Captain Moonlight
Encyclopedia
Andrew George Scott Aka Captain Moonlite, was an Australia
n bushranger
.
, Ireland
, son of an Anglican clergyman, but of Scottish descent. His father's intention was that he join the priesthood, but Scott instead trained to be an Engineer, completing his studies in London
.
The family moved to New Zealand
in 1861, with Scott intending to try his luck in the Otago
goldfields.
However, the Maori Wars intervened and Scott signed up, as an officer, and fought at the battle of Oraku where he was wounded in both legs.
After a long convalescence Scott was accused of malingering and courtmartialed. Scott gave his disquiet at the slaughter of women and children during the siege as the source of his objection to returning to service.
In Melbourne
he met bishop Charles Perry
, in 1868 he was appointed lay reader at Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
with the intention of entering the Anglican priesthood on the completion of his service. He was then sent to the gold mining town of Mount Egerton
.
Bruun claimed the man sounded like Scott but no gold was found in Scott's possession. Scott in turn accused Bruun and local school teacher James Simpson of the crime who then became the principal suspects in the minds of police and left for Sydney
soon afterwards.
It was alleged that for several months, Scott lived off the money stolen from the bank, hobnobbing in Sydney's high society and entertaining actors at after theatre parties. Near the end of 1870, he passed a worthless cheque and was arrested while trying to leave for Fiji
aboard the fraudulently obtained yacht, named the "Why not?". He was sentenced to 12 months in Maitland
jail. In 1872 he was charged with stealing the gold at Mount Egerton, remanded in Ballarat Gaol; he escaped for a short time before his recapture. He appeared before judge Sir Redmond Barry
on 24 July 1872 and received a sentence of eleven years jail. Despite some evidence against him, Scott claimed innocence in this matter until his dying day.
Scott was released from HM Prison Pentridge
in March 1879. On regaining freedom, Scott met up with James Nesbitt, a young man whom he had met in prison. While some disagree on the grounds of speculation, he is considered by many to be Scott's lover and there is a significant primary resource that supports this reading. Scott's actual handwritten letters, currently held in the Archives Office of NSW, profess this love. While it is difficult to definitively claim the exact nature of Scott and Nesbitt's sexual practices, it can certainly be said that their relationship was an overtly romantic one. With the aid of Nesbitt, Captain Moonlite began a career as a public speaker on prison reform trading on his tabloid celebrity.
However this reputation came back to bite him. Throughout this period Scott was harried by the authorities and by the tabloid press who attempted to link him to numerous crimes in the colony and printed fantastic rumours about supposed plots he had underway.
At some time during this period Scott seems to have decided to live up to this legend and assembled a gang of young men, with Nesbitt as his second in command and the others being Thomas Rogan (21), Thomas Williams (19), Gus Wreneckie (15) and Graham Bennet (18). Scott met these young men through his lecture tours or through brothels.
Inspecting Superintendent of Police John Sadleir, a Victorian police officer made a highly improbable claim that Scott sent word to infamous bushranger
Ned Kelly
, asking to join forces with him but that "Kelly sent back word threatening that if Scott or his band approached him he would shoot them down".
Scott seems to have never received the reply as his gang left Melbourne in the later part of 1879, and traveling north crossed into New South Wales to look for work, far from the police surveillance that stymied any opportunity of employment in Victoria. While traveling through the Kellys' area of operation, the gang were frequently mistaken for the Kelly's and took advantage of this to receive food and to seize guns and ammunition from homesteads.
Scott's gang bailed up the Wantabadgery Station near Wagga Wagga in November 1879 after being refused work, shelter and food. By this stage they were on the verge of starvation, after spending cold and rainy nights in the bush and in Moonlite's words succumbed to "desperation," terrorising staff and the family of Claude McDonald- a wealthy squatter. Scott also robbed the Australian Arms Hotel of a large quantity of alcohol and took prisoner the residents of some other neighbouring properties- bringing the number of prisoners to 36 in total.
One man, Ruskin, escaped in an attempt to warn others, but was caught and subject to a mock trial- the jury of his fellow prisoners finding him "Not Guilty". Another station-hand attempted to rush Scott but was overpowered.
A small party of four troopers eventually arrived, but Scott's well armed gang held them down with gunfire for several hours until they retreated to gather reinforcements- at which point the gang slipped out.
