Bill Melody and the Great Fight of Dunolly 1857

by Lesley Melody.

William Melody in his later years in NZ

In 2014 I was astonished to find an article that placed William Melody in the ring in one of the great bare knuckle fights of the age, in the goldfields of Victoria in the 1850s. More recently I found the following piece - written 40 years later. It is, I believe, by the same unnamed author - much of the text is the same, but in the later story he shares more details as he reminisces about one of the greatest fights of the era.

In the years between the Eureka Stockade Rebellion of 1854 and this event in May 1857, Bill seems to have followed the gold. From the census of 1856 we can place him in Talbot in the central gold mining area about 40 km south of Dunolly.

In that same year there was a major strike in Dunolly, one of the largest rushes that Victoria had witnessed, swelling the town's population to 60,000 in a matter of weeks. This testosterone-fuelled population needed entertainment, and it seems they were willing to pay for it as the purse of £450 was a large fortune for the time (probably about $50,000 in today's money).

The written prose in the article is not always easy to follow - this was the style of the time, written to be read out loud to eager listeners.

Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer

The Referee (Sydney, NSW)

Wednesday, May 11 1898

BATTLES OF THE PAST

------------------------------

The Australian Prize Ring

Joe Kitchen and Bill Melody

Stakes £450 – A Great Struggle

(No. VI)

(By A “Referee” Special)

For some considerable time (in the year 1857) a great deal of talk had been indulged in regarding the relative merits of Joe Kitchen and Bill Melody, and many an effort was made to bring the pair together, but Melody’s big pull in the weights deterred the Kitchenites, until at last, the heavier mans backers offered to lay 250 to 200 if they were allowed a limit of 11st7lb. 

This the other side at once agreed to, and the articles were accordingly signed at the People’s Hotel, Chinaman’s Flat on February 17^th for “a fair stand up fight.” And sporting folk waited with unconcealed pleasurable anticipation, the advent in the same ring of these two doughty knights of the “bare ‘uns.”

As showing how they did things in the old days, how the fighters’ favours were distributed, and how interest in the combat was spread over a very wide field, I might mention that the articles of agreement provided for the different deposits being cut up into eight sums and each amount to be lodged as follows:-

First deposit: February 17 at The People’s Hotel, Chinaman’s; second Junction Hotel, Alma; third, The People’s Hotel, Chinaman’s; fourth, Golden Gate, Maryborough; fifth, Dan Timmins’ Sportsman’s Arms, Chinaman’s Flat; sixth, Ballarat Boarding House, Alma;  seventh, Flowers’ Marquee Restaurant, Chinaman’s Flat; eighth, Tom Curran’s Butchers Arms Hotel, Dunolly. 

Both fighters made a point of attending at every one of the places named on the nights the deposits were payable.

THE MEN

Joe Kitchen was then in his twenty-eighth year, stood 5ft 8 1\2 in high, and weighed 10st 10lb. Joe’s previous deeds need not be recapitulated here. Many of them were referred to in the account I published (the first one of this series) of his fight with Harry Sellars – Boxiarn recounts the whole of them. Twelve months before the engagement under notice Kitchen had lowered the colours of Joe Delaney, at Hard Hills, Buningyong, after a battle of forty minutes duration.

Bill Melody was but little known in the prize ring up to the time of meeting Kitchen, although he had distinguished himself times out of number in the rough and ready way.  His principle achievement was the defeat of Tom Able, the blacksmith on the Eureka, Ballarat. This fight went to Melody on a foul blow. Bill had the advantage over Kitchen of 2 inches in height, and, for the extra £50 staked by him, had the benefit of 11lb additional advantage. Melody tipped the beam at 11st 7lb.

SCENE AT THE CONVINCING GROUND.

The day being beautifully fine, thousands of people from all the surrounding districts attended. Vehicles of every description were at an early hour wending their way towards the convincing spot about 2 miles from Dunolly, on the road to Jones’s Creek. Choice of the ground fell to Melody who, on Saturday evening at Tom Carrans, won the toss. The stands erected lent an amphitheater-like appearance to the scene. Every seat was occupied.

