Harry Readford is widely believed to be the model and inspiration for the bushranger Captain Starlight in the classic Australian novel “Robbery Under Arms”. Harry’s father built and owned the Westwood Inn in Ilford (near Rylstone) in 1841. The remains of this building are still evident. Harry was the youngest child. He was born in the small town of Cudgegong, which is now submerged under the nearby Windamere Dam. His brothers were all property owners in the district, and one brother (James) owned our property “Woodlawn” at Rylstone, where all the grapes for the Captain Starlight wines are now grown.

Harry Readford was the “black sheep” of a respectable family. A great horseman, he became a local bushranger, calling himself “Captain Starlight”. While a number of Australian outlaws operated under this (or similar) names, he was the best known. He operated initially in the lush horse, sheep and cattle areas around Rylstone and up the nearby Bylong Valley. Eventually his local knowledge could not keep him safe from the pursuit of the police and he moved north to Queensland. The term “bushranger” covered a range of criminal pursuits of varying degrees of seriousness – from murder to stagecoach robbery to cattle rustling. Harry was a cattle rustler. Cattle rustling was rife in the great grassland areas of the east coast of Australia during the nineteenth century, especially in the vast and sparsely populated areas of Queensland. Even the big property owners had a “flexible” approach to acquiring their large herds. Stock fences were difficult to build and maintain over thousands of kilometres. Branding of cattle was generally done at an annual muster, so there were always lots of cattle lacking a definite brand (and existing brands were not immune to modification). Harry was in his element.

His stock gathering and droving exploits were already well known before he “acquired” a herd of around 1000 cattle from one of the large cattle stations in northern Queensland (reputedly “Bowen Downs”). Unbelievably he drove this herd thousands of kilometres to the Adelaide markets through the harsh deserts of central Australia, including the area which had claimed the lives of the explorers Burke and Wills just nine years previously. He pioneered the Strezlecki stock track through the toughest terrain. Arrested several times for cattle rustling, he was found guilty only once – and at one time was carried from the court room by a cheering mob when a “cast iron” case was dismissed by a sympathetic jury. The crime of cattle rustling was widespread and Harry had acquired hero status in the region for his skills, so it was hard to find a jury to convict him.

Eventually his stock handling ability - and perhaps a realisation that he was no longer a young man – influenced his transition to “respectability”. He became the first manager of the giant “Brunette Downs” station in northern Queensland. Perhaps the owners hoped that he might use his skills and experience to “expand” the herd, and also to foil the efforts of other rustlers. His incredible stock handling skills and exploits were eventually recognised in his election to the “Stockmen’s Hall of Fame” at Longreach.

Undoubtedly Harry would have stayed with his brother at Woodlawn as a young bushranger, about 150 years ago. Some of the buildings date back to around that period. Our “Captain Starlight Series” of wines recognises the association with a unique Australian.