“Every measurement slowly reveals the workings of the criminal. Careful observation and patience will reveal the truth.” — Alphonse Bertillon, French criminologist.

After the invention of photography, police began to keep “rogues’ galleries,” disorganised photographic collections of suspects and convicts. What was needed was a way to retrieve images and information quickly. In 1879, Alphonse Bertillon invented a method that combined detailed measurement and classification of unique features with frontal and profile photographs of suspects, and which recorded the information on standardised cards in orderly files. Bertillon’s system was based on five primary measurements: (1) head length; (2) head breadth; (3) length of the middle finger; (4) length of the left foot; (5) length of the “cubit” (the forearm from the elbow to the extremity of the middle finger). Each principal heading was further subdivided into three classes of “small,” “medium” and “large.” The length of the little finger and the eye colour were also recorded. Bertillon’s system was later overtaken by fingerprinting, but the Bertillon “mug shot” endures.

Alphonse Bertillon used photography and measurement to create a record of unique identifiers that could be used to track suspects, inmates, and repeat offenders. His system depended on a complicated filing method that cross-referenced a standardised set of identifying characteristics, making the information retrievable. From a mass of details, recorded on hundreds of thousands of cards, it was possible to sift and sort down the cards until a small stack of cards produced the combined facts of the measurements of the individual sought. The cards were arranged to make efficient use of space. The identification process was entirely independent of names and the final identification was confirmed by the photographs included on the individual’s card. Although it was somewhat difficult to use, modernisers in many countries took it as a model system for tracking and controlling individual citizens and immigrants.

The Bertillon system came unstuck around 1903 when two prisoners in the United States of America, with the same name and same body measurements, were mistaken for one another. Fingerprinting became the preferred method to identify individuals by police related organisations and they soon moved away from the Bertillon system as this new discovery proved to be truly reliable.

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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM THE VAULT: The Bertillon Identification System”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-SA 4.0) ShareAlike 4.0 International. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Laguna Flash was purchased for $200 in December, 1974 and he took up residence at the Queensland Mounted Police stables in January, 1975. Flash, a black Shetland pony standing approximately 9 & 1/2 hands high, was born at the Laguna Stud, Moggill, in late 1973.

Between January 1975 and October 1993, Laguna Flash was the Academy’s mascot and was called upon during the course of a year to lead Police contingents at the various official functions. He formed part of the Colour Party which consisted of police Cadets who performed flag bearer duties.

The Colour Party was an integral part of swearing-in and official ceremonies. One Cadet’s duties were to care for and handle Laguna Flash which included washing, grooming and preparing the pony in his official winter or summer ceremonial dress. Laguna’s ceremonial dress also included wearing his ‘gold’ medallion.

The life of Laguna Flash was fairly quiet overall but on the evening of 13 March 1987 he was stolen from the police stables. Luckily he was recovered the next day minus some of his mane and fringe but otherwise in good health.

Laguna Flash was officially retired as the Queensland Police Academy Mascot on 10 October 1993 at the age of twenty. He went to live on a Karana Downs property belonging to the parents of a mounted police officer. Flash passed away a few years later and was buried on the property with a garden planted in his honour.

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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“Laguna Flash – Mascot Extraordinaire”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

Mrs Hastie was at home that Monday in March 1941 when she heard the milkman yelling … “Quick, call the police, there’s been a plane crash.”

With both station cars absent however, and the motorcycle out of commission, a taxi had to be requisitioned for the local police. While awaiting its arrival the nearby Air Force base at RAAF Amberley was duly notified, and a search plane despatched. It was late afternoon when the local constabulary eventually arrived at Moore’s Pocket, Tivoli Hill in Brisbane’s west, only to learn that the plane had in fact come down at Moore’s Pocket, North Booval, on the opposite (i.e. southern) side of the Bremer River. Having also been directed to the wrong side of the river, one of the attending RAAF ambulance officers then elected to swim across the river – with his medical kit. ¹

Preferring instead to journey by taxi another 6.3 kms (via Ipswich), Police Constables Louis Plaltz and Johannis Sprenger accompanied by veteran Sergeant Reg Argus eventually arrived at a clearing where they found the pilot, Flying Officer Dewar and his passenger, Rigger Cecil John Mason standing alongside their undamaged Moth Minor plane, registration A21-24. Dewar explained, when interviewed, that he had been forced to land after the plane’s engine had quit. His passenger meanwhile, being unaware of the engine’s failure, believed the pilot must have chosen intentionally to land alongside the river. Although he and Mason had since been able to restart the engine, Dewar was reluctant to attempt a take-off owing to the many stumps in the paddock.²

A police guard remained at the site until an air force ground crew eventually arrived and retrieved the plane.

Coinciding then with a rapid build-up of allied air operations in and around Brisbane, Queensland Police were increasingly having to attend similar callouts, many of which were fatal. In fact, it was barely a fortnight after this Booval callout that they were required to attend another forced landing involving the very same aircraft, in similar circumstances. On that occasion (1545 on 3 April 1941) Flying Officer J Brereton (pilot) and his passenger, Pilot Officer J Woods were forced to land two miles east of Boonah after the engine failed in flight, the RAAF’s official report once again describing as ‘obscure’ the cause of the failure.³

‘About five times it circuited the town, now and again just missing the treetops and electric light wires. Over the school grounds where the children had just been released from school, the plane came so low that spectators shuddered… By a tilt of a wing the plane just missed a cow as she scurried away. The landing place was cramped, swampy country, in which many treacherous logs lay hidden in the grass. The manner in which the landing was affected was a tribute to the skill of the officers who were on board.’⁴

Moth Minor A21-24 was once again dismantled and trucked back to the RAAF’s No.3 Secondary Flying Training School at Amberley – but not for the last time. Seven months later Brisbane metropolitan police were once again required to attend yet another forced landing by Moth Minor A21-24, this time ten miles west of Archerfield in the vicinity of The Gap. Yet again the engine had failed in flight for ‘obscure’ reasons, and once again the plane was undamaged.⁵

Although the No.23 Squadron pilot Sgt. Ally Davies survived unscathed on that occasion, his luck didn’t last. He was posted missing barely three months later when his Kitthawk fighter aircraft failed to return to Port Moresby after escorting American dive bombers attacking Lae on New Guinea’s norther coast. He was presumed to have been killed, his aircraft having never been found.⁶

Somewhat surprisingly, Moth Minor A21-24 survived the war and continued flying, in civilian guise, for several more decades. It was the West Australian Police however who attended the final callout in late November 1963 finding, this time, that it had crashed and been destroyed.

