Harry Redford
Henry Arthur Readford (* 1841 in Mudgee , New South Wales , Australia , † March 12, 1901 in Corella Creek , Northern Territory ), also known as Harry Redford or Captain Starlight , was an Australian cattle thief and folk hero. Redford became well known in Australia for stealing an estimated 600 to 1000 cattle herd in 1870 and driving it over 1200 kilometers through the outback . He then sold the herd for £ 5,000 and was acquitted in court of theft.
origin
There are contradicting statements about the origin of Redford. One says that he was the son of Thomas Redford, who married Jemima Smith on July 29, 1834 in Windsor, New South Wales . Another suggests that he was one of eleven children of an Irish convict and that his family owned land and hotels in the Hawkesbury River area . Little is known of Redford's early life. On April 13, 1871, he married Elizabeth Jane Skuthorpe.
Cattle theft
In March 1870, Redford and three other drovers stole a huge herd of cattle without the owner, the Scottish Australian Company , first noticing. Other sources give different numbers of cattle thieves. In addition to this herd, a valuable white bull was also stolen. The cattle thieves knew they couldn't sell the large herd in Queensland because they would have noticed. In Queensland, as in South Australia , brands were not mandatory and so they drove the animals from Queensland along the Thomson River and Barcoo River to South Australia through the Channel Country - the driest area of Australia. They drove them on towards Adelaide and along what is now known as the Strzelecki Track and Cooper Creek . They sold the showy white bull and the two branded cattle to the Artracoona Native Well at the Hill Hill Cattle Station and the whole herd for £ 5,000 to the Blanchewater Cattle Station . At that time this was the northernmost settlement in South Australia, east of Marree , not far from Mount Hopeless . Redford successfully traversed an area where the Burke and Wills expedition tragically failed and Charles Sturt's was also abandoned. Contrary to what happened to the cattle thieves, heavy rain fell in the spring of 1870, so there was enough grass and Cooper Creek had enough water. The cattle thieves only needed three months to cover the distance of 1,287 kilometers.
In 1872 Redford was arrested for cattle theft and charged on February 11, 1873 in Roma . He appeared confident and well dressed in court and was acquitted on all charges. This gave him the designation "Gentleman-Bushranger" (gentleman bush robber). The prosecution could only be based on the recovered white bull, because the employees of the Bowen Downs cattle station followed the tracks of the herd far too late and without success, so the theft of the herd could not be proven without branding. The same was true for the white bull. Allegedly, on the occasion of the announcement of the acquittal , Judge Charles William Blakeney is said to have made the famous statement to those present in the courtroom: "I thank God that the verdict is yours, gentlemen, and not mine" (I thank God that the verdict is your business, gentlemen, and not mine). Following this verdict, the judge was violently attacked by the press, the Queensland government ordered the Roma court to be closed for eight months and all Australian brands were forcibly registered. Judging Judge Blakeney fell seriously ill in August 1875 and presumably committed suicide on January 12, 1876 in the Brisbane River .
After his release, Redford continued to herd cattle over long distances, for example in 1883 the first herd to the Brunette Downs cattle station through the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory . He became the first manager of the Corella Downs cattle station and in 1899 of the McArthur cattle station. In 1901, at the age of 59, he drowned in high water in Corella Creek , despite being a good swimmer. His grave is at the Brunette Downs cattle station.
Hero worship
Bush robbers are known as bushrangers , enjoy a folkloric status in Australia and are transfigured into heroes. Their deeds are sung about, woven into stories and shown in films. They are considered the Robin Hoods of Australia, the poor who fought against the rich. The reason for this transfiguration could be that the first European settlers in the convict colony of Australia were convicted Englishmen who were severely punished for minor violations of the law. In England at the time, stealing bread was punishable by death. Many convicts were chained and transported halfway around the world to do convict labor. They were subject to severe penalties there, too, because until Australia was founded as a state in 1901, all English judgments had to be adopted and applied to the letter in the British colonies of Australia.
Review
The story of Harry Redford and other bush robbers merged into the idealized Captain Starlight in the novella "Robbery Under Arms" by Rolf Boldrewood . The first publication was in the illustrated Sydney Mail from July 1882 to August 1883 in series and the three-volume book edition appeared in 1888. In 2006 the books were reissued in Australia. The story was first performed as a melodrama in 1890 and played in black and white films in 1907, 1919, and 1920. In color films, Peter Finch played Captain Starlight in 1957 and Sam Neill in 1985 . There were also reports on the radio.
There's a Starlight Outlook near Longreach , the name of which goes back to Redford's nickname.
A tourist company offers holidaymakers the opportunity to participate in the cattle drive on this historic route, which is also known as the Starlight Trail .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Copy of the death certificate ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on May 29, 2010
- ↑ a b c Information on Harry Redford on muttaburra.com ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on May 29, 2010
- ^ Blakeney, Charles William (1802–1876). Australian Dictionary of Biography at adb.online.anu.edu.au , accessed May 29, 2010
- ↑ Harry Redford on harryredford.com.au ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on May 29, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Redford, Harry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Readford, Henry Arthur (maiden name); Captain Starlight (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian cattle thief and folk hero |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1841 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mudgee , New South Wales , Australia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 12, 1901 |
| Place of death | Corella Creek , Northern Territory |