of the reports. More people were robbed during the next few hours, until there were nineteen captives sitting in a ring in the bush, all tied together. ..... Finally, at sunset, the bushrangers withdrew their guard, mounted their horses which had been tethered in the bush, and rode off in the direction of South Yarra. Their victims released themselves and went on their ways. The gang seems to have comprised between four and six men, none of whom wore any disguise. There was much calling and cooeeing about the bush which confused their victims and possibly led them to believe that there were more men than was actually the case. Some days later five bushrangers, thought to be the same gang, spent an afternoon bailing up travellers near Dandenong.” Brighton Bushrangers, St Kilda Historical Society, 2015No one was ever convicted. The other event took place earlier, on 17 March 1853, on the road near Canvas Town, a temporary settlement of tents on the west side of St Kilda Road not far from the city which provided temporary accommodation for the thousands who poured into Melbourne each week during the gold rush in Victoria. Gold-buyer Edward Ritter and his brother-in-law Samuel Maxwell Alexander were riding in their chaise-cart from St Kilda to Melbourne. A gang of eight or nine men attempted to hold them up, but Ritter managed to pull away from the potential robbers. A volley of shots were fired, of which three hit Ritter in the legs, without causing any serious injury. Ritter and Alexander furnished good descriptions of their assailants, two of whom had been amongst a similar group who had tried to rob Ritter about three weeks earlier, who he recognised. The Government offered a reward of £1600, calculated at £200 per head, for their arrests leading to conviction, and the Melbourne police began to round up likely suspects. Seven men faced Justice Redmond Barry on 18 April 1853, five being convicted - Higginbotham, Little, Murphy William Burns, and James Burns - each sentenced to ten years’ hard labour on the roads, the first two in chains. Two others, Thompson and James Grimes, were acquitted. Grimes had been arrested on suspicion of taking part in the Nelson robbery in 1852, but there had been insufficient evidence to convict him. George Wilson, who was believed to be involved, was later hanged for the McIvor Escort Robbery. References Further