The published description of Lawrence Kavenagh was: height, 5 feet 7½ inches; complexion, "ruddy fresh"; brown hair, blue eyes and a "flat nose"; missing his "right little finger", "small scar on back of left hand, and on centre of forehead".

Suddenly three men emerged from the bush at the edge of the bay, one of them (later identified as Kavenagh) holding a musket, prompting the riders put their horses into a canter to more quickly escape.

[17][14] Kavenagh told Captain Innes that during his period of freedom "he had prowled about" the Hyde Park Barracks Watch-house, armed and disguised with glasses and wearing a white hat, hoping to "have a shot at" the Deputy Superintendent, Timothy Lane.

[18] On 12 April 1842 Lawrence Kavenagh, Thomas Brown and Joseph Johnson appeared before the New South Wales Supreme Court before Mr. Justice Burton, charged with illegally possessing firearms and having feloniously shot at William Hunter "with intent to murder him".

[19] On 30 May 1842 Lawrence Kavenagh, along with forty-two other prisoners of the Crown (including George Jones),[20] was transported from Sydney to Van Diemen’s Land aboard the schooner Marian Watson, arriving at Hobart on 8 June, from where he was taken to the Port Arthur penal settlement.

In Martin Cash’s words: "I walked deliberately over to where [Kavenagh and Jones] were at work; fixing my eyes on them for a moment, they both instantly dropped their picks, and springing on a steep bank, were lost in a minute in the scrub, I soon following their example".

[29] Realising that, upon discovery of their raid on the road-gang’s hut, the focus of those engaged in the pursuit would shift to the Forestier Peninsula and the East Bay Neck, the escapees decided to remain hidden for a few days more.

Deciding to attempt a crossing by land at East Bay Neck, the three convicts waited for nightfall and, by stealth, managed to evade the sentries and then crawled through a field of wheat until they were a safe distance from the military barracks.

[32] Cash, Kavenagh and Jones next bailed up a public-house near Bagdad, during which one of the men under guard managed to escape while they were searching the premises, necessitating a "speedy retreat" and a resolution to better secure each person in the future.

[36] By that stage, however, they had decided to lie low, spending the night at the home of old acquaintances of Martin Cash, an ex-convict named Thomas Blackburn and his wife Hannah who were living at Cobb’s Hill (towards the Jordan River).

[42] On Wednesday, 22 February, Cash, Kavenagh and Jones stopped four men in a cart near Thomas Shone’s 300-acre property in the Back River district (north-east of New Norfolk).

[47] On Saturday, 11 March, Cash, Kavenagh and Jones visited the residence of Thomas Triffett at Green Hills on the River Ouse (about 9 miles north-west of Hamilton), robbing it "of everything they could carry away".

There were obvious signs of preparation in case of an incursion; the bushrangers found three loaded guns behind a door and a pair of duelling pistols which Edols was attempting to conceal as he sat on the sofa.

Later that day the outlaws robbed John Thomson’s house in the same district, turning up a half hour after a party of soldiers and constables had left when they had received a report of the raid upon Captain Clark’s farm.

[57] On Wednesday, 26 April, the bushrangers met a magistrate, John Clarke, riding on the road near Bothwell and compelled him to accompany them to the Allardyce’s homestead on the River Clyde where they stole clothing and provisions, and two guns and ammunition.

[62] A newspaper report of the discovery of the bushrangers’ supplies concluded with the following sanguine comments: "so that instead of going quietly as they purposed into winter quarters, they will be compelled to enter into active operations, a course which will render their capture certain, so vigilant are their present pursuers".

[65] On the evening of Wednesday, 21 June, they bailed up the Half-way House, an inn kept by Edward Greenbank on the road between Oatlands and Ross at a rural locality called Antill Ponds in the Salt Pan Plains district.

Harrison was a local magistrate and, when informed of the result, (by Cash’s account) "he called them a cowardly set of rascals, ordering them immediately to leave the premises, remarking that they should be ashamed to confess that fifteen, all well armed, were not able to capture three careworn bushrangers!".

[67] Late-morning on Saturday, 24 June, Lawrence Kavenagh walked up to Christopher Gatenby, a landholder on the River Isis (between Campbell Town and Norfolk Plains), and asked for "the master".

The three bushrangers, reported as being "in a half-famished state", accompanied Gatenby to his house where they ate dinner and drank several bottles of wine, "acting with politeness throughout, and treating the ladies with great respect".

On Friday morning, 30 June, Cash, Kavenagh and Jones were approaching Cains’ residence on the Lake River, when they saw or heard something to indicate a trap; they immediately wheeled around and headed for the scrub.

[73][74] Late morning on Monday, 3 July, the three bushrangers stopped the Launceston coach on the main road near Epping Forest, north-west of Campbell Town, and robbed the passengers.

Kavenagh was faint but could walk and the bushrangers decided to return in the direction of Bothwell, with Cash planning to enter the township after dark and abduct the doctor in order to treat his injured comrade.

That evening when they camped Kavenagh told them he was resolved to give himself up to the magistrate, John Clarke of ‘Cluny’, near Bothwell (whom the bushrangers had bailed up in April, compelling him to accompany them to Allardyce’s homestead).

[86] In summing up, Justice Montagu instructed the jury that their decision in the matter "was wholly irrespective of the manner in which the prisoner had acted whilst in the bush, or of the hardship or ill-treatment he might have suffered at Port Arthur".

[84] At noon on Friday, 15 September 1843, the court convened in order for Justice Montagu to pass sentence on a number of prisoners, including Lawrence Kavenagh and Martin Cash.

[103] The period of calm was suddenly broken when somebody cried out: "Come on, we will kill the -----", and a group of men led by Westwood, grabbing pieces of wood and axes, ran for the gates of the lumber-yard.

The Lady Franklin sailed from Hobart Town with John Price and his family on board, departing before the Governor Phillip arrived back with the news from Norfolk Island.

[109] Also on board the Lady Franklin was Francis Burgess, a judge appointed to conduct the trials of nine convicts gaoled several months previously on stabbing, robbery and "unnatural offence" charges.

Witnesses gave evidence for the Crown over several days concerning John Morris’ murder and in the end twelve of the accused were found guilty and sentenced to hang.