Memorial 1: Memorial Tree planted at NSW Police Academy, Goulburn
Memorial 2: Memorial plate on the front outside wall of Leeton Police Station. Dedication done on 30 November 2015. Photos below.
Sharon Louise WILSON – centre, front row. Class 215
About 2.15pm on 30 November, 1988 Constable Wilson was on duty at the Leeton Police Station when she suffered a severe gunshot wound to the head when another member’s service revolver discharged. Although treated at the scene by colleagues until the ambulance arrived, she passed away at the Wagga Base Hospital at 5.45pm the same day.
The constable was born in 1968 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 9 May, 1988. At the time of her death she was stationed at Leeton.
Touch plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
Sharon is mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
Alan Cope ( # 23769 ? ) thanks guests for attending. Alan spoke about Sharon Wilson and her short time in Leeton.
Superintendent Mick Rowan # 22980 ? ) with Father Robert offer kind words. — with Robert Patrick Murphy
Superintendent Mick Rowan unveiled the new memorial plaque.
Alan Cope closes the ceremony. Monday 30 November 2015
Dedicated: Monday 30 November 2015
2 December 1988
“CHARGES POSSIBLE OVER SHOOTING
SYDNEY: The NSW Police Commissioner, John Avery, will decide whether charges should be laid against a constable allegedly involved in the shooting death of her 20 year-old colleague on Wednesday.
A police spokesman said yesterday a team of detectives was waiting to interview the young officer over the death of policewoman Sharon Wilson at the Leeton Police Station, in the state’s Riverina district.
He said results of the investigation would be forwarded to Mr Avery for consideration.
A police spokesman said the detectives — including two from Sydney’s Internal Affairs department, two from homicide, a ballistics expert and a police psychologist — were waiting to talk to the 19-year-old constable.
Probationary Constable Wilson was shot in the head by one bullet from a service revolver while on duty at Leeton Police Station, at 2.15pm on Wednesday.
She was rushed to Wagga Base Hospital, but died 3 1/2 hours later.
The policewoman awaiting questioning had been treated for shock and was being cared for by friends and welfare personnel, the spokesman said.
Detectives hoped to talk with her last night.
Miss Wilson, of Uralla, in the Northern Tablelands, was well known in the small community. She was regarded as a fine athlete and her 188cm frame was well known in the local basketball league.
Miss Wilson was studying visual arts at the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education in Wagga.
Her body will be transported to her home at Uralla, where a funeral will be held at 1pm on Monday.”
SYDNEY: Junior police officers could be made to leave their guns at work after a young constable accidentally killed his best friend while cleaning his service revolver at home on Monday.
An internal police investigation into the shooting would look at the controls on probationary constables’ possession of weapons, the NSW Minister for Police, Ted Pickering, said yesterday.
Constable Andrew Pearce, 20, was cleaning his .38 service revolver in the bedroom of his Greystanes home in Sydney’s west at noon on Monday when the gun discharged and hit his friend Andrew James McDonald in the chest.
Mr McDonald, a 20-year-old bank teller from Greystanes, died an hour later in Westmead Hospital.
The incident was the second fatal shooting by a probationary constable in the past four months.
Last November Probationary Constable Sheree Schneider, 19, ( ProCst # 60370 ) accidentally shot Constable Sharon Wilson in the head at Leeton police station in the Riverina region. The young constable now faces a manslaughter charge.
Acting Police Commissioner Angus Graham refused yesterday to comment on Monday’s shooting and was unable to say whether Constable Pearce, an officer with one year’s service, would be charged over the incident.
He said the fatal shooting was the subject of a full investigation by the police’s Internal Affairs Department.
“When we have these incidents we always review our arrangements,” he said.
A policewoman fatally wounded a colleague with a shot from her service revolver which she believed was empty, the Leeton Local Court, in south-west NSW, heard yesterday.
Sheree Ann Schneider ( ProCst # 60370 ), 20, of Pine Avenue, Leeton was charged with the manslaughter of Constable Sharon Louise Wilson, 20, at Leeton Police Station on November 30 last year.
Constable Wilson died of head injuries at the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital as a result of the shooting.
Constable Harvey McRae told the court that he was sitting at a computer terminal when he heard the firing pin of a police revolver strike the empty chamber. Constable Wilson had said, “Oh God, don’t do that. You scared the living daylights out of me”.
He said Schneider pointed the revolver toward Constable Wilson and said: “No, it’s empty, see?” The gun then discharged.
Schneider said she went into the sergeant’s office and re-loaded her gun. The court heard that four live bullets and one spent one were later removed from the revolver.
ALBURY: A policewoman who fatally shot a colleague has been cleared of manslaughter after a hearing in the Albury District Court. Sheree Ann Schneider, 20, of Pine Ave, Leeton, was charged with the manslaughter of Sharon Louise Wilson, 20, of Leeton, who died from injuries received in the shooting.
Constable Wilson was shot in the head while speaking on the telephone in the communications room of Leeton police station on November 30 last year.
Miss Schneider gave evidence at the committal hearing on Friday.
She said she had gone to the sergeant’s office where she had unloaded her special issue five-shot .38 service revolver. She told the court she was sure five bullets had fallen from the revolver’s cylinder and into her hand.
Miss Schneider said she had left the bullets in the office and returned to the inquiry counter area.
Thinking the gun was empty, she “dry fired” it.
Miss Schneider said Constable Wilson had become frightened and said: “Oh God, don’t do that. You scared the living daylights out of me.”
She had said to Constable Wilson: “No, it’s empty, see” and then pulled the trigger “to reassure her she had nothing to worry about.” The gun had discharged.
Asked by her counsel, Mr John Dailly, what she had thought when the gun discharged, she said: “I couldn’t believe it! I was sure I had counted five bullets.”
It was not until she had returned to the sergeant’s office that she realised she had made a mistake.
Although Miss Wilson had been shot, Miss Schneider said she was unaware at the time the gun had been pointing at her colleague.
Miss Schneider said she had returned to help Miss Wilson, who lay on the floor bleeding profusely from a wound to the left temple.
She said she placed both hands over the wound to try to stop the bleeding.
The court was told Miss Schneider had received 200 minutes pistol training at the police academy and had been issued with the smaller five-shot revolver after failing her first shoot with the larger six shot model.
Mr Dailly said the shooting had been an accident.
“It was totally unintended, unexpected and unforeseen,” he said.
In discharging Miss Schneider, Magistrate Barry Wooldridge said she had made a “great mistake” when counting the bullets. But the fact remained that there was no intent on Miss Schneider‘s part, no animosity between the two and no evidence she had deliberately pointed the gun at Constable Wilson.
SYDNEY: The Director of Public Prosecutions said yesterday he would review a magistrate’s decision to dismiss a manslaughter charge against a police woman who shot dead a fellow officer.
The director, Reg Blanch, QC, said he would direct Constable Sheree Schneider to stand trial if he found that Leeton Magistrate Barry Wooldridge had made an error in judgement.
Constable Schneider, 20, shot dead Sharon Wilson, also 20, with a service revolver at Leeton police station on November 30. She said she thought the revolver was empty.
Mr Blanch said he would make a decision in four to eight weeks. Constable Schneider, suspended with pay, was to answer a charge on August 31 of using a firearm with disregard for safety.
