"CAPTAIN MOONLIGHT."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20987, 25 September 1931, Page 6

"CAPTAIN MOONLIGHT."

AUCKLAND ASSOCIATION.

JBISTAKEN IDENTITY POSSIBLE

tire HISTORY PRINTED IN 1879.

Prompted by a recent reference to f'Captain Moonlight," the Australian bushranger, who was hanged in Sydney on January 20, -18)30, Mr. D. W. O. Fagan, of Onerahi, states that this man's name was William George Scott (not 'Andrew George), and that he passed his boyhood in Karamea, near Mangapai, having been brought, to New Zealand from Deny, Ireland, at an early age. He was educated at the Mjingapai school and gome of his d\d schoolmates are "still to the fore." Mrs. Miller, of Springfield, states Mr. Fagan, remembers him as a high-spirited, good-tempered lad. He affirms that young Scott's first lapse took place in Mangapai, when he held up a brother-in-law of Mr. S. Donaldson and robbed him of a £lO note. Mr. Fagan concludes as follows: "Though the greater pa,rt of the Australian press is still anxious ito claim 'Captain Moonlight* as a native of that country, we old Mangapavians are not inclined to forgo the honour of having given her her only 'gentleman bush-jra-nger.' " A Naval Cadet. Possibly there has been a case of mistaken identity over the Scott who became "Captain Moonlight." The Herald Of December 13, 1879, at which date the •trial of Scott'was taking place in Australia, published an account of his life that had evidently appeared in Australian papers. This stated that the man's name [was Andrew George Scott and that he [K-as a native of Dublin, although he himself had said lie was born in County Down, Ireland. He was then 34 years of age. His father, states the article, origin,Uy intended the boy to study for the Church, but finding that he was of a too lively disposition, allowed him to choose his own caUing. We thus find him in •1856, at the age of 11 years, a cadet on board H.M.S. Britannia, and a relic given to the lad by ljis affectionate Mother, which was accidentally discovered the other day, shows what the P» re . nts feelincs were on that occasion. I is Bible given to the boy on leaving homo, end bears the following inscription: "From Bessie Scott to her son, A. y. Scott, wishing that he may read, mark, learn and digest these blessed contents. ißorn in Dublin, 1845, baptised 1846. Fought in Maori War. In 1859 we find him fighting under Garibaldi in Italy. On August 19, 1861, Ibe left London for Auckland, New Zealand, where he enlisted as a volunteer and joined the campaign against the tribes of revolted Maoris and continued until he was wounded, being shot in both legs. The slugs were extracted, but they left their mark. His next move was to the United States, where he joined the Northern Army. „ • a In 1867. he turned up in Melbourne and then made a cruise to the South Sea Islands. In 1869 he returned to Sydney in Captain Pile's schooner. He resided in Captain Pile's residence for some time, there leaving in a box with other articles the Bible mentioned. In 1870 he was imprisoned for uttering » cheque. Later he was in gaol again for fessault and robbery, but was transferred to a mental hospital, where he recovered, gome time after he was appointed a layreader by Bishop Perry and sent to (Bacchus Marsh to assist the Rey 1Cooper. His next crime was the robbery of "the Egerton- bank, with the manager of which he was on intimate terms, being still a lay-reader. Suspicion was thrown on the manager and a schoolmaster, and Bcott gave ' evidence against them. The manager was acquitted, but the schoolmaster was bound over to surrender when called on. , ' Some time after, Scott purchased a fyacht, with the intention of going to Fiji, but was arrested for false pretences, and'having sold a lump of gold the precise weight of that stolen from the Egerton bank, was charged with the robbery, but escaped from prison with five other criminals. He was recaptured and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, .his identity being established by the shot ecars in his legs. Part of his sentence vras remitted, and upon release he lectured on the penal system and then gathered together the band of youths, with whom at the Wantabadgery hold-up he was captured and eventually hanged for the murder there committed of Constable Bowen.