Gold Rushes: Between 1861 and 1867 there were a number of gold discoveries at Clermont; Cloncurry; Cape River; Nanango, Gympie and Kilkivan. Later in the 19th century gold was also found at Normanton Georgetown and a host of other places across Queensland. In 1867 in a sensational criminal case, Gold Commissioner Thomas Griffin murdered two Gold Escort Troopers in his quest to steal the £4000 that the group was carrying back to Clermont.
Gold Escort about to leave Georgetown in North Queensland, c1890
Gold Escort Duty: As gold was discovered across Queensland the police presence in these areas increased due to the large influx of miners, their families and others involved with banks, stores and pubs. The death and crime rate in these towns and around the diggings was high. Gold escort duty in these early days involved the movement of gold nuggets from the diggings to the bank at a main centre for exchange into bank notes which were then back to the gold fields. Only a couple of men would have been in charge of the bullion. Later in the 1890s when large amounts of gold were being discovered and moved, a gold carriage with up to 6 mounted men and a Sub-Inspector would have been expected to accompany the cargo.
An extract from the 1876 Police Manual that outlines the rules by which gold was to be escorted between gold fields and the banks.
Gold escort group photograph at Normanton. The “G” on their collar denoted “Gold Escort”, c1895
Gold Escort waiting to load seven boxes of bullion at the Bank Of New South Wales, Croydon, 1905
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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 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 – Gold Escort 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… Continue reading