BUSHRANGERS: OUTLAW OR HERO

Do we romanticise Australia’s outlaw heroes… and the villains too.

Glorifying thieves, runaways and sometimes murderers who became notorious bushrangers is a uniquely Australian phenomenon, but why do we find them so fascinating.

Bushranger stories of men and women “tell great tales” featured in popular culture through song, poetry, painting and film over the years.

Beyond the mythology does our convict heritage disguise an anti-authoritarian attitude and are these attitudes sustainable today as our population diversifies beyond the history of the penal colony.

Listen to storyteller Jo Henwood tell their tales

BIO

Jo Henwood is always telling stories.

As a Tour Guide and Education Officer, she leads tours in many heritage sites around Sydney and Windsor, including women’s history tours.

She is an Accredited Storyteller with Australian Storytellers, Accredited Professional Guide with the Institute of Australian Tour Guides and co-founder of the Australian Fairy Tale Society. Jo is a museum theatre creative, workshop leader and public speaker on history, literature, creative writing, intangible culture and storytelling.

Image: "Bailed up" Tom Roberts, 1895

Courtesy Art Gallery of N.S.W