Johnny Gilbert was an Australian Bushranger shot dead by the police at the age of 23 near Binalong, New ASouth Wales on 13 May 1865. John Gilbert was the only Australian bushranger not to have served time in prison.
Gilbert was a member of Ben Hall's gang. Hall and Gilbert were both shot by police within a week of each other. Hall was shot dead on 5 May 1865 near Forbes, New South Wales. After Hall was killed his gang split up and Gilbert and John Dunn travelled to Binalong where Dunn had relatives.
He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1842. His mother Eleanor (née Wilson) died shortly after his birth. His father William remarried Eliza Cord. In 1852 John accompanied his family to the Victorian goldfields. Nine members of the Gilbert family arrived in Port Phillip on board the Revenue in October 1852. They included William and Eliza, Eleanor (Ellen), Frank, James, Charles, Thomas Charbonnelle and Nicholas Wiseman. A contemporary of Hall and Gardiner, Johnny Gilbert, alias Roberts, was one of the gang charged with the robbery of the gold escort at Eugowra Rocks, but had not been captured. His uncle, John Davis, was found shot in April 1854 Gilbert (then known as Roberts) was arrested and charged with murder. He was acquitted but later jailed for horse stealing.
When he was only twelve, Gilbert worked as a stablehand at Kilmore, Victoria for his sister Eleanor and her new husband, John Stafford, for a time before moving on to the Kiandra goldfields in New South Wales.
At eighteen he fell under the influence of the bushranger who used the alias Frank Gardiner.
In 1862, John Gilbert was first named as an accomplice of Gardiner when they and two others held up a storekeeper. Just over a month later, John Gilbert was involved in another robbery, this time with Gardiner, and Ben Hall, From then on John Gilbert was identified as being involved in several hold-ups between Lambing Flat (Young) and Lachlan.
Frank Gardiner enlisted the assistance of John Gilbert, Ben Hall, John O'Meally, Dan Charters, Henry Manns, Alexander Fordyce and Johnny Bow, to rob the Forbes gold escort at a place called Eugowra Rocks.
On 15 November 1864 the gang robbed the Gundagai Mail near Jugiong and Gilbert shot Sergeant Parry dead.