text: He was a ficticious character and opinions vary as to who his true identity was - see links below for a few\n--------\nThe real Captain Starlight was a villain named Frank Pearson, who at various times used aliases including Dr. Pearson, Major Lacey and Gordon. He was born in England in 1837 and arrived in Australia in 1866. His immediate movements are unknown, however, in 1868 he surfaced in northern New South Wales in company with a Queensland bushranger named Charles Rutherford. They bailed up a party of travellers near Walgett, stealing some money and a revolver. However, the travellers were able to give a good description of the men to the police and soon a Queensland Police trooper named McManus, a New South Wales trooper named McCabe and a blacktracker were on their track.\n----------\nMention the name Harry Redford in Longreach and you're sure to be greeted with tales from local residents that have been handed down from their parents and grandparents.\n\nDuring the last 117 years, the man has become something of a local legend.\n\nAlthough writers have, to date, written about Harry Redford, recent evidence presented by Patrick McCarthy in his book 'The Man who was Starlight',has proven that Redford's name was in fact Henry Readford. But whether he be Redford or Readford, to local residents he has come to be more popularly known as 'Captain Starlight' - a ficticious name drawn from Rolfe Boldrewood's Australian classic 'Robbery Under Arms'.