View source for Sam Poo

{{short description|Chinese bushranger}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox criminal
 | name              = Sam Poo
 | image             = File:Sam Poo.png
 | image_size        = 
 | alt               = 
 | caption           = A newspaper artist's impression of Sam Poo, created circa 1936 (more than 70 years after his death). 
 | birth_name        = 
 | death_date        = 19 December 1865
 | death_place       = [[Bathurst, New South Wales|Bathurst]], [[Colony of New South Wales|New South Wales]]
 | resting_place     = 
 | residence         = 
 | allegiance        = 
 | motive            = 
 | conviction        = Shooting with intent to kill<br/>Wilful murder
 | cause             = Execution by hanging
 | alias             = Cranky Sam
 | conviction_penalty = Death sentence
}}

'''Sam Poo''' (died 19 December 1865) was a Chinese [[bushranger]] in Australia who was active in [[New South Wales]] during early 1865. Poo emigrated to Australia in the early 1860s during the [[Australian gold rush|gold rush]]. Being an unsuccessful miner, he turned to bushranging. He robbed travellers on the [[Gulgong]]–Mudgee for several weeks. On 3 February 1865, Poo killed [[Senior Constable]] John Ward, who was looking for him. After the murder of Ward, the [[New South Wales Police]] organised a large-scale manhunt, which lasted two weeks and resulted in Poo being arrested and seriously injured during his arrest.

Poo was tried two times after his arrest. The first time on 10 April, he was tried for shooting with intent to kill at [[Aboriginal tracker]] Henry Hughes during his arrest and he was found guilty by the jury. The second time on 10 October, he was tried for the wilful murder of John Ward and he was again found guilty by the jury. He was sentenced to death and he was executed by hanging on 19 December 1865. Poo was fictionalised in [[David Martin (poet)|David Martin]]'s novel ''The Hero of Too'' (1965) and since has been a theme of a circus show, a [[children's novel]] and a planned [[feature film]].

== Name and early career ==
Sam Poo was not his real name, as a [[Chinese language|Chinese]] equivalent for it does not exist. [[Robert Macklin]] suggests that it is either a derogatory nickname created by white settlers and used by the police or a slang rendering of similar syllables. Macklin also describes the first theory as the more likely one.{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=55}} Several newspaper articles in 1930s and 1940s have referred to a Chinese man who killed Constable Ward as "Li Hang Chiak", but none of the articles mention Sam Poo as Chiak's alternative name.{{Refn|See:<ref>{{Cite news|date=5 December 1938|title=Bushranging days recalled|work=Mudgee Guardian|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161943019|access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1 October 1949|title=Chinese bushranger|work=Smith's Weekly|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/235980154|access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=29 March 1942|title=The Phantom Chinaman|work=The Burrowa News|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102510645|access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=29 August 1940|title=A glance at Mudgee|work=Mudgee Guardian|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/162212687|access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Fowler|first=O.S.|date=12 November 1938|title=A burly Chinese bushranger • The hectic career of Li Hang Chiak|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17536766|access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}} He was also nicknamed "Cranky Sam" and "Phantom Chinaman".<ref name=":2" /><ref name="mudgeehistory2">{{cite web|title=Gulgong's Golden History – Chinese Bushranger|url=http://www.mudgeehistory.com.au/gulgong/gulgong4.html|work=Mudgee District Local History|accessdate=7 July 2012}}</ref>

Sam Poo was a Chinese emigrant to Australia during the [[Australian gold rush|Gold Rush]]. He worked as a "hatter" (miner prospecting without a partner who would warn them of dangers) at [[Talbragar River]] between present-day [[Dunedoo]] and [[Mudgee]] in [[Colony of New South Wales|New South Wales]]. Being an unsuccessful miner, he turned to bushranging. He began practising [[Chinese Pidgin English|pidgin-English]], [[Equestrianism|horse riding]] and shooting, using a tree stump as his target. His Chinese compatriots, who were scrupulously law-abiding, described him as a solitary character and said he was "no good".{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=55}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=20 August 1961|title=The loot of 'Cranky' Sam Poo|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/121280721/|access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref>

