The name 'Captain Starlight' often causes confusion as it is also associated with the bushranger Harry Readford AND with a fictional character.
Henry ('Harry') Readford was an explorer and a cattle thief. In 1870 he stole about 1000 cattle and drove them more than 1200kms across Queensland and South Australia. It was an amazing feat that showed great skill and endurance, and turned Henry Readford into an outback legend.
Then in 1882/1883 a Sydney newspaper published the novel Robbery under arms. Written by Rolf Boldrewood, (the pen name of Thomas Alexander Browne), the book told the story of a young man who ran away from his noble English family to become a cattle thief and armed robber in the Australian outback. The hero’s name was “Captain Starlight”. In 1888 the story was published in book form, in three volumes, and the following year it was made into a single volume. The book was very popular and it soon became an Australian classic.
Frank Pearson liked to boast that the hero of the story was modelled on him. The author, however denied it; Boldrewood claimed that he had never even heard of Frank Pearson when he wrote Robbery Under Arms. His “Captain Starlight” was, he claimed based on several Australian bushrangers. One of them was a horse thief known as “Captain Midnight”. Another was Henry Readford.
Henry Readford never called himself “Starlight”, although because of Robbery Under Arms he has come to be known by the name.
Henry Readford was born in Mudgee, NSW, on 12 December 1841. He was the eleventh and youngest child of Thomas and Jemima Readford. From a young age he was involved in the theft of stock, the most famous of which was the robbery of 1000 cattle from Bowen Downs. He was charged with this crime and faced trial at Roma, but was notoriously found not guilty. Referring to the bribery and corruption amongst the jurors, Judge Blakeney, when apprised of the verdict, famously pronounced: "I thank God that verdict is yours, gentlemen, and not mine."
Henry was brought to justice for only one of his crimes: the theft of a horse from Eton Vale. For this crime he served 15 months of an 18 month sentence in the Brisbane Gaol (Boggo Road). In his later life he was known as a pioneer of north Queensland and the Northern Territory. Acting as a property manager, a guide and an explorer, he contributed much to the development of the north.
Readford died from drowning in a creek at Brunette Downs in March 1901. He is buried at Brunette Downs and a plaque on his grave reads:
Henry ('Harry') Readford was an explorer and a cattle thief. In 1870 he stole about 1000 cattle and drove them more than 1200kms across Queensland and South Australia. It was an amazing feat that showed great skill and endurance, and turned Henry Readford into an outback legend.
Then in 1882/1883 a Sydney newspaper published the novel Robbery under arms. Written by Rolf Boldrewood, (the pen name of Thomas Alexander Browne), the book told the story of a young man who ran away from his noble English family to become a cattle thief and armed robber in the Australian outback. The hero’s name was “Captain Starlight”. In 1888 the story was published in book form, in three volumes, and the following year it was made into a single volume. The book was very popular and it soon became an Australian classic.
Frank Pearson liked to boast that the hero of the story was modelled on him. The author, however denied it; Boldrewood claimed that he had never even heard of Frank Pearson when he wrote Robbery Under Arms. His “Captain Starlight” was, he claimed based on several Australian bushrangers. One of them was a horse thief known as “Captain Midnight”. Another was Henry Readford.
Henry Readford never called himself “Starlight”, although because of Robbery Under Arms he has come to be known by the name.
Henry Readford was born in Mudgee, NSW, on 12 December 1841. He was the eleventh and youngest child of Thomas and Jemima Readford. From a young age he was involved in the theft of stock, the most famous of which was the robbery of 1000 cattle from Bowen Downs. He was charged with this crime and faced trial at Roma, but was notoriously found not guilty. Referring to the bribery and corruption amongst the jurors, Judge Blakeney, when apprised of the verdict, famously pronounced: "I thank God that verdict is yours, gentlemen, and not mine."
Henry was brought to justice for only one of his crimes: the theft of a horse from Eton Vale. For this crime he served 15 months of an 18 month sentence in the Brisbane Gaol (Boggo Road). In his later life he was known as a pioneer of north Queensland and the Northern Territory. Acting as a property manager, a guide and an explorer, he contributed much to the development of the north.
Readford died from drowning in a creek at Brunette Downs in March 1901. He is buried at Brunette Downs and a plaque on his grave reads:
Here lies
HARRY REDFORD
alias
CAPTAIN STARLIGHT
HARRY REDFORD
alias
CAPTAIN STARLIGHT
