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2:00

Michael Adams in the Blue Mountains of

2:02

New South Wales on land traditionally owned

2:04

by the Darug and Gundungurra people. I pay

2:07

my respect to Aboriginal elders, past

2:09

and present. Every episode

2:12

of Forgotten Australia is the result

2:14

of weeks or even months of

2:16

research, writing, recording and production. So

2:18

until mid-May I'm working on new

2:20

episodes. For your listening pleasure and

2:22

in line with this seasons theme

2:24

of Murders that Shocked Australia, I'm

2:26

re-releasing two of my favourite three-parters

2:28

dealing with very bad men who

2:30

left trails of death and destruction

2:33

in their wakes. If you're

2:35

an Apple or Patreon supporter you'll

2:37

have full, immediate and ad-free access

2:39

to all instalments. This

2:41

podcast episode contains references to

2:43

suicide, violence and sexual violence

2:45

against children. Listener discretion is

2:47

advised. It's

2:54

late in the morning on Thursday the 21st of

2:56

October 1897 and Kullgadi,

2:58

like the rest of Western

3:00

Australia, is celebrating the 7th

3:03

anniversary of Proclamation Day, that

3:05

is when the colony achieved

3:07

self-government. Kullgadi, as

3:09

Europeans know it, didn't even exist in

3:11

1890. It wasn't until

3:14

1892 that gold was discovered here. Since

3:17

then the place has boomed, becoming the

3:19

third biggest town in Western Australia. Some

3:22

25,000 people live in Kullgadi

3:24

and in the surrounding settlements. The

3:27

wealth from the gold rush has seen its

3:29

dusty streets lined with buildings, some even made

3:31

of brick and iron and standing two stories

3:34

high. There are hotels

3:36

and breweries, banks and stock

3:38

exchanges, grocers, tailors and mining

3:40

supplies doors, newspaper and telegraph

3:42

offices. Today though most

3:44

of these businesses are closed for the

3:46

Proclamation Day public holiday and the streets

3:48

are packed with thousands of people who've

3:50

turned out to show their colonial pride.

3:53

The weather's perfect, clear and warm and

3:55

celebrations get underway around 1130 with a

3:57

march by members of the Kullgadi. various

4:00

united friendly societies. A

4:03

nine-man band playing lively music precedes

4:05

members of the Free Gardeners Society

4:07

in their bright regalia and towing

4:09

a trolley decorated with flowers and

4:11

topped with a miniature Noah's Ark.

4:14

More societies follow the Australian

4:16

natives, the Recobites and Druids,

4:18

Manchester Unity and the independent

4:21

order of Oddfellows. Last

4:23

but not least come 40 members of

4:25

the Typographical Society, these typos giving

4:27

a lusty cheer as they pass

4:30

the offices of a major employer,

4:32

the Cool Guardy Minor newspaper. Procession

4:35

over, everyone heads to the Recreation

4:37

Reserve for the day's real excitement,

4:40

a gala sports afternoon. The

4:42

big draw cards as ever are the

4:44

bicycle races featuring stars of the sport

4:46

that's become a craze all over the

4:48

gold fields as it has all over

4:50

Australia. One of the

4:52

main events is the two-mile handicap and six

4:55

champions line up for the final heat. Then

4:57

they're off, heads down, legs pumping, wheels

5:00

humming, whizzing around the track as the

5:02

crowd roars for their favorites. For

5:05

most of the race the leader of

5:07

the pack is George Blunderfield, a 26

5:09

year old champion from up in Kalgoorlie.

5:11

But on the last lap George falters

5:13

badly and a writer named James Bigwood

5:15

surges past him followed by two other

5:17

cyclists who've also put on late bursts

5:20

of speed. This

5:22

isn't a good result for the Kalgoorlie

5:24

man who's lately become accustomed to winning

5:26

such races. But George hasn't

5:28

just missed out on the 20 pound

5:30

first prize, he's also the subject of

5:32

a complaint. Other writers tell

5:35

the stewards he was riding erratically trying

5:37

to interfere with them, in short a

5:39

bad sport. This ought to

5:41

be a minor matter, protests of this nature

5:43

happen all the time. But while

5:46

the stewards consider this charge, George

5:48

Blunderfield makes matters far worse for

5:50

himself by unleashing a tirade of

5:52

obscene insults at the race officials.

