Moondyne joe bio
Moondyne joe bio photos.
Moondyne Joe
Moondyne Joe (1826 – 1900), real name Joseph Bolitho Johns, is the most famous bushranger from Western Australia. He became famous, not for his crimes, but for his many escapes from gaol (jail).
Moondyne joe bio
Early years
[change | change source]Johns was born in Cornwall, England around 1826. His father Thomas Johns was a blacksmith. He might have had smallpox in his youth, as later his face is said to be "pockmarked".
After his father died, Johns and his three brothers worked in the coppermines. In 1841 the family was living at Illogan, Penwith, Cornwall. By 1848 Johns had moved to Wales, working as an iron ore miner, at the Clydach Iron Works.[1]
Crimes
[change | change source]On 15 November 1848, Johns and a friend, John Williams, were arrested near Chepstow for stealing from the house of Richard Price, three loaves of bread, one piece of bacon, several cheeses, and "other goods".[2] They were charged with burglary and stealing, but they said th