Captain Melville is something of an enigmatic figure. He gained such a reputation and so many stories were told about him that the separation of fact and fiction is a difficult undertaking. The situation is not helped because many relevant police and prison records of the time are missing.

What is known is that his real name was Francis McNeish Mcneill McCallum, otherwise known as Frank McCallum. He was born in 1823 and commenced a criminal career at an early age. At the age of 13 when he was arrested in Perth Scotland for housebreaking and the records show earlier convictions for theft. At this time he was using the alias of Edward Melville.

Convicted McCallum was transported for seven years in Van Diemen's Land. After ariving he was quickly in trouble again and had his sentence extended on two occasions. He absconded in 1848 and twice in 1850. The third time he managed to flee and made his way to Victoria where he arrived in late 1851. The goldrush was in full swing and no doubt he recognised the opportunity to make easy money. He became a bushranger.

McCallum centred his activites around the Mount Macedon and Geelong areas, although he seems to have ranged fairly widely. Again, it is difficult to determine exactly how active he really was as other bushrangers seemed to have also used his alias, while other bushrangers also named Melville and McCallum were active in Victoria. Nevertheless for some twelve months. He robbed dozens of travellers and stole several horses. As a result he gained considerable notoriety and eventually myths and legends grew up around him.

In 1852 he joined up with another bush villain named William Roberts and on 18 December the two men gained considerable notoriety when they bailed up 18 men at the property of a man named Aitcheson. They tied the men up and then ordered Mrs Aitcheson to prepare them a meal. When they had eaten it they searched the house thoroughly, taking all the money, jewellery and other valuables they could find. They then picked out two fine horses (presumably Thoroughbreds), saddled them and then departed. Both the Hall and Kelly gangs would repeat these activities a few years later.

Captain Melville seems to have been lucky in that he narrowly missed capture several times. A reward of one hundred pounds had been posted for his capture Dead or Alive, however, such was his notoriety that no-one had attempted to claim it. This was about to change.

On 24 December 1852 Melville and Roberts had bailed up several travellers along the Geelong to Ballarat Road. In the evening they decided to have a spree and rode into Geelong. After settling their horses and having dinner they obtained some bottles of brandy and went to a brothel. While there Melville drunkenly identified himself and boasted of his exploits. Realising there was a reward for his arrest the women distracted him while another went for the police.

Melville became suspicious and tried to rouse Roberts who was sleeping in a drunken stupour. He was unsuccessful and ran out through the front door. As he did so he saw the woman returning with two police officers. He slammed the door and quickly ran out the back way, knocking down another policeman as he did so. He ran down the street pursued by several policemen. A young man named Guy was riding past nearby and McCallum saw a chance. He threw Guy from the saddle and tried to mount. However, the horse reared and McCallum was unable to mount. At the same time Guy recovered and grappled with the bushranger until the police caught up. Captain Melville and Roberts were handcuffed and placed in South Geelong Gaol.

On 3 February 1853 McCallum was sentenced to 32 years for three charges of Robbery Under Arms, the sentence to be carried out on the prison ships anchored in Port Phillip Bay. He proved an increasingly taciturn and violent prisoner and was repeatedly in trouble. On 22 October 1856 he led a mutiny in some boats returning several prisoners to the prison ships. A prison guard was murdered and McCallum and some other prisoners seized a boat. They started to row down the Bay but were quickly overtaken and arrested by the Water Police.

McCallum was sentenced to hang but the sentence was subsequently overturned and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in Melbourne Gaol. He became increasingly morose and violent and on one occasion violently attacked the Gaol Governor. He would have killed him but was dragged away by some warders. He became so notorious for his paroxysms of fury, in which he would try to attack anything or anyone in his vicinity, that he was placed under medical observation.

McCallum finally took matters into his own hands. On the night of 10 August 1857 he managed to strangle himself with a large handkerchief. While he may have enjoyed the brief glamour of a bushranger's life, in the end he felt his life was not worth living. While he deliberately brought his circumstances upon himself it is reasonable to debate how much the brutality of the official reactions to his own violence in custody increased that violence, and, ultimately, assisted in his death.

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Last Updated30.06.03   © 1998 Hazel K Orr, horr1@eq.edu.au