John Gilbert (bushranger)

Johnny Gilbert was an Australian bushranger shot dead by the police at the age of 23 near Binalong, New South Wales on 13 May 1865.

Gilbert was a member of Ben Hall's gang. Hall and Gilbert were both shot by police within a week of each other. Hall was shot dead on 5 May 1865 near Forbes, New South Wales . After Hall was killed his gang split up and Gilbert and John Dunn travelled to Binalong where Dunn had relatives.

He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1842. His mother Eleanor (née Wilson) died shortly after his birth. His father William subsequently married Eliza Cord, a girl only slightly older than his eldest surviving daughter, Eleanor. In 1852 John accompanied his family to the Victorian goldfields. Nine members of the Gilbert family arrived in Port Phillip on board the Revenue in October 1852. They included William and Eliza, Eleanor (Ellen), Frank, James, Charles, Thomas Charbonnelle and Nicholas Wiseman. A contemporary of Hall and Gardiner, Johnny Gilbert, alias Roberts, was one of the gang charged with the robbery of the gold escort at Eugowra Rocks, but had not been captured. His uncle, John Davis, was found shot in April 1854 Gilbert (then known as Roberts) was arrested and charged with murder. He was acquitted but later jailed for horse stealing.

Some suggest Gilbert accompanied his uncle, John Davis, to the Victorian goldfields. However, there is no mention of Davis on the passenger list for the Revenue, though there is a ten-year-old John Gilbert. Roy Mendham, in his book, The Dictionary of Australian Bushrangers, asserts that Gilbert was responsible for the murder of his uncle. In 1854, Davis was found shot dead, and a Joseph Roberts, an alias of John Gilbert, was tried for Davis's murder but acquitted. Roberts was later tried for horsestealing. Roberts however was said to be about seventeen, Davis's murder occurred at the Waverley Arms at Bondi Junction, New South Wales. It would seem that Roberts, although possibly an alias for a John Gilbert, is not the same John Gilbert. The Gilbert family history does not include the names Roberts or Davis in Australia, although Wilson was used as an alias by Charles, his older brother who fled first to New Zealand's gold fields then to California to avoid arrest.

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