Schneider Case
In New South Wales, at Leeton police station on 30-Nov-1988, a junior policewoman produced a pistol and shot dead another officer. Sheree Ann Schneider claimed it was an accident. Satisfied the pistol was unloaded, she pulled the trigger without looking where the gun was pointed. The charge of Felonious Assault was dismissed in the lower court on 28th July 1989 under section 41 (vi) – the presiding officer ruled that no jury would convict. Use Of A Firearm In Disregard For Another Persons Safety was dismissed on 27th April 1990. The female did not even lose her job, presumably her fellow officers hope she will be more careful in future.
Court Ignores Duty
It is axiomatic with all weapons training that they never be pointed at anyone unless they are intended to be used —even in jest. Deliberately pulling the trigger without looking where the .38 pistol was pointed was criminal irresponsibility. Sharon Wilson was killed as the result of criminal negligence; a failure that should not be tolerated from any citizen, much less a police officer. Not knowing the gun was loaded is no excuse for anyone, least of all a trained professional. For the courts to fail to penalise this action is to commit more crimes; the denial of the importance of duty and the magnitude of taking a life.
The Law Repeats The Role Of Indulgent Parents
Schneider escaped penalty by adopting the infantile excuse that she was merely the hapless victim of the inadequate police weapons training program; that this was accepted by the authorities is not an aberration. Trial for murder is no longer a matter of resolving fact; it has become a re-enactment of the spoilt child caught by their indulgent parents; if the miscreant can deflect blame while generating sympathy then all is forgiven.
On 1 September, 1986 Sergeant Jennings was at home at the police residence attached to the West Wallsend Police Station. While he was mowing the lawns (one of his duties) he suffered a fatal heart attack.
The sergeant was born in 18 September 1944 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 22 February, 1965. At the time of his death he was stationed at West Wallsend.
National Police Remembrance Day ceremony in Lake Macquarie
David Stewart
September 29 2017 – 4:27PM
POLICE from Lake Macquarie Local Area Command have unveiled plans for a memorial wall at Belmont to honour the seven local officerskilled in the line of duty since 1863.
Plaques commemorating the seven officers were dedicated to the wall in a ceremony at Belmont police stationthis afternoon, National Police Remembrance Day.
Chief Inspector Murray Lundberg of Lake Macquarie LAC presided over a private ceremony attended by police, local high school students, and the families of the fallen officers.
“This is a time for reflection on the ultimate sacrifice that police officers can give in the execution of their duty,” Chief Inspector Lundberg said.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Brett Greentree, the Northern Region Commander, said the wall of remembrance, to be created on the distinctive blue wall at the entrance to the police station, would be striking.
“It will be a sight to treasure,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Greentree said.
“I want the officers, as they are walking out the front doors of this police station, to stop and reflect on the names, stop and reflect on the sacrifice.”
He said he hoped that the inaugural plaques to be installed on the wall were also the last.
“My dream is that we never, ever, add another name to this wall. I hope and pray that our wall is now complete.”
Acting Assistant Commissioner Greentree reached out to the families of the fallen officers.
“No commemoration or recognition can make good the loss that is unfairly carried by family members,” he said.
“I can only offer you my heartfelt condolences. Please know that your loved ones, who are no longer with us, will always be remembered.”
Across NSW, ceremonies were held to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the 269 officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, and through injury or illness, since the formation of the NSW Police Force in 1862.
Stephen John TIER
27/10/2012
Stephen John TIER
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # 18680
Redfern Police Academy Class # 163
Rank: Commenced Training at Redfern Police Academy on Monday 9 April 1979 ( aged 18 years, 11 months, 6 days )
Probationary Constable – appointed Monday 25 June 1979 ( aged 19 years, 1 month, 2 days )
Constable – appointed 25 June 1980
Detective – appointed ? ? ?
Constable 1st Class – appointed 25 June 1984
Final Rank: Detective Constable 1st Class
Stations: ?, Dapto – Death
Served: From 9 April 1979 to24 July 1985 = 6 years, 3 months, 15 days Service
Memorial location: External Wall leading into Lake Illawarra Police Station and photo, on wall, inside Lake Illawarra Police Station
On 24 July, 1985 Detective Constable Tier was the driver, and single occupant, of an unmarked police vehicle engaged in the pursuit of an unknown vehicle on the Princes Highway, Unanderra. During the pursuit the police vehicle left the roadway and collided with a telegraph pole.
The constable was born in 1960 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 15 January, 1979.
At the time of his death he was stationed at Dapto.
STEPHEN is mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
Stephen Tier holding his son, Joshua Tier.
Det Cst Stephen John Tier – 20 April 1983 playing Police Football for Wollongong.
Stephen TIER – Touch pad at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.
Stephen John TIER Memorial inside Oak Flats Police Station, NSW.
Police Remembrance Day:
JOSHUA BUTLER
Family members lay a wreath for Det Const Stephen John Tier. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI Lake Illawarra Commander Acting Superintendent Andrew Koutsoufis to the left.
Almost 60 years on, Kenneth Nash still misses his uncle Allen.
Sergeant Allen William Nash, aged 40, was killed in the line of duty by a gun-wielding offender at Primbee in 1956.
Sgt Nash was one of eight officers stationed in the Lake Illawarra local area command who were recognised with memorial plaques on a wall of honour outside Lake Illawarra police station on Monday, as part of Police Remembrance Day commemorations.
Dozens of current and retired officers, families, friends, politicians, councillors and members of the public gathered at Oak Flats for a ceremony to unveil the memorial wall, and honour past and present officers.
Since 1862, more than 250 NSW Police officers have died in the line of duty.
Alone in his patrol car, Chris Thornton had the police siren flashing as he chased a white sedan through Woy Woy.
Thornton, 35, a highway patrolman, had been in the force for 15 years. He was, his mother says, “the best driver I have ever seen”.
The reason for the chase that night in April 2002 is unknown. Both cars were seen travelling at high speed. Thornton was about 50 metres behind.
Meanwhile, Leonard Rowley, 56, an unlicensed driver, was driving to his local KFC to pick up dinner. He saw the first car flash past and judged – wrongly – that he had time to turn out in front of the patrol car. Thornton tried to avoid Rowley’s car but clipped the back, veered onto the wrong side of the road and hit a power pole.
Thornton died on the spot, which is marked by a permanent stainless-steel cross. Rowley later received a suspended two-year sentence.
“His life from the age of 12 was about helping people,” says Thornton’s mother, Freada Thornton. “He was in the surf club and he was there to rescue people and then he went into the force and he was doing the same thing.” His father, Barry Thornton, says: “He loved life. He had been in Gosford for 15 years and was so popular with the community there.”
Police pursuits are, says Barry, a necessary evil: “If they don’t catch the criminals there will be more deaths on the roads. The ones that they’re in pursuit of are the idiots that have done the wrong thing to start with.”
But pursuits have come at a cost to the NSW Police Department. Fifteen officers have died as a result of high-speed chases, beginning with the death of Constable George Boore in 1937.
Details provided by the NSW Police Association show a steady stream of fatalities involving cars and motorcycles. The full list of casualties is as follows:
Awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal. The U.N. Secretary-General established the Dag Hammarskjöld medal for posthumous award to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the United Nations.