He was armed with a shotgun and a pistol, and he would lie at a hideaway on the [[Gulgong]]–[[Mudgee]] road where he'd wait for pedestrians whom he threatened and demanded all their valuables. His victims were mostly Chinese but he also targeted white settlers.<ref name="mudgeehistory">{{cite web | url=http://www.mudgeehistory.com.au/gulgong/gulgong4.html | title=Gulgong's Golden History – Chinese Bushranger | work=Mudgee District Local History | accessdate=7 July 2012}}</ref>{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=56}} Several days prior to the killing of John Ward, Poo allegedly threatened a Mudgee woman, Elizabeth Golding, after speaking with her daughter. According to Golding, Poo said to her "if I cannot have my will of the girl, I will of you".{{Sfn|Noonan|2000|p=129}}

== Murder of John Ward and manhunt ==
[[File:John Ward.png|thumb|282x282px|Senior Constable John Ward, who was murdered by Sam Poo]]
On 2 February 1865, Poo robbed a hut of a shepherd who was in the employment of farmer James Plunkett and later that day he threatened to shoot two [[Stockman (Australia)|stockmen]] if they didn't inform him of the topography of the locality. After these two events, locals sent for the police stationed at [[Denison Town, New South Wales|Denison Town]] who arrived at midnight. The next morning, Plunkett, Mr. S. E. Plumb, and the police set out to scour the bush for Poo but they were unsuccessful. When they returned at around midday, they found out that Poo had just visited a shepherd's hut a quarter of a mile from the head station. After receiving directions from the shepherd's wife, they proceeded their search towards Mudgee but they were again unsuccessful. At around 5 pm, they met two travellers who said that a bushranger addressed them in a threatening manner about {{convert|4|mi|km|abbr=off}} up the road. Travellers described him as a Chinaman with a [[revolver]] in the belt and gun on the shoulder. After riding 9 miles up the road, Plunkett and police officer Constable Todd found policeman John Ward heavily injured.{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=56}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|date=18 February 1865|title=The murder of Senior-Constable John Ward|work=[[The Maitland Mercury]]|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18699107|access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref>

At 10 am on 3 February 1865, [[Senior Constable]] John Ward of the [[New South Wales Police Force]] stationed at [[Coonabarabran]] was returning home from a prisoner escort to Mudgee. He was informed by two men that an armed Chinese man was robbing travellers at a locality known as Barney's Reef. After a short search, Ward found Poo's camp and approached him. Poo ran off into the bush after Ward approached him and said "What are you doing — put down your gun." Poo replied "you policeman — me fire"<ref name=":0" /> and he shot Ward in the chest. Ward fired several shots back but he did not hit Poo. Shortly afterwards, Ward was found by Plunkett and Todd. Plunkett took Ward to [[Birriwa, New South Wales|Birriwa]] station where during the night arrived Doctor William King who treated him and had previously ridden {{convert|45|mi|km|abbr=off}} to reach him. Nevertheless, Ward died the next day at around 4:30 pm and was buried on the same day.{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=56}}<ref name=":1" /><ref name="npm">{{cite web | url=http://www.npm.org.au/honour-roll/ward-0 | title=Honour Roll – Ward | publisher=National Police Memorial | accessdate=7 July 2012}}</ref>

After Ward's death, a manhunt which a 1961 ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald|Sydney Morning Herald]]'' article described as "one of early Australia's biggest manhunts" ensued.<ref name=":0" /> On 18 February, Poo was tracked down by [[Aboriginal tracker]] Henry Hughes. Poo was at a [[gully]] {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=off}} from [[Cobbora]] when he was found by constables M'Mahon and Burns. Poo fired at them and escaped to the [[Shrubland|scrub]], where two policemen lost him. Afterwards, M'Mahon and Burns returned to Hughes and Senior Constable Todd, who had previously split to search for Poo along the river. Hughes soon found Poo and several shots were exchanged: a shotgun shot fired by Todd clipped Poo's head and neck. Burns then rushed to secure him. When Poo raised himself from the ground and tried to fire again, Burns hit him with the butt-end of his rifle, fracturing Poo's skull and smashing the stock to pieces. On the morning of 20 February, Poo arrived to a [[gaol]] in Mudgee where he received medical treatment.{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=56}}<ref>{{Cite news|date=21 February 1865|title=Telegraphic Messages – Mudgee|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122348464|access-date=25 August 2021}}</ref>

