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The hut where Eggers lived while waiting to commit his ambush of the pay car.1917. -2 PHOTOS-
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DescriptionOne of New Zealand's most notorious highwaymen, Fredrick William Eggers (also known as William McMahon), who in 1917 killed two men for two bags of money on a lonely West Coast road.
The moment Christchurch divorcee Elizabeth McMahon saw Fredrick William Eggers in handcuffs, she recalled him saying to her only days earlier, “I have made two terrible mistakes”.
Fredrick William Eggers was born in Western Australia sometime around 1886. He began his adult life as a farmer but in 1909 was arrested for forgery and sentenced to 2 years hard labour. It appears he arrived in New Zealand round about 1914 and little is known about his life here – that is, until the 9th November 1917.
It was a little after 9am that morning when Isaac James, the manager of the State Coal Mine, and two of his employees, John Coulthard and William Hall, came out of the Bank of New Zealand in Greymouth with the wages of their fellow miners. They headed towards their motorcar, Coulthard moved in behind the wheel. They began their journey back to Runanga – 8km north east of Greymouth. They had travelled about 3km when they came along an obstruction on the road; It was made up of a ladder and box and being unable to stop in time, they crashed into it. Understandably confused, Coulthard climbed out of the car to clear the road. It was then a masked man stepped out from behind a nearby bush. With a gun in both hands, he yelled, “HANDS UP!!!” and started shooting. He fired off 7 bullets, instantly killing John Coulthard where he stood. William Hall took a bullet to the spine and somehow, his clothes caught fire as he sat there helpless. Isaac James was shot in his thigh, calf and hand as he fled for his life, disappearing from the killer’s view.
Unbeknown to the masked man as he made his way over to the crashed car, two witnesses hid close by, watching as he made off with £3659. Once it was safe, Peter and Leonard Manderson – a father and son who had been biking to Greymouth – quickly made their way over to the victims. Leonard was quickly instructed by his father to go and fetch the police and an ambulance.
News of this robbery and murder soon spread across the West Coast. Mines were closed and around 150 miners took to the bush that day in search for this dangerous Greymouth Highwayman! But there was sign of him.
It would take two tip-offs that would eventually lead to an arrest on 19th November 1917. A 32 year old man who gave him name as Fredrick Eggers McMahon was taken into custody as he exited the Empire Hotel on High Street, Christchurch. On his person was a bag full of money and a hand-gun which he had tried to pull on the arresting officers and failed. He had been living at a boarding house at 286 Gloucester Street with his girlfriend Elizabeth McMahon. More money was found in their room and Elizabeth was taken in for questioning.
She admitted the gun was hers and Eggers had been using her surname as they had been posing as brother and sister to keep the rumours at bay. She was cleared of any involvement and her lover was sent back to Greymouth for a preliminary hearing. He was committed to trial in Christchurch.
The trial started at the Christchurch Supreme Court on 11th February 1918 and lasted only 4 days. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. During his stay at the Lyttelton Gaol, between the suicide attempts, he declared his innocence and wrote an 85 page document stating the same. It certainly didn’t help that William Hall had died of his wounds on 27th December.
At 8am on 5th March 1918, after a glass of water, Eggers went to the gallows. Three times he stated, “Standing here as a condemned man with two moments to live, I say I am not the man that did the shooting.” He was the last to be hung in Canterbury and the South Island.
Date of Photo1917.Map[1] External LinkPeeling Back HistoryContributorHeather Newby
The moment Christchurch divorcee Elizabeth McMahon saw Fredrick William Eggers in handcuffs, she recalled him saying to her only days earlier, “I have made two terrible mistakes”.
Fredrick William Eggers was born in Western Australia sometime around 1886. He began his adult life as a farmer but in 1909 was arrested for forgery and sentenced to 2 years hard labour. It appears he arrived in New Zealand round about 1914 and little is known about his life here – that is, until the 9th November 1917.
It was a little after 9am that morning when Isaac James, the manager of the State Coal Mine, and two of his employees, John Coulthard and William Hall, came out of the Bank of New Zealand in Greymouth with the wages of their fellow miners. They headed towards their motorcar, Coulthard moved in behind the wheel. They began their journey back to Runanga – 8km north east of Greymouth. They had travelled about 3km when they came along an obstruction on the road; It was made up of a ladder and box and being unable to stop in time, they crashed into it. Understandably confused, Coulthard climbed out of the car to clear the road. It was then a masked man stepped out from behind a nearby bush. With a gun in both hands, he yelled, “HANDS UP!!!” and started shooting. He fired off 7 bullets, instantly killing John Coulthard where he stood. William Hall took a bullet to the spine and somehow, his clothes caught fire as he sat there helpless. Isaac James was shot in his thigh, calf and hand as he fled for his life, disappearing from the killer’s view.
