Daniel Morgan (30 April 1830 – 9 April 1865) was an Australian bushranger. Morgan has been described as "the most bloodthirsty ruffian that ever took to the bush in Australia" and “one of the most determined and bloodthirsty of colonial freebooters”. Many accounts of his activities, particularly in the years after his death, emphasise his brutality and erratic behaviour but Morgan had many sympathisers and informants in the districts where he carried out his activities. He was an expert bushman with superb horse-riding skills, a combination of abilities which enabled him to evade capture by the authorities for a significant period of time. After Morgan killed a police sergeant in June 1864 the Government of New South Wales offered a one thousand pound reward for his apprehension. He was shot and killed in April 1865 after holding up 'Peechelba' Station in Victoria. Morgan's exploits inspired the 1976 Ozploitation film Mad Dog Morgan, starring Dennis Hopper in the title role. Early life Dan Morgan started life as John Owen, the illegitimate son of Mary Owen and George Fuller, born at Appin, New South Wales, on 30 April 1830. His mother was locally known as 'The Gypsy' and George Fuller was a costermonger (a person who sells fruit and vegetables from a handcart in the street). Other sources claim Morgan’s father was an ex-convict called Samuel Moran. From an early age John Owen was raised by a man called John Roberts, known in the Campbelltown district as "Jack the Welshman". Owen attended a Catholic school at Campbelltown, but was considered “a n’er-do-well”. He was characterised as having anti-social tendencies: “Society had little charm for him; bush and solitude were his delight”. First conviction In about 1847, aged 17 years, Owen found employment as a stockman on a station in the Murrumbidgee district. It was reputed that Owen “developed into a horse and cattle stealer, his practice being to drive his captures long distances, and sell them”. By the early 1850s he was known as ‘Bill the Native’ and was described as “a notorious horse thief” in the Avoca district where he lived “a lonely life in the mallee scrub which then abounded there”. He had “several narrow escapes from the squatters, who frequently pursued him”. On one occasion he was being chased “for several miles by two settlers” and one of them shot him in the knee. In June 1854 Owen was