5:56

If only he'd held his tongue. That's

5:58

because the stewards actually dismiss the

6:01

foul writing complaint. But for

6:03

his foul language, for his insolence

6:05

and the abuse he's heaped upon

6:07

them, they suspend George Blunderfield for

6:09

three months from participating in any

6:11

further racing events in the colony

6:13

of Western Australia. In

6:15

the scheme of things, it's a trivial

6:17

offence that'll warrant just a couple of

6:19

sentences in the extensive racing coverage found

6:21

in tomorrow's Coolgarty Minor. But

6:24

this contra tom won't end there. What

6:27

stewards, cyclists, the race crowd and the

6:29

man from the Coolgarty Minor don't realise

6:31

is they haven't just glimpsed an angry

6:34

outburst made by a gentleman losing his

6:36

cool. What they've seen is

6:38

the first crack in the mask worn by

6:40

a monster in the making. Between

6:43

now and the first weeks of the new

6:45

century, the gold fields and the rest

6:47

of the colony will recoil in horror

6:49

as he reveals more and more of his

6:51

true murderous self. And

6:53

almost exactly 20 years from today, under

6:56

a new identity and in a new

6:58

far off part of the country, George

7:00

Blunderfield is going to commit crimes that

7:02

appall all of Australia. I'm

7:06

Michael Adams and this is part one of

7:08

the three part forgotten Australia episode, The Nature

7:10

of a Scorpion. The second

7:12

and third instalments will be available here

7:15

soon, but as a forgotten Australia supporter,

7:17

you can hear the whole story right

7:19

now. As a supporter, you'll

7:21

not just get early access to episodes,

7:23

you can also get exclusive original episodes

7:26

and the full audiobook of Australia's Sweetheart.

7:28

You'll also get galleries of photos, articles

7:30

and artwork from newspapers and magazines published

7:33

at the time of these events. And

7:36

as an extra thank you, supporters, get a

7:38

shout out right here in the show. So

7:40

if you've become a supporter recently, listen out

7:42

for your name at the end of this

7:44

instalment. To become a supporter, go

7:46

to Patreon, that's P A T

7:48

R E O N, patreon.com/forgotten Australia

7:51

and there's also a link in

7:53

your show notes. Around

7:57

the time George Blunderfield was becoming infamous in

7:59

Wales, he was a very famous man. Western

8:01

Australia, an animal fable was gaining currency on

8:03

the other side of the world in Tsarras,

8:05

Russia. You've probably heard it. A

8:08

frog and a scorpion find themselves side by side

8:10

on the bank of a stream. The

8:12

arachnid can't swim, so he asks if

8:14

he can ride across on the amphibian's

8:16

back. The frog says, hell no,

8:19

if I do that, you'll sting me. The

8:21

scorpion replies, well, if I did that,

8:23

we'd both die. Seeing the

8:26

logic in this answer, the good-natured frog

8:28

agrees. Halfway across the water,

8:30

the scorpion brings down the stinger and

8:32

injects its venom. Dying

8:34

and sinking, the frog asks the murderer

8:36

still on its back, why? The

8:39

scorpion replies, it's in my nature.

8:43

This fable could have been written about

8:45

George Blunderfield. He couldn't resist

8:47

his true nature. For

8:49

two decades, first in Western Australia and

8:52

then in Victoria, this scorpion would hurt

8:54

and kill people who, like the frog,

8:56

only had his best interests at heart.

8:59

And in committing his escalating

9:01

atrocities with little thought for

9:04

consequences, George repeatedly ensured his

9:06

own increasingly severe punishments. But

9:09

he was like a scorpion in Another Way 2.

9:12

Scorpions regularly shed their skins

9:14

in one piece, leaving behind

9:17

their ghostly exoskeletons, though they

9:19

themselves remain unchanged. George

9:22

Blunderfield did the same thing, assuming

9:24

numerous guises, yet whatever name he

9:27

went under, he couldn't help but

9:29

be his true monstrous self. Family

9:34

records at ancestry.com.au show that George

9:36

Faroe Blunderfield was born in July

9:38

1871 in Suffolk, England. His

9:43

parents, Benjamin and Mary, already had a

9:45

daughter, Henrietta, and a son, Frank, and

9:48

after George in England, they'd go on

9:50

to have four more surviving children. They

9:53

were Jesse, Alice, Beatrice and

9:55

Stephen. In early 1880, Benjamin,

9:58

who worked as a farmer, filed for the The

10:00

bankruptcy. The. Blender Feals needed

10:02

a fresh start so he went to

10:04

South Africa with his wife and children

10:06

joining him in ha Ninety Two. Soon

10:09

after arriving, George would say he

10:11

contrasted a serious case of interest

10:13

save us that is Typhoid. He.

10:15

Survived and in I say Ninety five.

10:17

The family moved again, this time to

10:20

Adelaide. The next year Benjamin

10:22

and Mary had another daughter spamming her

10:24

Adelaide after the new Haim spot, this

10:26

little girl soon died. The. Last

10:29

surviving child son Charles came along

10:31

in eighteen a shiite. It.

10:33

Was a big family and will be

10:35

hearing not just about George but also

10:38

about his brothers Frank, stephen N. Charles

10:40

and he sisters Henrietta and Jesse. because

10:42

these stories intersect with his. At

10:45

first this other Benjamin worked as an Adelaide

10:47

milkman. Spots did since settle into the create

10:49

that he'd follow for the next twenty years,

10:51

and that was as the fellows who put

10:53

up the real estate sale and to let

10:55

signs all over the city. Son.

