Mary Ann Bugg was one of eight children born to a convict father, James Bugg and an Aboriginal woman named Charlotte. Determined to education his children, James sent Mary to a school in Sydney where she learnt literacy, numeracy, and domestic skills, before returning to her birth home, Berrico outstation, when she was ten.
Bugg had several relationships before meeting Frederick Ward, also known as Captain Thunderbolt, in 1860 at Cooyal north of Mudgee. It was after Ward's first robbery, in 1864, when Ward and Bugg moved to the Culgoa River, north-west of Walgett. However, in early 1865, Ward's six and a half year bushranging career began when he joined force with three other miscreants and began robbing hawkers and stations in the north-western plains near Collarenebri. Ward's activities graduated to robbing in regions from Newcastle and as far north as Queensland; and from Narrabri and nearly as far west as Bourke. During that time, Bugg remained with Ward, her role 'primarily was looking after their bush camps, hamstringing cattle and foraging for food for Ward and his accomplices' (Wikipedia).
Bugg's association with Ward led to her apprehension by the police; however, on two occasions her convictions were overturned on the grounds of insufficient evidence. After separating from Ward, Bugg settled with a man named John Burrows and had four children. After Burrow's death in 1900, she worked as a nurse before her death in 1905 at Mudgee.
Sources include Convict Creations; 'Mrs Thunderbolt : Setting the Record Straight on the Life and Times of Mary Ann Bugg'; BDM.
