In 1864 the celebrated Maitland racehorse “Euclid”, a bright chestnut gelding, was purchased by a young man Mr Richard Heaslop who intended running it in the Dalby and Toowoomba races in Queensland. Far more was to happen than that. I told a version of this story live on radio 4WK.

The twenty-one year old Heaslop had arrived in the colony about eighteen months earlier. He had been sent on a colonial experience by his English family in a bid to calm his wild disposition. His father was a captain in the British army. In England, Heaslop himself enlisted in a dragoon regiment. Once in Queensland, the Ipswich Volunteers welcomed him as drill master.

Mr Charles Chubb, the Ipswich alderman and mayor, obtained for Heaslop an appointment as storekeeper at Mr. Stephen Spencer’s station (photo top of page) at Mount Abundance near Roma.

After twelve months on the station, Heaslop made an appearance in Dalby but it was his wild side that was surfacing. He was there to pass several bad cheques purporting to have been signed by Mr. Spencer.

He then returned to Ipswich and went on a forgery rampage. He passed a large value of cheques on Mr David Raynor a selector of Moraby near Roma.

Then on Mr Wallace of the Condamine township, and Mr Suttor of the Kogan Inn at Dalby. No cheques were ever less than £10 which is over $13,000 today.

Heaslop defrauded Dalby storekeeper and alderman Mr John Sidney when he presented a letter of introduction from an Ipswich lawyer, likely to be Alderman Chubb, and cashed cheques for £30. Heaslop went to Cecil Plains where he put away £10. He went to Yandilla and got away with a considerable sum by buying another racehorse from the overseer John Pierce.

Back at Cecil Plains, he passed more cheques, and at Daandine with Mr J.P. Wilkie, who was the pastoralist and justice of the peace who once employed bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, he put away another £45 buying a fine horse from him.

All the cheques were purported to be made by Mr Stephen Spencer and that was probably Healsop’s biggest mistake. You see, the Spencer family was considered almost Australian royalty.

Mr Spencer had been one of the first settlers on Mount Abundance. He was the son of The Reverend Charles Spencer, the rector of St. Paul’s, Roma. He was the grandson of Sir James Dowling, the second Chief Justice of New South Wales.

Heaslop was also the grandnephew of Gregory Blaxland who famously was the co-leader of the first European crossing of the Blue Mountains.

It was ascertained that Heaslop had gone to Sydney. The police authorities were duly informed and a Sydney detective arrested him in a disreputable house in Castlereagh Street, and safely escorted him back to Dalby and lodged him in the lock-up.

But the thing is, the cells at Dalby were wretched black-holes. Heaslop was confined with another man in a cell just six feet by four. The ceiling, which was about seven feet from the floor, was composed of rotten pine boards.

This was at the end of summer in March 1865. At three o’clock on a Sunday morning, the two prisoners stripped themselves stark naked. Heaslop slipped his handcuffs and got off the chain. They then helped one another through the ceiling, tearing away the wood with their hands. Heaslop jumped down into the bedroom of the lock-up keeper.

In vain Constable Macdonald and his wife – who acted with indescribable pluck – tried to stop the men escaping, but their naked bodies provided no grip. Despite both striving to keep hold as best they could, none more so than Mrs Macdonald, the prisoners got away.

Macdonald was made the scapegoat and was controversially suspended for six months. He was having a hard time of it, because earlier in Toowoomba, he had been fined £2 for allowing a prisoner to escape from court.

Heaslop meanwhile skirted around Dalby, and through darkness, rain and thunder, retraced his steps to the Criterion Hotel of alderman Alfred Gayler. There he crawled into the hayloft, naked, cold, and hungry, whilst the police magistrate and the constables searched Greenbank at Dalby and the bush for miles around.

Heaslop remained naked in the middle of the hay that Saturday night, all day Sunday, until on Monday morning at around three o’clock. That’s when he emerged still in the nude, broke open the saddle room, dressed and equipped himself from a gentleman’s swag, took the best horse and revolver, and rode away.

He met some bullock-drivers at Long Waterhole, told them he had escaped from the lock-up, so they celebrated and fed him a hearty meal. Heaslop then proceeded down the road, and at Jondaryan coolly stole another horse.

For some time he roamed the country at large, doing a good trade in bad cheques between Cecil Plains, Greenbank, and Daandine. At one time between Cecil Plains and Greenbank he was chased by Sub-inspector William Apjohn who served in Roma, Dalby, and Condamine. The river was up so Heaslop swam the Condamine, laughing at the unfortunate sub-inspector who did not care to follow.

After months on the run, Dalby’s nude bushranger was finally recaptured. In court it was found that the signatures on the cheques were very bad imitations of Stephen Spencer’s handwriting, in fact they were nothing like the real thing.

Richard Heaslop was convicted of forgery and sentenced to two years and nine months hard labour in the convict road gangs.

Having scoured the records, I don’t think Heaslop ever went naked again.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON RADIO 4WK.

Photo credits:
Mount Abundance Station in the Roma district, c1870 – State Library of Queensland.
Charles Edward Chubb, 1883 – State Library of Queensland.
Stephen Spencer – Brisbane, Courier, 21st March 1925, page 15.
Sir James Dowling, 1787-1844, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales – National Library of Australia.
Gregory Blaxland – State Library of New South Wales.
Dalby’s Criterion Hotel, 2021 – Savills Hotels.