Mad Dog Morgan: from hero to bloodthirsty bushranger

Before Ned Kelly, the bushranger who most struck fear into the hearts of Australia’s lawmen was Dan Morgan.

Bushranger ‘Mad Dog’ Morgan.

Before Ned Kelly, the bushranger who most struck fear into the hearts of Australia’s lawmen was “Mad Dog” Morgan.

Morgan later became an inspiration to the Kelly Gang, who were said to have ridden through the streets of Jerilderie after robbing the bank shouting, “Hurrah, to the good old days of Morgan and Ben Hall!”

But while Dan Morgan was once described as “the most bloodthirsty ruffian that ever took to the bush”, he began his bushranging career as a hero – at least to some.

Melbourne historian Aidan Phelan shares the tale with the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters:

After starting out as a horse thief, Morgan served time on the prison hulks moored off Williamstown, before turning to bushranging in NSW in the 1860s.

Morgan earned a reputation as an enforcer for labourers who were being mistreated or underpaid by their bosses.

In 1863, Morgan forced station owner Thomas Gibson to write cheques to his staff totalling almost 400 pounds.

“And Morgan also made sure that he got a cheque for a slightly larger sum …. and Morgan then stole one of Gibson’s suits and rode off,” says Mr Phelan, the creator of the website A Guide to Australian Bushranging.

“And so word started to spread that Morgan was perhaps on the side of the underdog, and he very quickly built up a network of supporters amongst the stockmen at different stations.”

Bushranger Dan Morgan kills Sergeant David Maginnity near Tumbarumba in NSW in 1864.

Stockmen or drovers would call on Morgan to “sort out” cruel or stingy station owners.

“And one of the knock-on effects of that was that he was referred to as ‘the traveller’s friend’ because now squatters, station owners were afraid to turn away swaggies because they were worried that either they were going to tell Morgan that they’d been mistreated, or that they might turn out to be Morgan himself.

“So it sort of guaranteed these swaggies could then get a place to stay and some food to eat.”

But all sympathy for Morgan dissolved when he became increasingly unhinged and violent.

Morgan killed two innocent people in 1864, including a police sergeant, the beginning of a murderous rampage.

He was shot and killed in 1865 after a dramatic overnight siege at Peechelba station in northeastern Victoria.

Afterwards, his body was publicly displayed and photographed, then decapitated.

Dennis Hopper in the 1976 film Mad Dog Morgan.

In life, his many nicknames and aliases included Bill the Native and Down-the-River Jack.

But his best-known nickname is a modern addition, thanks to the 1976 film Mad Dog Morgan, starring Dennis Hopper.

To learn more, listen to the interview in the free In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts,Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper every Friday for more stories and photos from the past.