Born: Tuesday 12 April 1949 at Ryde, NSW
Died: Tuesday 12 November 1974
Cause of death: Murdered – Land Mine Explosion
Event location: near Lefka, Cyprus ( 5 days after arriving in the country )
Age: 25 years, 7 months, 0 days
Funeral date: 26 November 1974
Funeral location: ???
Grave location: Rookwood Cemetery, Rookwood
Ian Donald WARD
On 12 November, 1974 Constable Ward was serving with the Eleventh Australian Police Element in Cyprus. Whilst travelling in a Land Rover near Lefka the vehicle hit a landmine in the buffer zone. As a result Constable Ward was killed and Constable 1st Class John Woolcott ( # 11976 ) was seriously injured.
Constable Ward is the 3rd and last Australian to die in Cyprus.
The constable was born in 1949 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 12 April, 1968. At the time of his death he was stationed in Cyprus and an Acting Sergeant.
John Woolcott ( # 11976 ) recovered from his injuries and ” Wooly ” later retired from NSW Police Force either as an Sergeant at Manly Police Station or an Inspector at North Sydney / Mosman. This, is yet, to be confirmed. ( 10 August 2017 ).
NSWPF Member John E. WOOLCOTT # 11974 from Redfern Police Academy Class 107
1974 – the funeral for Sergeant Ian Ward
National Police Wall of Remembrance Touch Plate for Ian WARD
IAN IS mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
17 June 2017 – Malaysia Memorial in Cyprus taken today as Australian Police complete the long mission and are leaving Cyprus.
Ian’s memorial at the Goulburn Police Academy.
Dag Hammarskjold Medal
Memorial to Ian WARD – unveiled in 1985
2003 Police Remembrance Day is marked with a ceremony at the cairn erected in memory of Sergeant Ian Ward.
Inscription: Killed in the service of peane Sgt Ian Donald Ward Aust. CivPol
The closure of Nicosia Airport meant a circuitous route to Cyprus for the second half of the eleventh contingent led by Merv Beck.
Although it was not known at the time, conditions on the Island and consequent reduction in UNFICYP strength would make this the
last November rotation.
The group left Sydney on 6 November and were welcomed some days later at Akrotiri after flying with Qantas to London then busing to
the Brize Norton RAF Base near Oxford and thence via Malta to Cyprus.
RAF flights were ‘dry’ and the seats faced the rear, so the Australians appreciated the traditional welcome at Limassol Headquarters.
The newcomers ‘pumped’ the old hands for news of the war while they themselves were pressed for information about events in Australia.
The new arrivals were soon split up. Ray Leister was assigned Control Room duties while others went to Ktima and Polis.
After only five days on the Island the unthinkable happened near a road-block approaching Lefka.
Ian Ward, a replacement from New South Wales, was killed and John Woolcott injured when their Land Rover detonated a land-mine in an unmarked field.
The Australians were conveying a Turkish Cypriot family from Ayios Nicolaos to the Turkish Cypriot controlled area at Lefka and one of the four passengers was killed and the other three seriously injured.
The fatality cast a pall over the contingent.
A number of moving ceremonies were held before his body was flown home to Australia.
Twelve months later a cairn was erected to commemorate the tragedy and each twelve months a short service is held near the memorial.
Geoff Baker was a member of the Board of Inquiry convened under British military regulations to investigate the incident.
Land-mines were the major component of fortifications along the confrontation zone. UNFICYP had lodged a number of protests about mine-laying procedures and the fact that many fields were neither marked nor adequately recorded. UNFICYP began a special programme to remedy the deficiencies, but two UNFICYP soldiers were killed in similar circumstances during the following twelve months.
LONDON, Tuesday (AAP). – Representatives of all United Nations peace keeping forces in Cyprus will take part in a memorial service today for Sergeant Ian Ward, 25, a Commonwealth policeman of Sydney, who was killed in landmine explosion last week. His body will later be flown to Sydney for burial.
Located within the Honour Precinct is an original ornate marble tablet featuring early losses of New South Wales Police Officers. The tablet is flanked by the New South Wales state flag and the New South Wales Police Force flag.
The Peacekeeping Display honours all members of the NSW Police Force who have served in peacekeeping operations throughout the world and houses the Dag Hammerskjold medal belonging to the late SGT Ian Donald Ward who died in UNFICYP. This was donated to the NSW Police College on the 29th May, 2010 from Mr Ken Ward, OAM, father of SGT Ward.
On the 12th November, 1974, a member of this Force, Constable 1st Class I. D. Ward, who had arrived in Cyprus a few days before, and Constable 1st Class J. Woolcott, also of this Force, were carrying out humanitarian work transporting refugees. The United Nation’s land rover in which they were travelling struck a land mine on a road between Limassol and Lefka resulting in the death of Constable 1st Class Ward and severe injuries to Constable 1st Class Woolcott, Constable 1st Class Ward was posthumously awarded the United Nations Medal, Cyprus Division.
Francis Laurel BURKE Memorial Touch Plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.
THURSDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2014 RETIRED POLICE DAY HELD AT LAKE ILLAWARRA POLICE STATION, OAK FLATS. Francis Laurel BURKE Dedication Memorial on the front wall of Oak Flats Police Station ( part of Kiama Police area )
THURSDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2014 RETIRED POLICE DAY HELD AT LAKE ILLAWARRA POLICE STATION, OAK FLATS. Francis Laurel BURKE Frame hanging inside of Lake Illawarra Police Station.
“There are a number of photos of this man on Ancestry.co.au which I can’t access” 26 July 2017
FRANCIS IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
On 20 January, 1961 Constable Burke was holidaying on the South Coast with his family. In the afternoon of that day the family were at Kiama Beach when the constable was informed by his son that two boys were in difficulties in an undertow.
Constable Burke entered the water and swam out through the heavy surf to assist. Unfortunately he collapsed during his efforts and after being seen floating face downwards in the water, was carried onto the beach. He failed to respond to resuscitation and was conveyed to the Kiama District Hospital where life was pronounced extinct.
The constable was born in Condobolin in 1927 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 20 June, 1955. At the time of his death he was stationed at Redfern. He is listed in the official New South Wales Police Honour Roll.
Source: Beyond Courage by Retired Sgt Danny WEBSTER, NSWPF.
There is a Francis L BURKE buried at Rookwood ( as detailed above ) but no other verifying details via internet search.
There is also a Francis Neil BURKE mentioned in the Kiama Independent on 25 January 1961 having died at Kiama, late of Sydney.
Nothing found on Trove.
Acts of Bravery by Police
The late Constable F. L. Burke was posthumously awarded the Bronze Medal and Certificate of Merit of the Royal Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society for gallantry in attempting to save the lives of two boys in the surf at Kiama on the 20th January, 1961. The Constable lost his own life on this occasion although the boys were saved.
Police Killed in the Execution of Their Duty
Constable Francis Laurel Burke.
Drowned at Kiama on the 20th January, 1961, whilst assisting two boys who were in difficulties in the water. The Constable was On annual leave at the time and holidaying with his family at Kiama.
Mentioned twice, on page 29 of 1962 Parliament of NSW – Report of the Police Department for 1961
A family member of Constable Francis Laurel Burke, who died in 1961, laid a wreath at the Police Remembrance Day commemorations on Monday. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI
Almost 60 years on, Kenneth Nash still misses his uncle Allen.
Sergeant Allen William Nash, aged 40, was killed in the line of duty by a gun-wielding offender at Primbee in 1956.
