Jessie Hickman

Elizabeth Jessie Hickman (née Hunt; 6 September 1890 – 1936) was an Australian bushranger. She had multiple aliases but is often referred to as The Lady Bushranger. In the 1920s she established herself as leader of a gang of cattle thieves in the area that is now Wollemi National Park. Forgotten for several decades after her death, she has been the subject of two recent books: The Burial (The Untold, USA) by Courtney Collins, and Out of the Mists: The Hidden History of Elizabeth Jessie Hickman (2014).

Early life Jessie Hickman was born in either Burraga or Carcoar, New South Wales. At the age of eight she was sent to live with a travelling circus, attaining a reputation as a skilled roughrider – she was named Australian Ladies Roughriding Champion in 1905 and 1906.

Career Hickman eventually became the ringmistress of Martini's Buckjumping Show, and may have been married to its one-time owner Martin Breheny (known as James Martini).

Jessie Hickman was jailed twice in the 1910s for thefts.