The Legend… The Myth…. Of Harry Redford.

Henry Arthur Redford is commonly known as "Captain Starlight" in Australian folklore. Henry or Harry Redford was born in Mudgee, NSW, of an Irish convict father and a "Currency Lass". He was the youngest of eleven children. His family were landowners from the Hawkesbury River area.

As Harry Redford was an expert bushman and drover, he worked as head teamster transporting stores to many isolated properties in Western Queensland. He soon realised that many of these properties were so large stock would not be missed for some time due to the isolation.

Bowen Downs, Aramac fitted this category and so Redford devised a plan to steal cattle when the Bowen Downs mustering camp was working on the opposite end of the run.

In March 1870, Redford and four others stole between 600-1000 head of cattle, including an imported white bull belonging to the Scottish Australian Company, Bowen Downs, which stretched some 140 miles along the Thomson River and tributaries.

Redford decided to overland the cattle to South Australia because the rivers had run and he had previous knowledge of the country around Windorah. It took Harry and his two companions, George Dewdney and William Rooke three months to drive the cattle 800 miles down the Cooper through country where Burke and Wills had perished 10 years before. The path thought to be taken by Redford is known as the Strzelecki Track.

On 11 February, 1873, Redford and the white bull were star attractions at his trial in Roma. He was found "Not Guilty" and Judge Blakeney made his famous statement, "I thank God that the verdict is yours, gentlemen and not mine".

The Myth

As is most often the case with history, characters are romanticised and it soon becomes impossible to sort myth from fact. Harry Redford is credited as being the inspiration behind Rolf Boldrewood’s book, "Robbery Under Arms". Who was Starlight? Was it Redford or was it a figment of the author’s imagination. Another myth surrounding Redford is that he opened up uncharted territory along the Strzelecki Track. However, some believe it was John Costello, a friend of the Durack´s of "Kings in Grass Castle" fame.