Editing Bushranger (section)

===Gold rush era (1850s–1860s)===
{{See also|Australian gold rushes}}
[[File:Bushrangers Attack Gold Escort.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bushrangers attack mounted policemen guarding a gold escort]]
The [[Australian gold rushes]] of the 1850s and 1860s marked the next distinct phase of bushranging, as the discovery of gold gave bushrangers access to great wealth that was portable and easily converted to cash. Their task was assisted by the isolated location of the goldfields and the decimation of the police force with many troopers abandoning their duties to join the gold rush.<ref name="NMA"/>

In Victoria, several major gold robberies occurred in 1852–53. Three bushrangers, including George Melville, were hanged in front of a large crowd for their role in the 1853 McIvor Escort Robbery near [[Castlemaine, Victoria|Castlemaine]].<ref name="NMA"/> Bushranging numbers also flourished in [[New South Wales]] with the rise of the colonial-born sons of poor ex-convicts who were drawn to a more glamorous life than mining or farming.<ref name="NMA"/> Much of the activity in the colony was in the [[Wyangala#Water resources|Lachlan Valley]], around [[Forbes, New South Wales|Forbes]], [[Yass, New South Wales|Yass]] and [[Cowra]].<ref name="NMA"/>

[[File:CaptureofBenHall.jpg|thumb|Ben Hall ambushed and shot dead by eight troopers, 1865]]
The [[Gardiner–Hall gang]], led by [[Frank Gardiner]] and [[Ben Hall (bushranger)|Ben Hall]] and counting [[John Dunn (bushranger)|John Dunn]], [[John Gilbert (bushranger)|John Gilbert]] and [[Fred Lowry]] among its members, was responsible for some of the most daring robberies of the 1860s, including the [[Escort Rock#History|1862 Escort Rock robbery]], Australia's largest ever gold heist. The gang also engaged in many shootouts with the police, resulting in deaths on both sides. Other bushrangers active in New South Wales during this period, such as [[Dan Morgan (bushranger)|Dan Morgan]],<ref name="NMA"/> and the [[Clarke brothers]] and their associates, murdered multiple policemen.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1867-04-29|title=Capture of the Outlaw Clarke and His Brother|pages=5|work=Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850–1875)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60839437|access-date=2020-08-04}}</ref>

As bushranging continued to escalate in the 1860s, the [[Parliament of New South Wales]] passed a bill, the ''Felons Apprehension Act 1865'', that effectively allowed anyone to shoot outlawed bushrangers on sight.<ref>{{Cite web|publisher=Parliament of New South Wales|date=8 April 1865|title=Felons Apprehension Act 1865|url=http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/faa1865n2241.pdf}}</ref> By the time that the Clarke brothers were captured and hanged in 1867, organised gang bushranging in New South Wales had effectively ceased.

[[Captain Thunderbolt]] (alias of Frederick Ward) robbed inns and mail-coaches across northern New South Wales for six and a half years, one of the longest careers of any bushranger.<ref name=adob/> He sometimes operated alone; at other times, he led gangs, and was accompanied by his Aboriginal 'wife', [[Mary Ann Bugg]], who is credited with helping extend his career.<ref name=adob/>