Peter Spencer's book on William Monckton hits shelves across New England

His book, Too Young to Hold a Gun, starts with its protagonist, William Monckton, meeting a notorious bushranger, Fred Ward, colloquially known as Captain Thunderbolt.

Will joins Thunderbolt for protection against his abusive stepfather, and from there the book chronicles Will's experience as part of Thunderbolt's gang, as well as the lifetime of consequences that would sprout from his decision to run away from home.

The majority of the book takes place in the areas around Armidale, from Tamworth up to Tenterfield, and splits into two tales running side-by-side.

One tells of the young, brash William Monckton who joins Captain Thunderbolt out of desperation to escape an abusive home and is gradually worn down by the harsh reality of living life on the run.

And another tells the tale of the tamed yet hardened young man Will starts becoming after serving a year in prison, bearing the stigma of being a known criminal and carrying the weight of his actions like a cross.

"I wanted to show the man, the person, who was released from prison under the guardianship of his parents, who learned his lesson that bushranging, that crime, wasn't the answer," Author Peter Spencer said.

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Mr Spencer has a deep connection to the book, as its protagonist William Monckton was his great-grandfather, and in a way the book aims to correct some of the more fanciful interpretations of Will's life as a bushranger.

"The bushranging life wasn't romantic at all, it was dreadful," Mr Spencer said.

Using details gleaned from conversations with hundreds of family members, Mr Spencer paints a realistic picture of his great-grandfather's time with 'the Gentleman Bushranger', describing how the duo contended with extreme weather, a constant lack of supplies, and the constant paranoia of being wanted by police.

The book embodies a powerful lesson on how young men are often unaware of the effect their actions have on others, and how cycles of violence can be broken with the right guidance.

"William realises the trauma he's caused on others with his actions. He didn't realise it as a young bloke, he didn't realise as he was doing it," Mr Spencer said.

A major theme of the book is growing up too quickly, as William is at first given a fake pistol carved out of wood because he is "too young" to handle a real pistol.

In a metaphor for how quickly he grows up, Will "graduates" to having a real gun before he even turns 14 years old.

But just as important as his loss of innocence is his willingness to own up to his actions, to not use his hard life as an excuse.

"Every criminal will have a reason why they've gone that way ... the fact that [William] didn't turn to crime again, that he lived an exemplary life afterwards, indicates that he wasn't inherently bad to the bone," Mr Spencer said.

Mr Spencer dedicates the book to his son, William Spencer, who passed away in 2014.

The author will be signing copies of Too Young to Hold a Gun at the Visitor Information Centre in West Tamworth on Wednesday March 29 from 9:30am-2pm and again at Collins Booksellers on Peel Street from 10:30am-2pm on Thursday March 30.

To buy the book you can visit the author's website or find it stocked in many visitor centres and Collins Booksellers in the New England region.

He's currently working on his second book, which aims to give the same clear-eyed look into Captain Thunderbolt himself, Fred Ward.

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