10:58

George grew to stand five foot eight

11:00

and way one hundred ninety pounds. He

11:03

was dark age, had a lane handsome

11:05

face with high cheekbones and really striking

11:07

blue eyes. George's. Athletic, so

11:09

a heavy smoker, and he spoke with

11:11

an English accent that had a slight

11:13

nasal twang. George. Would like

11:16

to give his occupation as a train

11:18

engine driver, so it's possible he worked

11:20

around South Australia on the railways in

11:22

his youth. And he's later

11:24

account George Went to the Western Australian

11:26

Goldfields in Ac naughty for. For

11:28

reasons that will become clear later, this

11:31

climate needs to be scrutinized. On.

11:33

The sixth of November I say ninety

11:35

Fourth, a peasant and nine blunder Field

11:37

know initial arrived at Albany in Western

11:40

Australia on esteem from Adelaide. Whether.

11:42

This with George or where he wins

11:44

isn't known. But. On the eighteenth

11:46

of January I say non he seeks

11:48

to blunder fields against their initials not

11:50

listed gonna Sistema in Albany again from

11:52

Adelaide. A. Week later in

11:55

the Kalgoorlie mine and newspapers we find

11:57

and is blunder sealed and and a

11:59

blunder fields as having contributed to a

12:01

fund for a woman rendered homeless by

12:03

far. The is would

12:05

have been Frank the I was most

12:07

likely sister Alice. But. It's also

12:10

possible George was in Kalgoorlie at this

12:12

time We know he was definitely thereby

12:14

April eighteen ninety six for he was

12:16

able to take note of a mining

12:18

least that was on worked and soon

12:20

after make a claim for in court.

12:22

Either the next six months, George applaud

12:25

the numerous forfeited mining lasers, applied for

12:27

a few of his own, and acted

12:29

as an agent for other miners making

12:31

applications. Friend got a

12:34

job at the Golden Reach Mine twelve miles

12:36

east of town. While.

12:38

His brother work to these hands as

12:40

a goldmine us to too soon making

12:42

money with his legs in the regions

12:44

other boom business. bicycles. In

12:47

visiting the Western Australian gold fields in

12:49

the I say nineties, we usually imagine

12:51

dusty outpost women got around on foot

12:54

on horses or camels. What's.

12:56

Less recalled is that one of the

12:59

main modes of transport was the bicycle.

13:02

On the twentieth of August I say

13:04

Ninety Five, the cool, gaudy minor wrote

13:06

quite The Bicycle is one of the

13:08

most important sectors in the development of

13:10

the Goldfields. Two.

13:12

Wheelers had food gained popularity in

13:14

Australia in the eighties seventies. These

13:16

penny farthing so named because of

13:18

the relative sizes of this huge

13:20

front and tiny rear wheels were

13:22

high off the ground and inherently

13:24

dangerous. But by the meat, as

13:26

he knows he's there was the

13:29

safety bicycle, which was far lower

13:31

to the ground with wheels of

13:33

equal and modest size. It's the

13:35

basic bike design we noted. I

13:37

thought ring historians hims. It's Patrick

13:39

tells us that two hundred thousand

13:41

such bikes. Were imported into Australia

13:43

in the eighties nineties and the most

13:45

concentrated bicycle one ship on the continent.

13:48

The Western Australian Goldfields. There a lot

13:50

of reasons for this in terms of

13:52

getting around the has climate made long

13:55

journey on foot pretty difficult. And.

13:57

Like the city's they weren't trained on

13:59

the buses or trains between a smaller

14:01

towns. Horses. And camels. He

14:03

did water and food and to be corralled

14:05

and cared for. Box. Didn't

14:07

require much more than pedal power and a

14:09

bit of maintenance. In terms

14:11

of communication, telephones was still a key

14:14

is off on the gold fields, and

14:16

telegraph coverage has it's limitations. In.

14:18

The time it took you to get to

14:20

a telegraph office pacer message to be tapped

14:22

out and then received at an office in

14:24

a town miles whites and then delivered to

14:27

a recipients who had to be found. Well,

14:29

it might be cheaper and faster to simply

14:31

hop on your bike, cover the distance yourself,

14:33

find the sellouts, and set size to face.

14:35

Or. You could pay someone to ride

14:37

on your behalf and return with a reply.

14:40

Sets. You could ride far and

14:42

fast. Were cold special cyclists. They

14:44

made their money conveying messages, delivering

14:47

letters and packages, and speeding use

14:49

of goal discoveries so that submission

14:51

of new claims might be expedited.

14:53

George. Blanda Field was a powerful rider

14:55

and he worked as a special cyclist.

14:58

He also got into the business of

15:00

buying, selling and sixteen box. There

15:02

was a lot of money to be made

15:04

in this because imported bicycles didn't come cheap.

15:06

I tossed around twenty five pounds, which was

15:09

then what a man might make. Wilson is

15:11

a labor of the two months. In.