THE PRELIMINARIES.

At a quarter to twelve Kitchen entered the arena, attended by Mat Hardy and Tom Wren (Big Tom), and accompanied by his chief backers, Messrs  Rigby and Greville of Piccadilly. Chinaman’s Melody was not long in following suit, with his seconds Tom Curran and Davis. Joe sported the old blue bird’s eye and Bill the green kinsman as his distinguishing colours.

Odds – 25 to 20 on Melody.

Much time was lost choosing a referee; but ultimately a well known sporting journalist of the time was selected.

At twenty-eight minutes to one the men peeled. Their appearance gave general satisfaction – both were in first rate condition - a fact for which the two trainers ,Tom Carran (Melody) and Tom Wren (Kitchen) received a large amount of praise. After the usual preliminaries the men toed the scratch and

THE FIGHT BEGAN

Round 1.- Only a short time was consumed in sparring as business was the order of the day. Bill lead off with his left but was neatly stopped by Joe, who planted one on the mouth; ditto repeated; after a little finesse Joe got home with a one-two on the mug; a close ensued, and Bill was thrown.

“FIRST BLOOD FOR KITCHEN” said the referee

The second time of getting together opened up with a little ‘feeling’ work, then Joe reached Bill’s nasal organ. William countered, but was short. Melody lead off, was stopped by Kitchen, who replied with a couple of quick ones and got away, followed as usual by Bill. Joe planted a severe round hit under the lug, and floored his man.

FIRST KNOCK DOWN BLOW FOR KITCHEN.

Vis-à-vis for a third time, Melody come up to scratch bleeding, his opponent deposited one, two on his knob, retreated cleverly, Bill after him. Further sparring and Joe reached the bread-basket. In- fighting supervened, followed by a severe struggle at the ropes, when Joe got down cleverly.

Round 4.-  Kitchen set one plumb on the proboscis and jumped away. Working in again he touched the big chaps ribs up. This was repeated. Bill pluckily followed his tormentor to his corner so as to have a hand in the business. Some good infighting resulted, out of which Joe went down.

Once again he faced the music and Kitchen set about Melody in the most businesslike fashion. A couple on the latters left pepper and conk, and another on his ribs, supported by ditto and ditto; a few feints on both sides. Joe then got home on Bills ribs again, a close followed; then came an exciting struggle on the ropes, which ended in Kitchen appealing to the referee, who decided that the fight should proceed.

ANY ODDS ON KITCHEN.

Kitchen came to scratch fresh as a daisy, Melody a bit down. Any odds on the former. Some sparring then Joe visited Bill’s snuff box and mouth, and got away. Melody countered but with little effect. Kitchen planted one on the ribs, repeated on Williams tater trap and got away.  Another loud sounding, if not melodious, thump on Melody’s ribs.  Good countering on both sides, Kitchen retreating, Bill followed, but hit short and napped a beauty on the frontis-piece. Joe broke ground again with his adversary still pursuing. Kitchen put in a right-handed hinger under the advancing chaps left ear and fell. Loud cheers from the little man’s friends.  A first rate round.

Shaping up for the seventh time Melody appeared out of tune. A little introductory light countering and Bill’s knowledge box got a shaking from a beautifully-timed left. Both men eyeing each other. Melody rubbing his thighs, apparently lost in wonder. Jabbing out with the left by each took place here, but no damage was done. Kitchen paid the usual attention to Bill’s left ear, and then ran around the ring laughing, gallantly chased by his much-battered foeman. Joe suddenly pulled up and delivered a heavy punch on Melody’s sniffer the effects of which the recipient endeavoured in vain to rub off with his hand. Melody hit short : some sparring : Bill once more attempted, but without success, and received in return one on the lug and another on the left visual organ, which was rapidly putting up shutters. A close,

A DESPERATE STRUGGLE, A SWAYING OF BODIES

Great cheering from the onlookers from all sides, and Kitchen slipped down. The applause was deafening at this stage.