[1] “Forced landing,” Queensland Times, 25 March 1941, 4. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/114171409
[2] Aeroplane accidents, Queensland State Archives, ITM320055. [3] National Archives of Australia: A9845, 202, ID 6950570. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=6950570&T=P&S=25 [4] “Plane lands in paddock,” Queensland Times, 4 April 1941, 6. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/114165337
[5] National Archives of Australia: A9845, 202, ID 6950570. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=6950570&T=P&S=23 [6] Operations record book (forms A50 & A51), 75 Squadron, National Archives of Australia: NAA: A9186, 95, ID 1068620. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=1068620&T=P&S=40

This story was written by a Guest Contributor Mark Clayton.  The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact by email: museum@police.qld.gov.au | Subscribe: FROM the VAULT here

“FROM the VAULT: Three Times Lucky”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

Born in Cairns on 24^th March, Patricia Anne Garnaut joined the Queensland Police as a Probationary Constable on 22^nd October 1973, and was sworn in as Constable on 8^th February 1974.  The young Patricia first worked with Water Police at Torwood Police Station during the devastating 1974 floods.  Using a small tin boat the team transported locals to safety from their homes.  That same year Constable Garnaut was the first woman to enter the Queensland Water Police on 25^th November 1974.

Not surprisingly Patricia’s Dad was ex-Navy, her favourite sport was sailing, and she loved water skiing, diving and swimming.  As well as general Water Police duties, Patricia participated in test exercises to hone the skills of divers in search and rescue training, and occasionally acted as the stranded swimmer requiring rescue!

A move to the Rape Squad and promotion to PC Constable 1/c on 15^th December 1979 provided the opportunity to join an elite group of Police Officers commanded to protect the mental and physical health of female victims of domestic violence and sexual crime.  Patricia also served at Mobile Patrols, Fortitude Valley, Licensing Branch/Vice Squad, Cairns and was promoted to Senior Constable on 14^th December 1981 whilst stationed in Mount Isa.  Patricia was paid for higher duties as Acting Sergeant 2/c in the Mount Isa District Office; the largest Queensland Police District. 

Patricia resigned after a short but varied career on 10^th May 1982, as under the provisions of Section 22(1)(ii) of the Liquor Act, and as a serving member of the Queensland Police, she was not permitted to marry a publican as it would have prevented him from following his employment.  Interestingly, Patricia was paid long service leave monies as legislation had forced her to resign before she served ten years.  Patricia now has three sons aged 34, 36 and 37.

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This information is supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“Tin Boats Floated A Fascinating Career” written by Patricia Garnaut in 2014, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 Australian Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.

The Tego Springs Store and home of Herbert and Catherine Smith.

Catherine Smith was the wife of Herbert Smith, a hawker residing at Tego Springs, near Cunnamulla. The Smiths has been on friendly terms with a man named James Brokenborough, who stayed with them when he was out of work. But Smith noticed a coolness developing between his wife and Brokenborough. On June 24, 1907 at noon, James Brokenborough reported to Herbert Smith that the had shot Catherine accidentally that morning while out pigeon shooting.

Written on the photograph “The Tego Springs Murder. Place and position where Mrs Smith body was found, Jason Brokenborough, the alleged murderer, myself Constable Solomon Richards, D. T. Scuriah, the JP who held inquiry and my Tracker Jack. Person kneeling beside corpse is husband of deceased.”

Constable Cowley of the Hebel Police Station, was informed of the murder. That evening he went over to the spot and camped near the body and the next day made a searching enquiry. Dr Arthur Murray examined the body and found a bullet hole that had penetrated the left lung and the right ventricle of the heart causing death from internal haemorrhage. Constable Solomon Richards of  Bollon Police Station was also involved with the investigation.

James Brokenborough, who murdered Catherine Smith in 1907

On June 28, Brokenborough told Cowley, “I shot her alright. I had good cause to do so. I was out after kangaroos coming out of the brigalow clump and saw Mrs Smith. I sang out to her. She looked at me and cantered away. She wouldn’t stop. I up with my pea rifle and shot her.”

Brokenborough was then arrested and charged with wilfully shooting Catherine Smith with intent to kill. It was thought that Brokenborough shot Catherine because she had rejected his advances. He was tried for murder in the Roma Circuit Court on September 17, 1907, found guilty and was sentenced to death. This sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in December of 1907.

Group of men surrounding the grave of Mrs Smith. The group will include Herbert Smith, Constables Cowley and Richards, D. T. Scuriah (JP), Tracker Jack and more than likely Jason Brokenborough.

The murder caused quite a sensation and was reported in the newspapers right around Australia.

Police camp in bush after the arrest of Brokenborough for the Tego Springs Murder. Tracker Jack (centre), Constable Solomon Richards (right).

In a time when photography was still a difficult and unwieldy exercise, an interesting element of this case is a series of staged photographs of the murderer and crime scene, taken by an unknown photographer, more than likely one of the two police officers involved with the case.

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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM THE VAULT – “I shot her alright” – The murder of Catherine Smith, 1907”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

On 17 June 1932 the Cairns City Council asked unemployed vagrants living in Parramatta Park, to leave the grounds for the duration of the Cairns show. They refused to go and by July the towns people were getting frantic and angry because they could not set up for the show. On July 17 police were called in to forcibly remove the men from the park, many towns people also took part in the hostilities and a riot broke out. A number of people were injured and the majority of the vagrants were “run out of town”.