15:13

Addition to being a special cyclists, there

15:15

was another way to retreat the cost

15:17

of your bike and maybe even turn

15:19

a profit. This. Was to be

15:21

a racer. Across. The street

15:23

from eating seventy eight by school

15:25

clubs had sprung up in Colonial

15:27

capitals and across regional towns. Races

15:30

was first held for trophies that

15:32

they soon included substantial test prices.

15:34

By. November I say Ninety Six George Blanda

15:37

sealed was making his nine as a

15:39

top competitor in December that it's detained

15:41

second in two races it.org Winning a

15:43

trophy were two pounds for the two

15:45

mile event and a one time cash

15:47

prize for the mile and a half

15:49

fixture. On Boxing Day, as a

15:51

Ninety Six, a Canal Toward came within a

15:53

whisker of winning the two mile race, but

15:55

still walked away with five pounds five shillings

15:58

for coming second. Thought. George's

16:00

rising star was reported in the detailed

16:02

coverage that these events received in the

16:04

local papers. These articles

16:06

also mentioned any mishaps or accidents,

16:08

noting for instance that he'd had

16:10

to retire in the Canowna 5-mile

16:12

event around halfway because of a

16:14

problem with his bike. While

16:17

George Blunderfield would in a few years

16:19

be known all over Australia, the first

16:21

of his name to make big inter-colonial

16:23

news was his older brother Frank. Two

16:26

days after that Canowna race, Monday 28th December 1896,

16:28

George, Frank and another mate

16:32

were on foot taking what they thought

16:35

was a short track between Kalgoorlie and

16:37

Golden Ridge Mine, yet they were

16:39

on the wrong road. By dusk

16:41

Frank was too tired to go on. George

16:44

and his mate kept walking and they reached

16:46

Golden Ridge in the morning. There

16:48

they rode out on bikes in search of

16:50

Frank, but they didn't find any trace of

16:52

him. With no water

16:55

and no food and with daily temperatures

16:57

rising into the 30s, the lost man

16:59

wouldn't last long. On

17:01

the Wednesday a search party was mounted

17:03

and they had no luck either. Thursday

17:06

yielded the same dismal result.

17:09

Then, remarkably, earlier the next morning,

17:11

New Year's Day 1897, a mounted

17:13

police constable and

17:16

an Aboriginal tracker found Frank

17:18

Blunderfield alive if exhausted, starving

17:20

and dehydrated. By

17:25

March 1897 George was winning bike

17:27

races as the Scratch Man who

17:29

started without a handicap. At

17:31

Broad Arrow, at the St Patrick's Day Sports

17:34

Gala, he took out first in the two

17:36

and five mile races and pocketed a tidy

17:38

17 pounds prize money. The

17:40

local newspaper, the Broad Arrow Standard said

17:42

he quote, seemed to have it all

17:44

his own way in whatever race he

17:46

contested. George Blunderfield was

17:49

a fine young colonial gentleman.

17:51

Popular, hardworking and truly a

17:53

sportsman. He was a credit

17:55

to Calguli, especially when riding against races

17:57

from rival Cool Guardi. George

18:00

also gave back to the sport and

18:02

to the town, as one of the

18:04

recently founded Kogali Bicycle Clubs to honorary

18:07

secretaries. In the autumn of

18:09

1897 he was the leading force behind

18:11

getting a new racing track built at

18:13

the Recreation Reserve. The velodrome,

18:15

complete with a grandstand for the ladies, was

18:17

to be opened on the Queen's birthday holiday

18:19

in May. All events that

18:22

day were to be conducted under the rules

18:24

of the West Australian League of Wheelmen, which

18:26

was the governing body for the sport in

18:28

the colony. Most of

18:30

the Queen's birthday races were serious, though

18:32

a few, like the fancy dress event,

18:34

were light-hearted. But keeping riders

18:36

safe was a priority, so punters had

18:39

to keep their pets at home. As

18:42

the newspaper ads warned, quote, dogs

18:44

will be shot. The

18:46

day was a splendid success, and no

18:48

carbines had to be used on canines.

18:51

George competed in the one-mile race, came first

18:53

and won a gold medal, while 93 pounds

18:56

in cash prizes were distributed to

18:58

other cyclists. Just

19:01

a month later, George and his

19:03

co-secretary organised an even bigger racing

19:05

carnival for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

19:09

Bicycle events that day offered 205 pounds in prize money, and some

19:11

5,000 people came from

19:14

all over the gold fields, which was more than

19:17

double the number of people who lived in Kalgoorlie

19:19

itself. In

19:22

September 1897, George competed

19:24

in Kullgadi on Anniversary Day, which

19:26

celebrated the discovery of gold five

19:28

years earlier. The half-mile

19:31

handicap ended with a chap named Bennett

19:33

crossing the line first. To signal

19:35

this, the steward fired his gun, just

19:37

as George, who was in second place,

19:39

fell with another rider crashing into him.

