Senior Constable Edward Mostyn Webb-Bowen, known as Edward Bowen, was shot in the neck and killed by notorious bushranger Captain Moonlite on November 23, 1879.

The officer died in a gun battle with Moonlite’s gang at a hut near Wantabadgery village, east of Wagga.

Historians have long weighed in on the disparities between Moonlite and Mr Bowen, with the famed policeman generally appealing to modern sensibility. 

But author of In Search of Captain Moonlite Paul Terry has made the claim that beliefs surrounding the rivalry are open to interpretation.

The writer and researcher spent years following the events of the late 1800s, and believes Bowen may not have been as squeaky clean –  and Moonlite as evil – as people are led to believe. 

“No matter how much police would like to cast bushrangers as no more than violent, bank-robbing cop killers, their exploits will always captivate Australians,” he said. 

“History owes a debt to the police who died battling criminals, but bushrangers — good, bad or simply misunderstood — have earned their place in folklore.

“Their deeds should not be unnecessarily celebrated but nor should they be downplayed or distorted to revise history.”

Mr Terry said it was important to give equal recognition to both the ranger and the officer. 

“The lives and deaths of both men should be given equal respect,” he added. 

Captain Moonlite was captured shortly after he had slain the policeman and the conman-turned gunfighter was later hung for his actions at Darlinghurst Gaol in Sydney. 

His dying wish was to be buried next to his partner James Nesbitt, who was also slain during the Wantabadgery shoot-out.

That wish was only granted by authorities 115 years after his execution, when his remains were exhumed from a Sydney cemetery and buried alongside Nesbitt at a lot in Gundagai.