Adrian Skeggs – Howe’s hero: the bad kid they banished

Adrian Skeggs | June 27, 2023

Originally published Sydney Morning Herald - Saturday 18th of January 1992

Headline - HOWE'S HERO: THE BAD KID THEY BANISHED By TONY STEPHENS

Funny bloke, Moose. Real villainous little bastard as a kid, except he was never little.

He used to hide in the bush on his lovely island with his home-made bow-and-arrow and shoot at passers-by, or pelt them with stones.

Later on, Moose became a firebug. He burnt down a few properties. He was sometimes known as Wicked Woozie. The "woozie" had something to do with his wide, blue eyes.

Some of his acts were unspeakable. He became too hot to handle for the 290 people who live on Lord Howe Island, so Jim Whistler took up a collection to send Moose away.

There may have been an element of self-defence here but it was mainly that the islanders felt Moose needed some discipline. His father had left home when the boy was a toddler and his mother was too ill to cope.

Yet Mr Whistler, president of the local Parents and Citizens' Association, and those who contributed to the collection, could see the good in Moose. They glimpsed his potential. So Master Adrian Skeggs was enrolled as a boarder at TAS, The Armidale School.

"I cried for four or five months," he said yesterday. "I had never cried before."

Now Adrian Skeggs is 28 years old, weighs 116 kilograms, is 1.9 metres tall, teaches physical education at the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, is on the fringe of playing rugby for Australia and goes home every summer to Lord Howe, where he plays Santa Claus and cares for kids.

He organised a fun run the other day, running 4 1/2 kilometres himself with a 72- kilogram bag of kentia palm seeds. On Thursday he played in a game of touch football and refereed another. Yesterday he organised a triathlon for locals and tourists - a swim in from Rabbit Island, then a bike race and a run.

Today - and well into tomorrow - Adrian is in charge of the annual North Bay party. The only way there and back is by boat. Adrian carries a generator for the music and everyone climbs a tree at the stroke of midnight. Funny bloke, Moose.

"I crave this island," he said. "It's pure gold. I love the kids."

The key to this story of community spirit and local hero is Mrs Celia Skeggs, a granddaughter of pioneer settlers who was born on Norfolk Island because there was no midwife on Lord Howe but who lived on Lord Howe all her life and loved it just as long.

She loved her big boy, too, although he pained her. "Celia worshipped him,"said Mrs Lois Whistler.

She taught him to swim, fish, sail, play tennis and cricket.

"Mum made me bowl at least three eight-ball overs a day and every ball in an over had to be different," he said.

He watched her play piano and sing contralto in island concerts.

"They were romantic island days when everyone went to the concerts," said Mrs Agnes Christian, the island's oldest resident, at 92. "Celia was a fine woman and had a lovely voice."

Later, when the mother was crippled with arthritis, the son massaged her toes and fingers for half-an-hour every day. The islanders saw the love here, the hope.

Mrs Skeggs died in 1979 but Moose still touches her in his mind. "It's a great memory, mate, a great memory."

So now Wicked Woozie is giving something back to the island and to the people who helped him and, deep down, to his mother. "I live for my mother,"he said. "I live for the island."

Jim Whistler said: "It's the best money I ever spent." Only Mr Whistler knows the identity of the 12 contributors to the Saving of Young Moose. For this reason Adrian has never been able to thank all personally.

Every summer, however, they see his thanks.

Wayne Shick, a mate, said: "You couldn't print some things he did. He's still a bit of a villain. But, well, you see what he does.

"The island has given me an extra direction in life," Moose said. He worries about the lack of direction of some of the island's young people, and would like to build a recreation hall for them.

This summer Moose sailed to Lord Howe on a trading vessel, standing off the island to watch the sun rise. "I just dangled a fishing line and sat and watched her, watched as the sun came to her."

He sails away again on Monday, until next summer. "One day I will come back for good," he said, "and teach the kids." Good bloke, Moose.

Adrian Skeggs - The Armidale School