William Hayes often described as a buccaneer, freebooter, blackbirder and sometimes pirate is one of histories colourful characters.  His history is hard to nail down conclusively and like Frank The Poet he to has at least one impersonator that clouds our knowledge of him.

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There is no doubt that Bully Hayes was an impressive man physically and could be as charming as he was ruthless. His portrayals are highly contridictory at times appearing to favour fair play at other times being prepaid to take advantage of any man or women. It all depended on who was writing his history.

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Two Australians play an important part in the way we see Bully Hayes. Louis Becke  sailed with Bully and is a supporter of Bully and clearly idolised his leader. Sir Henry Parkes on the other hand alerts all Australian readers that they should having nothing to do with the dispicable Hayes.

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In earlier pages we provide some evidence that connects Bully with the McIvor escort robbery and the disappearance of the Madagascar. ( John Sadlier's telling of the 'W.H' pannikin found with the escort robbers possessions and Henry Parkes' mentioning of Bully being involved in an Escort Robbery). On this page we'll add a few more snippets that display his connection with these events. It should be noted that no one has ever attempted to previously link Bully with these events in Victoria and so this work may well challenge the status quo however we believe that the link is legitimate and we hope in future to find further evidence that will further confirm our research.