Spotlight: The Executed Wantabadgery Bushrangers (1880)

Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, who expiated his last crime in Darlinghurst Gaol on Tuesday, January 20, was born in the north of Ireland in or about the year 1843, and was consequently 37 years of age. He had the usual “highly respectable parentage,” his father being a clergyman of the Church of England, who now holds a tenure in the District of Coromandel, in the north of New Zealand. The family came to Auckland some years ago, when Andrew George was quite young. Though we are not, as we expected to be, in possession of an autobiography of the executed criminal, written for one of our contributors, and withheld from him by the prison authorities of New South Wales, we are able from information supplied us by that gentleman to give the salient points in Scott’s career.

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The Bluestone College: Bushrangers at Pentridge

First opened in 1851, Pentridge was envisioned as a state of the art prison where the worst of the worst would be sent to learn the errors of their ways. Unfortunately, Pentridge went from being an easily escapable stockade to a home of cruel and overly harsh punishment. Here many bushrangers did time for their transgressions and this list gives the accounts of several of the more notable cases. Continue reading The Bluestone College: Bushrangers at Pentridge

The Execution of Scott and Rogan

“I, Maurice J. O’Connor, being the medical officer of the gaol at Darlinghurst, do hereby declare and certify that I have this day witnessed the execution of Andrew George Scott, alias Moonlight, lately convicted and duly sentenced to death at … Continue reading The Execution of Scott and Rogan

Spotlight: Captain Moonlite, the condemned bushranger. By Silverpen.

Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1869 – 1883; 1914 – 1918), Tuesday 6 January 1880, page 4 CAPTAIN MOONLITE, THE CONDEMNED BUSHRANGER. BY SILVERPEN. As every item of news anent the Wantabagery bushranger is just now read with painful interest by … Continue reading Spotlight: Captain Moonlite, the condemned bushranger. By Silverpen.

A Guide to Australian Bushranging on tour, 2019 [Blog]

With November 2019 seeing the 140th anniversary of the Wantabadgery Siege, the decision was made to make a pilgrimage to Wantabadgery. As no formal acknowledgement of the anniversary or notification of any organised commemoration thereof had been announced, I decided … Continue reading A Guide to Australian Bushranging on tour, 2019 [Blog]

Spotlight: A Sketch of the Life and Career of Captain Moonlite

The following is an account of the life and career of Andrew George Scott that appeared in print shortly after his capture at McGlede’s farm. It is accurate to what was publicly confirmed or at least believed at the time. … Continue reading Spotlight: A Sketch of the Life and Career of Captain Moonlite