In 1898 the first moves to secure a home-based police officer in the Myrtle Town and Pinkenba districts, followed the extension of the rail line to Pinkenba, the erection of the wharves, the reopening of the meatworks and the subsequent rise in population. These moves were by way of written submissions to Police Commissioner William Parry-Okeden and local council members, by the management of the Queensland Meat Export & Agency Co. Ltd. of Eagle Farm, and the Pinkenba Railway Station Master. The submissions complained ‘of drunks, larrikins etc. in the area’. At this time the district was policed from the Petrie Terrace Police Depot.
Suggested site for Pinkenba Police Paddock, 1901.
A further eighteen months passed, then on February 17, 1899 the Commissioner directed that a police station be constructed at Pinkenba. Eighteen tenders were submitted, as at this time work was scarce and many carpenters and tradesmen were setting up independently against their employers, often submitting lower tenders to win employment. After a bitter struggle involving various accusations, the tender was let to L. C. Young who duly erected the police station, stables, lock-up and earth closet, for the sum of £366 15s.
The station was described as being of wooden construction with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a sitting room, breakfast room, bathroom, front veranda and police office. Additional buildings included a 12 foot by 10 foot lock-up with veranda, as well as a stable and fodder room. The lock-up and station each had a 1000 gallon water tank. The area was enclosed with a picket and split paling fence. Annual rates on the property stood at 16 shillings.
Floorplan for the Pinkenba Police Station, cell block and stable with fodder room, 1901.
Heavy rains in 1904 left the police station yard lying under several inches of water rendering all approaches impossible to negotiate without first wading through muddy water. In addition, it was also considered to be a menace to the health of the occupant’s and the general public. The situation was remedied by a ballast truck load of gravel (approximately seven tons in weight or six dray loads) for the sum of ₤1:18:0. Minor flooding seemed to be an ongoing problem, and later in the year fifteen loads of cinders at 1 shilling per load were used to fill up the yard and approaches to the station.
By 1907 police extraneous duties included Assistant District Registrar of Births and Deaths, Receiver of Income Tax, Inspector of Slaughter Houses and School Attendance Officer. However, the bulk of police work revolved around bigamy, wife desertion, ill-behaved seamen, stowaways, deserters, illegitimate births and the distributing of very large numbers of Indigence Allowances.
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This article was written by Assistant Curator Virginia Gordon (c2000) and Constable W.H. Larkman (c1975) 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- Policing Pinkenba (Part 1)” 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