19:42

The timing of this, the shot and

19:44

the fall led spectators to briefly worry

19:46

that the official had accidentally put a

19:48

bullet in his pistol and shot beloved

19:50

George Blunderfield. In the years to

19:53

come, people might have wished that had been

19:55

the case, that he'd been put down then

19:57

and there like an intruding dog. But

20:02

that same month, September 1897, George

20:05

was regarded as an angel of mercy

20:07

rather than feared as an angel of

20:09

death. When a miner named

20:12

Wilson lay dying in Kalgoorlie hospital, he

20:14

cried out that he wanted to see

20:16

his brothers who were working at Barara

20:18

some 20 miles east. George was

20:20

at the Grand Hotel when he heard this.

20:22

So he raced on his bike to Barara

20:25

and gave the machine to the brothers so

20:27

they could use it to speed to the

20:29

deathbed and see off his sibling. A

20:32

correspondent for the Kalgoorlie Western Argus wrote,

20:35

I consider it my duty to bestow

20:37

a high tribute of praise upon Mr

20:39

George Blunderfield. The writer said

20:41

that George's actions showed that quote,

20:43

old time loyalty between mates on

20:45

gold fields is still extant. He

20:48

also said that it quote, proved how

20:50

invaluable is the service of the bike

20:53

in localities which have not yet been

20:55

favoured with telegraphic communication. There

20:57

was mateship on the gold fields

20:59

but rivalry too, particularly between Kalgoorlie

21:02

and Kullgardi. Of course, this was

21:04

keenly felt in bicycle races. In

21:07

September 1897, which was

21:09

a pretty busy month, a young

21:11

Kullgardi champion named Frederick Stellweg issued

21:13

a challenge. He'd back

21:15

himself to the tune of 40 pounds

21:17

to beat any Kalgoorlie riders over one,

21:19

two and three mile races

21:22

to be held on the same day. George

21:25

Blunderfield accepted the challenge for the shorter

21:27

courses. Another Kalgoorlie club

21:29

man would take on Mr Stellweg over

21:31

the three miles. Best of

21:33

three would decide which town's riders reign

21:35

supreme. By this

21:38

time George had entered into communications

21:40

with the West Australian League of

21:42

Wheelmen to have the Kalgoorlie Club

21:44

officially affiliated. But hearing

21:46

of the upcoming Kalgoorlie Kullgardi challenge, the

21:48

league ruled it couldn't go ahead because

21:50

it was operating as a private for-profit

21:53

syndicate. The Kalgoorlie minor

21:55

newspaper was outraged, saying this

21:57

was quote, bunkum. Then

22:00

on the 21st of October 1897

22:02

at the Proclamation Day races in

22:05

Kullgadi, George Blunderfield went on that

22:07

foul mouth tirade against stewards. They

22:10

banned him from riding anywhere in the

22:12

colony for the next three months and

22:14

they looked to the league in Perth

22:16

to confirm this disqualification. George

22:19

thumbed his nose at the stewards.

22:21

He wasn't going to let them

22:23

stop him riding in Kalgoorlie and

22:26

for Kalgoorlie against Kullgadi and Kullgadi's

22:28

Mr Stellwag. On Saturday

22:30

the 23rd a huge crowd gathered at

22:32

the Kalgoorlie bike track to watch the

22:35

showdown. George Blunderfield trounced

22:37

Frederick Stellwag in both the 1

22:40

and 2 mile races. The third

22:42

event wasn't even held because Kalgoorlie was

22:44

triumphant 2-0. George

22:47

won the 40 pounds and so much more.

22:49

The Kalgoorlie minor on the 25th of

22:51

October described the scene, quote, Blunderfield's

22:54

mastery of the visitor was hailed

22:56

with delight and he was carried

22:58

shoulder high into the dressing room

23:00

where Stellwag lay apparently exhausted. The

23:04

conquering hero George Blunderfield continued to ignore

23:06

the ban and the Kalgoorlie club had

23:09

his back. But matters threatened

23:11

to come to a head when he rode in

23:13

events on the 10th of November. Under

23:16

the league's edicts everyone who raced

23:18

against George now risked disqualification. Matters

23:21

became more complicated when he came second in

23:23

one of the races and claimed the prize

23:25

money. Even he shouldn't have

23:28

been competing, this cash rightly belonged to

23:30

the man who came third. The

23:32

league wrote to the Kalgoorlie club

23:34

demanding an explanation. George

23:37

wrote back to slam the Koguardi

23:39

stewards and to air his general

23:41

grievances against the West Australian league

23:43

of wheelmen. George's

23:45

lengthy letters read aloud at a

23:48

league meeting included several quote, bombastic

23:50

and insulting remarks. As

23:53

1898 began George continued to train,

23:55

race and carry out Kalgoorlie club

23:57

duties. But in mid-January and

23:59

per- the infuriated league doubled

24:01

down by banning him from Western

24:03

Australian cycling for the term of

24:06

his natural life. It

24:08

also advised its brother leagues in

24:10

other colonies that George Blunderfield was

24:12

quote a person ineligible for election

24:15

to any cycling club or body.

