The Sydney Ducks was the name given to a gang of criminal immigrants from
Australia in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, during the mid-19th century. Because many of these criminals came from the well-known
British penal colonies in Australia, and were known to commit arson, they were blamed for an 1849 fire that devastated the heart of San Francisco, as well as the rampant crime in the city at the time.
The Sydney Ducks were criminals who operated as a
gang
A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Territory (animal), territory in a communi ...
, in a community that also included sailors, longshoremen, teamsters, wheelwrights, shipwrights, bartenders, saloon keepers, washerwomen, domestic servants, and dressmakers. The largest proportion (44%) were born in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and migrated during the
Great Irish Famine
The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...
, first to Australia as laborers and then to
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
as part of the
Gold Rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
.
The criminality of the Sydney Ducks was the catalyst for the formation of the first
Committee of Vigilance of 1851. The vigilantes usurped political power from the corrupt or incompetent officials in the city, conducted secret trials, lynchings, and deportations, which effectively decimated the Sydney Ducks. The area where the Sydney Ducks clustered at the base of
Telegraph Hill A telegraph hill is a hill or other natural elevation that is chosen as part of an optical telegraph system.
Telegraph Hill may also refer to:
England
* A high point in the Haldon Hills, Devon
* Telegraph Hill, Dorset, a hill in the Dorset Dow ...
was originally known as "Sydney-Town," but by the 1860s was called exclusively by its better-known name, the
Barbary Coast.
On December 19, 1854, five members of the gang were involved in the
Jonathan R. Davis fight.
[Bell, Bob Boze, "The Gang Slayer: Captain Jonathan Davis vs 14 Polyglot Kilers'', True West; History of the American Frontier. June 2014, Vol. 61, No. 6]
See also
*
Anti-Australian sentiment
References
{{Reflist
External links
The Vigilance Committee Tremendous Excitement! Samuel Whittaker and Robert McKenzie rescued from the authorities, and hung by the Vigilance Committee, on Sunday August 24th. at 3 o’clock P.M. in the presence of Fifteen thousand People. , Lith. & Publ. by Justh, Quirot & Co. Calif. corner Montg. Sts. S.F. Crowd in foreground; bodies hanging from building hoists in background. From www.dsloan.com accessed Jan. 7,2011
19th century in San Francisco
Australian American
Barbary Coast, San Francisco
California Gold Rush
Former gangs in San Francisco
Outlaws of the American Old West