Victoria Police Records of Service and Conduct 1890, 1891 and 1892

For 1890: 55 files of numerous pages each, accompanied by recently taken notes on each file;

For 1891: 51 files as above;

For 1892: 67 files as above.

 

Melbourne's population reached approximately 280,000 in 1880 and 445,000 in 1889. For a time it was the second-largest city in the British Empire, after London. In terms of area, Melbourne was already one of the largest cities in the world. Visitors to Melbourne in the 1880s were amazed. Elaborate office buildings up to 12 storeys high rivalled those of New York, London and Chicago. Money was poured into extravagantly ornamented banks, hotels and coffee palaces. The grandiose Royal Exhibition Building was built in 1880 to house the Melbourne International Exhibition.

The new suburbs were serviced by networks of trains and trams which were among the largest and most modern in the world. Riding this confident wave, in the 1880s a frenzy of speculation and rapid inflation of land prices became known as the Land Boom. Vast fortunes were built on speculation. English banks lent freely to colonial speculators adding to the mountain of debt on which the Boom was built.

In 1891 the inevitable happened. A spectacular crash brought the boom to an abrupt end. Banks and other businesses failed in large numbers, thousands of shareholders lost their money and thousands of workers were put out of work. Immigration dried up, emigration to the goldfields of Western Australia and South Africa increased. The 1890s saw the development of a more sober and cautious Victorian capital and state.

 

The Victorian police force up to and including the early 1890s, as chronicled in the three parcels of personnel records of order and service offered here, reflects this renewed pursuit of order and propriety. In 1890, the records note a police force concerned with the moral character of its workforce as Samuel Brooks was described as “[b]oth unsteady and unreliable, a dangerous member of society…[for]… preparing and transmitting false and defamatory letters to the…Minister of Justice regarding alleged immorality of female residents (caretakers) of the Court House at Echuca”. James Cotter was reported for “interfering without due cause with one Margt. [Margaret] Reilly”; William Feely for “cohabiting with a woman while on [his] beat…[on] Lower Wharf at 3 a.m.”; Alfred Gansberg for “Being in a brothel while on duty without lawful excuse.”; Arthur Lowry “[b]eing off his beat at 2.50 am and gossiping with two females (believed to be prostitutes) and having a pipe in his mouth.”

In 1891, the Victorian Police Force also pursued order in the appearance and conduct of its officers, both within each individual police station and in public. John Boyd was reported for “[t]hrowing dice on the licenced premises of Lachlan Robertson” and “having the station arms in a discreditable condition”; Alfred Butcher for “[m]isconduct as a constable in being improperly dressed when on duty…wearing light tweed trousers, wide uniform jumper and helmet.” Martin Byrne for (at various times) “fighting in the bar of the Railway Hotel Drouin. Unduly retaining public money in his possession [and] for speaking in a very disrespectful manner to…his superior officer”.

William Eagleson “exceed[ed] his duty…in unduly stopping Wm. [William] Murray at Balaclava about having no lights on his buggy the moon being at the full… Insulting behaviour towards Sergt. Holmes…[and]…[d]ismounting from his horse when on duty and fastening him to the door of a public house without proper excuse.” Likewise Patrick Fitzgerald “breach[ed] of Sec. 44 Act 1127 having become interested in the Rose and Crown Hotel Port Melbourne through marrying the licensee” Thomas Haddow “[o]bscenely refus[ed] to obey the order of Sgt. James to perform duty at a fire at Echuca” [1890]

Similarly, in 1892, the collated records show Arthur Fearn “[v]isiting a brothel when on duty, and making a false report in writing against occupants of the same”; Samuel Jones “[a]llowing a prisoner to escape from the Broadmeadows lock-up”; “[h]aving the station under his charge in a disgraceful state…[and]…[n]eglect of duty in not putting a stop to a nuisance Mr Hawkins was subjected to on the occasion of his marriage by a number of boys collecting and beating iron pots in front of his house”.

 

Drunkenness as a blight on the collective character of the Police Force is a strikingly common theme throughout the records but none more poignantly depicted as in the case of Daniel Barry. Barry was “employed in the Kelly [Gang] search” from 1878 and “was also one of the first party of Police attacking the Gang at Glenrowan…when he behaved bravely and well.” Later in his career he was “commended for his tact and judgement” and lauded for his “very steady and attentive” service. By 1889, however, it was noted that “a complete change has taken place in the constable’s conduct. He has become addicted to drink and is thoroughly untrustworthy.” By 1891, Barry had been discharged “not fit to be in charge of any station”.

 

These unique original records depict policing in the years leading from the heady and tumultuous era of the Gold Rush and Melbourne’s fledgling development, the flush of its Boom, the predictable crash and Depression and its move towards a more stable history from the 1890s onwards. As such they of particular value to scholars and museums alike concerned with Melbourne and Victoria during this period, with particular focus on the development of the Victorian Police Force and the case of the Kelly Gang.

 

Report prepared by Dr Emily Turner-Graham