The gang then holed up in the farmhouse of Edmund McGlede until surrounded by a much more substantial police force. During the following shootout, Senior Constable Webb-Bowen was shot and killed, as was Wreneckie. Nesbitt was also shot and killed, attempting to lead police away from the house so that Scott could escape. When Scott saw Nesbitt shot down and was distracted, McGlede took the opportunity to disarm the gang leader and with the other members wounded, or captured on attempting to flee the fire fight came to a close. According to newspaper reports at the time, Scott openly wept at the loss of his dearest and closest companion. As Nesbitt lay dying, 'his leader wept over him like a child, laid his head upon his breast, and kissed him passionately'.
During the trial Scott claimed all guilt and allowed his young confederates to put all the blame on him, with them claiming to have been deceived as to the nature of their expedition, however both Scott and Rogan were given death sentences.
Scott was hanged in Sydney on 20 January 1880. Whilst awaiting his hanging Scott wrote a series of death-cell letters which were discovered by historian Garry Wotherspoon. Scott went to the gallows wearing a ring woven from a lock of Nesbitt's hair on his finger and his final request was to be buried in the same grave as his constant companion, "My dying wish is to be buried beside my beloved James Nesbitt, the man with whom I was united by every tie which could bind human friendship, we were one in hopes, in heart and soul and this unity lasted until he died in my arms." His request was not granted by the authorities of the time, but his remains were exhumed from Rookwood Cemetery
in Sydney and reinterred at Gundagai next to Nesbitt's grave in January 1995.
(1910).
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n bushranger
Bushranger
Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
.
Early peregrinations
Scott was born in RathfrilandRathfriland
Rathfriland is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a hilltop Plantation of Ulster settlement between the Mourne Mountains, Slieve Croob and Banbridge. It had a population of 2,079 people in the 2001 Census.-History:...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, son of an Anglican clergyman, but of Scottish descent. His father's intention was that he join the priesthood, but Scott instead trained to be an Engineer, completing his studies in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The family moved to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1861, with Scott intending to try his luck in the Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
goldfields.
However, the Maori Wars intervened and Scott signed up, as an officer, and fought at the battle of Oraku where he was wounded in both legs.
After a long convalescence Scott was accused of malingering and courtmartialed. Scott gave his disquiet at the slaughter of women and children during the siege as the source of his objection to returning to service.
In Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
he met bishop Charles Perry
Charles Perry (bishop)
Charles Perry was the first Anglican bishop of Melbourne, Australia.-Early life:Perry was born in Hackney, Middlesex, the third son of John Perry, sheriff of Essex and shipbuilder, and his second wife, Mary, daughter of George Green...
, in 1868 he was appointed lay reader at Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Bacchus Marsh is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately west of Melbourne and west of Melton. The population of the urban area is estimated at over 17,000 people, while the central locality is home to 5,566 people...
with the intention of entering the Anglican priesthood on the completion of his service. He was then sent to the gold mining town of Mount Egerton
Mount Egerton, Victoria
Mount Egerton is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Moorabool Local Government Area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Mount Egerton had a population of 215....
.
Celebrity criminal
On 8 May 1869 Scott was accused of disguising himself and forcing bank agent, Ludwig Julius Wilhelm Bruun, a young man whom he had befriended, to open the safe. Bruun described being robbed by a fantastic black-crepe masked figure who forced him to sign a note absolving him of any role in the crime. The note read "I hereby certify that L.W. Bruun has done everything within his power to withstand this intrusion and the taking of money which was done with firearms, Captain Moonlite, Sworn."Bruun claimed the man sounded like Scott but no gold was found in Scott's possession. Scott in turn accused Bruun and local school teacher James Simpson of the crime who then became the principal suspects in the minds of police and left for Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
soon afterwards.
It was alleged that for several months, Scott lived off the money stolen from the bank, hobnobbing in Sydney's high society and entertaining actors at after theatre parties. Near the end of 1870, he passed a worthless cheque and was arrested while trying to leave for Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
aboard the fraudulently obtained yacht, named the "Why not?". He was sentenced to 12 months in Maitland
Maitland
Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" , or it may be a locational reference to Mautalant, a place in Pontorson, France...
jail. In 1872 he was charged with stealing the gold at Mount Egerton, remanded in Ballarat Gaol; he escaped for a short time before his recapture. He appeared before judge Sir Redmond Barry
Redmond Barry
Sir Redmond Barry KCMG was an Irish colonial judge in Victoria, Australia.-Early life:Barry was the son of Major-General Henry Green Barry, of Ballyclough, County Cork and his wife Phoebe Drought, daughter of John Armstrong Drought and Letita Head...
on 24 July 1872 and received a sentence of eleven years jail. Despite some evidence against him, Scott claimed innocence in this matter until his dying day.
