Heritage 0609_Capt Moonlight.pdf - Australian Heritage Magazine

Fosbery, Inspector-General of
Police, together with a score of foot
police were there, perhaps to bathe
in the reflected glory. At Fosbery’s
direction, a portion of the platform
was cleared, and the area between
the gate and a waiting prison van
was closely guarded. Prophetically,
an unoccupied hearse was parked
close to the van.
The hearse’s driver was probably
amongst the large, noisy crowd of
excited spectators, eager to catch a
glimpse of the notorious and
glamorous bushrangers. Most
congregated around the prison van,
but many others lined the nearby
overhead bridge. Some clambered
noisily upon the gates and mounted
rail carriages to get a better view.
Scott was the first of the gang to
appear on the platform, quickly
followed by Rogan, Williams and
then Bennett, who still had his
wounded arm in a sling. In legirons
and handcuffs and chained
together, all looked worn and
haggard. The prisoners were rapidly
hustled inside the Black Maria and
taken to Darlinghurst Gaol, much
to the crowd’s disappointment.
The trial of the Wantabadgery
bushrangers at the Central
Criminal Court at Darlinghurst did
not start until the following week.
Scott’s considerable skills as an
orator were eloquently
demonstrated during the four days
of the trial. He adopted a devilmay-care
attitude and pleaded for
mercy for the three remaining
members of his gang while taking
the entire blame for the death of
Constable Bowen upon himself.
Though all four bushrangers were
convicted on the capital charge,
Scott’s ploy worked. The jury
recommended that Rogan, Bennett
and Williams be shown mercy on
account of their youth and in the
belief that they had been led astray
by the influence of Scott as an older
man. The Governor of New South
Wales, Lord Augustus Loftus, on
accepting the request made by the
jury, in Council commuted the
death sentence against Bennett and
Williams to imprisonment for life.
He did not accept the plea of mercy
for Rogan, although he was under
some pressure to do so. No plea for
mercy was made for Scott who had
pleaded in the trial for the other
three, but not for himself.
After his conviction Scott
delivered an able address from the
dock, acknowledging that his days
were numbered:
I am approaching eternity, and as
the veil hiding eternity becomes
clearer, a person can, I believe, see
with clearer eyes. I believe there is
an Almighty God who judges us all
by the broad page of life, and I
believe that God will show me
more mercy than my fellow men. I
can look forward with hope beyond
the grave, and stand on the gallows
without one trembling limb to meet
my fate…
He then referred to his mother
and father in New Zealand and
asked the press to let him rest after
his execution. He pleaded with
them not to “load” him with infamy
after his death. That request fell on
deaf ears; Captain Moonlite went on
to be remembered as one of the
most picturesque and daring of the
Australian bushrangers.
Scott and Rogan ended their
misguided lives on the gallows in
Darlinghurst Gaol before an
audience of government officials
and invited journalists on 20
January 1880, a gruesome end to a
glamourous but foolhardy episode
of bushranging.
The Author
John Ramsland OAM is Emeritus
Professor of History at the
University of Newcastle and
continues to research and write
Australian social and cultural
history as a full-time writer. He has
published fourteen books and over
100 articles, papers and reviews.
The capture of Moonlite and his gang, with a shoot-out between police and gang members
in the background. State library of Victoria: IAN28/11/79/177.
Further Reading
George Boxall, The Story of the Australian
Bushrangers, first published in London
in 1899, republished by Penguin
Colonial Facsimiles, 1974. ◆
80 Australian Heritage