In April, during an attempted robbery of Webb's store on the Fish River in company with John Foran, he received a wound in the face from birdshot.

[8] On 26 July 1863 just after sundown, Larry Cummins and his younger brother John (aged eighteen) arrived at Norman McKinnon’s farm at Richlands (six miles north of Taralga).

[10][11] Early on Saturday morning, 29 August 1863, four policemen arrived at Thomas Vardy’s public-house (the Limerick Races Inn) at Cook’s Vale Creek, about 20 miles north of Crookwell.

[12] Leaving Sanderson in charge of the prisoner Stephenson and Detective Camphin proceeded to the room in which Lowry had stayed, where they found Larry Cummins in bed (but wearing his shirt and trousers).

On Monday evening, 7 September 1863, a public meeting was held in the Mechanics’ Institute in Goulburn for the intention of initiating the presentation of a testimonial to Sub-inspector Stephenson (recently promoted) and his men, “for their courageous conduct in the capture of the bushrangers Lowry and Cummins”.

One speaker called attention to “the courage displayed by Mr. Stephenson” when, after capturing Lowry, “he proceeded to apprehend Cummins, a man looked upon as even more desperate, and as a perfect fiend”.

[17] On Thursday, 24 September 1863, at the Goulburn Assizes Lawrence Cummins was charged with having committed armed robbery and assault of Norman McKinnon at Richlands on July 26.

They then selected a number of articles: two saddles and bridles, a double-barrelled gun, a silver watch, tea and sugar and other foodstuffs, and a large amount of clothing (including women’s and children’s).

[23] On Tuesday, 11 December 1866, a carrier named George Writer was riding on horseback near Cook’s Vale Creek (north of Crookwell) when he came across the camp of three men.

[27] The outlaws had about forty people bailed up inside the public-house, and stole about £100 in bank-notes, £10 in silver and 30 ounces of gold, as well as a number of bottles of spirits.

[30] On Sunday, 17 February 1867, "two men and a lad", each of them armed with revolvers, called at Daniel O’Brien’s inn at Laggan (north-east of Crookwell) and bailed up those present.

[31][32] On Thursday, 14 March 1867, John Burke, the mailman between Bathurst and Bullock Flat, was held up by Larry Cummins in the vicinity of Mutton Falls (16 miles north of Oberon on the Fish River).

[34][36] Early on Friday morning, 12 April 1867, Larry Cummins and John Foran entered the bar of Edward Locke’s public-house at Dirty Swamp on the north side of the Fish River (13 miles south-east of Bathurst).

As they fought, with the hotel guests “begging the bushrangers not to use their fire-arms”, the publican hit Cummins with a blow that caused him to stagger, which prompted Foran to intervene, pointing his revolver at Locke and threatening to “quieten the b----“.

The two men had entered the premises under the pretense of being customers when Cummins presented his revolver at Elizabeth Woods, daughter of the store-owner, saying, “If you move by the Holy ---- I will put the contents of this through you”.

When Cummins was within five yards of him Robert fired his double-barrelled shot-gun loaded with bird-shot, causing the bushranger to fall to the ground having been shot in the face; he then rallied, got to his feet and, leaving a trail of blood, ran back through the house.

In their hasty departure the bushrangers left a hat, a poncho, a bottle of whiskey and a purse containing the coins stolen earlier that morning from Lock's public-house.

[33][38][39] As soon as the alarm was raised and horses saddled, three sons of Mrs. Webb (two of them settled on farms in the district) set out in pursuit of the bushrangers, “the blood still marking their route”.

Constable Chalker appeared from around the corner of the house and Foran aimed a revolver at him, but William Wiles, also arriving at the scene, fired his rifle near the bushranger, who then surrendered his weapons and was taken into custody.

Lawrence Cummins pleaded guilty to six charges of robbery with arms and was sentenced to thirty years’ “hard labour on the roads or other public works of the colony”.

The Governor, as representative of the English sovereign, had the power to exercise the Royal prerogative of mercy for felony cases not subject to the death penalty.

After consideration, Robinson decided that Gardiner could be eligible for a pardon, but only after he had served ten years incarceration and providing his conduct in prison remained good, conditional upon him leaving the country on release and becoming an exile from the Australian colonies and New Zealand.

In response to this impending event the Parkes government had determined upon the commutation of sentences of a number of other prisoners convicted during the bushranging era of the 1860s and whose cases were “of a similar character” to Gardiner’s.

[50] On 25 February 1875 the Minister of Justice in the new Robertson ministry, Joseph Docker, recommended to the New South Wales Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, that the prisoner, Lawrence Cummins, should be released in January 1876, providing that "his conduct continued good".

It was subsequently disclosed that, in communication on the subject between Robinson and Docker, the Governor had expressed the opinion that the judicial sentence "on the roads" had "been converted into one of imprisonment with hard labour within the walls of a gaol", a change he described as “arbitrary” and “an illegal exercise of Executive authority”.

The matter was then referred to the Attorney-General, William Bede Dalley, who, in March 1875, issued a statement of opinion concluding that “the practice questioned by the Government was not illegal”.

[51] The uncertainty engendered by the debate concerning the possible illegality of the judicial sentence "on the roads" was probably the major factor that led to Cummins’ release, as his behaviour while in prison would have lessened the chance of such an outcome.

A newspaper report detailing the events that led to Cummins’ release made the comment that "his prison career had been as conspicuously bad as Gardiner’s was signally good".

In December 1871 it was reported that Georgetown township had about 500 residents, “and this is increasing almost daily by fresh arrivals from the Gilbert, Ravenswood, and other gold fields further south, and other parts of the country”.

[55] It is feasible that Bridget Francis decided to travel to the Georgetown goldfields after the birth of her son in March 1873, most likely in company with the father of her child, in an attempt to make a fresh start.