Unemployed persons with their swags are photographed in Parramatta Park probably prior to the riot of July 17, 1932.

This is how the event was reported in the Cairns Post the day after the riot (18 July 1932):

LAW & ORDER: Yesterday’s page in the history of Cairn will be regarded with some-pride but also with regret – pride that its citizens rallied so wonderfully well on the side; of , law and order, and regret that the necessity; for such an exhibition of solidarity was ever needed. For several weeks a large: encampment of unemployed had hurled defiance at Cairns citizens who desired to have the show ground for their own use for a abort period. The defiance, went further – it was a flick of the thumb to law and peacefulness. They had refused the offer of temporary shelter and made all sorts of impossible demands. When the gage was accepted 500 citizens and 34 police clashed with over 100 of the unwanted residents of the showground, and blood was spilled; in fact, within ten minutes, the scene of the melee might have been a slaughter yard.

Police watch on as a large crown gathers intent on moving the unemployed out of the encampment at Parramatta Park in 1932. This image was probably taken just prior to the riot taking place.

THE CULMINATION: The battle of Parramatta Park was fought and won by the massed forces of law and order, within ten minutes, and within another ten, incensed citizens had returned from chasing a body of fugitives nearly a mile off.

This image probably depicts the dying moments of the Parramatta Park riot at Cairns on July 17, 1932.

BARBAROUS WEAPONS: A large number of primeval but none-the-less deadly weapons were used by the defenders of the encampment to which they had no right, and in the melee, stones, bottles and pieces of iron flew left and right. When the reckoning came there were at least 80 injured, eight being detained in hospital. Included among the injured were a large number of influential citizens of the town, but the usurpers suffered most.

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This story was written by Curator Lisa Jones with the best Queensland Police Museum resources available at the time of writing.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM THE VAULT: Parramatta Park Riot, Cairns 1932” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

OFF SITE TOUR of Toowong Cemetery Police Graves
Sunday, 30 May 2021
10:30 – 12:30
Mid-tour Morning Tea Provided
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL via EVENTBRITE

The Friends of Toowong Cemetery is a voluntary organisation of people with a special interest in the Toowong Cemetery, formally known as the Brisbane General Cemetery, located in Toowong, Brisbane, Australia.

The Toowong Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Queensland and is an important record of the history of Brisbane and Queensland. It was officially opened in July 1875 and over 119,000 people are buried there. Toowong Cemetery is an operating cemetery, consulted by the Brisbane City Council in decisions regarding future planning, new initiatives, and restoration of graves.

Darcy Maddock and guides from the Friends of Toowong Cemetery have partnered with the Queensland Police Museum for a tour of police graves as part of the museum’s Sunday Lecture Series.

Bookings are essential for this 2 hour tour on Sunday May 30, 2021, commencing at 10:30am, and can be made through Eventbrite here.

Good mobility is required for this trek, with closed-in shoes and weather protection.  Bring drinking water.  Mid-tour morning tea will be provided.

BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/136573034623
DATE: Sunday, 30 May 2021
TIME: 10:30 – 12:30
PLACE: Toowong Cemetery, Corner Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong
REFRESHMENTS: Mid-tour morning tea will be available
ESSENTIAL: Good mobility, closed-in shoes, weather protection, drinking water

The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. The Sunday Lecture Series features guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.  The Police Museum will also be open on Sunday, 30 May from 10am to 3pm, and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Mrs Hastie was at home that Monday in March 1941 when she heard the milkman yelling … “Quick, call the police, there’s been a plane crash.”

With both station cars absent however, and the motorcycle out of commission, a taxi had to be requisitioned for the local police. While awaiting its arrival the nearby Air Force base at RAAF Amberley was duly notified, and a search plane despatched. It was late afternoon when the local constabulary eventually arrived at Moore’s Pocket, Tivoli Hill in Brisbane’s west, only to learn that the plane had in fact come down at Moore’s Pocket, North Booval, on the opposite (i.e. southern) side of the Bremer River. Having also been directed to the wrong side of the river, one of the attending RAAF ambulance officers then elected to swim across the river – with his medical kit. ¹

Preferring instead to journey by taxi another 6.3 kms (via Ipswich), Police Constables Louis Plaltz and Johannis Sprenger accompanied by veteran Sergeant Reg Argus eventually arrived at a clearing where they found the pilot, Flying Officer Dewar and his passenger, Rigger Cecil John Mason standing alongside their undamaged Moth Minor plane, registration A21-24. Dewar explained, when interviewed, that he had been forced to land after the plane’s engine had quit. His passenger meanwhile, being unaware of the engine’s failure, believed the pilot must have chosen intentionally to land alongside the river. Although he and Mason had since been able to restart the engine, Dewar was reluctant to attempt a take-off owing to the many stumps in the paddock.²

A police guard remained at the site until an air force ground crew eventually arrived and retrieved the plane.

