Patrick Daley (6 July 1844 – 29 April 1914), known informally as 'Patsy' Daley, was a 19th-century Australian bushranger. Daley was the younger cousin of John O’Meally, a member of Frank Gardiner’s gang of bushrangers who robbed the gold escort near Eugowra in June 1862. By early 1863 Patsy Daley had joined with O’Meally and Ben Hall in a series of robberies carried out in the Young district. Daley was captured in March 1863 and sentenced to fifteen years hard labour. He was released in 1873. Daley married and settled in the Cobar district, becoming a successful businessman and hotel-owner.
Biography
Early life
Patrick Bernard Daley was born on 6 July 1844 in the Black Range, south of Marengo, the son of John Daley and Ellen (née Downey). He was the second-born of twelve children.
Patsy Daley grew up in close proximity with his older cousin, John O'Meally. Daley and O'Meally's mothers were sisters. Their fathers operated the 'Arramagong' station in an informal partnership; with an estimated area of 26,800 acres and an estimated grazing capability of 800 cattle, the pastoral run was located at the southern foot of the Weddin Mountains in the Lachlan Squatting District.Lachlan, New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney), 28 May 1847 (Issue No. 47), page 580.Claims to Leases of Crown Lands Beyond the Settled Districts, No. 92, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 October 1848, page 3. The two households lived separately on the station, about a mile and a half distant from each other. The children of both families probably received at least a rudimentary education; in September 1853 it was recorded that a schoolmaster named John Smith was living on the property.Bathurst Assize Court, Empire (Sydney), 7 March 1854, page 3.
In June 1860 John O'Meally's father, Patrick, was granted a publicans’ license for the Weddin Mount Inn, built beside Emu Creek on the 'Arramagong' run.Certificate by Justices to Authorise the Granting of a License, Patrick O’Maley, Weddin Mount Inn, 18 June 1860, NSW State Archives; Series: 14403; Item: [7/1512]; Reel: 1241 (per Ancestry.com). With the gold-rush that occurred in the second half of 1860 at Lambing Flat and, nine months later, the opening up of the Lachlan goldfield at Forbes, the prospects for O’Meally's inn considerably improved, being situated on a road between the two, 25 miles from Lambing Flat and 45 miles from Forbes.Lambing Flat, Yass Courier, 1 August 1860, page 2.The Lachlan, Yass Courier, 12 February 1862, page 2.
By 1861 a disagreement had arisen between Patrick O’Meally and Patsy Daley's father, John, over the leasehold of ‘Arramagong’ station. In June 1861 O’Meally placed the property, including stock and buildings, up for auction and Daley discovered the lease was held in O'Meally's name only. In July 1861 the leasehold of the 'Arramagong' run was sold for £1,370 to Patrick Throsby, a landholder near Berrima.Pastoral Property, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 July 1861, page 3. The new owner of the station tried to evict the Daley family, which they resisted, remaining in their house until September 1863.
In 1862 Daley's cousin, John O’Meally, came under the influence of the bushranger, Frank Gardiner, who had begun armed robberies in the district and using the Weddin Mountains and the nearby Pinnacle Range as refuges. Gardiner was a frequent visitor to O’Meally's inn in the Weddin district. Whether or not Patsy Daley was involved in criminal activities at this stage is not known, but he was certainly associating with his cousin, who had already joined with Gardiner in committing robberies. In March 1862 O’Meally, Daley and another cousin (surname Downey) were apprehended on suspicion of being involved in the highway robbery of the storekeepers, Alfred Horsington and Henry Hewitt, near Wombat on 10 March 1862.Lambing Flat, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 March 1862, page 3. O’Meally had been part of the gang led by Gardiner who carried out the robbery, but in the end the three young men were released without charge due to insufficient evidence.
John O’Meally was one of Gardiner's gang of bushrangers (eight in number) who robbed the gold escort near Eugowra in June 1862. By the end of 1862 O’Meally and several others of the gang remained at large. From early 1863 Patsy Daley, attracted to the romance and excitement of the bushranging life, began to join O’Meally and his fellow bushrangers in undertaking robberies in the Lambing Flat district.
Bushranging
Early evening on 28 January 1863 three armed men forcibly entered the house of Henry Colley at 'Demondrille' station near Murrumburrah. They stole a number of firearms and ammunition, jewellery, a watch, clothing and a saddle and bridle.Robbery Under Arms, New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney), 4 February 1863 (Issue No. 5), page 32. Patsy Daley was later identified as one of the three who robbed Colley.Miscellaneous Information, New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney), 8 April 1863 (Issue No. 14), page 103.
