Local historian, Russell Blanch, returned to his family tree and historical record to reconstruct the outlaw’s final hours at Church Gully, and after selling a number of copies of the published historical fiction account, he donated the final editions to Inverell High School last week.

“It’ll be a great resource and hopefully some of our English students and history students will be able to use the resource in their learning,” principal Penny Colley said. The school accepted 28 copies from Mr Blanch, who said the story is one that is close to the hearts of many.

“It is more a New England story, however Thunderbolt was everywhere,” he said.

“He stole horses at Inverell, he stole horses at Paradise. You name it, there is a story about Thunderbolt, and he moved around so much that people say it is not possible, but he travelled. He had the best horses and he travelled.”

For Russell, the connection is as close as a generation or two.

“I’m related to the owners of the inn near where he was shot,” he said.

Both his great-grandparents Jack and Eliza Blanch feature in the novel alongside his grandfather Alfred, who as a young boy witnessed one of Thunderbolt’s infamous stands.

“It was the inn where they had the inquest, so I have a lot of family stories that I can pitch in. But also on the day, my forebears were the publicans and they were actually held up by Thunderbolt, because they refused two days before to accept a stolen cheque.”

He said taking on such a notorious Australian subject was a challenge to navigate.

“I restricted it by staying not with Thunderbolt’s life, but with his last hours, and I can research the background quite well,” he said.

Russell has published a number of other local history accounts, including one retracing the events of the Myall Creek Massacre.