Sgt Nash was one of eight officers stationed in the Lake Illawarra local area command who were recognised with memorial plaques on a wall of honour outside Lake Illawarra police station on Monday, as part of Police Remembrance Day commemorations.
Dozens of current and retired officers, families, friends, politicians, councillors and members of the public gathered at Oak Flats for a ceremony to unveil the memorial wall, and honour past and present officers.
THURSDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2014
Since 1862, more than 250 NSW Police officers have died in the line of duty.
Memorial located at: 1/ Glen Davis Rd, Capertee – the Clarence Pirie Memorial Park
Lat: -33.143736 Long: 149.983791
2/ a Wall Plaque at Chifley L.A.C.
SenCon Clarrie Pirie ( 1960 )
Clarence Roy PIRIE – Touch Plate at the National Wall of Police Remembrance, Canberra
CLARENCE IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
Grave location: Rookwood Cemetery, NSW
Zone E, Section 19, Grave 3661
INSCRIPTION: In Loving Memory of my dear husband and our dear father Clarence Roy PIRIE died 13th October 1960 aged 40 years. Erected by the New South Wales Government in Memory of Senior Constable Clarence Roy PIRIE who was shot & killed in the Execution of his Duty at Jew’s Creek on the 13th October 1960. Police Crest.
FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
Senior Constable Clarrie Pirie was the Officer-in-Charge of the Capertee Police Station from 1958 until his death on 13 October, 1960. On that day he was informed by Lithgow Police that two male offenders had abandoned a stolen car at Cudgigong, north of Capertee.
While patrolling the area Senior Constable Pirie found two fourteen year-olds with a vehicle at a roadside camping area at Jews Creek, ten miles south of Capertee. These however were not the two offenders the police were searching for and as such Constable Pirie did not know that on the previous day the pair had escaped from the Yasmar children’s detention centre ( Lidcombe ) and had broken into a dwelling where they stole several items of property and the vehicle before driving to the Jews Creek area.
As the constable was talking to the young offenders one of them suddenly produced a .22 rifle and shot Constable Pirie. He died a short time later. Both youths were captured the following day.
The senior constable was born in 1920 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 15 September, 1947.
At the time of his death he was stationed at Capertee.
Knew Clarie well when I was at Cowra and Clarie was LUK at Young, I was transferred on the PSB at Lithgow and Clarie was transferred to Capertee so I used to see a lot him as the Highway Patrol done daily runs to Capertee.
I took the phone call at Lithgow from a chap from Cullen Bullen to say Clarie had been shot, then drove Insp. Eli Hanson and Det S/Cst Jimmy Foster to the Scene at Jew’s Creek.
Never will forget that day.
His Youngest son John was a Police Support Officer and KAC Manager at Orange.
( Eli HANSON, NSWPF # 2207, Retired in 1962 and died in January 1973 ( aged 71 years, 0 months, 2 days ) )
Police Remembrance Day – 29 September 2022
A message received from one of the daughters of Roy & Frances PIRIE on 21 September 2022:
Dear Greg, Not sure if you are the right person to find out some info on Police Memorial Day Services in the Young area.
I live near Young & would really like to be able to pay my respect to my Dad who was killed on duty in 1960. It’s my only way to keep my memory going & now my Mum has passed, I’m feeling the sadness even more.
My Dad was Constable Clarence Roy Pirie who was shot & killed at Capertee.
I usually find out after the event that there had been a service around Young so what I’m hoping is that someone could let me know beforehand so I could attend.
Sorry to trouble you but just reaching out.
Yours respectfully,
Francine Pirie.
/////////////////////
Hello Francine.
Good choice picking me. lol.
I have tried to phone Young ( without success ) but I have just spoken with the District Commander, Supt. Paul Condon, and he confirms that there WILL be a Service in Young.
He is now on the phone to obtain the ‘where and when’ for us.
/////////////////////
omg, bless you & thank you x
I am on NSW Fallen Police ( FB Group ) so that’s how I got you so; thanks again.
////////////////////
There is a Service at Young Police Station ( only a small Service though ) at 11am on Thursday 29 September. The troops there will be expecting you.
////////////////////
Greg thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I’ll be there
x
////////////////////
You are very welcome Francine.
xoxox
Cal
///////////////////
Dear Greg,
Thank you so much for organising my attendance yesterday.
The staff at Young Police Station were amazing. The young Police Officers were so interested in my family’s story.
Thank you for the link as I read through the article I read things I didn’t know about. Many tears have been cried but I still believe it’s been a healing time for me even though it’s been 62 years.
Sometimes you need a reason & yesterday was a good reason to grieve, not only for my Dad but for all the other families who have lost their loved one.
Again Greg, thank you from my heart as this would not have happened if you hadn’t gone to the trouble to organise this for me.
God bless you
Francine Pirie
xx
The Result
Young Police – Remembrance Day – 2022 – Francine Pirie – Holding picture – Daughter of Clarence Pirie – killed 13 Oct 1960
Great effort from Young Police and Supt. Paul Condon, Goulburn
Mrs Frances Josephine PIRIE sadly passed away last night ( Friday 12 October 2019 ) aged 94 years – 5 days shy of her 95th birthday.
Wife of Senior Constable Clarence Roy PIRIE of the Capertee Police.
Almost 59 years to the day, Frances and Clarey are together again.
Knew Clarie well when I was at Cowra and Clarie was LUK at Young, I was transferred on the PSB at Lithgow and Clarie was transferred to Capertee so I used to see a lot him as the Highway Patrol done daily runs to Capertee.
I took the phone call at Lithgow from a chap from Cullen Bullen to say Clarie had been shot, then drove Insp. Eli Hanson and Det S/Cst Jimmy Foster to the Scene at Jew’s Creek.
Never will forget that day.
His Youngest son John was a Police Support Officer and KAC Manager at Orange.
Almost all visitors to Capertee will notice the large memorial park in the middle of the village close to the Glen Davies turnoff. This recreational area, which includes a car park, childrens’ playground and toilets, is officially named after Clarence Pirie a notable policeman who was stationed in the community during the late 1950s and early 60s. While many police have served the Capertee district well over the years Pirie deserves lasting recognition as he gave his life to protecting the community.
Senior Constable Clarence (Clarie) Roy Pirie was born in Paddington, Sydney, in 1920. During World War 2 he joined the army and served in New Guinea. After the war, in 1947, he joined the New South Wales Police Force, and from 1959 to 1960 he was the Officer-in-Charge at Capertee Police Station.
On the 13th October 1960 he was asked to look out for two male offenders who had abandoned a stolen car north of Capertee.While patrolling the area the following day, Pirie found two 14 year-olds with a vehicle at a roadside camping site at Jews Creeks south of Capertee. According to police records, these were not the suspects who had abandoned the vehicle the previous day but two escapees from the Yasmar juvenile detention centre in Haberfield, Sydney. While interviewing the youths one of them suddenly produced a stolen .22 rifle and shot the officer twice. The Senior Constable died of his wounds at the scene a short time after. The two youths were arrested the following day and were later imprisoned. Pirie was survived by his wife Frances and four young children.
The memory of Clarie Pirie as well as the many other police who have been killed in the line of duty is commemorated each year on Police Memorial Day which is held near the end of September.
