Dan Morgan was born in Campbelltown, New South Wales in 1830. His mother was Mary Owen, known as "The Gipsy". As a small child he was adopted by “Jack the Welshman”, a travelling hawker from Appin. He went to school in Appin. As a young teenager, he hit a policeman and was put in Berrima Gaol for six months. He went to Victoria to look for gold in the 1850s. In 1854 he was arrested for armed robbery at Castlemaine, Victoria. Judge Redmond Barry (the same judge who sentenced Ned Kelly) sent him to Pentridge Gaol for twelve years, the first two years spent in chains. He was also kept on the prison ship "Success". He was released after six years and went back to Appin. He worked as a stockman at Wagga Wagga.