the statement from the hatter himself, William Mason, who whilst standing with his hat in hand declared, "This is my hat.".

It was then William's turn to plead his defense. Knowing that the evidence, given by the policeman, did not paint him in a good light, William declared "The gentleman struck me in the face and said that if I did not hold my tongue, he would put my head through the wainscot (wall paneling)." In addition to this, William also attempted to discredit the evidence of the music teacher by stating, "He said that he saw a hand go to the hat and now he says a hand and arm." William’s attempts were futile, I guess that the evidence from the three witnesses was overwhelming. Judge Farebrother pronounced William Henry Bryant as GUILTY and sentenced him to Transportation for Seven Years. (Ref 1.)

Was William innocent and just in the wrong place at the wrong time or was he as crooked as his legs were later described to be? We will never know. All we know is that William had just been given a free ride to the antipodes.

So William was processed through the prison system and assigned for transportation. After a short term in Middlesex Gaol, William was loaded on-board the convict ship, the "Henry Tanner". His description was recorded that he was a 15-year-old, single, protestant who could read and write , with both legs crooked and weak, and that he was tattooed on the inside of his lower right arm with the initial's A.M. along with a blue ring on the middle finger of his right hand. The "Henry Tanner" left England and finally arrived at Port Jackson Sydney on the 26th of October 1834. Upon arrival the convicts were disembarked and then mustered, William was recorded on the John’s Convict Indent, given convict number 34/2135, and was allocated to his convict master, Henry Ferguson for assignment.

I do not know exactly how William paid off his debt to society, but he was gathered along with the other convicts in 1837 for the NSW Convict Muster. At this time he was 18 and working for Master John Smith on the Patrick Plains (Singleton), New South Wales. Ref (10)

William must have kept out of trouble for on the 22nd of February 1841 he received his certificate of freedom. This confirmed that William had served his sentence and was now a free man. At this point in time William was a ruddy faced, 22-year-old labourer. His hair had darkened to a light brown and he had grown to a height of five feet one and a quarter inch. He was also described as still having the same tattoos but was now sporting a small scar over the left side of his mono-brow and in addition to both legs being crooked and weak, he now stood with an inclination to the right. (Ref 3)

William and Catherine Pinkerton were married at St Andrews Church Sydney in 1853. William may have met Catherine down around the Snowy River. Catherine was living with her mother Agnes, brother Robert and step-father Alexander Aitken, her natural father having died aboard the "Duncan" during the voyage out from Scotland. Why they traveled to Sydney for the marriage is lost on me. They returned to the Maneroo district to settle and raise their family. They ended up having eleven children, Elizabeth, Agnes, William Henry Junior, Catherine, Benjamin, Anthony, Thomas Alexander, Margaret, Frederick, Mary Jane and George. William’s wife, Catherine, died at Coolamatong in 1876, six days after giving birth to George. She was buried at Gegederick Cemetery.

Without tying to confuse you too much, Elizabeth married Martin Ryan, Agnes married William Glanville, her sister, Margaret, married his brother, George Glanville, William Henry Junior married Georgina Sinclair, Catherine married Andrew Stoddart, Benjamin married Rachel White and Frederick married Mary Legge. As for the remaining four, Anthony and Mary died as children and I am not sure what happened with Thomas and George. To go any further into these family lines would be tedious, but it is suffice to say that these pairings went forth and multiplied giving William and Catherine at least 44 grandchildren, with three important ones being Cecil Arthur Gordon Glanville, Maude Evelyn Bryant and Thomas Felix Bryant, who are of particular interest to the author and those acknowledged at the end of this article. (Ref. 9)

William and Catherine moved around the Monaro district whilst raising their family. William worked on many properties such as Currygat, Cowra Creek and Little Plain along with some on the Snowy River, including Jimenbuen, Biggam and Coolamatong. On these properties, William is known to have worked in the professions of selector, stockman, carrier, laborer and shepherd.

In 1862, William, once again, found himself in trouble with the law, having being accused of riding with the Jingera Mob. The mob’s leader was Andrew Tyrie and along with John Glass, Terrible Billy, Shanahan Tom and a few others, the mob was reported to have been involved in bush ranging, horse and cattle stealing and many other illegal activities. Cooma Police ended up apprehending William, on an 18-month-old warrant. He was remanded to appear before the Queenbeyan magistrate on two counts of cattle stealing. This first warrant against William was discharged by the magistrate, as a letter from Police Superintendent Markham provided evidence that William was innocent. The second charge was also discharged as the police had insufficient evidence to justify a committal. If only William had gotten on well with the police back at Carbuse Street in 1834.... (Ref. 4)

In 1863, William was indicted for assaulting Sub-Inspector Gordon, whilst aiding the escape of a prisoner in Gordon’s custody. William was undefended for this offence and the jury found him guilty as charged. The Honorable Judge Callaghan sentenced William to fourteen days imprisonment in Cooma gaol. During the proceedings the judge asked why William was called "Terrible Billy". The judge could see nothing terrible in William's appearance and hoped that the sobriquet had not been given to him for anything terrible that William might have done. Senior Sergeant Smith offered that the nickname was applied because William was an accomplished amateur pugilist of the Jingera region able to take his part with the best men in the region. William denied Smith's soft impeachment and called upon a member of the jury to confirm "whether he had not won the title on account of some fearless feats of horsemanship in former days.". The juryman acknowledged that he believed such to be the fact. So perhaps Terrible Billy was actually Banjo Patterson's "The Man from Snowy River". The actual recordings of the court hearing may shed more light on this bold suggestion. (Ref 5)

In 1864, William was at it again. Michellago Police arrested him at Bunyan for robbing Joseph Maultby, a hawker, on the Cooma to Braidwood Road. After making a few inquiries, the police determined that Maultby had fabricated his report and the charges against William were dropped. (Ref 6, 7 and 8)

It is believed that in 1894, "Terrible Billy" Bryant’s ride finally came to an end when he died at the age of 75.

So starting with William’s first ride with the policeman in the English cab that then led to the voyage out to the colonies on the "Henry Tanner"; William then served his sentence as a convict and did his part in the pioneering period of a new nation. William then became known as "Terrible Billy", after conducting those fearless feats of horsemanship around the Snowy River and with Catherine, produced and raised a large family whilst attempting to keep one step ahead of the law with his bush ranging activities. William "Terrible Billy" Bryant certainly wore out the pommel on his saddle, during the rides in his life.

References

1) Sessions' Paper - Third Session - Justice Hall Old Bailey- 20/2/1834 and following days.

A big thank you to "Cousin Robin", Robin Buck (nee Roberts) and Tom Bryant, for providing me with the reference material used in the compilation of this article. I’d also like to thank my wife, Jackie, for putting up with my obsessions.

Descendants of William Henry Bryant
Submitted by David Smith
and Robin Buck <Kangaroo.paws-at-bigpond.com>
Recompiled from the new Monaro Pioneers database 1.05.08

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