INSCRIPTION: This plaque has been erected to perpetuate the memory of Senior Constable Clarence Roy PIRIE in recognition of his ultimate sacrifice when he died as a result of gunshot wounds sustained when arresting two juvenile car thieves at Jews Creek on the 13th October 1960. “to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heaven”
SYDNEY, Thursday: – Police were to-night conducting one of the largest manhunts ever in the Central Western district for two youths who are alleged to have shot dead Senior Constable Clarence Roy Pirie, 40, of Cullen Bullen.
The constable was chasing two youths on the Capertee Cullen Bullen Road early to- night.
Pirie, a father of four, was believed to have been killed with a .22 rifle.
Police from Lithgow, Bathurst, Mount Victoria, Kandos, Rylstone, Katoomba, Oberon, Orange and other centres are searching dense bush near Jews Creek.
Police from other Central Western stations and from Sydney will join the searchers to-morrow.
The searchers are heavily armed with rifles and riot guns.
Other specialised weapons will arrive from Sydney to-morrow.
At 9 a.m. to-day a stolen car was found abandoned at Cudgegong.
Two youths were seen to leave the car and police in the area were alerted.
Constable Pirie sighted two youths in a second stolen car on the Lithgow-Mudgee Road near Jew’s Creek.
Overturned
The stolen car overturned at high speed about a half mile farther on.
Two youths scrambled from the wreck and fled into the bush.
Constable Pirie followed them.
Police believe that the elder youth, realising that Pirie was following them, turned and fired the shot which fatally wounded the policeman.
LITHGOW, Tuesday:- A 14-year-old Sydney boy was remanded in Lithgow Children’s Court to-day on a charge of murdering a policeman.
He was remanded till November 1 without bail and will be detained in custody until that date.
The boy was charged with having murdered Constable Clarence Roy Pirie at Jews Creek camping reserve on October 13.
Police prosecutor Sergeant J. S. Smith said the youth charged with murder had escaped from a Sydney boys’ home on October 12 and together with another boy had stolen a car.
The car was allegedly parked at Jews Creek’ Camping reserve the next day.
When Const. Pirie approached the vehicle he was allegedly shot dead.
The Canberra Times Tuesday 7 March 1961 page 3 of 20
SYDNEY, Monday: — Christopher Lindsay, 15, went to gaol to-day for 15 years for killing a policeman last year.
Mr. Justice Else Mitchell described the fair-haired, well-dressed boy as a “young gangster.”
Lindsay, of Alice Street, Newtown, did not appear to be emotionally upset at the sentence.
He turned to court officials who led him from the dock to the cells below.
The sight of the boy being led away brought an outburst of sobbing from the public gallery.
Lindsay last week had pleaded not guilty to having murdered Constable Clarence Roy Pirie, 39, at Jews Creek Camping Reserve off the Mudgee Road near Cullen Bullen on October 13 last.
The Crown accepted Lindsay’s plea of guilty of man slaughter.
Lindsay – standing in the dock of Central Criminal Court with hands clasped in front of him – heard Mr. Justice Else Mitchell say that the deposition and Lindsay’s own signed statement left slender ground for the lesser offence.
“Before committing this crime, you had shown a refusal both in England and in this country to conform with the laws which are made for the good of society.
“From the record, it is clear that the processes of the habitation and reform which are provided by the country here have made no impact on your attitude or conduct.
“In pursuit of this anti-social conduct you twice escaped from Yasma shelter, where you were being detained awaiting trial for various charges, and on the second occasion in company with a confederate, younger than yourself, stole a rifle, food, other goods and then a motor car in which you travelled to the scene of the crime.
“When you were in fear of apprehension by a constable of the police for the theft of the car you did not hesitate to shoot him because as you said ‘You did not want him to catch you with the car.’
“Your subsequent conduct and your attempt to evade capture though perhaps natural do not appear to have been accompanied by any manifestation of c0ntrition or remorse, a fact which seems to me all the more serious in view of Dr. McGeorge’s conclusion that you are not suffering from any mental or psychiatric disorders.
“A substantial sentence appears to be necessary not only for the reasons I mentioned but as the only possible way in which you may begin to understand your obligations to society.”
SYDNEY, Friday:— The Full Supreme Court to-day dismissed a school boy’s appeal against a 15-year sentence for the manslaughter of a policeman.
The boy, Christopher Lindsay, 15, appealed against the severity of the sentence.
Mr. Justice Else-Mitchell, in Central Criminal Court, had sentenced Lindsay to 15 years gaol for the manslaughter of Constable
Clarence Roy Pirie, at Jew’s Creek, last October.
Pirie was questioning Lindsay on a car theft at the time.
Lindsay to-day conducted his own case before the Full Bench — comprising the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Evatt, Mr. justice Herron and Mr. Justice Hardie.
He handed the bench a written statement, headed —’ “No Discourtesy.”
The statement read: “I respectfully submit that His Honour, at the time of imposing the severe sentence for manslaughter, regarded the offence as tantamount to murder.
“I further most respectfully submit the crime was not premeditated.
“The whole tragedy took place in a matter of seconds.
“At no time did I intend this man’s death.
“I respectfully submit that a 14-year-old youth to be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for a crime he did not intend, is too severe.”
Mr. Justice Else-Mitchell, reported to the Full Court, that Lindsay’s offence was hardly distinguishable from murder.
However, he had felt that he was bound by the Crown’s acceptance of the manslaughter plea.
Lindsay originally had been charged with murder.
Mr. Justice Else-Mitchell said it had been submitted he should not impose a crushing sentence.
He also was mindful of the danger with a youthful offender — that the imposition of a heavy gaol sentence often could produce more harm than good.
The Full Court ruled unanimously against Lindsay’s appeal.
It added that Lindsay’s crime called for the greatest condemnation.
PERSONAL LOSS: Inspector Greg Pringle and police administration manager John Pirie have personal experience of the loss of someone close on Police Remembrance Day. Photo: JUDE KEOGH 0926police2
REPRESENTATIVES from Orange Police Station will today attend a national memorial in Canberra for Police Remembrance Day.
For Inspector Greg Pringle and Canobolas Local Area administration manager John Pirie, the day bears a special significance.
John Pirie was just coming up to his fifth birthday when his 40-year-old father Senior Constable Clarence Roy Pirie was shot at point-blank range and killed near Capertee.
It was on October 13, 1960, that Mr Pirie’s father was patrolling when he came across a stolen vehicle. He stopped the vehicle and spoke to two youths inside, but one of them pulled a gun on Snr Const Pirie and shot him.
Inspector Pringle’s experience is in contrast, but he agrees the grief that comes with losing a colleague on the job remains for many years.
“I was with highway patrol working out of Cootamundra in 1988. I had a cup of tea with a fellow officer Constable Kurt Schetor before we headed off to patrol in separate directions,” Insp Pringle said.
Ten minutes later the then Constable Pringle received a call to respond to a crash and he arrived to find his friend and colleague was in involved in a head-on crash with a truck.
“I did my best but I couldn’t revive him,” he said.
Insp Pringle said many police officers carried a burden of grief with them for colleagues who died on the job.
“In many ways it is harder to deal with your own grief,” he said.
“When you are a police officer your ‘tank’ is full of other people’s grief because that’s part of the job. But it doesn’t leave much left.”
Officers from Canobolas Local Area Command will not be marking Police Remembrance Day in Orange this year.
