Bushrangers

Portrait of a man glued to a description sheet

Captain Moonlight, bushranger

One of the more famous gaol photographs in the State Archives Collection is that of A.G. Scott, otherwise known as Captain Moonlight, which was taken on 26 November 1879

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Bushrangers in NSW

For over 100 years bushrangers roamed throughout the state of NSW. Their exploits entranced the public and names such as Ben Hall, Captain Thunderbolt and Ned Kelly became both heroes and villains for many

Cropped version of photo portrait of bearded man, mounted on card.

Moonlite at the Sydney Mint

If you’ve ever visited The Mint on Sydney’s Macquarie Street, chances are you have walked in the footsteps of an infamous Australian bushranger, ‘Captain Moonlite’

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Were bushrangers villains or heroes?

During the colonial period bushrangers committed serious crimes. However, to some people they might have seemed impressive

First Fleet Ships

John ‘Black Caesar’

Convict John ‘Black’ Caesar became Australia’s first bushranger when he fled the settlement in December 1795 and led a gang of fellow escapees in the bush surrounding Port Jackson

Blue police cap.

Troopers & Aboriginal trackers

What was it like to be in the mounted police?

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The gold escort

A miner could transport his or her gold to Sydney using the 'gold escort'

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Convict Sydney

A world of pain

The combined aims of the assignment system, from 1826 onwards, were to equip farmers with cheap convict labour, to disperse convicts away from towns (and other convicts) and to keep an eye on each worker’s whereabouts and treatment