Coinciding then with a rapid build-up of allied air operations in and around Brisbane, Queensland Police were increasingly having to attend similar callouts, many of which were fatal. In fact, it was barely a fortnight after this Booval callout that they were required to attend another forced landing involving the very same aircraft, in similar circumstances. On that occasion (1545 on 3 April 1941) Flying Officer J Brereton (pilot) and his passenger, Pilot Officer J Woods were forced to land two miles east of Boonah after the engine failed in flight, the RAAF’s official report once again describing as ‘obscure’ the cause of the failure.³

‘About five times it circuited the town, now and again just missing the treetops and electric light wires. Over the school grounds where the children had just been released from school, the plane came so low that spectators shuddered… By a tilt of a wing the plane just missed a cow as she scurried away. The landing place was cramped, swampy country, in which many treacherous logs lay hidden in the grass. The manner in which the landing was affected was a tribute to the skill of the officers who were on board.’⁴

Moth Minor A21-24 was once again dismantled and trucked back to the RAAF’s No.3 Secondary Flying Training School at Amberley – but not for the last time. Seven months later Brisbane metropolitan police were once again required to attend yet another forced landing by Moth Minor A21-24, this time ten miles west of Archerfield in the vicinity of The Gap. Yet again the engine had failed in flight for ‘obscure’ reasons, and once again the plane was undamaged.⁵

Although the No.23 Squadron pilot Sgt. Ally Davies survived unscathed on that occasion, his luck didn’t last. He was posted missing barely three months later when his Kitthawk fighter aircraft failed to return to Port Moresby after escorting American dive bombers attacking Lae on New Guinea’s norther coast. He was presumed to have been killed, his aircraft having never been found.⁶

Somewhat surprisingly, Moth Minor A21-24 survived the war and continued flying, in civilian guise, for several more decades. It was the West Australian Police however who attended the final callout in late November 1963 finding, this time, that it had crashed and been destroyed.

[1] “Forced landing,” Queensland Times, 25 March 1941, 4. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/114171409
[2] Aeroplane accidents, Queensland State Archives, ITM320055. [3] National Archives of Australia: A9845, 202, ID 6950570. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=6950570&T=P&S=25 [4] “Plane lands in paddock,” Queensland Times, 4 April 1941, 6. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/114165337
[5] National Archives of Australia: A9845, 202, ID 6950570. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=6950570&T=P&S=23 [6] Operations record book (forms A50 & A51), 75 Squadron, National Archives of Australia: NAA: A9186, 95, ID 1068620. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=1068620&T=P&S=40

This story was written by a Guest Contributor Mark Clayton.  The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact by email: museum@police.qld.gov.au | Subscribe: FROM the VAULT here

“FROM the VAULT: Three Times Lucky”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

The reminiscences of retired

An early morning cup of tea turned into a man hunt at Carpentaria Downs Station in September 1908.  The station manager, his horseman, and a man-servant were all considered suspects when governess Nellie Duffy was found deceased in her double bed.  Theft was not a motive; she still wore her gold jewellery.  Assault was not a motive; her clothes and blankets, although saturated with blood, were undisturbed.  The suggestion Miss Duffy had committed suicide by piercing her own neck were quickly quashed by the unusually undisturbed bedding, smoothed neatly across her body.

Every possible detail of the scene and the crime was gathered; the position of the body in bed, blood splatter on a bedside clock, the door to the bedroom being open, whether particular lighting was on or off, the location of a writing desk and chair, bedroom window dressings and mosquito netting, the usual routine of family members and station staff and their actions on the morning of the murder.  Witnesses were cross examined by Chief Inspector Frederic Urquhart and other police, and a record by Pugh’s Almanac of the time of sunrise on the date of the murder was checked against other evidence.

Chief Inspector Frederic Urquhart, July 1 1905. Image cropped from PM0785 and courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.

A post mortem examination by Doctor Riccardo Moni from Georgetown was conducted with Sub Inspector Byrne and Constable Reynolds present, concluding the deep wound in the neck of the victim was caused whilst alive, as were two small facial bruises, consistent with being smothered by the offender’s hand grip.

Police commenced questioning all persons in the vicinity of the home, and anyone associated with Nellie and the Wilson family, managers of the cattle station.  Chief Inspector Urquhart interviewed station-hand for Henry and Fanny Wilson, Billy Wilson, who confirmed he knew the victim, and told police he had seen Mrs Wilson carrying a clutch of eggs in a milking tin when she spoke to him and said “I want to kill Miss Duffy”.  Upon the instruction of the station manager’s wife, and fearing severe reprisal if he did not assist, station hand Billy attended the bedroom of Miss Duffy early in the morning in the company of Mrs Wilson.  She attempted to stage Miss Duffy’s suicide by writing a note, then asked Billy to hold the sleeping young woman down whilst she stabbed Nellie once in the neck with a pocket-knife.  The knife pieced the jugular vein causing Nellie’s death.

The evidence for a murder conviction quickly mounted.  Billy Wilson proved the most reliable witness, voluntarily admitting he was also responsible for the death because he had assisted Mrs Wilson with her plan by restraining the sleeping Nellie.  In Mrs Wilson’s statement, she claimed innocence, suggesting the first she knew of the murder was when Mr Frost attempted to serve the victim her usual morning cup of tea.

The main street of Georgetown, 1908. Image PM2932 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum

The case was referred to the Townsville Supreme Court with the all-male jury unable to agree on a verdict, both for the accusation of murder against Fanny Wilson, steadfastly maintaining her innocence, and the accusation as an accessory against Billy Wilson.  In sensational developments the Judge entered a nolle prosequi against Mrs Wilson, and the jury entered a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict upon Billy.

There are several books available telling this crime in more detail.  You may wish to search for them using the Trove website.

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This article was written by Museum Assistant Georgia Grier from the best resources available within the Queensland Police Museum.  The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM the VAULT- Sensational Developments in 1908” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

The reminiscences of retired police officer Earl Sanders who began his policing career on 31 January 1955 aged 19.

A few months later I found myself on the Westlander, bound for Charleville, with all my worldly possessions in one, not very large suitcase. I was met at the Charleville railway station by the then Constable 1/c (Later Superintendent) Terry Channells, who was not impressed that I had not been taught to handle a four wheel drive vehicle.

After I had been there just over one year, the Senior Sergeant- in- charge, Bill Suchting, called Sergeant Jim Palmer and me to his office. We were told we were off to a sheep property “out near Hungerford” to guard 400 stolen sheep which would later be needed as court exhibits in the Eulo Court. The offender had been charged and pleaded not guilty. Constable John Kajweski was added the next day. The maths for a 24 hour day guard did not add up. There were no more single officers available so one was sent from Dalby. Several days later Constable Ray Brant, later Superintendent, arrived. The resident blacktracker, Charlie, was added to the party and we set off for Cunnamulla for our final briefing.’

