Former home of infamous Tasmanian bushranger Martin Cash could be transformed into museum

The former home of Tasmania’s most infamous bushranger, Martin Cash, is being lovingly restored by its current owner, who says she hopes to turn part of it into a boutique museum.

Martin Cash cottage in Montrose. Picture: Caroline Tan

The former home of Tasmania’s most infamous bushranger, Martin Cash, could be converted into a museum dedicated to his life and exploits as its current owner undertakes a careful restoration of the place.

Located on Montrose Rd, west of Glenorchy, the cottage was purchased by Corinne Ooms in 2017. When she bought the property, it had rotten floorboards and joists, no insulation, and a neglected orchard.

But Ms Ooms has now installed new foundations and rescued what remained of the orchard, which is more than 100 years old.

Corinne Ooms, the current owner of infamous bushranger Martin Cash’s old cottage at Montrose. Picture: Caroline Tan

With the help of a $20,000 grant received under the state government’s Built Heritage Grants Scheme, Ms Ooms will also replace the cottage’s ageing roof.

She hopes to convert the front part of the house into a boutique museum that would focus on the notorious Cash and the era in which he lived.

“I’m shocked by how few people know about Martin Cash and his story,” Ms Ooms said.

“His [biography] was a bestseller … [and] really depicts first-hand the life of that time and how brutal it was.

“Even though I’m not one to celebrate the whole bushranger theme, I do find it fascinating. And even if we don’t celebrate it, we should definitely be aware of it and the struggles and where we’ve come from and how far we’ve come.”

Tasmanian bushranger Martin Cash.

Cash was born in Ireland in 1808 and was transported to Sydney in 1827 for housebreaking. After receiving his ticket of leave, he went to live in Van Diemen’s Land but was convicted of larceny two years later and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment.

He managed to escape from Port Arthur twice and became the most famed bushranger in Tasmania’s history.

Cash bought the property at Montrose about 1854 after returning to Tasmania following a lengthy period of incarceration on Norfolk Island.

He died at the cottage in 1877.

Ms Ooms said she was engaged in discussions with the Glenorchy City Council about her plan to turn part of the home – where she is currently living – into a museum.

“I would hope to get an ancillary dwelling [built] so I’d have somewhere else to stay if the front part of the house was going to be a dedicated museum. But that’s just an idea down the line,” she said.

Bushranger Martin Cash’s headstone.

Ms Ooms has discovered numerous historical artefacts during her work on the property, including a concealed shoe meant to act as a magical charm to promote fertility and good fortune, believed to date back to the 1800s.

Colonial-era ploughs and horseshoes and remnants of an old train carriage once kept on the property have also been uncovered.

Heritage Minister Madeleine Ogilvie said Ms Ooms’ transformation of the Martin Cash cottage was “a perfect example of how a historic property can be tastefully repurposed whilst honouring our heritage”.

Originally published as Former home of infamous Tasmanian bushranger Martin Cash could be transformed into museum