‘The first Ball arranged by the Queensland Police Welfare Club was held in Brisbane City Hall on August 1st 1934, and proved a great success. There were upwards of two thousand persons in attendance, and it is claimed by competent judges that it was the biggest function of its kind which has ever been held in the city. Taking into consideration that a period of only six weeks elapsed since the formation of the Welfare Club until the Ball was held, it is indeed a record of which the whole force may be proud.’ [Police Union Journal, July 31, 1934].
Policewoman Eileen O’Donnell is pictured left and stands with three debutantes before they are presented to his Excellency the Governor Sir Leslie Wilson, at the first Queensland Police Ball, August 1, 1934.
Image No. PM1721 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
The above-mentioned Welfare Club was situated within the Roma Street Police Station. An initiative of Police Commissioner Cecil Carroll, it had arisen from informal sporting meets with the rationale that ‘the policeman is debarred from doing things the average worker can do once he ceases work’, and therefore opened for the use by police once they had ceased their day’s work. The Club was licensed and provided a variety of recreational facilities including billiard tables, dart boards and a library.
The inaugural Welfare Club Ball in 1934 was a great success, with Commissioner Carroll and his wife in attendance along with the Queensland Governor, His Excellency Sir Leslie Wilson with Lady Wilson and their daughter Miss Margery, Chief Justice and Deputy Governor Sir James Blair, the Home Secretary Edward Hanlon and Policewoman Eileen O’Donnell.
The crowd of 2000 pose for a photograph at the inaugural Police Ball, Brisbane City Hall, August 1, 1934.
Image No. PM0279b courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
The Ball raised considerable money to further the club and community programs, and when the Police Citizens Youth Welfare Association took over from the Welfare Club in October 1947, the Police Ball tradition continued into the mid-1970s. Brisbane City Hall was the venue used until the 1960s when it moved to the Cloudland Ballroom. Police Balls were also held in regional towns including Toowoomba and Ipswich.
The Queensland Police Ball continues; Commissioner Frank Bischof discusses the upcoming event with three debutantes from the Main Roads Department, all of whom with be presented to Sir Alan Mansfield, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, at Brisbane City Hall on August 7, 1963.
Image No. PM1731a courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
The Brisbane City Hall Ballroom is decorated for a Queensland Police Ball, c1965.
Image No. PM2478 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
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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 (February – November) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Email contact: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – Queensland Police Ball, 1934” 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