For two long years, Tom and John Clarke had terrorised south eastern NSW. Between 1865 and 1867 the Braidwood based brothers committed countless robberies, assaults and murders. This was the end of their bushranging days.
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At 6 in the morning, on Wednesday April 9, John and Tom Clarke emerged from their hut. The brothers were saddling their horses when a hail of bullets began to rain down on them. As the brothers rushed towards shelter, they drew their rifles and began to shoot.
That was the scene in Braidwood on Saturday, as the Historical Society re-enacted the capture of these infamous bushrangers. One hundred and fifty years on, another pair of Clarke brothers were centre stage. Tom and Luke Clarke played the part of their famous ancestors. The brothers are fifth generation descendants of a brother of the bushrangers.
More than 3000 people gathered to watch the event. The crowds watched as uniformed police officers set a trap for the Clarkes. As the Clarkes emerged from their slab hut, they began to shoot. Puffs of gunsmoke filled the air as the brothers raced inside. Half an hour of shooting followed, during which the crowds could see the barrels of the Clarkes' guns poking out from the windows of the hut.
In 1867, after six hours of shooting and hopelessly outnumbered, the Clarkes surrendered. On June 25 they were hung for their crimes. This marked the end of the reign of bushrangers in NSW.
A few skittish horses aside, the event went perfectly to plan according to Historical Society president Peter Smith.
"The cast did a terrific job when you consider that there's 20 actors, all local people, never done anything like this before and we had two hours of rehearsals this morning," he said.
Mr Smith has led the drive to bring the Clarkes back to Braidwood. He's been plotting the event for almost 50 years, since as a young man he was involved in the centenary re-enactment of the same in Goulburn.
Braidwood was approached to host the re-enactment in 1957, but the legacy of the bushrangers was too fresh. "Braidwood wanted to forget about it", said Mr Smith.
In the past 50 years, attitudes to the bushrangers have been turned upside down and the town has embraced the re-enactment.
Crowds massed onto the field after the event, led by a pack of children keen to see the scene up close. The actors were besieged for photographs and signatures, while a queue formed to admire the interior of the slab hut.
Hut builder and relative of the bushrangers, Terry Hart, said people had previously been ashamed to be related to bushrangers.
"You know I'm proud of it really now. I know they probably did the wrong thing, but still it's something to look back at."
