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Unlike many bushrangers Harry Power made no pretensions about what he was, a road agent. He was always well dressed, but did not try to act 'the gentleman.' He may have shot and wounded a trooper early in his career, although no confirming records have as yet been found. However, there was little violence in his crimes, although the threat was always there. Certainly, he does not seem to have had the vicious streak of John Peisley, John Gilbert or the Clarkes - or of Kelly.

Also of note is that whereas most bushrangers were young men, dead or gaoled before they left their twenties, Harry was in his fifties when he became most notorious.

Henry Johnston was born in Waterford, England, in 1819. He was Roman Catholic and could read and write, albeit with some difficulty. His particulars are as follows:

Height 5ft 61/4in
Weight 10st. 103/4lb
Complexion Sallow
Hair Brown/greying
Eyes Blue
Nose Medium
Mouth Medium
Chin Large
Eyebrows Light and scanty
Visage Long
Forehead High

Particular marks: Small scar over right eyebrow, two small scars left side of forehead, scar left eyebrow, scar right side of head, mole between eyebrows, scar left cheek bone, scar right cheek, two upper front teeth missing, moles on front and back torso, burn upper right arm, gunshot wound left elbow, left hand third finger mutilated.

In short, an individual who had led a tough and at times violent life.

Johnstone was transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1841 for stealing shoes. It is also alleged that he received seven years of his sentence for robbing a bank in company with others and that he hid in the bush for two years after arriving in the Colony. Whether this is true or not, he served his sentence as an Assigned Servant and also at a convict outstation.

In 1848 he was granted a Ticket of Leave (having served seven years) and made his way to Sydney via Twofold Bay. Around this time he started calling himself Harry Power. From there he made his way to Victoria and may have worked his way south as a stationhand on many of the properties on his route.

Harry next comes to light in March 1855 when he is believed to have shot and wounded a police trooper. According to sources he was intercepted by two troopers riding a fine horse which matched the description of one which had been stolen. The troopers allegedly asked him for the receipt (which by law he was supposed to carry), but he challenged their right to stop him on the road. Further argument followed before Harry produced a revolver and shot one of them. He then escaped.

He was arrested shortly afterwards and sentenced to fourteen years in the prison hulks. While he was there, in October 1856 he was present in a boat in which were several convicts being towed ashore on a work party by another boat under the charge of a Mr. Jackson. As they neared the shore the convicts pulled their boat up to the guard boat and, jumping in, killed two men and threw Mr. Jackson into the water. Harry was one of the men accused of the murders, however, by dint of some fast talking and a lack of firm evidence against him, he was not convicted.

Harry Power received a second Ticket of Leave in March 1862, about the time Frank Gardiner and his gangs were becoming active in New South Wales. He had served just six years. He disappeared from official scrutiny, presumably returning to life as a stationhand until he was arrested and tried at Beechworth for horsestealing in February 1864. He was found guilty and sentenced to another seven years at Pentridge Gaol. He was fortunate not to also have to serve the years outstanding from his previous conviction.

Power must have decided that prison life was not for him. In February 1869 (about the time Thunderbolt was active in northern New South Wales) he escaped from Pentridge by hiding in a hole in a wall that was being built and then running for his life as soon as the guards' backs were turned. He then took to the roads in earnest and for a short time became one of Victoria's most notorious and active bushrangers. Although he spent much of his time around the Mansfield, Bright, Beechworth and Seymour areas he travelled as far afield as Kyneton and Bairnsdale to the south and Adelong in New South Wales to the north. He robbed dozens of travellers, including mail coaches, and bailed up and robbed two troopers of their revolvers. Most of these robberies seemed to have been carried out with considerable good humour, at least on Harry's part. A reward of two hundred pounds was posted for his capture, later increased to five hundred. In between robbing people he stole horses.

Like most major bushrangers Harry Power had his share of supporters and helpers and these were probably mainly responsible for the inability of the police to catch up with him. This would be mirrored a few years later when the police were trying to come to grips with the Kellys. Among these supporters were the Lloyd, Quinn and Kelly families.

By March 1870 Harry was noted to have a young apprentice who occasionally participated in the robberies but mainly just held the horses while Harry did the work. The young apprentice's name was Ned Kelly. Kelly was arrested in May 1870 and charged with assisting Power, however, when he was brought to trial two witnesses refused to testify for fear of reprisals by the Kelly/Quinn/Lloyd family. As a result the charge could not be proved and Ned walked free. This is one of the incidents which is often quoted as an example of police 'harassment' of the Kellys. However, as can be seen, Ned was guilty of the charge and only got away with it because of his family's harassment of witnesses.

Time was now running out for Power. On 05 July 1870 he was tracked to his hideout which was a gunyah in the bush close to the Quinn's property. Harry was asleep when the police arrived and woke to find himself looking up at police revolvers. He took his capture with good humour, even offering the officers a cup of tea. He explained to the arresting officers that the Quinn's owned a peacock which screeched whenever it saw strangers approaching and was thought to be 'as good as a watchdog.' He continued that obviously some of them had 'shopped' him, suggesting that Ned Kelly was most likely responsible. Recent information has confirmed that Ned (whose own relatives also believed him guilty and chased him sniveling for police protection) did in fact provide much of the necessary information to the police, although Jack Lloyd and James Quinn may have also been involved. Ned subsequently was given some sort of reward payment. Harry Power was scathing of the families when he was arrested, pointing out that he had 'paid them well enough.' View CAPTURE OF POWER, THE BUSHRANGER, a wood engraving published in The illustrated Australian news for home readers' from the State Library of Victoria Picture Collection, depicting Superintendents Nicolson and Hare with first-class Sergeant Montford all with guns drawn, taking Powers by surprise as he lay in a "gunyah" with his clothes on and a revolver at his side..

Harry was transferred to Beechworth where he was tried on three counts of Robbery Under Arms (he was lucky, the Government had plenty of other charges to bring) and sentenced to fifteen years' gaol in Pentridge, five for each offence to be served cumulatively. This time the Magistrates also added another six months hard labour for his escape in 1869. He served the entire sentence and was not released until February 1885, aged 66. There were ten offences listed against him during his sentence for offences ranging from smoking in unauthorised places to fighting. He would serve his sentence but he wouldn't be broken.

After his release he was employed as a Guide on the old Prison Hulk SUCCESS which he had known so well as a convict, and which had been made into a floating museum of the convict days. Harry enjoyed considerably publicity in this position as people flocked to see the old bushranger. Following this time he moved on to Swan Hill.

In 1891 the body of a man was dragged from the Murray River at Swan Hill. It was Harry Power. The Coroner found that death had been by drowning but there was nothing to show how he had entered the water. It is suspected he may have been overcome by alcohol and toppled in. However, given his age he may have suffered some form of medical condition. His final burial place is not known. So passed Harry Power, one of the last of the major, notorious bushrangers. As a postscript, it is worth noting that he outlived his apprentice by eleven years.