In 1935 approval was given to Reverend Lanham of the Federal Methodist Inland Mission to demolish and remove the dilapidated police hut located on Herbert Street, Boulia. This was completed several months later, but as the hut had been used as a wash house, its removal meant washing was ‘done in the yard without any shelter, and a new wash-house is urgently required’. During 1936, water from the town supply was connected to the police station, making the addition of a more modern wash house easier. This was eventually completed at the Sergeant’s quarters, presumably leaving the Constable to continue washing in the yard.
Constable Gordon Campbell of Boulia Station died on 7 July 1937 while undergoing an appendix operation at Boulia Hospital. His funeral was one of the largest seen in the town and he is buried in the Boulia Shire Cemetery.
On 24 November 1941, the erection of new tracker’s quarters was completed by the contractor, a local resident named Mr Bates.
A new Land Rover utility was received at Boulia in 1954. As there was no garage to house the vehicle, Sergeant 2/c Holley received permission to build a shed of bush timber to be roofed with bulrushes. Mr Bates was again engaged to complete the work, and with the assistance of the Tracker a shed was built at no cost to the Police Department. The new ute meant two troop-horses attached to the police station were no longer required.
Sergeant 2/c Holley requested permission to keep poultry on the Police Reserve to help feed his own family, and the Tracker’s family, especially as “eggs are scarce in Boulia at any time and at the present are eight shillings a dozen”. Sergeant Holley was also given the use of a yard nearby to keep goats and cows for milking purposes.
In January 1956 the Public Works Department built a new garage, roofed and walled with galvanised iron. The bush timber shed was then used to house Sergeant Holley’s and Constable Vonhoff’s private vehicles.
Hand drawn plan of the Boulia Police Reserve, produced in 1956.
Image courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
On the 27 October 1956, Allotment 10 of section 11, consisting of an area of 2 roods was gazetted as a Reserve for Police Purposes. The site was obtained to provide a residence for police in the future.
In 1957 electric power was connected to the Sergeant’s residence, the singleman’s and tracker’s quarters, and the police station office. In 1959 the services of Tracker Jimmy Larkin were no longer required, and he was discharged at the end of the year.
On the 3 September 1963, Sergeant 2/c Stan Thorne, reported as he had done on previous occasions regarding the condition of the combined court house and police office building:
“This building has deteriorated to such an extent that the walls of the Police and [Court of Petty Sessions] Office have half inch cracks in them and maps and calendars have been fixed over them in an attempt to keep out some of the dust. It is impossible to remain in this building during a dust storm and the office takes days to clean after experiencing one”.
It was also noted that the included singleman’s quarters had no cooking facilities or utensils. Constable Vincent Walker arrived in Boulia on the 23 September 1963, and was the last single man to be housed in those quarters.
When building funds became available, erection of a new police station, court house, and police residence to accommodate a married police constable was commenced in July 1965. The new buildings passed inspection on the 8 October 1965. Occupation of the buildings took place on the 11 October when the electricity supply and the telephones were connected. The new Boulia Police Station was officially opened on the 20 November that year, by Mr W Rae, MLA. Approximately 90 guests attended the opening that Saturday afternoon, with the Sergeant’s wife Mrs Thorne catering for the afternoon tea.
The new station was a timber framed and sheeted building on concrete stumps, with large roof overhangs to shade the walls, and with large fly screened windows to provide good ventilation. The eight squares of enclosed floor area, contained a small court room, public space and counter, police office and other ancillary rooms.
The married constable’s residence, with 13 squares of floor area was also timber framed and sheeted, elevated on concrete stumps, with three bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and laundry, as well as verandah and fly screened windows. Septic installations were provided, with the total cost of the buildings being approximately ₤13,000. On the 5 July 1967, the erection of a combined garage and storeroom was completed. The former court house and police station building found a new home on Alderley Station, north of Boulia. The old disused tracker’s hut was also demolished and cleared from the police yard in May 1968.
Boulia Police Reserve 1984.
Image courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
In 1973, the Boulia Shire Council requested that a portion of the Police Reserve totalling 2 roods be excised, and used to extend the Shire Hall. There was no objection from the Police administration, and the change to the Police Reserve was gazetted on 21 December 1974. The resulting area of the Police Reserve was about 8,117 square metres.
The Boulia Shire Council in 1981 again requested that an area of 27 perches (683.91 square metres) be excised from the Police Reserve for use as a children’s playground. On the 22 May 1982 the Police Reserve was reduced to 6,650 square metres.
In 1983, the Boulia Shire Council sought approval to acquire a further 2000 square metres from the Police Reserve to grass the area, and build a roller skating track. No objections were raised and the area of the Police reserve was reduced to about 4,880 square metres one year later. A new fully air-conditioned, highset timber Sergeant’s residence was built in 1985, next to the police station. The station staffing levels at that time were of one Sergeant, one Senior Constable, one Police Liaison Officer and one clerical person.
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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- 50 Years in Boulia, 1935 to 1985” 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