We also loaded the Morris in Charleville and I headed off the meet the others in Cunnamulla. There was only one police vehicle attached to Cunnamulla, an old International utility.  

We also loaded the Morris in Charleville and I headed off the meet the others in Cunnamulla. There was only one police vehicle attached to Cunnamulla, an old International utility.  This was given to us and we headed west: two old utes, four police officers and one blacktracker. After passing through Eulo we continued west and then turned south down the Hungerford Road.  Wittenburra Road was reached and we wound our way to the sheep station shearing quarters, our home for the next three months.

The stolen sheep had been returned to the owner, the proprietor of Wittenburra Station.  He had agreed to have the sheep guarded at the shearer’s quarters on the station, and to provide the shearer’s cook for our benefit. He also gave us an old grey mare for company. Thus we arrived and moved into the shearer’s quarters. With three junior constables, the day was divided into eight hour shifts and we set to work. We also clocked up two eight hour shifts of overtime each week. The sergeant was not included in the roster, just the three junior constables. This involved sitting, watching the sheep as they grazed in a nearby paddock during the day and lying on a bed alongside them in the shearing shed at night.

As far as I know nobody ever counted the sheep or told us how these sheep could be distinguished from others. They did not appear to have any special markings and appeared to us to be identical with other sheep on the property. One thing I did notice was that there was always a good supply of lamb for the nightly cook-up around the gidgee wood fire.

Kangaroo shooting was a favoured pastime of some of the party and it was not long before I had befriended an orphaned baby roo.   I looked after the baby for a few days and then it wandered off. Later that same evening, while we were sitting around the fire, the roo came back and just sat around the fire with us.  It was a regular visitor after that.

I celebrated my 21^st birthday with those sheep.  The shearer’s cook made me a very tasty fruit cake in a large camp oven and someone produced a carton of rum.  It was a great night. I learned other bush craft out there. I can guarantee top-notch pigeons make beautiful tasting soup. George taught me many things. He was a great person and a good friend.

The day finally arrived when we were to start walking the sheep to the Eulo Courthouse. The sergeant had worked out it would take ten days, so we set out in plenty of time before the court date. The others took it in turns to drive the ute but otherwise they walked. I had the Morris.

 George would be taken ahead each evening to set up a camp. We were using a well-worn Stock route once we started along Hungerford Road and used overnight sites set up by earlier drovers. The overnight accommodation consisted of sheets of canvas strung over a pole, supported by two trees.

The Morris had come in handy. It had been used to make regular trips into Eulo for food and other essentials, i.e. rum. Now it was helping to carry the load.

We eventually arrived in Eulo and penned the sheep at the police station/courthouse, the day before the trial date. The next morning, we attended to the sheep and the prosecutor came to us and said “It’s alright fellows. He has pleaded “guilty” so you can take the sheep back.” Jim Palmer looked him in the eye and informed him, not very politely, what he could do with 400 (or thereabouts) sheep. We then headed east, back to Cunnamulla.

It had been an incredible experience over the previous three months. I learned to love that country. I had already fallen in love with the people. The trip back to Charleville in that little Morris was made lighter with the feel of six un-cashed pay checks in the wallet. In those days, pay was by individual check, posted to the nearest station.

This story was written by Guest Contributor retired police officer Earl Sanders.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM the VAULT: Guarding Live Court exhibits (stock) in 1955” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

25 July 2021
11:00am – 12:30pm
 Police Headquarters
200 Roma Street
Brisbane QLD 4000

This lecture is not suitable for young children.

This lecture is BOOKED OUT.

Unfortunately the lecture WILL NOT be livestreamed, however we have opened a wait list.

Please email museum@police.qld.gov.au if you would like to attend.

Keith Banks is a former Queensland police officer who served from January 1975 to February 1995.

He is the recipient of two Queensland Police Valour Awards and the Bravery Medal. During his service Keith worked in various uniformed stations including Brisbane Mobile Patrols, as an undercover operative with the Drug Squad, a Detective in the Criminal Investigation Branch, the Metropolitan Task Force, the Tactical Response Group (the forerunner to SERT), the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence and finally in Crime Operations.

Keith is the best selling author of Drugs, Guns and Lies, an autobiographical account of the first ten years of his service with a focus on undercover duty. Published by Allen and Unwin, It is raw and confronting and details his experience with corruption and the impact of undercover work on both himself and his undercover colleagues. It has been called ‘The best true crime novel in a decade’ by John Silvester, Crime reporter for The Age newspaper in Melbourne.

His second book, Gun To The Head, about his experience as a Tactical Response Group member, is due for release on July 20, 2021. This book includes a chapter on Operation Flashdance which resulted in the death of Senior Constable Peter Kidd in 1987, the grave wounding of Constable 1/c Stephen Grant and the death of the offender. Keith has written openly about his descent into PTSD and the impact of that on his life for the next twenty-five years. it is also a story of ultimate recovery.

Keith is a firm advocate for first responders with PTSD and is committed to helping remove the stigma around mental health and particularly PTSD. He lives in Melbourne and works as a Chief Operations Officer in a not for profit organisation. He is also a Peer Support volunteer with Police Veterans Victoria.

This presentation will be of major interest to both veteran and serving police and he hopes will assist in furthering the conversation around dealing with PTSD in first responders.

This one-and-a-half-hour presentation will start at 11am on Sunday, July 25 and will be both informative and educational.
The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.
The Police Museum will open Sunday, July 25 from 10am to 3pm, and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

The 1974 flood was a massive inundation event for thousands of home and businesses in Queensland. None more so affected as the old Water Police Station under the Storey Bridge at Petrie Bight. We water rose several meters into the station and while all the other water police officers were out and about busy with flood duties, Sergeant 2/c Douglas ‘Dougie’ McLean Scott stayed behind at the station to co-ordinate the movement and allocation of water police jobs.

