The child of a Worimi woman and a convict, Mary Ann Bugg spent her life straddling two cultures. In 1860 she met Fred Ward, also known as the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, and they ran off together. Given her bushcraft, he was really more her sidekick than the other way around.

Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Maid Marian just wore a cool costume.

We're so comfortable with rogue men who cause havoc here and there, working class heroes who outwit the establishment with bravery and Errol Flynn charm.

We're not sure what to do with the same sort of swashbuckling heroes when they're women, though. Ratbag women, we'll call them: they're brave, they're bad and they don't conform to any notion of standard femininity.

It becomes even harder when the woman in question is Indigenous.

Mary Ann Bugg's story, though, is the stuff of legend. Mary Ann was a proud Worimi woman, born of an Indigenous mother and convict father near Gloucester in NSW.

She learned to read, write and pray to God at the Parramatta Orphan School. She married young, was widowed young and was living near Mudgee when she met Fred Ward, who became known as Captain Thunderbolt. She fell in love with him.

They were newlyweds when Fred was charged with horse stealing and sent to Sydney's Cockatoo Island. Mary Ann swam across the harbour to rescue him with a file between her teeth—or so the story goes. He escaped back up north, and when the couple were reunited they began their life on the lam.

Mary Ann's bushcraft helped Thunderbolt stay ahead of the law; she was his spy, heading into town to inquire about troop movements and coach routes. She saved his life, and kept saving his life. She warned him off when the troopers came, killed their food and collected their bush tucker.

We rarely hear about it, but there was a complex relationship between Indigenous women and white settlers. Mary Ann was part of that. In convict settlements along the frontier, Aboriginal women were often the ambassadors of their people, finding ways to keep their people safe, making inroads into white culture.

While we shouldn't forget the terrible way many of these women were treated, we shouldn't forget their agency and power, either.

If you're up in Thunderbolt country, the Hunter Region of NSW, remember Mary Ann Bugg: a proud Worimi woman who turned everyone's expectations upside down.

The stuff of legends, there are many conflicting accounts of Mary Ann's life. We found Kali Bieren's fascinating thesis 'The Captain’s Lady' very useful and enlightening. You might also want to read 'Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady' by Carol Baxter for an alternative version of events.