Part 1 – A Scotsman’s journey begins
This two-part blog honours the life of Constable William Murray who perished in the Outback, on or about 20 November 1913. We will explore the chain of events that led to his tragic death, and the reasons behind Murray’s transfer to the Outback. The writer of the Queensland Police Union Journal article, ‘Police Transfers,’ dated August 18, 1923, nearly ten years after the incident, was scathing in his criticism about the police transfer system in the early 20th century. He wrote:
“During the earlier years of the force, many if not all transfers were regarded as a means of punishment, and if a member of the rank and file happened to be without friends, he was almost sure to be exiled to the extreme north or west, but more particularly, if he was unfortunate enough to possess a spirit of independence.”
After reading Constable William Murray’s file, none could doubt the Scotsman’s ‘spirit of independence’ or his spirit or adventure. He has held a place of honour on the Queensland Police Memorial since 2003, when his name was added to the Remembrance Board at Police Headquarters and other memorial plaques.
The ruddy-faced, blue-eyed Scotsman left his homeland in Lockerbie, Scotland, in the year 1900 to travel to South Africa where he served as a constable with the South African Constabulary in the Orange River Colony. After the Second Boer War, the British occupied the area from 1900 to 1910 when it was then absorbed into the Union of South Africa. Murray was offered a transfer to another district upon being made redundant, but he chose to make his way to Australia.
After arriving in Queensland, Murray worked as a railway guard while his documentation to join the Queensland Police Force was being processed. Measuring a half inch short of the minimum height – ‘[that] they must stand clear five feet eight inches without their boots,’ leads us to construe that his lack of height was overlooked in favour of Murray’s police experience and favourable references – see example below.
Discord at Many Peaks Station, 1911
Constable Murray commenced service at the Brisbane Depot on 4 March 1910 and was transferred to Fortitude Valley Police Station a week later. From there he was transferred to Rockhampton where his duties were performed to the complete satisfaction of his superiors, but on 21 June 1911, Murray was transferred to Many Peaks Police Station and Courthouse where his fledgling career with Queensland Police stalled through a personality conflict. Both he and fellow constable, Nicholas Donges, rubbed with the Officer in Charge, Acting Sergeant Thomas O’Keefe, who was later described by the writer of the Queensland Police Union Journal in 1923 as, ‘a veritable tyrant… no subordinate could agree with him, and as Murray was no exception to the rule… [neither did he].’
Did Murray literally ‘dig his won grave?
Inspector John Quilter arrived from Rockhampton by train on 9 December 1911, to interview Constables Murray and Donges in relation to the incident. He gave the men the opportunity to state their case in relation to their differences with Acting Sergeant O’Keefe. Both men said they they had no problem with him – although Murray asked for a transfer from Many Peaks citing that he could not ‘get on’ with O’Keefe.
Both constables said that their major problem was that they could not get leave when they requested it, which was usually after returning from days on patrol. The Inspector told them that police were not entitled to leave unless they could be spared, and if they could, he was sure that the Acting Sergeant would grant them a few hours at any time. He also cautioned that if they used insubordinate language and questioned instructions, then they would have to put up with the consequences.
Inspector Quilter further wrote in a memorandum about the events of 18 November 1911, stating: ‘…both of these men are concocting everything they can against the Acting Sergeant to irritate him.’ He described O’Keefe as: ‘A decent and steady man’ but [he] ‘appears delicate and does not seem to have any idea of how to give instructions, or [how] to manage men, or to have the slightest confidence in himself.’
Addressing police behaviour c1910
Constables Donges and Murray were transferred to Alpha and Clermont, respectively. Were these transfers ‘punishments’, as suggested by the writer of the Police Journal in 1923? The ‘Queensland Police Manual’ c1910, Regulation 5, was clear about expectations of police behaviour and obedience to superior officers. See excerpt below.
Next Week Part 2 – A Scotsman’s Final Journey
This story was researched and written using the best archival resources at the time by Debra Austin, a former Museum Assistant at the Queensland Police Museum, and a member of Friends of Queensland Police Museum, a group dedicated to restoring the graves of Queensland police officers who died on duty. Constable William Murray served the Queensland Police Force from 04.03.1910 until that fateful occurrence on or about 20.11.1913 when he perished in the Outback. The Friends of the Queensland Police Museum shall endeaour to locate and mark his grave.
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- Doomed Patrol to Doongmabulla 1913 – Part 1 -A Scotsman’s journey” begins 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