CARCOAR ROYAL HOTEL Where the yarns flow thick and fast
THE TRUE STORY THAT I’m hoping to hang a yarn on as I descend past the old Catholic Church and then the Retreat Centre and down into the valley village of Carcoar involves this country’s biggest ever robbery – the bailing-up of the bullion transport from Forbes to Sydney that became known as the Eugowra Gold Robbery of 1862.
It featured a better all-star heist cast than Ocean’s Eleven. The eight bushrangers were led by Frank Gardiner (later a publican in Qld) and they included luminaries like John Gilbert, John Row and the up-and-coming Ben Hall.
Accompanying the gold coach were three troopers including a Sergeant Condell and the rig was driven by ‘an old whip’ named Jack Fagan. (‘Guarding’ seems to overstate the cops’ role by more than a few ounces.)
When they were bailed up east of Eugowra (and about 90kms west of Carcoar) and the shooting started, the troopers and Fagan started heading for the hills. Condell later testified they’d been attacked on all sides by a ‘party of 12 to 15 men’, that he’d been shot 4 times,
