In writing of this book, my primary objective is to present in readable form, a chronicle of the more interesting crime with which I was associated in my official capacity during my thirty five years with the Queensland Police Force.
– Mick O’Driscoll, Notorious Crimes and Criminals
Mick O’Driscoll, baptised Florence Michael O’Driscoll, was born on 26 September 1866 in Bantry, co. Cork, at the head of Bantry Bay on the West Coast of Ireland. In 1912, O’Driscoll, aged 25, applied to join the Queensland Police Force. The day before he was sworn in, on 29 January, the general strike broke out in Brisbane.
The dispute initially arose out of the attempts by employees of the Brisbane Tramway Company to unionise, which were strongly opposed by the manager and owner of the General Electric Company, an American, Joseph Stillman Badger. In Melbourne and Adelaide tramway employees were facing similar opposition and were banned from wearing any sign of the union membership, such as badges. In January 1912, the badges arrived in Brisbane. At the tram depot, Badgers met the workers with an ultimatum: no badge or no work. The majority chose to wear the badge. Between January and February, 1912, what started out as a tram strike had quickly escalated to a general strike involving tens of thousands of workers.
The first important fracas occurred at North Quay when a man was being arrested by the police who were attacked by a threatening crowd. The hardy band of shopkeepers who had elected to remain open were threatened in no uncertain manner and to good effect, whilst railwaymen who remained working were jeered at and referred to as “scabs”.
Shortly, 3000 special constables were sworn in as re-enforcements, almost every business house in Brisbane was represented in this little army.
1912 general strike – Special Constables gather behind Police Headquarters in Queen’s Park, corner George and Elizabeth Streets, Brisbane.
Image PM0789d courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
An application by the Strike Committee for a procession permit on 2 February 1912, was refused by Police Commissioner Patrick Cahill. Despite the refusal, by 10 o’clock in the morning over 25,000 people gathered outside the old Trades Hall in Turbot Street:
Police dispositions were made to nip the procession in the bud. A line of mounted police and a double line of foot police armed with rifles and fixed bayonets was drawn up across Albert Street from the Methodist Church to the Roma Street Barracks. Behind these, several lines of foot police stretched across the square in correct formation, and the special constables were drawn up in reserve on the vacant land where the City Hall now stands. The main body of strikers held to their original purpose, and a solid phalanx of humanity surged down Albert Street right on to the human barricade which barred their way. The appearance of the special constables was like a red rag to a bull, and as the crowd swept into the Square missiles started to fly and women added to the pandemonium by screaming opprobrious epithets at the police. The demonstrators were determined and hostile and they looked really dangerous then.
Police massing in Brisbane for the 1912 general strike, King George Square.
Image PM1001b courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
As soon as the crowd was broken it formed again. When the footmen came into the fray dull blows descended in all directions. The procession of women was caught between the battling groups. Their attack was led by Mrs Miller ‘an aged little lady, who could almost be blown over by a puff of wind.’ (“Women Rushed Bayonets”, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 Feb, 1912) Mrs Miller, a Labour stalwart, proved herself in battle and gained notoriety by using a hatpin on Commissioner Cahill’s horse which got him thrown off.
Printed postcard titled ‘The Great Strike in Brisbane, February 1912′. Collage of eight images: Butchers marching in procession; Mounted specials on parade; Mounted police in market square; Armed specials on parade; Told off for duty in botanical gardens; Specials going to unload boats; Forming procession in market square; Strikers dispersing after procession.
Image PM3435d courtesy of the Victoria Police Museum.
2 February 1912, became known as Black Baton Friday. Later, such terms as “police brutality” “oppression of workers”, “scabs” were used and the history of the struggle was emphasised and re-hashed for many years afterwards.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Museum Volunteer and Crime and Policing Historian 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 – Black Baton Friday” 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.
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