Never one to miss a great picture, Principle police photographer Sergeant 2/c Alywn Higgs made his way down to the Water Police station and waded in, capturing Dougie, phone in hand, floating in a dingy, the only dry spot in the building.

Alwyn Walter Higgs was sworn into the Queensland Police as Constable 5873 on 12 December 1955, aged 22. He was transferred to Roma Street and Woolloongabba police station before arriving at the Photographic Section, at that time a unit of the Criminal Investigation Branch, in July 1957. Alwyn stayed at the Photographic Section for the next 27 years, rising to the rank of Senior Technical Officer Grade 3. He was medically retired on 17 March 1984 and passed away in 1985.

This information was researched by Curator Lisa Jones and sourced from the best Queensland Police Museum resources available at the time of writing. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Email: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM the VAULT: 1974 Flood – A picture is worth 1000 words”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

Surrounded by hills in every direction, the former gold-mining town of Gympie in south-east Queensland offers few options for a pilot hoping to escape unscathed from an emergency landing.

Twenty-nine-year-old Leading Aircraftman Edwin ‘Ted’ Ridler was on the return leg of a solo navigation exercise from RAAF Amberley to Maryborough, one Sunday in late July 1941, when the starboard engine of his Avro Anson aircraft failed while flying south at 4,000 feet, two miles east of Gympie. With the Anson possessing marginal single-engine performance, and no airfields nearby, Ridler realized he had no option other than to attempt a forced-landing – but where? After circling the town a few times looking for a suitable clearing he attempted to land in Frankies paddock at Ashford Hill south-east of the town.

Official Air Force records reveal little of what happened that morning, but thankfully local Constable Frank Swepson’s typewritten police report is more expansive…¹

He then attempted to land the plane in a paddock about 30 yards further on from where he crashed, but in coming down, he struck the limbs of a tree, which forced him down sooner, with the result that he landed on some very uneven ground, tearing away his under carriage, and the wing of the plane also struck some posts of an old fence. He was not injured in any way…As far as could be seen, damage as a result of the crash was as follows: – Both wings damaged, undercarriage, both air screws, and floors of the cabin also damage.²

After evacuating the wrecked plane Ridler telephoned the Amberley Duty Pilot, arrangements then being made for the immediate despatch of an Air Force guard and recovery crew. In the meantime Swepson and his colleague, Constable Franciscus Bleys ‘kept a close watch on the wrecked plane until a military guard was mounted at 11.30 am,’ the latter having been provided by the 1st Field Survey Company which was then temporarily headquartered at Gympie under Warrant Officer Carpenter.

An Air Force ground crew spent the next couple of days dismantling and loading the damaged aircraft, the accompanying images (from the Ipswich Library collection) suggesting that some may have also camped at the crash site. It was subsequently learned that the pilot may have overlooked switching fuel tanks when overhead Maryborough, as instructed, causing the starboard engine to stop.³

A brief report in a local paper the following day effectively concluded the episode, for Gympie’s citizenry at least.⁴ For both the luckless plane and its pilot however, the dramas would continue. Despite having been extensively damaged Ridler’s Anson was eventually repaired and returned to service. Nine months after its retrieval from Gympie it was damaged again when struck by another aircraft taking off at Amberly.  Barely a month later the same aircraft crashed during a storm, in South Australia, killing its twenty-one-year-old pilot.⁵

Older than most air crew applicants, London-born Ridler, whose family had emigrated to Australia in 1925, was working as a manual training instructor at the Proserpine Rural State School in North Queensland when he applied to join the Air Force in mid-1940. He received his overseas posting orders soon after his crash at Gympie, and it was while training with the RAF’s No. 1518  BAT (Beam Approach Training) Flight at Scampton, Lincolnshire, in August the following year that he crashed and sustained serious injuries.⁶ Ridler was night training at the time, using the RAF (Royal Air Force)’s still-experimental radar landing system, when he struck a tree after overshooting the runway at Warwick in the West Midlands.⁷ His Oxford aircraft (similar to the Avro Anson) was completely destroyed by the impact which also killed his twenty-six-year-old co-pilot from New Zealand.

Ridler eventually recovered from his injuries, spending the next two years flying non-operationally with the RAF in a variety of combat and training aircraft (viz. Tutor, Magister, Botha, Wellington and Halifax). Consistently graded as an above-average pilot, he finally received his first operational posting in 1945, spending the rest of the war flying Lancaster bombers (with 101 and 582 Squadrons) on Pathfinder and electronic counter-measure operations against Germany.

Ted Ridler settled in Sherwood (Brisbane) after the war and resumed his pre-war vocation as a technical trade instructor.

1. Anson R3561, Flying Accident Preliminary Report, serial no.14, National Archives of Australia (NAA) Series number A9845, Control symbol 69, Item ID 7127541.
2. Aeroplane accidents, Queensland State Archives, ITM320055
3. General Conduct Sheet, 20 July 1942, RIDLER EDWIN HENRY: Service Number – 405325, National Archives of Australia (NAA), A9300, RIDLER E H, ID 5262362. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5262362&S=33
4. “R.A.A.F. plane down near Gympie,” Maryborough Chronicle, 21 July 1941, 3.
5. https://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/sa10.htm
6. Church Lawford to Air Ministry (Gloucester), telegram 6403, 5 August 1942, RIDLER EDWIN HENRY: Service Number – 405325, National Archives of Australia (NAA), A9300, RIDLER E H, ID 5262362. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=5262362&S=63
7. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/204021

This story was written by a Guest Contributor Mark Clayton.  The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM the VAULT: A forced landing for Leading Aircraftman Edwin ‘Ted’ Ridler, 1941”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

29 August 2021
11:00am – 12:30pm
 Police Headquarters
200 Roma Street
Brisbane QLD 4000
FREE ENTRY – Bookings Essential via Eventbrite

The event will NOT be livestreamed

Did you know a dog’s natural hunting instinct can be modified by police so the dog can be used to locate people, drugs, bombs and even dead bodies? Police dogs are used and are effective in police work for their superior senses of both smell and hearing.

