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Black Douglas, Bushranger
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Meg Foster’s ‘Black Douglas’: The Bushranger and the
Man (Diaspora Research Seminar Review)
by RETROSPECT JOURNAL
Written by Lewis Twiby. This article is an addendum to our article on
Black Douglas.
On Tuesday 31 October 2017, Meg Foster, a Ph.D. candidate at the
University of New South Wales, gave a research seminar on the infamous
bushranger Black Douglas. This was in an effort to highlight her
research in this overlooked aspect of Australian national history.
During Australia’s gold rush of the 1850s, a new brand of criminal named
the ‘bushranger’ emerged and set upon miners in search of fortune. Many
of these – such as Ned Kelly – became folkloric heroes along the lines
of Robin Hood and Dick Turpin, but Meg Foster’s research focuses on one
specific bushranger – Black Douglas. While figures like Kelly became
heroes, Douglas became a villain. Foster sought to understand why and to
know exactly what was true in the stories and records about Black
Douglas.
The research seminar commenced at what generally would be the end of a
normal seminar, with Foster detailing how Douglas and his gang were
captured. This was not by the police, but by almost 200 gold miners 140
kilometres north of Melbourne, at Alma – named after the battle during
the Crimean War – in May 1855. Despite calls to lynch him, the miners
handed the gang over to the police. Here, Foster gave a concise but
detailed insight into the world of Australia’s gold rush. The
historiography often compares Australia to California, stressing the
lack of lawlessness in New South Wales compared to its American
counterpart, and Foster showed that this view is not entirely accurate.
‘Judge Lynch’ provided justice, with miners viewing the police as either
untrustworthy or weak. ‘Protection Societies’ were communally formed
instead, in order to protect the miners. Many newspapers actually
condemned the violence of the miners when they captured Douglas, citing
it as an example of the anarchy of the unregulated mines. Furthermore,
as with the American minefields, the Australian mines attracted people
from around the world. Australians, Americans, British (first arriving
in 1852), Poles, Chinese, Maori and Germans were just some of the groups
of people who were eager to strike rich with gold. This brought up the
question of identity: anyone could dispose of their old life and create
an entirely new one, and this reinvention of identity even happened in
camps themselves. If someone was caught stealing in one camp, they could
easily move to the next and start their lives anew. Foster’s intricate
explanation of the Australian gold mines perfectly set the stage for the
story of Black Douglas.
Foster went on to explain a curiosity following Douglas’ arrest. Despite
leading a gang of bushrangers, and (according to local newspapers)
killing a white woman, he was never convicted of murder, assault, or
robbery. He was instead convicted of vagrancy and served two years in
prison – he was released in February 1857. Foster here links the first
half of her investigation to the second half. Douglas embodied the
goldfields themselves. The violence during his arrest was seen as
symptomatic of the anarchic, unregulated and unruly life of the
goldfields: worries which pervaded the Australian press. Despite
allegations and stories of his robberies and assaults, there were no
witnesses for the court to use. Everyone was a potential criminal, and
Douglas, along with his gang, embodied that idea. Foster, however, also
emphasised a far less romanticised view of Douglas; he was the
embodiment of the fears revolving colonial society.
This is the second reason why Black Douglas is an interesting figure to
research, and this is what Foster focused on for the next third of the
seminar. The press, prior to his assert, reported that he had murdered a
white woman. In their description of him, he was always described as
being ‘black,’ and that the white men he worked with were ‘his’ men.
Foster linked this to the prevailing racism in colonial societies, which
had become formalised through Victorian science. In a thought-provoking
section, Foster commented on how Douglas’ white accomplices – likely to
be ex-convicts – were side-lined, with the focus being on Douglas
himself. Douglas became a double bogeyman to the colonial society; he
represented the unruliness of the gold fields and the fears of race
relations within Victorian society.
The final part of the seminar revolved around a discussion about an
often-overlooked idea when examining national and folk heroes: who
exactly was Black Douglas? Here the most interesting part of Foster’s
research was shown. Black Douglas was an ex-convict with his convict
record saying that he arrived in Van Dieman’s Land (Tasmania) via the
infamous convict ship, the Marquis of Huntley(1). Foster has stated that he
may have lied about being a servant and cook in order to have greater
prospects upon arriving in Australia, a common occurrence which
remarkably resembles the reinvention of identity prevalent in the
goldmines. Colonial records stated that he often rebuked authority,
earning him 1,000 lashes during his time in Tasmania. However, the most
interesting aspect of Foster’s research is what happened before his
arrival in Australia, and what happened after his release from prison in
1857.
In her research, Foster has found several possible features of Douglas’
pre-Australia life. His convict record stated that he was originally
from Philadelphia, and travelled to Britain where he committed a crime –
stealing two coats –, which caused him to be sent to Tasmania. Aged just
17, Douglas was literate and apparently well spoken – he managed to
defend himself in court at a later trial, for example, when he and his
companion, John Smith, were held in a one-metre cell in a repurposed
castle for two weeks. Foster also mentioned his three tattoos: an anchor
on his left arm, the outline of a woman on the same arm, and a star or
sun on his right hand. All these features offer an interesting insight
into the life of Black Douglas; the actual personality of Black Douglas
was stripped from him, and he was remodelled as a legend. After his
release in 1857, Douglas’ life was a tragedy. He drifted from benevolent
society to imprisonment for vagrancy, and back to benevolent societies
until his death in 1892 – whilst he was imprisoned. Only two newspapers,
apparently plagiarising one another, wrote an obituary for him.
At this early stage of her research, Meg Foster has offered an
insightful glimpse into an overlooked figure. She concluded by stating
her plans to find out various things about Douglas, in a style
reminiscent to that of a detective. These include such things as who
exactly was Douglas’ white and illiterate companion John Smith (a very
difficult and unenviable task); and what were the exact meanings of
Douglas’ tattoos? Did anyone else share his tattoos on the convict ship?
– were the tattoos a gesture of brotherhood for the condemned? Foster’s
seminar was insightful, in that she efficiently painted a picture of
colonial fears of decentralised rule, as well as racist tensions, whilst
also highlighting the limitations of the current field of history.
Whilst researching Black Douglas, she has had to leave colonial records
behind due to gaps in the sources. Her research has also highlighted an
important idea. Regardless of whether they are a forgotten figure like
Black Douglas, or a well-known one like Ned Kelly, folk and national
heroes were not simply names on pages with their exploits: they were
real people.
Comment:
• If Meg Foster identified 'Black Douglas', it is not recorded here.
Some records refer to him as 'Black Douglas' Charles Russell
Notes:
1. I can find no trace of a Charles Russell on the
Marquis of Huntly
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Sources
Sources for this article include:
• Diaspora Research Seminar Review
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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