Scott was released from HM Prison Pentridge
HM Prison Pentridge
HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison built in 1850 in Coburg, Victoria. The first prisoners arrived in 1851. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997....
in March 1879. On regaining freedom, Scott met up with James Nesbitt, a young man whom he had met in prison. While some disagree on the grounds of speculation, he is considered by many to be Scott's lover and there is a significant primary resource that supports this reading. Scott's actual handwritten letters, currently held in the Archives Office of NSW, profess this love. While it is difficult to definitively claim the exact nature of Scott and Nesbitt's sexual practices, it can certainly be said that their relationship was an overtly romantic one. With the aid of Nesbitt, Captain Moonlite began a career as a public speaker on prison reform trading on his tabloid celebrity.
However this reputation came back to bite him. Throughout this period Scott was harried by the authorities and by the tabloid press who attempted to link him to numerous crimes in the colony and printed fantastic rumours about supposed plots he had underway.
At some time during this period Scott seems to have decided to live up to this legend and assembled a gang of young men, with Nesbitt as his second in command and the others being Thomas Rogan (21), Thomas Williams (19), Gus Wreneckie (15) and Graham Bennet (18). Scott met these young men through his lecture tours or through brothels.
Inspecting Superintendent of Police John Sadleir, a Victorian police officer made a highly improbable claim that Scott sent word to infamous bushranger
Bushranger
Bushrangers, or bush rangers, originally referred to runaway convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills necessary to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities...
Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly
Edward "Ned" Kelly was an Irish Australian bushranger. He is considered by some to be merely a cold-blooded cop killer — others, however, consider him to be a folk hero and symbol of Irish Australian resistance against the Anglo-Australian ruling class.Kelly was born in Victoria to an Irish...
, asking to join forces with him but that "Kelly sent back word threatening that if Scott or his band approached him he would shoot them down".
Scott seems to have never received the reply as his gang left Melbourne in the later part of 1879, and traveling north crossed into New South Wales to look for work, far from the police surveillance that stymied any opportunity of employment in Victoria. While traveling through the Kellys' area of operation, the gang were frequently mistaken for the Kelly's and took advantage of this to receive food and to seize guns and ammunition from homesteads.
Last stand and execution
One man, Ruskin, escaped in an attempt to warn others, but was caught and subject to a mock trial- the jury of his fellow prisoners finding him "Not Guilty". Another station-hand attempted to rush Scott but was overpowered.
A small party of four troopers eventually arrived, but Scott's well armed gang held them down with gunfire for several hours until they retreated to gather reinforcements- at which point the gang slipped out.
The gang then holed up in the farmhouse of Edmund McGlede until surrounded by a much more substantial police force. During the following shootout, Senior Constable Webb-Bowen was shot and killed, as was Wreneckie. Nesbitt was also shot and killed, attempting to lead police away from the house so that Scott could escape. When Scott saw Nesbitt shot down and was distracted, McGlede took the opportunity to disarm the gang leader and with the other members wounded, or captured on attempting to flee the fire fight came to a close. According to newspaper reports at the time, Scott openly wept at the loss of his dearest and closest companion. As Nesbitt lay dying, 'his leader wept over him like a child, laid his head upon his breast, and kissed him passionately'.
During the trial Scott claimed all guilt and allowed his young confederates to put all the blame on him, with them claiming to have been deceived as to the nature of their expedition, however both Scott and Rogan were given death sentences.
Scott was hanged in Sydney on 20 January 1880. Whilst awaiting his hanging Scott wrote a series of death-cell letters which were discovered by historian Garry Wotherspoon. Scott went to the gallows wearing a ring woven from a lock of Nesbitt's hair on his finger and his final request was to be buried in the same grave as his constant companion, "My dying wish is to be buried beside my beloved James Nesbitt, the man with whom I was united by every tie which could bind human friendship, we were one in hopes, in heart and soul and this unity lasted until he died in my arms." His request was not granted by the authorities of the time, but his remains were exhumed from Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery
Rookwood Cemetery is the largest multicultural necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney and reinterred at Gundagai next to Nesbitt's grave in January 1995.
Popular Cuture
The story of Moonlight was turned into a play, Captain Moonlight by W.J. Lincoln, which was later filmed as MoonliteMoonlite
Moonlite is a 1910 bushranger film about Captain Moonlite, played by John Gavin, who also directed.-Synopsis:Moonlite is arrested by the Victorian police, escapes from gaol and robs various banks. He his helped by an aboriginal "gin" called Bunda .-Cast:*John Gavin as Captain Moonlite*H.A...
(1910).
External links
Media links
- Moonlite Film official website
- Q&A with Moonlite Writer/Historian Simon Matthews
- Moonlite Director’s official website
- Moonlite 2011 IMDb entry