An Australian bush story would not be complete without a true bushranger yarn. Bernice Carter of “Pembury” Barraba relates.
‘Just away to the right-hand side of “Old Tareela” are the old slate stables, built I think, in Mr Cheeseborough’s time. He owned where “Tarcela” is and had good horses.
One day, Thunderbolt the bushranger, who had previously worked for Cheeseborough at “Tareela”, decided to return and rob Mr Cheeseborough of one of his fine horses. Thunderbolt did just that and fixed a shot into the door of the stables, and even though very old, the bullet hole to our knowledge is still there.’
(During the latter half of the 19th century Thunderbolt committed many robberies, bailing up mail coaches and private homes in the New England and Liverpool areas, until he was shot dead by Constable Walker in 1870 – he is buried in Uralla.)
