A tall police officer always in Plain Clothes with a distinctive face kept popping up amongst our image collection. It took a couple of years before we discovered who he was and could put a name to the ‘face’.
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Bernard Cornelius O’Sullivan was born at Rifle Range near Toowoomba to James and Martha. In 1918 the O’Sullivan family was living in Helidon and Bernard was working for his maternal grandfather at Forest Hill. He applied to join the Queensland Police Force in August 1918 and his application boasts no fewer than seven references to his good character as an ‘honest, straight forward and industrious’ man.
Six foot tall Bernard was recruited on 16 September and found to have good dictation, reading and maths, and was a fair horseman. After ten weeks of training at the Petrie Terrace Police Depot, Bernard was sworn in a Constable 2359 on 4 December 1918.
Group of fourteen police officers with Plain Clothed Constable Bernard O’Sullivan standing middle row at right, Woolloongabba Police Station, 4 September 1925.
Image No. PM2243 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
He was transferred to Woolloongabba Police Station and remained at this station for the next 18 years. In October 1923, after four years and ten months of service Bernard applied to be appointed on Plain Clothed duty at Woolloongabba in lieu of an officer who had been transferred. In support of his application Senior Sergeant Reardon said of Bernard:
‘I have much pleasure in recommending Constable Bernard O’Sullivan for Plain Clothed duty, as he is conversant with the duties required. He had on several occasions assisted Plain Clothes Constable Troy when investigating intricate cases. He has a thorough knowledge of the district and takes special interest in his work. He gave every satisfaction when he did Plain Clothes duty. He is a good all-round man, sober and trustworthy.’
Bernard’s request was granted on 18 October and he remained in Plain Clothes for the rest of his time at this station.
In April 1925, two years after becoming a Plain Clothed officer Bernard received thanks from Mr James Wilson, Head teacher at Buranda State School, who expressed his appreciation of the ‘tact and skill exhibited by P.C. O’Sullivan in the arrest and conviction of two boys on a charge of wilfully and unlawfully destroying nine panes of window glass at the school and for the theft of a number of keys’.
PC Constable Bernard O’Sullivan acted as Scorer for the 1925-26 Qld Police Cricket Club Team.
Image No. PM1839 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Aged 27 Bernard married Myra Coyne on 6 July of 1927 at the St Stephens Cathedral in Brisbane and they went on to have five children, three boys and two girls.
In April 1934 all the plain clothed sections in all the stations were amalgamated under the CIB but Bernard continued to work from the Woolloongabba Police Station. In that same year Bernard made application to be promoted to Acting Sergeant and put forward his evidence:
‘I have a good knowledge of Police Duties and have successfully prepared and established cases against many offenders for various offences, including breaking, entering and stealing; Stealing, false representation, assault, bodily hard, wilful destruction of property, indecent dealing, unlawful carnal knowledge and other offences.’
Bernard was not successful in this endeavour until May 1936 when he became an Acting Sergeant and was subsequently transferred out of Plain Clothes and sent onto Mareeba. He spent two and a half years at his station as OIC and held the extraneous duties of Protector of Aboriginals, Acting Inspector of Slaughter houses, Industrial Inspector, Inspector of Factories and Shops, Acting Inspector of Stock and Licensing Inspector. He was subsequently transferred to Mount Isa, Toowoomba, Charters Towers, Townsville, Cloncurry, Ipswich, Maryborough, and ended his career as an Inspector in charge of the South Coast District.
1943 Senior Sergeant O’Sullivan was highly commended for his work toward the conviction of George Elias for the wilful murder of Naum Poplo at Mt Isa in 1941. This case dragged on for more than a year and was played out in front of four different juries.
The article come from the Courier Mail of 30 September 1941 and O’Sullivan’s image comes from The Truth 12 July 1942.
Bernard received three favourable records throughout his career. In 1932 PC Constable O’Sullivan was granted £3 4 shillings and 2 pence being portion of a reward given by Wills, Gilchrist and Sanderson Pty. Ltd, for the arrest of prohibited immigrant Henry Bolicke. In 1940 Sergeant 1/c O’Sullivan and other officers were commended for the manner in which they carried out their duties in connection to the murder of Lily Agneta May at Mount Isa on 11 February 1940 and in 1943 Senior Sergeant O’Sullivan was highly commended for his work toward the conviction of George Elias for the wilful murder of Naum Poplo at Mt Isa in 1941.
At the age of sixty, and after 40 years, 11 months and 15 days of very solid service Inspector Bernard Cornelius O’Sullivan retired on 19 November 1959.
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This article was written by Curator Lisa Jones 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- B.C. O’Sullivan: A distinctive face and a solid policing career” 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