NSW heritage listing for graves of gay bushrangers

The graves of two Australian bushrangers, who were believed to be a gay couple, have been added to the State Heritage Register.

The NSW Government announced today the final resting place of Captain Moonlite (Andrew George Scott) and James Nesbitt is now on the register.

The graves in Gundagai, 390 kilometres south-west of Sydney, are a rare symbol of gay male relationships from the 19th century.

“Captain Moonlite and James Nesbitt were outcasts even among outcasts, who might have lived very different lives in more contemporary times,” said NSW Minister for Heritage Penny Sharpe.

“This listing on the State Heritage Register reflects the desire to tell the diverse stories that reflect the rich history of NSW,” she said.

Duty MLC for Cootamundra, Stephen Lawrence, said: “The protections afforded to the gravesites in North Gundagai Cemetery through listing on the NSW State Heritage Register ensure that this rare, one-of-a-kind site, and the life story it represents, are preserved.”

Moonlite + Nesbitt

Andrew George Scott – also called Alexander Charles Scott but best known as Captain Moonlite – was born in Ireland on 5 July 1842. James Nesbitt was born in Australia on 27 August 1858.

Moonlite committed his first serious crime in 1869, robbing a bank in Victoria. He was jailed in Victoria’s Pentridge Prison, where he met Nesbitt, who was serving time for petty crimes.

Upon their release, the pair and four other young men moved to NSW where, in 1879, they held up Wantabadgery Station near Gundagai. During a shootout with police, Nesbitt was shot in the head.

It was said Moonlite held Nesbitt in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably as the 21-year-old died, on 17 November 1879.

According to one report: “[Moonlite] wept over him like a child, laid his head upon his breast and kissed him passionately.”

Together in life – and death

Nesbitt was buried in Gundagai, as were two police officers and another bushranger killed in the shootout.

Moonlite was caught and jailed in Sydney. While awaiting trial, he penned multiple letters outlining his bond with Nesbitt.

In one addressed to Nesbitt’s mother, he wrote: “His hopes were my hopes, his grave will be my resting place, and I trust I may be worthy to be with him where we shall all meet to part no more.”

Moonlite was executed by hanging on 20 January 1880. He went to the gallows wearing a ring woven from a lock of Nesbitt’s hair.

The authorities, who had not sent any of Moonlite’s letters, did not grant his wish to be buried alongside Nesbitt. Instead, he was interred at Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery.

But, more than a century later, Captain Moonlite’s letters were discovered and two Gundagai women campaigned for his dying wish to be fulfilled.

In January 1995, after 115 years, Moonlite’s remains were exhumed from Rookwood and reinterred at the North Gundagai Cemetery, under a eucalyptus tree next to Nesbitt.

The heritage listing for the graves “shows respect for the many histories that shape NSW”, said Stephen Lawrence.

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