NLA
9781922507853/1 October 2025/AUD$24.99, NZD$29.99
If you believe in legends …
I would venture to say that not many people know about Jessie Hickman. In fact, despite my long interest in Australian bushrangers, I probably wouldn’t either except for the fact of having spent a reasonable amount of time in the proximity of Jessie’s one-time haunts around the Mudgee district and further outwards.
But I didn’t know many real details about her life before or after the bushranging years – which to be honest was a good proportion of them. Now this amazing duo – legends themselves! – have teamed up again to bring readers a vibrant narrative non-fiction that provides some insight into the life of a woman who was very unusual for her time.
She was raised a circus child and, as such, had many skills which would certainly have been perfect for a life as a bushranger, but it would seem, not so well suited to a life of married domesticity.
She could ride, shoot, crack a whip and more when the Great War came and ended what was her circus home and life. If you read her full history there were lots of twists and turns after that, but this book focuses on her life hiding out in the mountains, making a handy living stealing cattle.
With many aliases and many arrests, narrow escapes and acquittals – plus the occasional jail time, she was well-adapted to fending for herself, and making her own way (albeit, mostly on the wrong side of the law) in a period of history where most women were docile to the point of timidity and not only ruled by men, but completely subservient and dependent.
Mark and Frané have developed a narrative that doesn’t withold the fact of the cattle rustling, the run-ins with the law and even (one of) the jail episodes but, in such a way, that the focus is on Jessie’s bravado, strengths and skills.
And, as always, the text, which is relatively simple and straightforward, is enhanced with some wonderful literary language and techniques, as well as Frané’s sensational illustrations [which I always love! and those endpapers 💗].
The backmatter provides a timeline of Jessie’s life with salient points and a glossary with unusual or period words.
Although this is not detailed in the book, I feel sorry for Jessie who was given to the circus by her parents, when she was aged 8 – apparently because her prospects were slim in any case, the father having a criminal record and the both being the lowest class.
Then the Ringmaster, her surrogate father, died and that, along, with the changing tide of money available for folks to spend on entertainment, meant that Jessie’s livelihood, her board and keep, her ‘family’ and her talents were all no longer in place for her.
It’s little wonder, she took her grief and hardship to heart so much, that she was unafraid to ignore social conventions. There was supposedly to be a movie of her life going to be made, after decades of her name being almost totally forgotten, and I think that would be a great thing. We’ve had years of books and movies about our wild colonial boys, so now maybe it’s time for the wild colonial girl to take centre stage. Of course, nobody is advocating a life outside the law is a good thing, but this must always be put in context. And in this case, a young woman with a certain skill set, in a tough financial and social period of history, would have few options when it comes down to it.
I would happily recommend this for readers from around 8 upwards and it would certainly add a different dimension to your studies of the colonial days and early 20th century. It’s getting a 5 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎 rating from me.
Just So Stories 
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