At it right on time. Melody showed up with one peeper eclipsed. Kitchen got home on the ribs, and again touched the damaged optic. Bill hit short: Joe retreated; Bill followed; Joe brought himself up, and again got home on Melody’s sinister squinter and smelling organ. A close and sharp struggle at the hempen boundary, and Kitchen went to grass cleverly.

Betting 30 to 10 on Joe offered.

The ninth round saw Kitchen full of confidence, and laughing but bleeding slightly from the nut. He got a nice one on the ribs and retreated; Melody went after his man but hit short. Joe countering under the sinister listener. Good infighting succeeded. Kitchen threw his man and walked to his own corner.

“CHINAMAN’S FLAT TO A CHINA ORANGE ON JOE" screeched out a popular digger.

Round 10:- Joe visited Bill’s ribs, a sharp rally at the ropes and Melody was again thrown.

Round 11(and last). Melody tried to smile but failed in the attempt bleeding from the mouth nose and eye; however he led off but was short-stopped by Kitchen, who jabbed on the nose and broke away, followed by Bill. Joe practiced his old dodge of turning sharply, lodged a smart blow under one ear, and one on the nose. A lively rally – Melody thrown, and, on being removed to his corner, vomited blood. On time being called –

‘All the King’s horses and all the King’s men,

Couldn’t bring Bill to the scratch again.’

Tom Curran threw up the sponge and Joe Kitchen was declared the winner. The fight lasted forty two minutes, and Joe was triumphantly carried, amidst loud cheering to Greville’s stand.

Bill’s friends looked sadly disappointed but bore their ill-fortune like good sporting men.

For the original text see:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/121527551

This is the probable location of the event "2 miles from Dunolly, on the road to Jones’s Creek." The sport was illegal in the towns and this spot, with the give-away name of 'Sporting Flat" lies just outside the town boundary. 

Notes.

It is not known if William Melody went on to fight again but he is reported in ‘Bell’s life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer’ , April 7 1860 as acting as second (I believe this role is also of coach) for Jemmy McCallam in a fight with Dan Timmins for a purse of £300 at Lucky Woman’s Flat. Unfortunately for Jem (and Bill) Timmins was the victor after 47 rounds and 1h and 50 mins.

Joe Kitchen was clearly a very talented pugilist. He went on to win various matches, one later the same year, Dec 5 1857, against Bob Fee where he was victorious to the tune of £400. The following year Kitchen beat Harry Sellars (aka the American Strangler, also described as “the Darkie”) for £600 in an epic 110 round fight that lasted 4 hours and 12 minutes.  

In 1869, 12 years after the fight, Dunolly became famous as the location of the "Welcome Stranger" nugget , the largest ever found in the world, weighing 69kg. The record that still stands. 

Bill Melody and the Eureka.

William Melody’s obituary in the New Zealand Tablet, December 1899, stated that William Melody had been present at the Eureka Stockade during his time in Ballarat  in the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. 

I had some knowledge of the Eureka incident. This was the event in December 1854 was the beginning of the formation of Australia as a nation, a catalyst in the separation from British rule and eventual Federation in 1901. It was to some extent Australia’s Boston Tea Party in that it was a protest against taxes without representation.

A Brief History of the Eureka Stockade.

Ballarat in 1854 was a powder keg. Gold had been discovered in large quantities in the area in 1852 and it had sucked tens of thousands of men, women and children from all around the globe. People from all walks of life threw in their lot to for the chance of quick wealth.

The cash strapped government headed by Governor Hotham exploited the situation by imposing an exorbitant £10 license fee to dig for gold. On  top of that the Ballarat Police who were in charge of licenses for the sale of alcohol and other goods. It was well known that they were open to bribery which created mistrust and unease.

Only landowners could vote in the State of Victoria, but diggers feel if they were paying taxes, they should have the right of a vote.  

After months of discontent a chain of events lead to a confrontation. The diggers of Ballarat began to organise themselves.  A ‘Monster Meeting’ attended by 10,000 was organised in November 1854 in protest at police corruption and injustice. They elected a young Peter Lalor as their leader. The Flag of the Southern Cross flew over the crowd for the first time and hundreds of diggers swore an oath to defend their rights and liberties under it. Many of the diggers burned their licenses in a symbolic protest.

