Captain Thunderbolt's Grave is a

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...

burial site located at Uralla Square in

Uralla Uralla is a town on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. The town 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 townsh ...

Uralla Shire Uralla Shire is a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The New England Highway passes through the Shire. The Shire was established on 1 January 1948 as a result of the amalgamation of the Mun ...

local government area of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The grave comprises a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

, 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 originally escaped convicts in Australia, convicts in the early years of the History of Australia (1788–1850), British settlement of Australia who used The bush#Australia, the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. B ...

Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushran ...

, along with

Captain Thunderbolt's Rock Thunderbolt's Rock is a heritage-listed rock and now picnic site and tourist attraction located adjacent to the New England Highway in Uralla, in the Uralla Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Split ...

, 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 Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

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.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

* {{NSW-SHR-CC, name=The Captain Thunderbolt Sites - Thunderbolt's Grave, dno=5061608, id=01889, year=2018, accessdate=2 June 2018 1914 establishments in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 1914 New South Wales State Heritage Register Uralla, New South Wales Burials in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Captain Thunderbolt