24:18

The West Australian Sunday Times newspaper

24:20

agreed that this obnoxious rider of

24:22

the Goldfields had gotten what he

24:24

deserved. But the Kalgoorlie

24:27

Club wasn't cowed. They'd reappoint him

24:29

honorary secretary and he remained active

24:31

in training steering a quad bike

24:33

used for pacing on the track.

24:36

In April 1898 George and his

24:38

three fellow riders crashed this quad bike

24:40

and he suffered the worst of the

24:43

injuries with badly cut knees. But

24:45

he wasn't out of action and the

24:47

next month he organised the monster cycling

24:50

carnival at the Recreation Reserve for that

24:52

year's Queen's birthday. George's

24:54

younger brother Stephen newly arrived in

24:56

Kalgoorlie. He competed in his first

24:58

races and the kid

25:00

did alright placing second and third in

25:03

events winning prizes valued at around one

25:05

pound. The Kalgoorlie Club

25:07

clearly still had George's back. In

25:10

August 1898 they petitioned the

25:12

West Australian League of Wheelmen to

25:15

overturn his lifetime ban writing quote

25:18

we consider the penalty Mr. Blunderfield

25:20

has already suffered sufficient for the

25:22

alleged offence and we further consider

25:24

that the interest of the league

25:26

would be considerably strengthened on the

25:29

Goldfields if the ban were removed

25:31

as Mr. Blunderfield is universally known

25:33

to be a gentleman of irreproachable

25:35

character. Over

25:37

in Perth the league met and they'd

25:39

had enough without discussing the

25:42

matter they unanimously voted to allow

25:44

George back into their good graces.

25:47

But it wasn't in his nature to take

25:49

this vindication gracefully. In

25:52

early 1899 the Kalgoorlie Club

25:55

had planned a challenge match with

25:57

a visiting cyclist but the league

25:59

then slept to ban on this

26:01

man for his supposed previous infractions.

26:04

The Kalgoorlie Club let him ride anyway,

26:07

and the league was outraged. George

26:10

Blunderfield now took on a leading role in

26:12

saying to hell with the league. Goldfield

26:15

cyclists should secede and form their

26:17

own governing body. In

26:19

a public meeting he said the league's

26:22

treatment of the club, i.e. him, had

26:24

been quote absolutely rotten. The

26:26

league suspended the Kalgoorlie Club for six months.

26:29

They didn't care, and George helped them

26:31

set up the new Goldfields League. Through

26:35

the autumn and winter of 1899, George

26:37

continued racing, but he wasn't on a

26:40

winning streak. Then,

26:42

in September, his real losing streak began,

26:44

and it had last the rest of

26:46

his life. Tired

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episodes without the ads. On

27:21

the 24th of September 1899, Kalgoorlie

27:24

was rocked by news that spread via

27:26

word of mouth and that it'd be

27:28

in the newspapers the next morning. George

27:31

Blunderfield, the upstanding citizen and cycling

27:33

hero, along with his younger brother

27:35

Stephen were behind bars in the

27:37

town's lockup, arrested for being in

27:39

possession of a stolen bicycle worth

27:42

£20. The

27:44

police alleged it had been pinched from a

27:47

man in kul gadi on Friday night. The

27:49

bike was found during a search of George's

27:52

camp on Sunday. He denied

27:54

the accusation. When he

27:56

appeared in Kalgoorlie police court on Monday, George

27:58

said he'd bought the bike on Friday

28:01

from a man named Mr. Raleigh. His

28:03

brother Stephen denied having anything to do

28:05

with anything. The judge reminded

28:08

the brothers to appear in court but released

28:10

them on 10 pounds bail. When

28:12

the case was heard five days later

28:14

the charge against Stephen Blunderfield was dropped,

28:17

but George was still in hot water.

28:19

The cool guardian man swore that the

28:22

bike produced in evidence was his though

28:24

the handlebars had been changed out. In

28:27

his defence George said he'd been buying

28:29

and selling bikes for three years without

28:31

any problem and he'd never bought a

28:33

machine that appeared to have been tampered

28:35

with. He produced a receipt for the

28:37

bike from a Mr. Raleigh and produced

28:39

a man in court who claimed to

28:41

have witnessed the exchange with George paying

28:43

10 pounds cash for the bike. George

28:45

said he had been in kul gadi

28:48

on the Friday but had returned to

28:50

Kalgoorlie on the train around 8pm. So

28:52

why hadn't George produced this receipt when

28:55

the police had come to question him.

28:57

He said it was because he wasn't

28:59

sure which bike they were talking about

29:01

and besides he wasn't going to entrust

29:03

such a valuable piece of exculpatory evidence

29:05

to police because if they lost it

29:07

he'd be done for. Despite

29:09

George Blunderfield's credible story and his

29:11

fine reputation there were whispers on

29:14

the gold fields that he was

29:16

deeply involved with an epidemic of

29:18

bicycle theft. Thieves, the

29:20

rumour went, would ride the bikes

29:22

directly into George's workshop. He'd

29:24

quickly break them down, file off any

29:26

serial numbers, repaint the frames and combine

29:28

this and that component with other stolen

29:31

parts to make a brand new bike

29:33

he could sell for 15, 20 or

29:35

even 25 pounds. Indeed

29:39

during the search of his camp police

29:41

had found another bike frame and parts

29:43

they'd now identified as stolen. So

29:46

though the magistrate dismissed George over the

29:48

kul gadi theft this new charge against

29:50

him was going to be heard in

29:52

a week. When it came

29:54

to court on the 7th of October

29:56

a man named John Ebista said his

29:58

bike had been stolen from his camp

30:00

on the night of the 23rd of September.