Find out how police dogs are used for tracking, searching and the apprehension of offenders, at the next Queensland Police Museum Sunday Lecture.

The presentation titled ‘Behind the Scenes of the Police Dog Squad’, will be addressed by Senior Sergeant Sean Baxendell, OIC of Brisbane Dog Squad, who will speak about the work police dogs undertake and the methods used to train them to carry out general and other duties.

This one and a half hour presentation will start at 11am on Sunday, August 29 and will be both informative and educational, and is suitable for any audience.

The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.

PLEASE NOTE: The Police Museum will open Sunday, August 29 from 10am to 3pm, and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

In a case of clowning around, two stubbornly innocent Brisbane City Council Tramway Department employees were suspended from duty.  Tramcar Motorman William E.P. Stevenson, and the tram Conductress Thelma M. Howes, were both diligently performing their duties when they became embroiled in a practical joke performed by an off-duty, but uniformed, police officer.  Constable William Dangerfield was stationed at Woolloongabba Police Station in 1945 when his silly prank caused turmoil in peak hour traffic, and on the busy West End line.

South Coast District Inspector Florence M. O’Driscoll reported the incident to Police Commissioner Cecil Carroll;

            “…Thelma Howes was dismissed from her employment following a hold-up in the Tramway service at West End on the afternoon of the 18^th April, 1945, owing to a dispute which arose between Howes and the Motorman of the tram regarding the replacement of the overhead pole of the tramcar.  The pole in question having become disconnected from the overhead wire.

            The Constable reports that after ceasing duty at 3pm on the date in question he boarded a West End bound tramcar en route to his home and proceeded to Dornoch Terrace.  He there alighted from the outbound tramcar and saw another tramcar on the inbound line.  He states that the Motorman of the inbound car is known to him by sight and that he also knew the Conductress, having interviewed her in connection with a traffic accident previously.  He reports that as he walked past the rear of the waiting inbound tramcar, he tugged the rope attached to the overhead pole and this evidently disconnected the pole from the overhead wire.           

            Apparently, a dispute arose between the Motorman and the Conductress regarding the replacement of the pole and a hold-up in the tram service resulted culminating in the dismissal of the Conductress…”

For 30 minutes the stand-off between the Motorman and the Conductress continued.  Neither would replace the lowered pole, trams began to bank up behind the inbound service, vehicles could not cross, passengers sat patiently on the tram.  Tramway Inspector Francis Morris noticed an increase in people waiting for trams along the inbound route, located the deadlock on the West End line, and ordered the replacement of the overhead pole which was actioned by a Motorman from a nearby tram.

Employees Howes and Stevenson were summoned to the main office of the Tramway Department the following morning.  Both denied it was their duty to replace the overhead pole; Conductress Howes stated she was wrongly accused by the Motorman for removing the pole and would therefore not replace it, Motorman Stevenson believed he was not required to raise and lower the overhead pole at that stage in the journey, that it was the job of the Conductress.

Statements were taken, including from Constable Dangerfield.  An investigation was made into the matter by the Police Department’s Senior Sergeant Francis Fahey who described the actions of the constable as “childish and irresponsible”, and subsequent refusal by the Motorman and Conductress to replace the trolley pole as having “strange and unreasonable attitudes”.  The policeman was subpoenaed before the court, to testify as a witness and explain his involvement with the lowering of the tram pole.

Frank admissions by Constable William Dangerfield, his recognition of Rule 77 of the ‘Queensland Policeman’s Manual’ Preliminary Inquiries, a written apology and statements provided by all other parties involved culminated in the officer being charged with misconduct and transferred to Charleville.  Thelma Howe’s position as Conductress was reinstated.  The Motorman did not appeal his suspension, deciding the whole messy incident did him a favour and he obtained employment elsewhere.          

The last strange twist in this story, Constable Dangerfield went on to become a Road Safety Lecturer in 1957, and continued with the Brisbane Traffic Branch until his retirement in 1979.  Read more about the efforts to education the public on safe road use in a previous #FROMtheVAULT article ‘Look Left & Right: Road Safety Lecturing in the 1950’s and 1960’s’. 

This article was written by Museum Assistant Georgia Grier from the best resources available within the Queensland Police Museum.  The Police Museum is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM the VAULT – Tram Car Turmoil” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

The duties of police Constables were extensive, arduous, and around the clock. After drunkenness and common assaults, misdemeanours against Constables on duty formed the most prominent sub-category tried at the Police Court. Throughout the nineteenth century, one of the most prevalent offences was destroying a policeman’s uniform. This would customarily occur on a beat while a Constable attempted to arrest an offender for drunkenness, or for drunk and disorderly behaviour. Nearly every other arrest would result in a torn uniform. The degree of damage often varied, and ranged from merely a button being bitten off to torn ‘tunic, waistcoat and shirt’. 

This was of great annoyance to the policeman and his wife, assuming he had one, for she bore the responsibility of restoring the uniform; no additional allowance was provided for a replacement. According to the report of Police Commissioner Seymour, in 1866 a new regulation was passed which declared that the members of the force were supposed to provide their own clothing, ‘instead of its being as heretofore served out by the Government. The Constables having to pay for their uniform themselves will no doubt be more careful of it…’

Unfortunately, as the evidence shows, it was not always in the Constables’ power to preserve their uniforms regardless of their best efforts; as defendants were most commonly resolved not to ‘go down quietly’:

Edmund M’Sweeney was charged with drunkenness, and also with tearing the uniform of the Constable who arrested him, and on being found guilty was ordered to pay 40s., or to go to gaol for 18 hours. [Brisbane Courier, Friday, 27 May, 1864]

This, at times, relatively innocuous maltreatment of beat policemen was not a uniquely local phenomenon. In April, 1859 the Irish Times reported that Rose Masterson, an amiable looking female, was brought up in custody of Police-Constable 154 D, charged with being riotous and disorderly at Bow-street, Dublin. When arrested, she violently assaulted the Constable, ‘by making bites at tales of his coat, and otherwise ill-using his uniform.’  [Irish Times, April 7, 1859]

This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the 2012 PHD thesis “Crime and Policing in Dublin, Brisbane and London c1850-1900” with the kind approval of the author Dr Anastasia Dukova.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM THE VAULT: The Perils of Beat Duty”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

The Police Gazette was first issued on July 22, 1864. This publication represented the best way to communicate important information to police officers around the state. The Gazette was initially issued on a monthly basis, in 1881 it was printed fortnightly and in 1887 it came out weekly.

