William Coulter

"The Dingo" is a nickname for Harry Selby, a drunken thief from the city who loves animals and little children. He marries a country girl, Molly, despite knowing that she loves someone else, Dr John Stirling. Selby becomes passionately jealous of Stirling's attentions to Molly and is encouraged in this by Oily Allen.

The story is founded on fact. In a village on the south coast of England, young Margaret Catchpole is being courted by two rivals, Will Laud, a smuggler, and Lieutenant Barry of the coast guards. She favours Laud, and when he escapes from custody after a government raid on the smugglers, Margaret steals a horse and tries to join him. In a fight with the coast guards, Laud is killed an Margaret is arrested for horse-stealing and transported to Botany Bay. Only part of the film survives today.

Bill is a Woolloomooloo larrikin who vows to abandon his life of gambling and drinking after a spell in gaol following a raid on a two-up game. He falls in love with Doreen, who works in a pickle factory, but faces competition from a more sophisticated rival.