In August 1907, Sergeant Clare of the Esk Police Station reported that the residents of Toogoolawah were complaining about the need for police protection after disturbances on the streets and at Thorns Club hotel. These problems were initiated by larrikin behaviour from about 200 men employed on railway line construction.
Sergeant Clare sent constables from Esk whenever he could in an endeavour to curb ‘the noise, disorderly conduct and language used’, by the railway workers.
The Government Architect plan of the Toogoolawah Police Station, 1911.
Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
He also remarked that ‘Toogoolawah is rapidly growing. The population within a radius of five miles is something like 500 persons, from two to three hundred being employed on the dairies and condensing factory on the Cressbrook properties, the township consists of two Hotels, two Stores, two boarding houses, Saddler, Baker, Butcher, Billiard Saloon, Shoemaker, Blacksmith, Fruit shops, Q.N. Bank in addition to private houses’.
The following month Crown Land was located suitable for a police station. It was a ten-chain road adjoining the eastern side of the township, of which a portion of two acres the local Shire Council agreed to being resumed for police purposes. The Reserve was proclaimed in the Government Gazette on 19 September 1908.
Reports from Toogoolawah Police Station dated October 1956 indicate that a B.S.A. motorcycle was attached to the station, similar to this one received at the Police Depot in the same year.
Image No. PM1603 courtesy of the Courier Mail.
On the 3 September 1908, Sergeant Clare obtained a cottage suitable for a police station, directly opposite the proposed site for the police station. The cottage was rented temporarily until a new police station, cells and stables were erected on the newly acquired police reserve. The cottage had four rooms with an attached kitchen and about half an acre of fenced land. It was rented from Mr. E.A. McLean at 10 shillings per week.
The Toogoolawah Police Station opened on 17 September 1908, in the cottage, and Constable George Rayner was placed in charge.
In November 1909 the new police station had been erected on the police reserve. It contained a livingroom, three bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, office and dining verandahs at the rear and in front. The detached cell with verandah, and stall with fodder room were constructed shortly after. A second constable was stationed at Toogoolawah in 1913. The current police station is still on the original site.
Toogoolawah Police Station nowadays.
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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
“FROM the VAULT – A Butcher, a Baker and Toogoolawah Police Station” 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