Ben Hall led an honest life breading cattle and horses, selling the cattle to the butchers on the goldfields when Lambing Flat began to boom. He was an excellent horseman with a reputation for being reliable and hardworking. He turned to bushranging after his wife left him for another man in 1862, taking their son. Shortly after he met Frank Gardiner and joined him, John Gilbert and other stockman recruited by Gardiner to form the infamous gang that would later go on to hold-up the gold escort coach at Eugowra, the biggest robbery in bushranging history. He was later arrested but the police were unable to prove him guilty so they released him. In 1863 he joined another gang of bushrangers which included Johnny Gilbert and for the next two and a half years they robbed a number of coaches, inns and travellers. He is said to have committed over 600 robberies including bailing up the entire village of Canowidnra for three days in the Robinsons Hotel demanding that they eat and drink all they wished at the gang’s expense, and also ‘the Raid on Bathurst’ where they bailed up the Sportsman’s Arms Hotel and then robbed a number of inns and stores. Hall had many sympathisers who would offer safe hiding places, often receiving a share of the goods for their efforts. He was also seen in good light, stealing from the rich and giving the takings to his supporters, friends and family. The gang was responsible for a number of shootouts with police in which two were killed (although not by Hall) so the reward being offered for their capture was high - 1000 pounds per man. The Felons Apprehension Act was implemented in 1865 as a result of Ben Hall’s gang and they were immediately labelled ‘outlaws’. It meant that any person had the right to shoot and kill named bushrangers at any time without warning. It also placed heavy prison sentences on any person harbouring the outlaws, aiding them with information or supplies, or withholding or giving false information to the police. Ben Hall was shot and killed by police who’d found his hiding place after a tip-off from a would-be supporter on 5th May 1865 as he walked into a clearing to collect his horses. He had more than 30 wounds from rifle and gunshot fire.