Unbeknown to the masked man as he made his way over to the crashed car, two witnesses hid close by, watching as he made off with £3659. Once it was safe, Peter and Leonard Manderson – a father and son who had been biking to Greymouth – quickly made their way over to the victims. Leonard was quickly instructed by his father to go and fetch the police and an ambulance.
News of this robbery and murder soon spread across the West Coast. Mines were closed and around 150 miners took to the bush that day in search for this dangerous Greymouth Highwayman! But there was sign of him.
It would take two tip-offs that would eventually lead to an arrest on 19th November 1917. A 32 year old man who gave him name as Fredrick Eggers McMahon was taken into custody as he exited the Empire Hotel on High Street, Christchurch. On his person was a bag full of money and a hand-gun which he had tried to pull on the arresting officers and failed. He had been living at a boarding house at 286 Gloucester Street with his girlfriend Elizabeth McMahon. More money was found in their room and Elizabeth was taken in for questioning.
She admitted the gun was hers and Eggers had been using her surname as they had been posing as brother and sister to keep the rumours at bay. She was cleared of any involvement and her lover was sent back to Greymouth for a preliminary hearing. He was committed to trial in Christchurch.
The trial started at the Christchurch Supreme Court on 11th February 1918 and lasted only 4 days. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to hang. During his stay at the Lyttelton Gaol, between the suicide attempts, he declared his innocence and wrote an 85 page document stating the same. It certainly didn’t help that William Hall had died of his wounds on 27th December.
At 8am on 5th March 1918, after a glass of water, Eggers went to the gallows. Three times he stated, “Standing here as a condemned man with two moments to live, I say I am not the man that did the shooting.” He was the last to be hung in Canterbury and the South Island.
Date of Photo1917.Map[1] External LinkPeeling Back HistoryContributorHeather Newby
Shown in this image
Location (city or town)RunangaEventEggers murder
Category Information
Category TagCoal Mining
From Facebook
Date Created16th November 2019CommentsLindsay Dowling i was in a film about this when i was a kid
Heather Newby really??? can you tell us about it?
Lindsay Dowling It was made by Peter Bannen his parents had the shop across from the Union hotel. The part i was in was shot just past Boddytown.Would have been around 76/77 not sure if the film was ever released
Hadyn Norman James Murray Eggers,
Sandra Sands Was this the memorial on the road to Runanga
Heather Newby I think so
Bob Laing Following the hold up mine pays were taken from Greymouth by train. A heavy timbered room was built into a guard’s van. The pays were kept inside that room with an armed bank employee.
Mr Grandfather James Laing as a new and young employee was sent out with his first pay run. He was expected to ride in the guard’s van. He was very concerned as to his own well being, should there a holdup, that he made so much noise shouting out that the person inside the Strongroom let James inside and that was where he went with subsequent pays.Jessie Guy A fantastic early morning read
Russell Humphrey Linda Eggers this your family?
Linda Eggers Reply maybe way back in the day, He was the last person to be hung at Lyttelton
Linda Eggers Um just read the story, My ancestors come from Nelson way darrived in NZ 1886 about then
Jessie Guy A fantastic early morning read
Russell Humphrey Linda Eggers this your family?
Linda Eggers Reply maybe way back in the day, He was the last person to be hung at Lyttelton
Linda Eggers Um just read the story, My ancestors come from Nelson way darrived in NZ 1886 about then
Colin Pattinson Visit Epitaph named
I should have shot the kid
I have the cd of it
Jan Sowman Thanks for sharing interesting reading
Sonia Dando Something I didn’t know and being from Greymouth interesting read be interesting where in Western Australia he was from since Perth is my home now check that out
Heather Newby I saw Perth on Masterchef Australia 2019.. last night on TV 1 On demand.. a nice city
Sonia Dando Heather Newby it is a nice not as busy as Sydney and Melbourne but will in the future I guess
Jack N Pat Manderson The person's witnessing the shooting were my grandfather Peter Manderson Jnr & his eldest son Leonard. They were probably going to visit Peters father Peter snr who farmed some land at "the Camp" about 2 miles away towards Greymouth.Peter snr was also a miner.
Bob Jamieson
Monument hill, Runanga.?
