The Gold Rush provide the �take-off� point for growth of Australia�s population, its economy, and ultimately its sense of nationhood. But it also created a new boom � in highway robbery or �bushranging� in Aussie language, mate. Bushranging is defined somewhat loosely as �the artful dodge of relieving travelers of their jewels, cash and other encumbrances�. Many an �old lag� (ex-convict), as well as poor settlers, came to the �conclusion� that gold need not always be necessarily dug from the ground. It may be easier to get the gold after they have been mined i.e. rob them ! The proceeds from �bailing up� a stagecoach or gold wagon could be good and the work was a lot cleaner than digging in the mud.

From the time bushrangers first appeared on the scene, bushrangers were often sheltered by the rural poor, many of whom were Irish immigrants or the descendants of political transportees. They harboured strong republican sentiments, and regarded some of the outlaws as rebels against the same enemy i.e. the English, Protestant landlords and authorities. These colonial highwaymen often had names as colourful as their reputations e.g �Black Caesar�, �Captain Thunderbolt�, �the Jewboy Gang� etc etc. One of them was �Gentleman Matt� Cash � an ancestor of Aussie tennis champion Pat Cash. There was even one Chinese bushranger � named San Poo.

In the 1860s, the most famous of the bushrangers (before the coming of Ned Kelly) were Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner and John Gilbert. Well-armed and superbly mounted on great horses ( often on stolen race horses !) � they pulled off audacious raids. In 1864, Hall�s �Gang of Three�, working the Sydney-Melbourne road, rounded 60 travellers at once ! Few years later, came Ned Kelly and his gang.