Why The Grave Of Gay Bushranger James Nesbitt Deserves To Be Properly Marked
Image: Andrew George Scott (Captain Moonlite) and James Nesbitt. Image: National Portrait Gallery
For nearly 150 years, bushranger James Nesbitt, who is believed to be the romantic partner of the famous Captain Moonlite, has been lying in an unmarked grave at North Gundagai Cemetery.
Adam Warren seeks to change this and install a modest, historically appropriate headstone on James’s grave so that it can finally be properly identified and remembered. Warren recently discovered that James Nesbitt (1858–1879), a member of Captain Moonlite’s gang, was his great-great-great uncle.
“Growing up I had heard about Captain Moonlite when we learned about bushrangers at school, but I never imagined there could be a family connection. While tracing my father’s side of the family I eventually realised that James Nesbitt was my great-great-great uncle,” he told Star Observer.
Warren believes that regardless of the circumstances of Nesbitt’s life, he was part of Australia’s history.
“As far as I am aware our family may be the only relatives connected to him today, and I feel we owe it to him to ensure that his resting place is properly marked and not forgotten.”
Nesbitt met Captain Moonlite, whose real and less flamboyant name is Andrew George Scott, at Pentridge Prison in Victoria. After their release in 1879, the pair moved with four other young men to New South Wales, where Nesbitt was killed in a shootout near Gundagai. Moonlite reportedly wept over his body.
“Prison records even show that James was once punished for secretly giving Moonlite a cup of tea,” Warren shares. “Another moving detail is that after James was killed during the Wantabadgery siege, Moonlite wrote a letter to his mother and enclosed a lock of James’s hair as a keepsake, although that letter was never delivered.”
Captured and sentenced to death, Moonlite penned more than 60 letters and two statements explaining his actions and professing his deep love for Nesbitt. In the letter to Nesbitt’s mother, Moonlite 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…”
After 115 years apart, Moonlite’s remains were exhumed from Rookwood Cemetary in NSW, and reinterred at North Gundagai Cemetery, where he now rests near Nesbitt’s burial site. Last year, Nesbitt and George Scott’s graves were both added to the State Heritage Register.
“Captain Moonlite and James Nesbitt were outcasts even among outcasts, who might have lived very different lives in more contemporary times,” said 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.”
“It has been fascinating to see their story being discussed more openly in recent years,” says Warren. “Moonlite’s surviving letters make it very clear how deeply he cared for James, and many historians now interpret their relationship as romantic. Regardless of how people interpret it today, their bond remains one of the most personal and moving stories in Australian bushranger history.”
Adam Warren is raising funds to help mark Nesbitt’s grave.
“The grave site is part of a heritage-listed cemetery, so the monument needs to follow heritage guidelines. Even a small contribution helps bring the project closer to ensuring that his resting place is finally recognised,” he says.
Anyone who would like to support the project can donate here.
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