The Queensland Police Bowls Club was established in 1955. Membership was open to all serving and retired police and civilians of the Queensland Police Force, with paid membership at a bowling club affiliated with the Royal Queensland Bowls Association. Regular visits were made to bowls clubs in nearby country towns as well as in the Brisbane metropolitan area.
Police Bowling Club, 1960. Commissioner of Police Francis Bischof (fourth from the left).
Image No. PM2099 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Queensland members performed creditably in the National Championships held in Perth in 1979. New Zealand police bowlers, touring Australia for the event that year, visited Queensland in July for competition matches and proved too strong for the home side. Queensland members have also played matches against teams from the Railway Department, Prisons Department, The Greenkeepers Association, Tattersalls Club, and the Commercial Travellers Social Bowls Club.
In 1980 the Queensland Police Annual Report detailed the year’s game statistics: 32 Sunday games, four midweek games and eight night games. The members visited 26 Brisbane metropolitan clubs and six country centres.
Queensland was the host state for the 23rd Australian Police Bowls Carnival in 1981. The QPBC organised accommodation, transport, playing dates, venues and rules for individual competitions, recorded results, provided meals for players, managed the collection and recording of fees, the publicity, and all social functions. The event was hampered slightly by an airline strike, however interstate teams still managed to attend and the carnival was hailed an outstanding success. Then Police Commissioner Terry Lewis, showing all the style of a champion, laid down a bowl to open the 23rd Australian Police Bowls Championships, and became the first Commissioner in the history of the championships to touch the jack with his official opening bowl.
30th (Thirtieth) Australian Police Bowls Carnival, Melbourne, Victoria, 09.04.1988 to 16.04.1988.
Front Row, Left to Right: G. Dauth, A.B. Duncan, J. Purcell, E. Dale, D.F. McDonald, W.E. Fraser, L, McKenzie, B. Dawes.
Second Row, Left to Right: R. Horne, P. Petersen, A. Aikens, P. Bruton, R. Dauth, V. O’Brien.
Back Row, Left to Right: Unknown, J.D.T. Brady, J. Hosking. J. Long, G. Imeson, R. Bennett.
Image No. PM3853 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Members of the QPBC made a major contribution to police and community relations through their playing programme. The reputation of police officers was bolstered by their mixing with other bowlers in a friendly and competitive atmosphere.
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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
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