== Trials and execution ==
[[File:Old Court House at Bathurst.jpg|thumb|Old Bathurst Court House where Poo's trials took place]]
On 10 April, Poo was indicted on shooting at Henry Hughes with intent to kill. He did not answer the charge, remaining mute. The [[jury]] was then empanelled to try whether he was wilfully mute or unhappily so. After hearing of several witnesses, the jury retired for half an hour and brought a verdict of dumbness by malice. The judge decided that this was equivalent to [[plea]] of not guilty and another jury was empanelled. Crown prosecutor [[Edward Butler (Australian politician)|Edward Butler]] presented the case, the policemen involved in Poo's capture were heard as witnesses and the victim Hughes was also heard. In his [[testimony]], Hughes said that Poo's shot hit the rim of his hat. After the hearings and presentation of evidence, the jury retired for a few minutes and returned a verdict of wounding with an intent to kill. Poo, being very weak and emaciated, was remanded for sentence.<ref>{{Cite news|date=13 April 1865|title=Bathurst Circuit Courthouse|work=[[Empire (newspaper)|Empire]]|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60569308|access-date=26 August 2021}}</ref>

Poo was tried for the murder of John Ward on 10 October 1865 at Bathurst Court House. He was charged with wilful murder and he was defended by court-appointed [[barrister]], [[Joseph Innes]], who pleaded him not guilty. Poo took no part in proceedings as he had little or no understanding of what was going on;{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=57}} according to ''[[The Sydney Mail]]'', "ever since his apprehension [Poo] has been quite weak in intellect".<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=30 December 1865|title=Execution at Bathurst|work=[[The Sydney Mail]]|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166664771|access-date=28 August 2021}}</ref> The government [[interpreter]] Sing Shigh, who was tasked with translating evidence to the accused, did not understand Poo's southern dialect. After being presented with evidence and after hearing several witnesses, the jury retired for a short interval and returned a verdict of guilty and Poo was sentenced to death.<ref>{{Cite news|date=13 October 1865|title=Bathurst Circuit Court|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/31125623|access-date=28 August 2021}}</ref> Robert Macklin points out that no one placed Poo at the crime scene, no [[ballistic evidence]] that Poo's weapon fired the fatal shot was presented, and that Poo was too mentally weakened to stand a trial. Macklin concludes that what happened to Poo was "legal [[lynching]]".{{Sfn|Macklin|2017|p=60}}

On 19 December 1865, Poo was hanged at the Bathurst Gaol. Three Chinese prisoners were brought to watch the hanging alongside a dozen civilians who had gathered. According to Sydney Mail, Poo "appeared to be perfectly unconscious of his fate"<ref name=":3" /> and was clapping his hands at the door of his cell until his arms were pinioned by the executioners. He was then led to the gallows without speaking a word or raising his head.<ref name=":3" /> A different story of his execution is given in ''Great Bushrangers and Outlaws'', a book about the history of bushranging published in 1974, which portrays Poo in a positive manner. In this version, Poo has [[last words]], those being a request to a hospital warder that "he [does] not wish to see or speak to any of his countrymen".{{Sfn|Noonan|2000|p=131}}

== Legacy ==

=== In historical accounts ===
Historian [[Charles White (writer)|Charles White]] wrote the first and the most influential account of Poo in his 1921 book ''Australian Bushranging: Captain Moonlite''. Ronald Noonan criticises this account for [[anti-Chinese sentiment]], noting that whenever referring to Poo's violence White uses the [[pejorative]] term "[[Chinaman (term)|Chinaman]]". Next account of Poo is given by Robert Travers in his 1973 book ''Rogues' March: A Chronicle of Colonial Crime in Australia''. In contrast to White's account, Travers depicts Poo as a moral avenger and as a traditional outlaw hero. Travers omits Poo's alleged threat to Elizabeth Golding and her daughter.{{Sfn|Noonan|2000|p=129–131}}

