Coen, c1897 – Staged scene of police officers capturing bush rangers: Constable 1/c Charles Batemen of the Coen Township Police, on his horse aims his firearm at a “bushranger”, Senior Constable George Inkerman Smith of the Coen NMP Camp is on the ground grappling with a “bushranger”, one unknown “bushranger” actor is playing dead and the other “bushranger” actor is being handcuffed by Senior Constable Smith. An indigenous mounted trooper calmly keeps hold of Senior Constable Smith’s horse. Image No PM1326 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
There was obviously a lull in criminal activity in the Coen area around 1897. This fabulous photograph purports to show a staged scene of police officers capturing bushrangers. A quick look in the 1897 Queensland Police Gazette reveals that only six apprehensions were recorded for that year, so there was definitely plenty of time for practicing the techniques for capturing bushrangers!
Coen Native Mounted Police Camp in the Cooktown District opened on 27 October 1885 with Sub-Inspector Frederick Mergetts in charge with a staff of two Constables and nine indigenous troopers and trackers. Coen Township Police Station opened 20 April 1895 with Constable James Kenny in Charge.
There are five people in the photograph Constable 1/c Charles Batemen sits on his horse with his revolver pointed at one of the so-called bushrangers; Senior Constable George Inkerman Smith is in the foreground keeping a tight handle on the other so-called bushranger. A mounted indigenous police trooper keeps hold of the horses on the left. Unfortunately, we are not sure who was playing the part of the bushrangers.
Constable 1/c Charles Bateman at Coen, ca 1896. Image PM0635 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Charles Bateman was sworn into the Queensland Police on 24 October 1888 and served at Port Douglas, Montalbion, Herberton, Cooktown, Musgrave, Piccaninny Creek and Cooktown before being transferred to Coen Township Police Station in 1895. Charles spent four years at this remote station before moving on to Mount Morgan in 1900.
George Inkerman Smith was sworn into the Queensland Police on 19 September 1884 and served at Glenroy, McIvor and Laura police stations before he was transferred to Coen Native Mounted Police Camp as officer in charge in 1894. George spent four years at the NMP camp before moving on to Cardwell in 1898.
George Inkerman Smith, his wife Annie and five of their eight children at Coen ca1895. Image PM1306 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
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This information was researched by Curator Lisa Jones and sourced from the best Queensland Police Museum 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. Email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – How to capture bush rangers: a demonstration, Coen c1897” 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