Sam Poo

Poo (nicknamed 'Cranky Sam'[1]) was a Chinese emigrant to Australia during the Gold Rush, but instead of mining took to highway robbery on the road between Gulgong and Mudgee. A skilled and elusive bushman, he evaded capture from the authorities for several weeks. He often targeted solitary travellers on foot, both East Asians and Europeans, and was also responsible for the rape of a settler's wife.[1]

On 3 February 1865, Senior Constable John Ward of the New South Wales Police Force was returning to Coonabarabran from a prisoner escort to Mudgee. Near the locality known as Barney's Reef he was informed that a Chinese man had been robbing passing travellers in the vicinity, and was nearby in the scrub. Following a short search, Ward located the offender's camp and approached him. When the offender saw the constable he dived into the bush. A long foot chase ensued, during which the pursued shot the constable in the chest, mortally wounding him. The murderer was later identified as Poo.[2]

Two weeks after the incident, Poo was finally tracked down. When confronted by police troops he attempted to escape, but was shot in the thigh.[3] Continuing to fire from the ground, he was finally subdued, and taken to a prison hospital in Mudgee. When he recovered nine months later, he was taken to Bathurst, where he was tried by Judge Edward Hargreaves and hanged on 19 December 1865.[4]

• Anonymous 'New South Wales News'. The Brisbane Courier, 30 December 1865, p. 5, column 5.
• Noonan, Rodney. The Journal of Australian Studies. "Wild Cathay Boys: Chinese Bushrangers in Australian History and Literature."
• Police Deaths in NSW at www.policensw.com
• Curious Clippings at South Australian Police Historical Society