Kiwi Legends: George Wilder

There was a man, during the 1960s, who became a bit of a folk hero to many throughout the country. Despite being a criminal, his antics endeared him to a large number of people, and a few of them even helped him while he was on the run from police after escaping custody on more than one occasion. So who was he?

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I say 'was' because by all accounts he has long given up his law-breaking ways¹.

From one man's childhood recollection, he says:

I remember this period very well and the rumours that were circulating throughout the country. One such rumour was that, when he was on the run from the police, he dressed up as a woman and went with a search party to look for himself. Everyone loved George; he was like a modern day Robin Hood.²

1st Escape

Wilder had been sent to New Plymouth prison in 1962 for theft, burglary, and shop-breaking. He was around 25 years old. He escaped by climbing a wall on the 17th of May, and wasn't recaptured until the 21st of July - a total of 65 days. Apparently he had not used any violence during this time.

2nd Escape

He had been sent to Auckland's Mount Eden prison this time. It took him six months to make his second escape. Along with three other inmates he climbed the wall, by using bed sheets as rope, on the 29th of January 1963. Captured 172 days later this time, on the 17th of July in the middle of the North Island. He'd survived in part by breaking into holiday homes.

Despite his bad boy ways, the people of New Zealand loved Wilder, who left thank you notes and letters of apology in the homes he burgled while on the run ...³

It is during this second escape that people began to leave food out for him, and his 'folk hero' reputation grew. It has been noted that he'd committed 40 crimes while evading capture. There were still no reports of violence.

A song was even written and sung about him by the Howard Morrison Quartet. It reached no. 1 in the charts despite having been banned by the New Zealand Broadcasting Company from being played on air.

3rd Escape

It appears he was sent back to Mount Eden Prison - perhaps they had a more secure area to put him in - but on the 4th of February 1964 he made his final escape. This time, though, things were different in that there was violence involved. He left with two other inmates, and had somehow gotten hold of a sawn-off shotgun. They had also taken a prison guard and members of a nearby house they hid out in hostage, but this escape only lasted three hours before they wisely surrendered.
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not his weapon, but gives a general idea of what it would have looked like
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Wilder stayed in Mount Eden Prison until 1969 but he wasn't exactly a model prisoner. In 1965 he took part in the 33-hour long July riot. Large-scale rioting broke out after two inmates tried to escape, and the prison was so damaged that prisoners had to be temporarily relocated.
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A member of the Armed Offenders' Squad looking down at the prison rioters.
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Even when he was out on parole in 1969 he misbehaved, allegedly taking rifles and rowing out to sea before he was once again caught, and subsequently had his sentence extended.
In any case, by the time he was released on the 20th of June, 1969 he had been sent to Paparua prison in Christchurch; but he settled down to live a quiet life in the Wairarapa district.
He has declined interviews, save one he gave in 1970, when by way of explanation of his escapes he said:

After each escape I was subjected to severe security measures which only increased my urge to escape again.⁴

Sounds like quite the Catch-22.

As well as the art of escape, George Wilder showed a talent for sketching, as highlighted in this newspaper article:

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National Art Gallery director SB Maclennan was asked to critique them. "It is a very sound drawing," he said of a sketch of a woman. "It is a sensitive drawing. It looks as if it is a good likeness."

A little more of his artwork can be seen in this article.

Endnotes and References