Instead, this year’s service will be held at Cowra which is part of the Canobolas Local Area Command.
A brother and sister came to yesterday’s National Police Remembrance Day ceremony to remember their dad who was killed in the line of duty 50 years ago.
REMEMBER THEM: Police, emergency services personnel and community members gathered in All Saints’ Cathedral yesterday to mark National Police Remembrance Day. Photo: PHILL MURRAY 092901prem
Three generations of Clarence Roy Pirie’s family came together in All Saints’ Cathedral to honour the police officer who was shot and killed by two escapees at Capertee on October 13, 1960.
At the time her father was killed MaryAnne Ford was just three years old – her brother Ron Pirie was seven. There were two more siblings Francine who was not yet two and John who was five. After the police officer’s death, their mum was left to raise the young family alone. Although MaryAnne remembers little of her dad she still treasures the plastic ‘policeman plod’ doll that he gave her before he died. It is something concrete to remember him by.
“The day I got married I left my bouquet on his grave,” she said.
Ron said although he has blocked out a lot of his memories of that sad time there are things that he does remember – like being put in the wooden slab lock up when he was naughty.
Although yesterday’s national remembrance day was to remember all police who lost their lives, for Clarence Pirie’s family it was very personal.
Apart from MaryAnne and Ron, Clarence’s granddaughters Ruth Ford and Kellyanne Howarth were at the special ceremony along with his three-month-old great grandson Jaydon.
They said the ceremony was both moving and beautiful.
“It was hard, but it was good,” Ron said with tears in his eyes.
He paused then and shook his head. “You know it never goes away.”
Slain policeman remembered
DON MAHONEY
15 Oct, 2010 08:40 AM
When Senior Constable Clarence (‘Clarrie’) Roy Pirie went to work on the morning of the October 13, 1960, he fully expected to go home to his wife Frances and their four young children at the end of the day.Sadly, 40-year-old Senior Constable Pirie lost his life that day at Jews Creek, when he was shot by one of two escapees from a juvenile detention centre.
Senior Constable Pirie’s family returned to Capertee this week to remember the events that turned their lives upside down for all time.
On Thursday morning Senior Constable Pirie’s wife Frances, with her children, grandchildren and some great-grandchildren, joined senior police including Deputy Commissioner Dave Owen, Assistant Commissioner Steve Bradshaw, Chifley Area Command Superintendent Michael Robertson, Member for Bathurst Gerard Martin, and many members of the police force at Clarrie Pirie Memorial Park in Capertee to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.
A service was conducted by Police Chaplin Mark Jenkins from the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst and was addressed by the Superintendent Robertson, Mr Martin and Detective Superintendent Jim Foster who investigated Senior Constable Pirie’s death.
“Senior Constable Pirie paid the ultimate sacrifice and was the sixth of eight police officers [in the Chifley command] to lose their life upholding the law,” Superintendent Robertson said.
“Those who follow [in the police force] serve to do his memory proud and he lives on through this park, which was named in his honour.
“The debt owed by society to Senior Constable Pirie cannot be measured and we will always ensure that he is remembered.”
Member for Bathurst Gerard Martin related how Clarrie Pirie served with the Australian Armed Forces in New Guinea during World War II and how he met his wife in military service.
“He undertook a very challenging front line career, which can be extremely dangerous,” Mr Martin said, speaking on behalf of Police Minister Michael Daley.
“His loss will always be a tragedy and compares to the recent death of trainee detective William Crews, the former Glen Innes who lost his life in the line of duty last month.”
Detective Superintendent Jim Foster told how Senior Constable Pirie had joined the police force in 1947 and served at Parramatta and Young before being transferred to Capertee in 1958.
“Those were difficult times with no two-way radios or mobile phones, but the community spirit was evident as we investigated the case,” Detective Foster said.
“The Postmaster at Cullen Bullen kept the phone lines open after the 6pm regular closing time so that we had communications.
“The only police photographer was hours away and a local chemist took the photos we needed to record evidence.
The offenders were arrested at 3am on October 14 as they were attempting to board the Mudgee Mail train at Capertee.”
Detective Superintendent Foster said Senior Constable Pirie was faithful to his duty as a police officer and earned the respect of the Capertee community and the police in the then Lithgow sub-district.
Mrs Pirie said her husband’s attention to detail in his work as a police officer was incredible.
“He knew just about every car that passed through town,” she said.
“Strange cars always attracted his attention.”
Perhaps that attention to duty led him to investigate the stolen vehicle driven by the two escapees, that he saw at Jews Creek that day 50 years ago.
Mrs Pirie, now in her 80s, said her husband’s death changed her life forever as she struggled to raise four children.
“At the time of Clarrie’s death Ron was 8, John 5, Mary Anne 3 and Francene 2,” she said.
“I received a small police pension but had to go out and work to be able to raise and educate them.
“I had to remove our personal effects from the police house at Capertee soon after Clarrie’s death and we moved to Young.”
The ceremony concluded with wreaths being laid by Mrs Pirie and family, Assistant Commissioner David Owen, Superintendent Michael Robertson and the students from Capertee Public School.
John Pirie Wall to Wall – Ride for Remembrance – 2014 I was immensely proud, felt hugely honoured and felt very humbled that the Wall to Wall riders from the Western Region led by Geoff McKecknie stopped at Capertee today. I would also like to express my gratitude to Paul Bousfield and the Capertee Community, especially the school children and those that help with providing lunch for the riders.
by Det. Supt. ( Retired ) Jim FOSTER ( R.I.P. 9 July 2019 )
( 2014 ) The offender, Christopher Lindsay ( assuming he served the full 15 years, would have been 30 years of age when released from gaol in 1975. Assuming he is still alive today, he would now be around 69 years old.
I did a cursory search for him, via Google, but it is a common name and pursued it no further.
Cal
Clarence Roy PIRIE’s Daughter, Maryanne – July 2014 in the park dedicated to her father killed 54 years earlier.
[blockquote]Stopped at my Dad’s park and had a cuppa a few days ago, often wonder how different our lives would have been if he hadn’t been killed. I will, in my elderly mother’s honor, ride the Wall to Wall ( of Remembrance ) this September.[/blockquote]
Clarence Roy PIRIE 13.10.1960 Wall Plaque, Chifley L.A.C.
Cecil Edwin SEWELL
27/10/2012
Cecil Edwin SEWELL
Late of Wycombe Rd, Yagoona, NSW
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ????
Rank: Constable
Stations: ?, Parramatta – Public Safety Bureau – Death
Service: From 3 August 1948 to 2 June 1954 = 5+ years Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Born: ? ? 1927 at Werris Creek, NSW
Died on: Wednesday 2 June 1954
Death location: Parramatta District Hospital
Age: 27
Cause: Motor Vehicle Collision – Rider – Pursuit
Event location: Woodville Rd, near Farnell St, Merrylands
Area: Zone F, Sect: Independent General K, Grave 2643
Memorial located at: ?
at the base of Cecils grave
Here are some amazing photos for you,
I have attached some photos of dad in uniform also a few of funeral procession that I found. Dad was also one of the officers who escorted the Queen on her Coronation Tour in Sydney May 1954. I think that might be the photo of him on his bike. After Sydney tour he was to escort the Queen & Duke to Canberra but his bike broke down at Liverpool. A couple of weeks later he lost his life.
Thanks again.
