James Campbell Besley (12 November 1879 – 6 February 1954) also known as "Handsome Jim" Besley, "Captain James Campbell Besley", "Captain Jim", "Captain Besley", "Colonel Besley" was an Australian explorer, amateur anthropologist, film producer, mine owner, polo player, rancher and entrepreneur who traveled the world. Besley was also a prodigious charlatan, spinning fanciful stories regarding his birth, upbringing and career. Besley manipulated the media for decades, lying to them during their efforts to report his exploits.
Biography James Campbell Besley was born in Mt. Gambier, South Australia, the fourth of Mary Ann (née Harvey) and Bryan Charles Besley's eight children. Traveling to America in 1898, three years later Besley embezzled $7,600 (equivalent to $294,120 in 2025) by forging and cashing checks drawn on the US Army Signal Corps office account in St. Michael, Alaska. An international manhunt for Besley took over two years, ending when he was found 300 miles north of Pretoria, South Africa. Besley was returned to Alaska, stood trial and was acquitted by a sympathetic jury. In 1913, during an expedition to find the source of the Amazon River, Besley's adventure was filmed by director Franklin B. Coates. The film was named The Captain Besley Expedition. A substantial portion of the expedition film footage was discovered stolen after the expedition returned to New York city. Returning a year later, another film, In the Amazon Jungles with the Captain Besley Expedition was produced. Successful as a broker of silver mines in Alaska and Mexico, a champion polo player, he later owned a riding academy in Phoenix, Arizona. Besley died in St. Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Prodigious charlatan Many believe Besley's multiple (and often contradictory) "histories". The facts prove he continually misled many, including the press about basic aspects of his birth, upbringing, education, work and avocation. He spent decades manipulating the media to mislead the world about his life history, abilities, exploits and awards.
Fictitious biographical claims Besley's self-described, wildly contradictory "personal histories" were dutifully retold by an eager press. They grew longer and more elaborate over the course of his life. Over the years, many have been fooled due to an elaborate, false "biography" of Besley's life compiled in the Press Reference Library's 1913 edition of "Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I".
Fictitious personal histories Besley claimed he had been born in London, England, traveled the world with his father from the age of seven and had served in the British Army. He claimed his father was "Inspector General of Forces in Australia and other British provinces" and an extensive landowner.
James Campbell Besley was actually born in Australia, never served in the British Army and never held any military rank (including the ranks of Captain, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel). Besley's father, Bryan Charles Besley was born in Oxfordshire, England in 1836 and moved with his mother and siblings to Australia in 1851. The elder Besley joined the police force, eventually becoming police Inspector-In-Charge of the largest district in Australia and also held the post of Sub-Protector of Aborigines. Besley claimed he returned to England for college and entered Eton in 1889 to prepare for Oxford. He claimed he received a degree from Eton in 1893 and immediately entered Oxford, but did not finish, having left at the end of two years to take up the study of mining and metallurgy. There are no records of a "James Campbell Besley" attending Eton or Oxford. In 1890, Besley actually served as Honorable Secretary at the Port Augusta and Flinders Jockey Club in Port Augusta, Adelaide. Besley left the Jockey Club in 1891 to join his brother Brian Charles Besley's business, B. C. Besley and Co., of Broken Hill as a stock and station agent. Besley had been arrested twice in the Yukon Territories in 1903 for embezzlement, fraud and financial malfeasance. In 1908, Besley later gave an interview claiming he had "come to New York after spending the past eight years in Mexico" and further claiming during that time he had been "one of the mining engineers for the late Cecil Rhodes, the former Prime Minister of the Cape Colony". There are no contemporary records of Besley working for Prime Minister Rhodes. Besley was a proven resident of the Yukon Territories during the claimed time frame, from 1899 to 1903. In 1909, Besley claimed "he was born in Australia of Kentucky parents and counts himself an American by descent". In the newspaper article, Besley commented on former President Teddy Roosevelt's trip to Nairobi, British East Africa. Besley said the public "need not fear or tremble for his (Roosevelt's) safety so far as the wild beasts are concerned". Besley said he had "been all over that section" killing "many lions and other beasts". In February 1912, a newspaper described Besley as being "the most noble Roman of them all". In June 1912 Besley claimed in an interview with the San Francisco Examiner he had wounded Mexican "General" José Gil in a duel at Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico and that Gil would soon die from lead poisoning due to the bullets Besley had fired into Gil's body. Six months later, the San Francisco Examiner reported "the General was killed by Besley" during the duel. There are no contemporaneous records of Besley's claimed duel. Instead, José Goycolea Gil lived and served as President of Navojoa, Mexico in 1925. In 1948, Besley said he had been "born on an immense British Government land grant near Adelaide in the southern part of Australia". He claimed he had come "to the United States around 1900, passed through Arizona and went on to Old Mexico, where he purchased several ranches, including the San Carlos outfit".
Fictitious Australian gold rush history Besley claimed he had joined the rush to the gold fields of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie in Western Australia and had been successful in finding gold. In 1894, Besley had instead applied for an Australian mining homestead lease on 4,154 acres of potential mining land and was refused. He lost two subsequent appeals for the mining lease. His brother B. C. Besley managed the Conrad Stannite Mines, Ltd., located at Borah Creek, New South Wales, Australia and founded the Broken Hill Polo Club in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia. B. C. Besley's horse "Fly" won the club's first Cup match.
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