30:03

Next time he'd seen his bike, it was in the

30:05

possession of the police. The machine

30:08

was in pieces and the frame had

30:10

been repainted, but Mr. Abista identified

30:12

the various parts as being his. The

30:15

police said they'd found the bike frame,

30:17

its new paint still wet in George's

30:20

workshop. A paintbrush with his

30:22

initials had been right there. Police

30:25

also produced a witness who said he'd seen

30:27

the accused riding near Mr. Abista's camp on

30:29

the night of the theft. George

30:32

told the court he'd never seen the

30:34

bike parts before and he produced a

30:36

witness saying he'd been in Knaune that

30:38

night and so nowhere near the scene

30:40

of the crime. Further,

30:42

George denied using the workshop for months,

30:44

part of which was now being used

30:47

as accommodation by a friend of his,

30:49

John Campbell, a man he'd known since

30:51

he came to Kargouli five years earlier.

30:54

The police asked for a continuance because they had

30:56

to talk to more witnesses. The

30:59

court resumed on the 11th of October,

31:01

George's lawyer got an adjournment. The case

31:03

would now continue on the 18th of

31:06

October. If convicted,

31:08

George would likely get off with a

31:10

fine, but a verdict against

31:12

him, that would damage his reputation.

31:15

In the days leading up to the

31:17

18th of October, George learned that this

31:19

friend of his, John Campbell was going

31:21

to testify for the prosecution. On

31:24

the night of Sunday the 15th, George went to

31:26

see this friend. He said he was

31:29

going to meet two men out on the road

31:31

to Knaune. George said he was

31:33

going to subpoena these blokes because they could

31:35

prove he was innocent of the theft of

31:37

Mr. Abista's bike. George asked John

31:39

to come with him and hear the truth for

31:42

himself. As they had been

31:44

friends for years, John agreed and the two

31:46

men walked out into the darkness. They

31:48

waited by some dumps. George

31:51

asked his mate to climb up and drop

31:53

stones to test the depth of a shaft.

31:55

John Campbell thought this was a strange request

31:57

and said he'd rather not do that. The

32:00

Canowna witnesses didn't show and

32:03

George and John went back to the camp. Early

32:06

on Monday afternoon John was about to

32:08

go underground at his mining job when

32:10

Stephen Blunderfield turned up and said George

32:12

needed to see him. John

32:15

said he had to work, Stephen said no

32:17

problem, he'd do his shift for him. So

32:21

John went to see George and that early

32:23

evening they headed out again to see those

32:25

men from Canowna. Two or

32:27

three miles down the road they waited

32:29

at another lonely spot. When

32:31

it got cold they agreed to make a

32:33

fire. As John bent down

32:36

to gather some brush George bashed him over

32:38

the back of the head with an iron

32:40

bar. John fell to the

32:42

ground. As he tried to get

32:44

up George swung again but this blow missed

32:46

John's head and hit him in the back.

32:49

He managed to stagger up and grab a piece of wood.

32:52

George Blunderfield ran and John tried to

32:54

give chase but he was woozy from

32:56

a two inch cut in the back

32:58

of his head, the blow having split

33:00

his scalp down to the skull. Now

33:03

George started to throw rocks at him.

33:05

John screamed out, murder! This

33:08

made George panic. He called

33:10

out that he hadn't meant any harm and that

33:12

he was sorry for what he'd done. John

33:15

cried out, murder! One more time

33:17

and this made George run off

33:19

into the darkness. The

33:22

wounded man made it to a camp and raised

33:24

the alarm. The next morning

33:26

George was charged with inflicting grievous

33:29

bodily harm. Even

33:31

so he was allowed out on bail. This

33:34

story, dubbed a great sensation of the

33:36

gold fields, was news all over the

33:38

colonies. Though John

33:40

Campbell recovered at the preliminary hearing

33:43

the charge against George Blunderfield was

33:45

upgraded to attempted murder. Now

33:48

the court heard what John had to say

33:50

about George and those bicycle thefts. His

33:53

evidence actually related to the first charge

33:55

which had already been dismissed. John said

33:57

that he'd seen George right into Kalgoorla.

34:00

on the night of the 21st of September

34:02

on what was apparently the bike he'd stolen

34:04

from Coorgardi. George hadn't, as

34:06

he'd claimed previously, taken the train

34:09

that night. John Campbell said

34:11

that he and George had been friends for

34:13

five years and there had been no ill

34:15

feeling between them. George had just

34:17

suddenly attacked him that night. George's

34:21

lawyer reserved his defence for the

34:23

trial. Until then though,

34:25

his client would be behind bars.

