Captain Thunderbolt's Grave
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Captain Thunderbolt's Grave is a
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...
burial site located at Uralla Square in
Uralla Uralla is a town on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the New England Highway and Thunderbolts Way, north of Sydney and about south-west of the city of Armidale. At the , the township of ...
, a town in the
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
region of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia. The grave comprises a
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
headstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...
, designed by Mr Callcott, and built in 1914. It is also known as Uralla Old General Cemetery. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled The Captain Thunderbolt Sites for their association with
bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...
Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (c. 1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the Style (manner of address)#Self-styled, self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, New South Wal ...
, along with
Captain Thunderbolt's Rock Thunderbolt's Rock is a heritage register, heritage-listed rock and now picnic site and tourist attraction located adjacent to the New England Highway in Uralla, a town in the New England (New South Wales), New England region of New South Wales ...
, Blanch's Royal Oak Inn, and Captain Thunderbolt's Death Site. Collectively, all properties were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 July 2012.


History

Uralla Cemetery was established in the 1850s and used until the 1930s.http://us.sydney.com/town/Uralla/Pioneer_Cemetery_Uralla/info.aspx The cemetery contains the graves of many local notable families including the Blanch's. After the magisterial inquiry held at Blanch's Inn, Captain Thunderbolt's body was moved to Uralla and he remained unburied for a number of days. On 29 May 1870 his body was identified by William Monckton who had ridden with Thunderbolt some years earlier.'' The Empire''. 1 June 1870. That afternoon it was taken to be buried in an unmarked grave at Uralla cemetery. In 1914 a gravestone was erected by local residents, the majority of the costs being born by a Mr L. A. Crap.


Description

The marble headstone has the following inscription: Erected by NEW ENGLAND RESIDENTS TO MARK WHERE LIES THUNDERBOLT RED WARD CALLCOTT ARMIDALE DIED MAY 25. 1870, AGED 36 YEARS The headstone and grave is surrounded by a picket fence. The grave is located at the southern boundary of the Uralla Cemetery; the location of the grave is signposted.


Condition

As at 10 April 2012, the condition was assessed as fair. The picket fencing was new but the gravestone shows signs of
spalling Spall are fragments of a material that are broken off a larger solid body. It can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation, or excessive rolling pressure (as in a ball ...
and some of the makers information is difficult to discern.


Modifications and dates

The picket fencing was installed in 2011.


Heritage listing

Captain Thunderbolt's Grave was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 July 2012 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. Captain Thunderbolt's Grave adds to the State significance of the Captain Thunderbolt Sites as the final part of Thunderbolt's story. The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history. The grave is associated with Captain Thunderbolt the bushranger who was buried there on 29 May 1870. The grave adds to the significance of the Captain Thunderbolt Sites because it is the burial place of Captain Thunderbolt who became notorious in his own time and is well known by the Australian public. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. Thunderbolt's grave adds to the State significance of the Captain Thunderbolt sites for the social significance attached to it by the community. Captain Thunderbolt has captured the minds of the public as a gentleman bushranger type character. Grave sites and the memorialisation of the dead is intimately connected to this process. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The grave has significance at a local level. The forensic remains may reveal more information about the way he died and the burial customs of the times. Any controversy surrounding the question of who was actually shot by Constable Walker on 25 May 1870 may be able to be resolved upon forensic examination of the remains. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. The marking of the grave is representative of public sentiment surrounding Thunderbolt as a well known historic figure.


See also

*
Captain Thunderbolt's Rock Thunderbolt's Rock is a heritage register, heritage-listed rock and now picnic site and tourist attraction located adjacent to the New England Highway in Uralla, a town in the New England (New South Wales), New England region of New South Wales ...
* Blanch's Royal Oak Inn * Captain Thunderbolt's Death Site


References


Bibliography

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Attribution

* {{Captain Thunderbolt 1914 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1914 New South Wales State Heritage Register Uralla, New South Wales Cemeteries in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Captain Thunderbolt