 The original Southern Cross flag that flew at Eureka.

The situation became inflamed when word came from Melbourne that the government was sending in troops to enforce order, and conduct a license hunt. The protesters of Ballarat formed a stockade using whatever was available in the area around. It was not just miners inside the Stockade but whole families in tents and flimsy structures.

In the early hours of December 3 1854 a well armed contingent of more nearly 300 soldiers and police reach the Eureka Stockade. At dawn the stockade is attacked and a brief battle followed. It was fast and brutal. Twenty two diggers and seven military are officially listed as being killed though unofficial reports are of numbers much higher. Many wounded were bayonetted where they lay. Approximately 120 diggers were arrested and marched to the Government Camp.

Eureka Riot. J.B. Henderson 1854

In the weeks to follow 13 members of the rebel forces were tried for treason. The tide had turned for Hotham as a meeting 6000 members of the public amassed in Melbourne to condemn the actions taken by the Government and the administrators in Ballarat. All the men were found not guilty and the license fee was revoked.

Peter Lalor, the leader of the rebellion, was elected to the Legislative Council in 1855 (sans his left arm which was amputated due to a gun shot wound during the battle). Universal male suffrage in Victoria was achieved just two years later.

So what was Bill up to?

Except for the Obituary mentioned above, my knowledge of William Melody’s life extended to what I had read in a small life history my uncle Paul Melody had written some years ago where he has scant detail of his time in Australia and makes no mention of Eureka.  

I had scanned a few histories of the Eureka and with hopeful eyes cast through the indexes at the back of these books. No mention of a Melody. 

Last year one of my reading highlights was Clare Wright’s award winning book, ‘The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka'. She planted a germ of an idea in my brain. The protesters who became the Eureka Rebels were made of up many diverse groups from around the globe and from all walks of life.  A distinct group were the Americans who joined the rush. Many had already come through the hardship and triumphs of the great Californian gold rush of 1849. They had the advantage of experience, having being hardened with prior escapades and had technical experience of the art of extracting gold.  

Claire Wright describes them as dressing flashily with an air of cockiness. They were heavily armed with pistols and Mexican Knives.

Until reading this I had always thought of William Melody as Irish, and certainly later in his life he was well known for playing the Irish card. He was born in Bonnyconnellan, County Mayo, Ireland in 1828 but his family moved to Chicago, Illinois when he was 12 years old. At age 21 he followed his brothers and tens of thousands of others to the goldfields of California.

Of course he would identify himself as American in Ballarat. They were full of bravado, flashy and stylish and he was a worldly young man of 26. I’m sure they got all the girls.

In the days before the battle the Americans formed themselves into a troop calling themselves The

Painting of the California Rangers by G Blake

Independent Californian Rangers. On the day of the battle most of the California Rangers were ordered out of the Stockade and up the road to meet the possible incoming troops. They missed the action but some of the Rangers stayed behind.

Finally in the Eurekapedia, an extensive research project covering the Eureka Stockade event, I found reference to Bill.

“BILL MELODY: He was said to be in the Eureka Stockade, and a member of the Independent California Rangers. When Captain Robert Burnette cried ”California Rangers to the fence” Bill Melody was the first to obey.^”

Burnette was a member of the Independent California Rangers and was one of the digger leaders. He claimed to have killed Capt. Henry Wise with the first shot fired of the battle (though this is unprovable and somewhat disputed by historians). Either way, Bill was right in the thick of it - and he lived to tell the tale.

Now, here I was imagining him up on a hill overlooking the mayhem and he was first to the fence in one of the seminal events in Australia’s history! I know he was a fighter as events later in his life stand testament to it.

I am sure there is more to be found about Bill Melody and the Eureka in research libraries and primary source materials. More digging to be done – this time not for gold.

Lesley Melody 2015

Reading.

Claire Wright “The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka.”

Raffaello Carboni “The Eureka Stockade: Consequences of Some Pirates Wanting on Quarter-Deck a Rebellion.”