The first issues of the Gazette, listed Warrants Issued; Rewards Offered; Police Appointments; Reports of Deserters and Extracts from the New South Wales Gazette. The list of what might appear in the Gazette grew as the years passed – Deaths as Reported was added in 1869 and continued to be printed in the Gazette until 1889.

The first index to the publication did not appear until 1898 and was a straight alphabetical list by surname; in 1900 the index was segmented by topic such as Apprehensions; Complainants; Deserters from H.M Service; Prisoners Discharged; Prisoners Tried and Released and Warrants Issued. In July 1924 the index returned to an alphabetical listing. Police officers were not included in the Gazette index until 1917.

The lack of proper indexing made the Gazette an imperfect tool to identify wanted criminals or missing persons. Through the 1890s senior Queensland police began inquiring into ways of improve the method of identification of criminals. From 1893 Acting Sergeant John Thompson (the first Police Photographer) was paid £10 extra to attend to photographic work. In 1897 he was instructed in the half-tone process of reproduction and subsequently Inspector Urquhart introduced a confidential illustrated supplement to the Police Gazette with photographs of criminals and persons wanted. The first Photo Supplement appeared in the September 11, 1897 edition. Later editions included separate sections for Discharged Prisoners (1909-1929).

The Police Gazette was a very useful tool for police officers and contains a wealth of information about Queenslanders from all walks of life. The Police Gazette changed in 1976 to a publication which listed only the movements of police officers by rank change and station transfer. Separate publications covered the criminal information: Photo Supplements & Weekly Wanted lists were published until 1983.

Queensland Police Gazettes are very useful historical research tools for family history. The years 1864 to 1845 have been scanned to searchable PDF. You can buy compilation CDs from www.gouldgenealogy.com.au; or you can find the CDs at the State Library of Queensland. Every other Australian Police jurisdiction has its own version of the Police Gazette.

This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“FROM THE VAULT: The Queensland Police Gazette”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

Commissioner Frank Bischof established the Juvenile Aid Bureau on May 14, 1963. The initiative was modelled on the British Juvenile Liaison Scheme, where officers worked to combat delinquency with problem children aged 5 – 15 years. Initial JAB staff consisted of two officers: Detective Terence Lewis and Policewoman Yvonne Weier.

In the early days JAB officers worked only with children who “showed a tendency towards delinquency”. They were not involved with children who had been charged or convicted. The acceptance and full co-operation of parents was also a requirement. The officers would visit juveniles in their own homes, discuss their problems and encourage an interest in hobbies and sports.

At the end of its first year, the Bureau had four assigned officers. Its aims were prevention and rehabilitation of problem juveniles through support from community organisations. Assistance with special problems was sought from organisations such as the Queensland University’s Psychology Department, The Welfare and Guidance Clinic, and the Commonwealth Employment Service. The JAB dealt with matters of petty thieving, shoplifting, vandalism, truancy, uncontrollable behaviour at home and sexual promiscuity. Principals, parents, clergy, solicitors and other police referred juveniles to the Bureau. By March 1969 the JAB had dealt with 3000 cases involving children up to 17 years of age.

The 1970s saw a rise in the number of ‘latch-key’ children, single parent families, and children experimenting with drugs. In 1972 JAB members were instructed to spend less time on follow-up counselling and more on patrolling discos, parks and billiard halls. The emphasis was now on active crime prevention. During the 1980s the JAB continued to expand. Officers investigated offences committed not only ‘by’ children but ‘on’ children. As a result specialist units dealing with child abuse, sexual exploitation and missing persons were developed. The introduction of the Juvenile Justice Act 1992 resulted in declining arrests and proportionally more juveniles were dealt with by way of a Court Attendance Notice, and cautioning.

From 1 July 2006 the title of the JAB was changed to the Child Protection and Investigation Unit.  The CPIU is unique in Australia and is staffed by highly trained, skilled and professional investigators.  It provides a specialist policing response to children, both as victims and offenders.

This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.

The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au

“The Juvenile Aid Bureau”  by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode

Bookings open via Eventbrite at 9am, 31 August

This lecture will be livestreamed

Criminals are always thinking of ways to outsmart the police. On August 14, 1927, two such criminals by the names of Fitzgerald and Orchard decided to destroy evidence held in the CIB property room by lobbing gelignite through an open window. The resultant explosion nearly cost a police officer his life and blew a three square metre hole in the floor. However the blast did not destroy the evidence.

Queensland Police Museum Curator Lisa Jones will present “Brisbane Outrage: the 1927 bombing of the CIB building” to discuss this fascinating piece of Queensland Police history. She will tell the story of two criminals whose long list of mistakes led them to make a desperate attempt to wipe the prospect of jail time from their futures.

Ms Jones will outline the background of these two career criminals and the circumstances that led to the bombing of the Criminal Investigation Branch building, the subsequent police investigation and the outcome of this failed attempt to pervert the course of justice.

The one-and-a-half hour presentation will begin at 11am on Sunday, 26 September and will provide interesting and educational content suitable for any audience.

The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.

PLEASE NOTE: The Police Museum will open Sunday, 26 September from 10am to 3pm, and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.