It is not surprising that the decision to erect a statue to this criminal was controversial. People were ‘astounded and disgusted that money had been allocated to “honor a horse thief”, when not one cent for road or bridgework for the classified road system in the shire had been granted’. Nevertheless it was decided to raise the statue as ‘the statue, when complete, would provide an invaluable tourist asset to Uralla Shire. Thunderbolt and his escapades are a part of our local history, whether we like it or not’. So Frederick Ward got his equestrian statue by Dennis Adams (1988) in Uralla.