=== In popular culture ===
Sam Poo was raised from obscurity when he was fictionalised as Lam Yut Soon in [[David Martin (poet)|David Martin]]'s novel ''The Hero of Too'' (1965).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GW8nBwAAQBAJ|title=Crime Over Time: Temporal Perspectives on Crime and Punishment in Australia|publisher=[[Cambridge Scholars Publishing]]|year=2010|isbn=9781443824569|editor-last=Lincoln|editor-first=Robyn|pages=4|editor-last2=Robinson|editor-first2=Shirleene}}</ref> 

His life was dramatised for radio in ''[[The Shadow of Sam Poo]]'' (1930) and episodes of ''[[Outlawry Under the Gums]]'' (1933).

Since then, [[Circus Oz]] created a show about Poo in 1993,<ref>{{Cite news|date=8 April 1993|title=The Circus Oz rides the changes|work=[[The Age]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/126085587|access-date=28 August 2021}}</ref> Christopher Stitt wrote a [[children's novel]] about Poo in 2003,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stitt|first=Christopher|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ke1bh7j3j-YC|title=Sam Poo: The Mystery Behind the Legend|date=2003|publisher=Little Red Apple Publishing|isbn=978-1-875329-39-7|language=en}}</ref> and in 2014 Robert Macklin and Chinese-born [[film producer]] Cindy Jia Li teamed up to create ''Aodaliya Gold'', a movie about Poo and in the same year the [[Trailer (promotion)|trailer]] for the movie was released.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cerabona|first=Ron|date=18 March 2014|title=Chinese bushranger in focus|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/chinese-bushranger-in-focus-20140318-34zqj.html|access-date=28 August 2021|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> In 2015, film companies from [[Canberra]], JIA Films and SilverSun Pictures partnered with Yuezhong Pictures from China to create ''Aodaliya Gold'' with the budget of $15 million.<ref>{{Cite web|date=25 June 2015|title=Canberra filmmakers sign deal with Chinese production company|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6065755/canberra-filmmakers-sign-deal-with-chinese-production-company/|access-date=28 August 2021|website=The Canberra Times}}</ref> Sam Poo appears in two paintings by Mudgee artist, [https://www.artbymichaelbourke.com/paintings/2022-a-brief-history-of-mudgee Michael Bourke] in an exhibition 'A Brief History of Mudgee' held at [https://www.midwestern.nsw.gov.au/Community/Art-and-Culture/Mudgee-Arts-Precinct Mudgee Arts Precinct] in April 2022.
<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpBUlDAwMBo&t=1135s | title=Michael Bourke: A Brief History of Mudgee narrated by Ken Sutcliffe | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== References ==

===Footnotes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===

* {{Cite book|last=Macklin|first=Robert|title=Dragon and Kangaroo: Australia and China's Shared History from the Goldfields to the Present Day|publisher=Hachette Australia|year=2017|isbn=9780733634048}}
* {{Cite journal|title=Wild Cathay Boys: Chinese Bushrangers in Australian History and Literature|journal=Journal of Australian Studies|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14443050009387595?journalCode=rjau20|last=Noonan|first=Ronald|volume=24|issue=65|year=2000|pages=127–135|doi=10.1080/14443050009387595|s2cid=144694788|url-access=subscription}}

{{Bushrangers |state=autocollapse}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Poo, Sam}}
[[Category:Bushrangers]]
[[Category:1865 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian outlaws]]
[[Category:Australian people executed for murdering police officers]]
[[Category:Chinese emigrants to Australia]]
[[Category:Chinese people convicted of murdering police officers]]
[[Category:Chinese people executed abroad]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by New South Wales]]
[[Category:People executed by New South Wales]]
[[Category:People executed by Australian colonies by hanging]]