The bushranger who may be buried under the McDermott Centre known as Whitton led an eight-year reign of terror in the district in the 1830s.
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Whitton was part of a gang of bushrangers called ‘The Bathurst Mob’.
One newspaper report at the time described this gang as: “wild, reckless, bloodthirsty fellows who would stop at nothing to gain their ends.”
Whitton arrived in NSW as a convict on the ‘Exmouth’ in 1831. He had been transported for life at the age of 18.
Whitton and Scotchie Thompson were assigned servants at William Redfern’s property ‘Waugoola’ near Bathurst, from where they absconded in 1832.
They took to raiding homesteads in the district and joined up with other ruffians Bernard Reynolds and another man named Russell. They left the Bathurst area and journeyed down the old ‘Meehan track’ (which ran near Taralga) to this district.
After robbing Arch’s sly grog establishment near Young they rode onto Jem White’s station at Burrengong and ransacked it.They then robbed Butterworths Station near Yass.
On the December 26, 1838 the gang turned up near Boorowa and robbed William Edward’s store. With incredible audacity the gang stripped the store while Thompson held a pistol to Edward’s head.
On January 1, 1840, police were searching the hills and gullies in the Narrawa-Crookwell district for the gang. At the same time the outlaws were watching Dr Clayton’ s home on the banks of the Fish (Lachlan) River near Gunning. Just after dusk, the bushrangers struck and ransacked the homestead.
They travelled to Francis Oake’s estate ‘Oak Park’ a few km northwest of Crookwell. On January 19 the harvesting was in full swing and about 13 men were working in the paddocks.
The gang attacked and an innocent man named John Hawker was shot. He later died from his wounds. After cooking themselves a meal at the homestead, the bushrangers to set fire to the homestead.
While there, Whitton made a speech saying: “My name is Whitton, I am one of the Bathurst Mob. Tell Oakes that I will make him suffer... and we will make the other settlers suffer too.”
They proceeded to the Wheeo-Biala area on the way to of Gunning riding Oake’s horses.
They camped on Lampton Creek at Biala. A man called Toft working at ‘Woodhouse farm’ saw them and rode into Gunning to warn the town that the bushrangers were nearby.
On January 20, 1840 the battle began and many shots were fired. Men from ‘Collingwood’ a few km from Gunning and John Kennedy Hume (brother of the explorer Hamilton) heard the shooting and selected about seven men and set off for Gunning.
By the time they reached the township, the bushrangers had shifted to Red John Cooper’s establishment. Hume entered Cooper’s residence and was shot dead. He was just 39-years-old.
Hume’s friend Henry O’Brien, a Justice of the Peace at Yass, mustered a party and set out in search of the murderous gang.
On January 22, the bushrangers appeared at Gibson’s property on the Fish River at Narrawa. A battle ensued and Thompson was hit and lay mortally wounded as the other bushrangers realised they were outnumbered and quickly departed.
On January 24, Sergeant Robert Freer and his troopers were camped near Mt Narrawa. They were joined by a group of vigilantes. Late in the afternoon they tracked the bushrangers and started firing at them. After a quick volley of shots, Russell was dead. The battle continued with Whitton and Reynolds. Sgt.Freer captured Reynolds and seeing his position as hopeless, Whitton gave himself up.
Thus ended the reign of eight years of terror of Whitton and the Bathurst Mob.
Whiiton was hanged on March 19, 1840 in Goulburn. It is believed he was buried in somewhere in the vicinity of the McDermott Centre. His exact whereabouts are a matter of conjecture for archaeologists.
