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Date of Birth
Andrew George Scott was born on the 5th of July, 1842 at Rathfeild, Contry Down, Ireland. His father was Thomas Scott and his mother was Bessie Nee Jeffares. -
Arriving at New Zeland
On 1861, Scott and his family arrived at Auckland in New Zeland.
They arrived on a ship called the Black Eagle. -
Scott gets jobs
Thomas Scott took charge of Christ Church, Coromandel, and his brother was ordained priest. Andrew taught school for a while but in February 1864 was commissioned in the Waikato Militia; later he transferred to the Auckland Volunteer Engineers Corps. -
Scott arrives at Australia
Scott arrives at Australia and makes friends with a Schoolmaster, James Simpson, and L.J. Brunn, a agent for the town's branch of the London Chartered Bank. -
Scott's first crime
At the end of the first week in May, Bruun was not able to transfer the gold to the larger branch. He was holding over a thousand pounds in the safe. On the Saturday night when Bruun was returning from dinner to the bank, a man wearing a disguise on his face, placed a gun against his head and forced him inside. The man demanded money and Bruun immediately recognised the voice of Andrew Scott. The bushranger put the contents of the safe into two bags and made his escape. -
First Jugment
Andrew Scott acted dumbfounded and categorically refuted the claims, explaining that he had just arrived from Melbourne, and pulled out a train ticket to prove his innocence. He was so convincing that the police believed he was innocent and therefore diverted their attention to Bruun, who was duly arrested. They also took into custody the School Master, James Simpson, who was accused of writing the letter. -
Fake Payments
Shortly after arriving in Fiji, Andrew Scott ran up a debt of £260 to a Mr George Winters over the acquisition of some land. The loan was never paid as Scott left for Sydney via New Caledonia. -
Scott goes to Fiji
On July 23rd, 1869, Bruun and Simpson were tried at Ballarat. Included in the witnesses for the prosecution was Scott, who testified against his former friends. Both men were acquitted on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence.
Less than two months after the trial, Scott paid for his passage aboard a ship from Melbourne to Fiji. -
Scott gets arrested
After his arrival in Sydney, Scott sold a cake of gold and with the money he bought a yacht called the 'Why Not', with intentions of moving on once again. But before he could leave, he was arrested for passing bad cheques. On December 20, 1870, he was brought before the Sydney Quarter Sessions charged with obtaining goods by means of false pretences. On being found guilty, he was sentenced to twelve months in Maitland Gaol. -
Escape from Trial
But Scott did not plan to hang around for the trial, and as soon as he was placed in the Ballarat Gaol, he made plans for his escape. He teamed up with another inmate named Plunkett, and together with four others named James Dermoody, James Stapleton, William Taylor and William Marshall, escaped over the south wall. All were back behind bars within several days except Stapleton, who was finally run down a month later at Mt Bolton. -
Realeased
Following his release on March 18th, 1879, Andrew Scott was kept under close surveillance by the police. At the time he had an accomplice named James Nesbitt alias Lyons, who he had met in prison. During this period Scott was very heavily involved in lecturing about prison reform, and following one of these given at Ballarat, he met a Thomas Williams, alias "Frank Johns", alias "Charlie Davidson". Tom had never been in trouble with the law, and told his parents he was going to Horsham to work. -
Charged
The four remaining bushrangers were brought before the Gundagai Court on November 20th, charged with 'Robbery-Under-Arms' and 'Wounding with Intent to Murder Constable Webb-Bowen'. The trial lasted two days, but when the Constable died the following day, the four men were demanded to appear at Sydney Court on a charge of murder. -
Death
Andrew George Scott died on the 20th of January, 1880.
He was handed at trial.