Ron
Cecil SEWELL
Cecil SEWELL funeral
Cecil SEWELL funeral
Cecil SEWELL funeral
Cecil SEWELL funeral
CECIL is mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
( NEED TO OBTAIN PHOTO OF TOUCH PLATE IN CANBERRA )
FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
On 1 June, 1954 Constable Sewell was riding a police solo motor cycle in Woodville Road, Merrylands.
About 4.45pm the constable became involved in the pursuit of a motor vehicle. As the pursuit neared the intersection of Farnell Street, an elderly man alighted from a bus, ran out onto the roadway and was struck by Constable Sewell’s motor cycle.
Both men sustained severe injuries and were conveyed to the Parramatta District Hospital.
The pedestrian was found to be dead on arrival and Constable Sewell died the following morning.
The constable was born in 1927 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 3 August, 1948.
At the time of his death he was stationed at Parramatta.
Alone in his patrol car, Chris Thornton had the police siren flashing as he chased a white sedan through Woy Woy.
Thornton, 35, a highway patrolman, had been in the force for 15 years. He was, his mother says, “the best driver I have ever seen”.
The reason for the chase that night in April 2002 is unknown. Both cars were seen travelling at high speed. Thornton was about 50 metres behind.
Meanwhile, Leonard Rowley, 56, an unlicensed driver, was driving to his local KFC to pick up dinner. He saw the first car flash past and judged – wrongly – that he had time to turn out in front of the patrol car. Thornton tried to avoid Rowley’s car but clipped the back, veered onto the wrong side of the road and hit a power pole.
Thornton died on the spot, which is marked by a permanent stainless-steel cross. Rowley later received a suspended two-year sentence.
“His life from the age of 12 was about helping people,” says Thornton’s mother, Freada Thornton. “He was in the surf club and he was there to rescue people and then he went into the force and he was doing the same thing.” His father, Barry Thornton, says: “He loved life. He had been in Gosford for 15 years and was so popular with the community there.”
Police pursuits are, says Barry, a necessary evil: “If they don’t catch the criminals there will be more deaths on the roads. The ones that they’re in pursuit of are the idiots that have done the wrong thing to start with.”
But pursuits have come at a cost to the NSW Police Department. Fifteen officers have died as a result of high-speed chases, beginning with the death of Constable George Boore in 1937.
Details provided by the NSW Police Association show a steady stream of fatalities involving cars and motorcycles. The full list of casualties is as follows:
More than 200 plain-clothes and uniformed police attended the funeral yesterday of Constable Cecil Sewell, 27, of the Public Safety Bureau.
Constable Sewell was fatally injured on Tuesday when his police motor cycle crashed after hitting and killing a pedestrian in Woodville Road, Merrylands.
Constable Sewell was chasing a speeding motor cyclist when he hit the pedestrian – John Thomas Nivens, 60, of Paton Street, Merrylands.
The Police Pipe Band led the funeral procession to Rookwood Cemetery after a service at the Baptist Church, Harrow Road, Auburn.
Constable Cecil Edwin SEWELL
Parramatta Police
Motor Vehicle Pursuit
2 June, 1954
Resting Place – Rookwood Cemetery, Rookwood
On 1 June, 1954 Constable Sewell was riding a police solo motor cycle in Woodville Road, Merrylands. About 4.45pm the constable became involved in the pursuit of a motor vehicle. As the pursuit neared the intersection of Farnell Street, an elderly man alighted from a bus, ran out onto the roadway and was struck by Constable Sewell’s motor cycle. Both men sustained severe injuries and were conveyed to the Parramatta District Hospital. The pedestrian was found to be dead on arrival and Constable Sewell died the following morning. The Sydney Morning Herald of 3 June, 1954 printed the following article, and funeral notices.
CONSTABLE’S DEATH FROM INJURIES IN CYCLE CHASE CRASH
Constable Cecil Sewell, 27, of the Public Safety Bureau, who knocked down and fatally injured a civilian while chasing a speeding motor cyclist on Tuesday, died yesterday from injuries he received in the accident. He will be buried at Rookwood Cemetery today with full police honours. Constable Sewell was chasing the motor cyclist along Woodville Road, Merrylands, at 70 m.p.h. about 4.45 p.m. when he struck John Thomas Nivens, 60, who had stepped from a bus. Nivens, of Patons Street, Merrylands, died later from his injuries. Constable Sewell, who was thrown from the cycle after it had skidded along the road for 60 yards, died in Parramatta Hospital at 6.30 a.m. yesterday without regaining consciousness. He suffered a fractured skull and internal injuries. Doctors said his condition was too serious to operate. He was married with two children.
FUNERAL TO-DAY
Constable Sewell’s funeral will leave for Rookwood after, a service at the Baptist Church, Harrow Road, Auburn, at 1.30 p.m. The Police Pipe Band will lead the cortege, and Public Safety Bureau motor cyclists will escort the funeral. The Superintendent of Traffic, Mr. H. E. Snowden, will represent the Commissioner of Police, Mr. C. J. Delaney. Among other police officers present will be the officer in charge of the Public Safety Bureau, Inspector J. J. Agnew, and the officer in charge of Parramatta Division, Inspector C. S. Jardine. Police are making a wide search for the speeding motor cyclist, whom they blame for the deaths of Nivens and Constable Sewell. A senior police officer said yesterday that the cyclist, if arrested, faced charges of manslaughter.
“FINE OFFICER”.
Mr. Snowden said last night: “Constable Sewell was an outstanding young policeman with a particularly fine character. He was a policeman the public and the Police Force could ill afford to lose. His workmates in the Public Safety Bureau are stunned by his death.” Mr. Snowden said that police would not treat reckless and thoughtless motorists and drunken drivers and speedsters with “kid glove methods”. “We are determined to exert every means at our disposal to make the roads safe for everybody,” he said.
SEWELL – Masonic Lodge Auburn No 404 U G L of N S W, The Officers and Members of the above Lodge are fraternally Invited to attend the Funeral of their late esteemed Brother C E SEWELL. For particulars see family notice. Regalia.”
The constable was born in 1927 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 3 August, 1948. At the time of his death he was stationed at Parramatta. He is listed in the official New South Wales Police Honour Roll.
A police constable who killed a man when chasing a speeding motor cyclist last night, died at 6.30 am today. Police are now making an intensive search for the speedster who caused two deaths.
Dead as a result of the chase are Constable Cecil Sewell, 27, married with two children and John Thomas Nivens, 60, of Paton St., Merrylands.
At 4.45 pm yesterday Constable Sewell was chasing a motor cyclist along Woodville Rd., Merrylands, at about 70 mph ( 180kph ).
Siren’s scream
His cycle siren was screaming but Nivens stepped out on to the road from behind a bus. The police bike crashed into Nivens, who was killed instantly.
With Nivens draped across the handlebars, the motor cycle skidded for 60 yards before Nivens and Constable Sewell were catapulted from it.
Sewell, of Wycombe Rd., Yagoona, and attached to Parramatta traffic squad, was rushed to hospital. He was admitted with a fractured skull and facial injuries. Sewell was too badly hurt for doctors to operate on him and he died without regaining consciousness.
At present there is no clue as to the identity of the cyclist responsible for the crash.
Constable Sewell was a member of Yagoona Baptist Church. His two children are ; boys — Ron, 5, and Noel, 2.
