Ben Hall

Ben Hall is probably just behind Ned Kelly in Australia bushranger hierarchy. In 1860s New South Wales he, along with Frank Gardiner (Frank Christie) ran a gang who robbed men and coaches on the tracks they travelled. They (apparently) also pioneered the robbing of a bank in Australia. After Gardiner retired and moved on to Queensland, Ben Hall led the gang and became known for their bushranger etiquette of politeness to women and robbing only from those who could afford the loss.

The general public had a soft spot for Ben Hall, as he was wronged by his wife, then falsely arrested, spending over a month in prison without charge, then found not guilty. Soon after his release the police re-arrested him and burned down his house. Again he was found innocent, but his wife had absconded with another man, taking their young son, and this was enough to push Hall over the edge. He was being persecuted for being a bushranger, so he may as well be one.

From that point he was actively against the police, the wealthy and the establishment. He acted within his own code of honour, and did the best to make the rest of his gang do so too. While he tried hard to prevent the murder of anyone who resisted his actions, there were deaths - although these were not at his own hand, but by those in his gang with less willingness to follow his rules.

Ultimately this plays out as expected - with the police winning in the end.

Frank Clune has written this as a novelisation of the life of Ben Hall. It is not a biography or a history but written in a pure novel form - although the details are all accurate (based on some low level Wikipedia research), and the conversations believable. It is written very much in sympathy with the bushrangers - and Hall in particular, and stresses how torn he is between the lifestyle he feels was forced upon him by the police, and his natural good nature.

For me it was an interesting read - a bit of a boys adventure story - glorification of the highwayman robber, the cheeky Robin Hood character, the man loyal to his friends and vehemently against his enemies. Not a piece of high quality literature, but very “Frank Clune” in its down to earth simple style.

Funny to have a number of pages of photographs from the Australian tv series from 1975. My edition is 1975 and probably has a tie in with the series being on tv. Clune's book was originally published as “Ben Hall the Bushranger” in 1947.

For those into this 4 stars. For those wanting polish and more historical detail, probably more middling at 3 stars.
Enjoyable as a simple read.