34:29

While George awaited trial, the second

34:31

bicycle charge was proceeded with in

34:33

court. After evidence was heard,

34:35

the magistrate found him guilty and ordered him

34:37

to pay a £5 fine in

34:40

default of which he'd do three months in

34:42

jail. This though was the

34:44

least of George's worries. Western Australia

34:47

was the only colony in the British

34:49

Empire where attempted murder was still a

34:51

capital crime. Though it

34:53

was highly unlikely he'd be hanged, George

34:55

might serve a lengthy prison sentence with

34:57

hard labour. On

35:00

the 15th of November 1899 at

35:03

the Perth Criminal Sessions, George pleaded

35:05

not guilty to attempted murder. John

35:08

Campbell's evidence remained the same. Now,

35:11

George told his side of the story.

35:14

He maintained he'd bought the bike on the 22nd, had

35:17

been arrested two days later and had

35:19

already answered this charge in court and

35:21

it had been dismissed. George

35:24

claimed that John Campbell had come to

35:26

him about the second charge. His friend

35:28

had said he knew two men who

35:30

could corroborate George's defence. It had been

35:32

John's idea to go out and meet

35:34

these men. Their Sunday night trek

35:36

had been a bust. John saying the men must

35:39

have been mixed up about when they were supposed

35:41

to meet. So they'd gone

35:43

out again on the Monday night. When

35:45

the Canana men didn't show again, George

35:47

and John had had an argument. George

35:50

told the court that he'd accused John of

35:52

being a liar who was working for the

35:54

police. John had then lost his temper,

35:56

sworn at George and hit him on the leg with

35:59

a lump of blood. of courts. George

36:02

had picked up a mining baton. John

36:04

had grabbed another stone. They'd

36:06

fought and George had hit John on the back of the

36:08

head. But it had been George who

36:10

feared for his life because he was in danger of

36:13

falling down a shaft if John had managed to hit

36:15

him again. Fortunately though,

36:17

John had run away. The

36:19

next morning it had been George who'd

36:21

been arrested, even though this had been

36:23

a fair and square fight over a

36:25

relatively trivial matter. Following

36:28

up, the judge said that both witnesses

36:30

were credible and straightforward. The

36:33

jury retired, deliberated for an hour

36:35

and found George Blunderfield not guilty.

36:38

George Blunderfield returned to Kalgoorlie a free man

36:41

and it didn't seem he suffered too much

36:43

as a result of the troubles of the

36:45

past few months. George

36:47

was charming and popular and he'd

36:50

been acquitted of the serious charge.

36:53

Despite the rumours, many of his supporters

36:55

surely believed him when he claimed he

36:57

was innocent of the bike theft. New

37:01

Year's Eve, 1899, fell on a Sunday. Thus,

37:05

in terms of drinking and carousing, it

37:07

was a sober and restrained evening. It

37:11

had been a very hot day on the

37:13

gold fields and Kalgoorlie people did come out

37:15

from under their tents and tin-roofed houses to

37:17

take the cool air on the streets and

37:19

exchange best wishes under the starry skies. At

37:23

midnight, mine whistles were sounded and

37:25

dynamite cartridges detonated while youngsters banged

37:27

tins and blew trumpets. An

37:30

hour later, most everyone in Kalgoorlie was

37:32

asleep. But as

37:34

1900 began, the monster was stirring,

37:37

with George Blunderfield just weeks from

37:39

committing the first in a series

37:41

of outrages that'd make him one

37:43

of the most notorious figures of

37:45

early 20th century Australia. I'm

37:48

Michael Adams and you've been listening to

37:50

part one of the three-part forgotten Australia

37:52

episode, The Nature of the Scorpion. Parts

37:55

two and three will be released here soon, but

37:57

as a show supporter, you can hear the whole

37:59

story right now. For more

38:01

information go to patreon.com/forgotten Australia

38:03

and this links also in

38:06

your show notes. A

38:08

big big thank you to these champions for

38:10

becoming supporters in the past few weeks. Colleen

38:13

Rowley, Mary Ann Goldstraw,

38:15

Felix Noonan, James Hodson,

38:17

Jeff Jay, Mikey Labriely,

38:19

Mary Davis, Sally Carmody,

38:21

Max Cutter, Glenda Bishop,

38:23

Phil Boy, Kimmy Mass,

38:25

Rachel Schwierhocking, Caroline Foley,

38:27

James Cole, Sherry Somerville,

38:30

Carl Van Zwoy, Lara

38:32

Kane Gray and Carol

38:34

Schreiber. Guys I really

38:36

appreciate your support. Forgotten Australia

38:38

is written and produced by me in

38:40

the Blue Mountains of New South Wales

38:42

on land that's traditionally owned by the

38:44

Darug and Gundungurra people. As

38:47

always thanks for listening. Ads

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