Peter Fitzsimons, “Eureka, The Unfinished Revolution.” (particularly Chapter 13 for an account of the battle.)

http://eurekapedia.org/William_Melody

The Bunbury Connection

Berkeley Bunbury - 1840 to 1910.
By Lesley Melody 2015

My grandmother Gwen Melody was very proud of her Bunbury connection. Her Grandfather was a Bunbury, and she never failed to use an opportunity to drop the name. It was taken as given that the name had some kind of aristocratic bearing.

Three of her four siblings had Bunbury as a middle name, and at the end of her life I note that Gwen inserted Bunbury into her name on the electoral role, going from Gwenyth Doreen Melody to Gwenyth Doreen Bunbury Melody. This name was very important to her.

I initially made the assumption that this Bunbury connection came from Major Thomas Bunbury, who played a part in gaining the signatures of the South Island Maori leaders on the Treaty of Waitangi. His timely public proclamation of sovereignty played a role in blocking an attempt by the French to gain sovereignty over Banks Peninsula and much of the South Island. It took about 2 minutes on Google to work out this was not our ancestor, as Major Thomas Bunbury went straight back to England and died without issue.

So who was our Bunbury?

First port of call for the Bunbury family history is Turtle Bunbury’s wonderful and extensive history of the family in Ireland:  http://www.turtlebunbury.com/

The website plots the path of Bunburys from England to Ireland. They were a family of wealth and connection, illustrious military careers and plenty of titles, plus a few big stately homes– all the stuff of my Grandmother’s fantasies. The New Zealand Bunbury story begins well down the tail end (and out the back door) of the aristocratic line. 

“The Rev. William Bunbury-Isaac was also reputedly the father of two young men, Berkeley Bunbury and his younger brother Vesey Bunbury (b. 1842) who were hurriedly shipped out to the Antipodes in the 1860s or early 1870s. Vesey ended up in Queensland, where he seems to have led a very tough life and died young in December 1876. Berkeley settled in New Zealand, where he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly in 1873 and, possibly, again in 1909. Both brothers have descendants in their respective countries.”

Not quite the start that Gwen was hoping for.

Early UK War Records

The earliest reference to Berkeley Bunbury’s exploits is in the UK Naval Medal and Awards listing. He was awarded the Baltic Medal in 1857 while serving as a naval cadet on the Imperieuse (see below¹) at Castor during the Crimean War. Berkeley would have been 17 years old.

Seeking his Fortune in Victoria, Australia

By the end of 1858 (at the age of 18) Berkeley Bunbury had joined thousands of others seeking their fortunes in the diggings of Victoria in Australia in the gold rush.

He is recorded on a passenger list for the Meteor arriving in Melbourne from Liverpool. I can find no record of his fortunes in Australia other than a newspaper² report five years later aged 23. He is arrested in Melbourne along with a dozen or so others and charged with drunken and disorderly behaviour.

His experience may not have been all bad, as his younger brother Vesey followed him out to Australia, settling in Queensland. Vesey died young of heart disease leaving behind a wife and several children.

Sailing to New Zealand – joining the war for land.

In 1864 Berkeley Bunbury tries his luck in New Zealand. He volunteered in the Militia to defend the British interests in New Zealand in the Maori Land Wars. He arrived in New Plymouth, Taranaki on the Brilliant, in February 1864³.

The New Plymouth Library holds file cards from records pertaining to the first settlers, and in this case the Garrison Defaulters book.  The only records of Berkeley's time in the NZ military make sorry reading - he was repeatedly punished for being drunk, or the use of bad language.⁴

Taranaki – life after the military.

By 1866 Bunbury appears to have left the military service and was keeping a store at White Cliffs, North of New Plymouth.

At age 32 in 1872 Berkeley Bunbury ran for Provincial Council in the Bell & Grey District. He was unsuccessful, but Berkeley clearly sees himself as a man worthy of the job. ⁵

In 1874 the store of Clarke & Bunbury was trading in New Plymouth. They initially set up in Brougham Street in the Old Post Office then moved to Devon Street two stores up from the White Hart Hotel in 1874.  They were a general store selling everything from fish to axes. They also offered board and lodging by the week.^6,7 

Devon Street looking from Robe Street.  

