A British man who relocated to Australia to begin a new life was instructed to depart and never come back due to a series of heinous crimes. Frank Gardiner, a notorious bushranger, was banished from the country in the 1870s for his involvement in significant criminal activities, including leading the largest gold theft in Australian history at Eugowra, New South Wales.
Gardiner, along with his gang known as the Gardiner-Hall gang, stole a substantial amount of cash and gold, valued at approximately £5 million today. The gang, comprising well-known bushrangers, engaged in various illegal activities such as robbing banks, attacking coach services, and pillaging estates, often engaging in shootouts with colonial police.
The members of the Gardiner-Hall gang met grim fates, with some being shot by police, one committing suicide, and others being hanged by the authorities. Gardiner, originally Francis Christie from Scotland, had a history of criminal activities, including horse theft, for which he served time in prison before escaping and resuming his unlawful pursuits.
After a successful gold heist, Gardiner fled to Queensland, where he was eventually captured by police and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Despite a petition for his early release, Gardiner agreed to exile himself from Australian colonies and New Zealand in exchange for an early departure after serving 10 years in prison. He ended up in the United States, where he ran a saloon in San Francisco.
The circumstances surrounding Gardiner’s later life and death remain unclear, with reports suggesting various dates and locations of his demise, complicated by a lack of records following the San Francisco earthquake in 1906.