Dennis Thompson
Bob Jamieson yep
Sandra Teasdale
I was told that the road had been blocked with trees the ?week beforehand but my Grandfather had come across it and cleared the road. It was thought that this may have been a set up for a first attempt of the robbery
Paea Peipi
My dads friend was the little boy that identified them
Kyle Webster
Great-grandfather i(in the cheese-cutter having brought the bodies back with the police). As I mentioned to Mrs Jones at Harcourts, we Websters had been going to Rununga since 1917). https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3111?keywords=eggers&highlights=WyJlZ2dlcnMiXQ==&lsk=61e11c1b60cb9f454b620a7ca6534ab0
Taxis at Grey Hospital, 1917.
WESTCOAST.RECOLLECT.CO.NZ
Taxis at Grey Hospital, 1917.
Taxis at Grey Hospital, 1917.
John Armstrong
I remember the memorial after we left the coast in 1954 we return for Xmas each year by car from Auckland and dad would point it out and I remember that meant the big trip was just about over
I will pass this on to my grandchildren today
Heather Newby really??? can you tell us about it?
Lindsay Dowling It was made by Peter Bannen his parents had the shop across from the Union hotel. The part i was in was shot just past Boddytown.Would have been around 76/77 not sure if the film was ever released
Hadyn Norman James Murray Eggers,
Sandra Sands Was this the memorial on the road to Runanga
Heather Newby I think so
Bob Laing Following the hold up mine pays were taken from Greymouth by train. A heavy timbered room was built into a guard’s van. The pays were kept inside that room with an armed bank employee.
Mr Grandfather James Laing as a new and young employee was sent out with his first pay run. He was expected to ride in the guard’s van. He was very concerned as to his own well being, should there a holdup, that he made so much noise shouting out that the person inside the Strongroom let James inside and that was where he went with subsequent pays.Jessie Guy A fantastic early morning read
Russell Humphrey Linda Eggers this your family?
Linda Eggers Reply maybe way back in the day, He was the last person to be hung at Lyttelton
Linda Eggers Um just read the story, My ancestors come from Nelson way darrived in NZ 1886 about then
Jessie Guy A fantastic early morning read
Russell Humphrey Linda Eggers this your family?
Linda Eggers Reply maybe way back in the day, He was the last person to be hung at Lyttelton
Linda Eggers Um just read the story, My ancestors come from Nelson way darrived in NZ 1886 about then
Colin Pattinson Visit Epitaph named
I should have shot the kid
I have the cd of it
Jan Sowman Thanks for sharing interesting reading
Sonia Dando Something I didn’t know and being from Greymouth interesting read be interesting where in Western Australia he was from since Perth is my home now check that out
Heather Newby I saw Perth on Masterchef Australia 2019.. last night on TV 1 On demand.. a nice city
Sonia Dando Heather Newby it is a nice not as busy as Sydney and Melbourne but will in the future I guess
Jack N Pat Manderson The person's witnessing the shooting were my grandfather Peter Manderson Jnr & his eldest son Leonard. They were probably going to visit Peters father Peter snr who farmed some land at "the Camp" about 2 miles away towards Greymouth.Peter snr was also a miner.
Bob Jamieson
Monument hill, Runanga.?
Dennis Thompson
Bob Jamieson yep
Sandra Teasdale
I was told that the road had been blocked with trees the ?week beforehand but my Grandfather had come across it and cleared the road. It was thought that this may have been a set up for a first attempt of the robbery
Paea Peipi
My dads friend was the little boy that identified them
Kyle Webster
Great-grandfather i(in the cheese-cutter having brought the bodies back with the police). As I mentioned to Mrs Jones at Harcourts, we Websters had been going to Rununga since 1917). https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/3111?keywords=eggers&highlights=WyJlZ2dlcnMiXQ==&lsk=61e11c1b60cb9f454b620a7ca6534ab0
Taxis at Grey Hospital, 1917.
WESTCOAST.RECOLLECT.CO.NZ
Taxis at Grey Hospital, 1917.
Taxis at Grey Hospital, 1917.
John Armstrong
I remember the memorial after we left the coast in 1954 we return for Xmas each year by car from Auckland and dad would point it out and I remember that meant the big trip was just about over
I will pass this on to my grandchildren today
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West Coast New Zealand History (24th Jun 2022). The hut where Eggers lived while waiting to commit his ambush of the pay car.1917. -2 PHOTOS-. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 24th Apr 2026 13:07, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/26516