At eight o'clock in the evening of 2 February 1863 five armed men entered George Dickenson's store at Spring Creek near Young and stuck-up Dickenson, his storekeeper and a customer. The men were recognised as John Gilbert, Patsy Daley, John O’Meally and Christie Boland (alias Purtell).Robbery Under Arms, New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney), 11 February 1863 (Issue No. 6), page 40.Albury Police Court: Saturday, April 16, Albury Banner and Wodonga Express, 23 April 1864, page 2. The fifth man was believed to be Ben Hall. The three detainees were taken outside and guarded at gunpoint by Daley while the other bushrangers searched the store. As others passed by they were detained as well. It was reported that Daley was "very nervous and trembled like a leaf"; noticing his unease several of the captives pressed forward at which point Hall intervened and warned them to stay back.Old Time Bushrangers: Some Local Characters, by 'Old Ned', Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative, 11 April 1912, page 28. After searching the store the bushrangers departed with £5 in silver, an estimated £10 worth of gold-dust, a revolver, three watches, several pairs of boots and a quantity of clothing.Goulburn Assizes, Goulburn Herald, 26 September 1863, page 2. As they were leaving an unarmed policeman in plain clothes, Constable David Stewart, came along. The bushrangers ordered him off his horse. The policeman resisted and he was pulled off, and his horse, saddle and bridle were taken.Committal of Patrick Daley, Yass Courier, 18 April 1863, page 4; republished from the Burrangong Star of 11 April 1863.
On Saturday morning, 7 February 1863, Ben Hall and Patsy Daley broke into the unattended Pinnacle Police Station and stole a rifle, a carbine, ammunition, a pair of saddlebags and a bridle, and articles of clothing. The station was usually occupied by three troopers. Two of the policemen, including the officer in charge, had been required to go to Forbes and the third, Constable Knox, was absent from the premises (despite being instructed "not to leave his post").Breaking Into a Police Station, Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News, 21 February 1863, page 3; republished from the Lachlan Observer, 11 February 1863.Housebreaking, and Stealing from Dwelling-houses, New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney), 18 February 1863 (Issue No. 7), page 48. When Knox returned later that day, he began following the tracks of the robbers. The following day Trooper William Hollister and two Aboriginal trackers, Billy Dargin and Prince Charlie, arrived from Forbes. They sent Knox back to the station and resumed following the tracks. Hollister and the trackers caught up with Hall and Daley as they were departing from Allport's inn on the Forbes Road, close to the ‘Pinnacle’ station. They gave chase, but after several miles the pursuit was abandoned when Hollister's horse ran against a tree and the trooper was thrown to the ground. During the chase Daley had fired three shots at Tracker Charlie.The Attack on Sub Inspector Norton, Empire (Sydney), 28 March 1863, page 5. After the Pinnacle police station robbery Knox was dismissed from the police force.Dismissal, New South Wales Police Gazette and Weekly Record of Crime (Sydney), 8 April 1863 (Issue No. 14), page 103.
Mid-afternoon on Saturday, 21 February 1863, four armed bushrangers dressed "in the style of policemen in private clothes" rode up to Meyer Solomon's store at Little Wombat.Sticking Up and Robbery of Mr. Myers Solomon’s Store, Near Wombat, Newcastle Chronicle and Hunter River District News, 7 March 1863, page 3; republished from the Burrangong Star of 28 February 1863. They were Ben Hall, John Gilbert, John O'Meally and Patsy Daley. Solomon's heavily pregnant wife observed the men approaching and informed her husband, who reached for a musket. Meeting them at the door Solomon fired his musket, the ball grazing the neck of one of the bushrangers "and tearing the collar of his coat". The intruders responded by firing two shots in return. Solomon escaped through the back of the premises; he was pursued by two of the men, captured and brought back to the store and placed under guard with his wife and a young lad, George Johnstone, in Solomon's employment. The bushrangers then proceeded to ransack the store in "cool, deliberate manner", loading three pack-horses with goods before departing at about seven o’clock in the evening.Robbery of Mr. Solomon at Big Wombat, The Herald (Melbourne), 14 March 1863, page 7; republished from the Burrowa Times, 26 February 1863 (via the Goulburn Chronicle). The following morning the police tracked the bushrangers for about ten miles in the direction of the Weddin Mountains, but gave up the pursuit "from the want of a tracker and exhaustion, as most of the police had just returned from Yass".Telegraphic Despatches, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February 1863, page 4.
The detainment of Sub-Inspector Norton
By late February 1863 Sub-Inspector John Norton was given charge of the police at Forbes. On 28 February 1863 Norton and Tracker Billy Dargin were on patrol in pursuit of the bushrangers Hall, O'Meally and Daley; they had arranged to meet ten police troopers at the foot of Wheogo Mountain, north-west of Grenfell, but through a misunderstanding the meeting did not eventuate. Norton and Dargin continued the pursuit and the next morning, March 1, while riding towards 'Pinnacle' station they came upon the camp of the three bushrangers, who immediately mounted their horses and spread out on either side of the road in an effort to encircle Norton and Dargin. O'Meally advanced to within 80 to 100 yards and fired two shots at Norton from a double-barrelled gun. The bushrangers pushed forward to within fifty yards, exchanging shots with Norton, with none taking effect. When the policeman's ammunition was expended Daley, "armed with three revolvers and a pair of pistols", rode up to him and told him to throw down his arms. During the shooting Dargin had dismounted and escaped on foot into the bush, with several shots fired after him. Norton claimed that after his surrender "Hall rode up and fired point blank at him, but fortunately without effect". While O'Meally guarded the prisoner, Hall and Daley started in pursuit of the tracker, without success.The Capture of Mr. Inspector Norton, by Bushrangers, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 March 1863, page 3; republished from the Lachlan Observer, 4 March 1863.