Warwick is situated on the banks of the Condamine River, about two hours’ drive southwest of Brisbane. Patrick Leslie and his two brothers originally settled in the area as squatters, naming their run Canning Downs. In 1847 the NSW government asked Leslie to select a site on his station for a township, which was to be called ‘Cannington,’ although the name eventually settled upon was Warwick. In 1850 land sales were held and the first allotment was bought by Patrick Leslie. Warwick boomed with the discovery of gold at nearby gold fields, one such area being Pratten, situated between Warwick and Leyburn. At this time many beautiful sandstone buildings were erected in Warwick, and one of these is the Warwick Police Station.
There has been a police presence in Warwick since prior to the inauguration of the Queensland Police On January 1, 1864. By December of that year the strength at the station was one Police Magistrate, one Sub-Inspector and five Ordinary Constables. Early accommodations for the police in Warwick were barracks and a lock up which, by 1885, were unhealthy and went under twice in the floods of 1890. Tenders for a new police station were call on November 1, 1900 and the new, two story sandstone and ironed roofed building at 86 Fitzroy Street, was completed on July 17, 1901
The new police station was primarily a barracks. The Senior Sergeant occupied one portion of the building containing 6 rooms with kitchen and bathroom. The First Class Constable occupied the other portion containing four rooms with kitchen and bathroom. The Acting Sergeant stayed in the five roomed watchhouse keepers quarters and the Constable in the five roomed wooden cottage located alongside the police station.
Warwick of today is a busy centre and this lovely sandstone police station building, still in use, houses a staff of more than fifty police officers and civilian workers.
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
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.
“Then & Now – Warwick Police Station” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a 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