Braidwood Community Bank has generously donated $15,000 to the Braidwood & District Historical Society. The donation will support the funding for the 150th anniversary re-enactment of the capture of the Clarkes which will be bring thousands of visitors and opportunities for local business.
Following a meeting at the Services Club last week a cast has been chosen, some measured for police uniforms to be custom made, some clothing fitted and other items to be sought before the big day. There will be twenty local players in all taking the parts of bushrangers Thomas and John Clarke, the Berry family, five police on foot, eight uniformed mounted police and ten horses. The re-enactment will be an accurate portrayal of the actual event. Over 300 blank shots will be fired during the course of the spectacular re-enactment to take place at the Braidwood showground on 29th April 2017.
President of Braidwood & District Historical Society, Peter Smith, said, “The re-enactment itself is an historic event because it will be the first time Braidwood has openly embraced its bushranging history. Fifty years hence people will tell their grandchildren they were there.”
“More than anything else the capture of the Clarkes was a major victory for the newly formed New South Wales Police Force. It brought an end to the bushranging outbreak that had plagued New South Wales since the beginning of the 1860s- an outbreak which the police were unable to control. It could be said that the capture of the Clarkes brought public confidence to the new police force.”
