In July 1853, a group of bushrangers came up with an audacious plan to rob the McIvor Private Gold Escort as it left the goldfields to meet up with the Government escort to Melbourne.

Although the heist was originally successful, the plan led to the deaths of four of the men, three by execution and one by suicide when teh group was eventually captured by authorities.

Bushranger George Melville’s body was claimed by his wife Alphonsine after his execution and was displayed in the front window of her Oyster shop in Melbourne.  She then charged money for the spectators to hear her grievances against the police and the government.

Her actions led to a change in Victorian law that prevented any other families from claiming their loved one’s bodies.