A British individual who relocated to Australia to start afresh was expelled from the country in the 1870s due to a series of severe criminal activities. Frank Gardiner, a notorious bushranger, played a key role in the largest gold robbery in Australian history at Eugowra, New South Wales.
Gardiner and his gang, known as the Gardiner-Hall gang, stole a significant amount of cash and approximately 77kg of gold, valued at around £5 million today. The gang, consisting of infamous bushrangers, engaged in various criminal acts like robbing banks, hijacking coach services, and pillaging rural estates, often engaging in confrontations with colonial law enforcement.
The Gardiner-Hall gang comprised individuals like Gardiner, Ben Hall, Fred Lowry, Michael Burke, John O’Meally, Henry Manns, Johnny Gilbert, and John Dunn. Many of these bushrangers met violent ends, with some killed by police and others meeting their fate through self-inflicted wounds or execution.
Born in Scotland as Francis Christie, Gardiner migrated to Australia as a child in 1834. Initially working as a stockman, he turned to horse theft as a means of quick gain. Despite multiple arrests and escapes, Gardiner continued his criminal activities until his eventual capture and sentencing to hard labor.
After serving time, Gardiner was offered an early release on the condition of exile from Australia and New Zealand. Upon accepting the terms, he relocated to the United States, where he established businesses and lived the remainder of his life. Reports of his death in 1882 remain inconclusive, with uncertainties surrounding the circumstances due to historical record loss during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.