Clarke & Bunbury has the horse and cart outside.

Marriage and a Life of Commerce

In 1876 Bunbury married Emma Jane Scammell,  daughter of a well-respected late Colour-Sergeant Ambrose Scammell of the 65th Regiment. ⁸ He was 35 and she was 19.

What became of the Clarke & Bunbury general store is not known but by 1878 Bunbury was in the tanning business. He was in the process of parting ways with his partner in that business, a Mr Davy. ⁹By the next year he was bankrupt. ¹⁰

The Taranaki Herald published the death notice of Berkeley’s sister Maria in Cork, Ireland.  Sad as this notice is, it showed to the New Plymouth community that he did come from a family of standing.¹¹

This family standing was clearly important. In 1901 in the marriage notice of Berkeley’s daughter Edith to Mr Henry Rogers, names Edith as “the second daughter of Mr Berkeley Bunbury, and niece of Doctor Bunbury, the present Bishop of Limerick”.  ¹²

This article appeared in the Taranaki Herald in July 1884 just a month after his wife Emma died leaving him with 3 young children, Eliza Lillian (my great grandmother, known as Lillian) 8, Edith Beatrice 7 and Berkeley William 5.

I wonder if it is evidence of an ongoing relationship with his family in Ireland? Berkeley refers to “money from Home” which was for the use of his children.

His postscript of “sailing for England” once his debts are paid appears to come to nothing as I can find no evidence of him ever leaving New Zealand again. ¹³

One of the prime ways I have been able to track the life of Berkeley Bunbury is through his over-indulgence in alcohol. There are at least a dozen reports of him being arrested on charges of drunkenness in New Plymouth over his years in the district. ¹⁴

Berkeley Bunbury’s Sunset Years in Taranaki

In his last years his name shows up in the electoral roles in various places around Taranaki. At age 65 his address was Eltham, where his daughter Edith lived. He gives his occupation as ‘author’. Some years earlier this advertisement appeared in the Taranaki Herald. I wonder if there is a copy on a shelf somewhere? ¹⁵

Berkeley died aged 70 in 1910. My Grandmother Gwen would have been 5 and I don’t know if she ever met him. My guess is that Berkeley instilled in his children tales of their illustrious forbears, and belief that they had come from great stock. It would have been something to cling to in their time growing up poor and motherless in the colonies. My Great Grandmother Lillian would have in turn passed on these connections to her children.

I do wish I had an image of Berkeley Bunbury – maybe there is one out there somewhere? Recently I came across a photo of his son, Berkeley William Bunbury. He was Gwen’s uncle but I do not know if she knew him. He bears a stunning resemblance to Gwen’s two sons Paul and my father Barry, a family look that runs strong in the following generations too. Are we all, indeed, a bit Bunbury? 

References

1. Author / Cartographer: Jones, Captain Oliver John Title: Hong Kong - H.M.S. Imperieuse at Hong Kong 1860 Date: 1860

2. Argus Newspaper. 17 July 1863 Melbourne Australia.

3. Taranaki Herald 20 feb 1864

4. New Plymouth Public Library. File cards pertaining to the Garrison Defaulters book.  4 March 1865.

5. Taranaki Herald 29 Oct 1872

6. Taranaki Museum. Devon Street looking from Robe St. File A.1.82 Clarke & Bunbury has the horse and cart outside.

7. 1874 Taranaki Herald.

8. 19 May 1875 Taranaki Herald

9.  29 Aug 1878 Taranaki Herald.

10. 22 Oct 1879 Taranaki Herald

11. 19 Jan 1879 Taranaki Herald.  

12. 2 Oct 1901 Taranaki Herald.

13. 28 July 1884 Taranaki Herald

14. 15 Julu 1895 Taranaki Herald.

15. 25 Jan 1889 Taranaki Herald.

If you have further information about this family, please contact lesleymelody@gmail.com