John Dunn was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n bushranger

Bushranger

Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...

. He was born at Murrumburrah

Murrumburrah, New South Wales

Murrumburrah is a township in New South Wales, Australia in Harden Shire and forms a twin town with Harden. It is near both the Canberra region of the Australian Capital Territory, and the Riverina Region in the southwest area of NSW. It is on the Burley Griffin Way, the major link from the...

 near Yass, New South Wales

Yass, New South Wales

Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Shire. The name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" , said to mean 'running water'....

. He was hanged in Darlinghurst Gaol

Darlinghurst Gaol

Darlinghurst Gaol was an Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The site is bordered by Victoria, Burton and Forbes streets, with entrances on Forbes and Burton Streets.-History:...

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Criminal career

Dunn associated with the known bushrangers Ben Hall and John Gilbert

John Gilbert (bushranger)

Johnny Gilbert was an Australian bushranger shot dead by the police at the age of 23 near Binalong, New South Wales on 13 May 1865.John Gilbert was the only Australian bushranger never to go to prison...

. Dunn joined Hall's gang in October 1864, a welcomed new member after gangmembers Dunleavy and Mount were captured by Police.

On 26 January 1865, Hall, Gilbert and Dunn were at Collector

Collector, New South Wales

Collector is a small village on the Federal Highway in New South Wales, Australia halfway between Goulburn and the Australian Capital Territory. It is seven kilometres north of Lake George...

, near Lake George

Lake George (New South Wales)

Lake George is a lake in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia about 30 minutes drive north-east of Canberra along the Federal Highway en route to Sydney.-Geography / Geology:...

. Dunn shot the local police officer, Constable Samuel Nelson, the sole policeman in the township and father of eight children, while Hall and Gilbert were holding up the hotel.

In May, Hall, Gilbert, and Dunn were proclaimed outlaws; this put them outside the law and liable to be killed by anyone. Hall was surrounded by police in the bush near Forbes, New South Wales

Forbes, New South Wales

-Notable residents:*Carolyn Simpson - Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales; Member of the first all-female bench to sit in an Australian court*NSW Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt was born and raised in Forbes....

 and shot dead. Eight days later, Gilbert was shot by the police at the home of John Kelly, Dunn's grandfather, near Murrumburrah, on 13 May. Dunn stole a horse from Bogolong station and wasn't heard from again for seven months.

Captured

On the 18th of December, Dunn was recognized by Police at McPhails Station near Walgett

Walgett, New South Wales

Walgett is a town in North-West New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is at the junction of the Barwon and Namoi rivers and near the junction of the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways...

. A week later on the 26th of December he was betrayed by those with whom he trusted and after a desperate fight with police he was wounded and captured near Coonamble

Coonamble, New South Wales

Coonamble is a town on the central-western plains of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the Castlereagh Highway north-west of Gilgandra. At the 2006 census, Coonamble had a population of 2,549...

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Escape

Dunn was taken to Dubbo where he was treated for his wounds, Dunn was kept in the Police barracks, not the prison cells, because of the summer heat.

On January 14 Dunn escaped via a unlocked window at night, he was recaptured the next day by a hollow log near the river. He realised he was too ill to continue with his escape and tried to return to the barracks before collapsing at the spot where he was found.

Sentenced

He was tried on 19 January 1866, the jury took ten minutes to find him guilty of murder and he was sentenced to hang. He was hanged on 19 March, he was nineteen years old. He is buried in the old Devonshire Street cemetery in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

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