Mrs. Sewell. 25, was with her parents in Lidcombe during the night.
Constable Sewell’s father, Mr. J. Sewell, of Alice St., Auburn, said today his son had been in the police force for six years.
“No gloves”
Traffic Supt. H. Snowden said, “Our drive throughout the State for road safety is going to be enforced with the gloves off. “Reckless motorists and road users who have no regard for the rights of other road users can expect no mercy. “Since police squads have been operating in plain-clothes and ordinary cars, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of traffic breaches.”
( Class # 001 was in March 1947 – so Eric pre dates that. )
Regd. # 2382
Rank: Commenced Training on ? ? ?
Probationary Constable – appointed Wednesday 16 March 1927
Constable 1st Class – appointed 23 April 1938
Constable 1st Class – posthumously promoted to Sergeant 3rd Class
Stations: No. 4 Division from 14 June 1927,
The Rocks in 1928, then Gundagai, Narrandera & other rural stations.
Moruya 1938 then Blayney from 4 January 1945
Service: From 16 March 1927 to 12 January 1945 = 18 years Service
Awards: * George Cross ( GC ) awarded, Granted 20 October 1946 – posthumously
also the George Lewis Trophy.
Bravery Commendation re arrest at Batemans Bay in 1940.
Highly Commended and awarded six months seniority for Conspicuous Bravery for the rescue of survivors, at sea, off Moruya on the 3 August 1942, after a fishing trawler had been attacked by a Japanese submarine. Also received a Certificate of Merit from Royal Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society of NSW.
Born: Sunday 14 October 1906 at Tenterfield
Died: Friday 12 January 1945
Age: 38 years, 2 months, 29 days old
Cause: Shot – Murdered
Event location: Outside of Exchange Hotel, Adelaide St, Blayney, NSW
Funeraldate: Monday 15 January 1945
Funerallocation: Buried in Rookwood Cemetery, Lidcombe, NSW
Eric George BAILEY and his son – John “Jack” BAILEY ( NSWPF # 6293 )
ERIC IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
Touch plate at National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
Memorial location: Below plaque is located at the location of the murder.
On 4 January 1945, Constable 1st Class Bailey commenced duty at Blayney Police Station. On his 8th day at that station, he was dead.
On a hot summer evening, eight days later, while on duty in Adelaide Street, he was informed that a drinker at the Exchange Hotel was displaying a revolver.
Shortly after 8pm on 12 January 1945, Constable 1st Class Bailey spoke to a man, Cyril Norman, who was dressed in an American Naval Uniform outside the Exchange Hotel, Blayney. The constable told the man that he intended to search him and his belongings regarding his alleged possession of a revolver. The man suddenly produced the revolver and shot Constable Bailey in the stomach. The constable then took hold of the offender and during the ensuing struggle two more shots were fired and the offender was wounded in the wrist. Three railway employees quickly came to the constable’s aid and the offender was handcuffed and detained until the arrival of Constable Grady. Bailey told Grady: ” He shot me through the back. Don’t let him get away …I had a go. I didn’t squib it “.
The wound suffered by Constable Bailey proved to be severe and he died on admission to the Orange Base Hospital with his wife by his side. He had in fact arrested his own murderer.
Allegations were later made suggesting that the offender was a contract killer sent to murder another local policeman, Constable Stan Grady, who had been enthusiastically investigating sly grog sellers and SP bookies in the area. The offender was said to have inadvertently shot Constable Bailey, whom he mistook for Grady, who was off duty at the time. When shot, Constable Bailey was in mounted police uniform, and until that day Stan Grady had been the onlymounted constable in Blayney, thus the offender’s error. The offender, well-known Sydney criminal Cyril Norman – alias Thomas Couldrey – was convicted and sentenced to death.
Norman was charged with the murder of Bailey and that of Maurice Hannigan, a Sydney shopkeeper from whom he had stolen guns and ammunition. Although he was convicted, the death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Bailey was posthumously awarded the George Cross, instituted in 1940 by King George VI and intended primarily for civilians, which recognized ‘acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger’.
The first Australian policeman to be so honoured, he was also posthumouslypromoted sergeant 3rd class and awarded the George Lewis trophy in 1945 for the most courageous act by a policeman.
Bailey was accorded an official police funeral in Sydney and was buried in the Anglican section of Rookwood cemetery. His daughter and son John, who was to join the New South Wales police at the age of 16, also survived him.
( John ‘Jack’ George BAILEY, NSW Police Cadet # 0613, Regd. # 6293 )
28 May 2020
Maz HerrmannHis son John “Jack” Bailey an ex cadet was our boss at Albury during the 80s and the day he retired I spoke to him that evening and said “Jack what are you fkn doing at work; today is your last day”? He said “I’m just tidying up some things before I go.
I knew Jack when he was a Snr Sgt at Wollongong and I was the Inspectors Clerk in 1977-1980.
I joined the cops the following year 1981 – then I had to call him Sir!
He was definitely an old school copper – enough said.
announced the presentation of Sergeant Bailey’s George Cross by Sir William McKell.
GEORGE CROSS AWARD – INVESTITURE BY MR. McKELL.
Mrs. F. M. Bailey, of Cleveland Street, Moore Park, widow of Police Sgt. Eric G. Bailey, yesterday received the George Cross awarded to her husband for holding a man who had fatally wounded him until assistance arrived, at Blayney in January, 1945. The decoration was made at an investiture held by the Governor General, Mr. McKell, at Government House.
Sergeant Bailey was born in 1906 and joined the New South Wales Police Force in 1927. At the time of his death he was stationed at Blayney. He was posthumously promoted to Sergeant 3rd Class ( Although his grave states Sgt 2/c ) and awarded the George Cross and the George Lewis Trophy.
* Eric BAILEY is the ONLY Australian Police Officer to be awarded the Imperial Honour, namely the George Cross Medal.
Eric George Bailey (1906-1945), policeman, was born on 14 October 1906 at Tenterfield, New South Wales, ninth child of Arthur Peter Bailey, compositor, and his wife Jane, née Bush, both native-born. Eric worked as a postal assistant before joining the New South Wales Police Force on 16 March 1927. After training, he was transferred to Sydney’s No.4 Division on 14 June, and sent to The Rock in 1928; he then served at Gundagai, Narrandera and other rural stations. Bailey was confirmed an ordinary constable on 16 March 1928. He married Florence May O’Connor at Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Waterloo, on 24 November that year.
Promoted constable 1st class on 23 April 1938, Bailey was next stationed at Moruya on the south coast. In 1940 he arrested a criminal at Batemans Bay and was commended for bravery, cool-headedness and devotion to duty. Learning that a fishing trawler had been attacked by a Japanese submarine off Moruya on 3 August 1942, he and Sergeant Horace Miller set out at night in a pleasure launch in heavy seas to assist with the rescue of the survivors. Bailey was highly commended and awarded six months seniority for conspicuous bravery; he also received a certificate of merit from the Royal Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society of New South Wales.
On 4 January 1945 Bailey was transferred to Blayney, south-west of Bathurst. On a hot summer evening eight days later, while on duty in Adelaide Street, he was informed that a drinker at the Exchange Hotel was displaying a revolver. When Bailey questioned the offender, Cyril Norman, and declared that he would search his room, Norman drew a revolver and shot him. In the ensuing struggle two more shots were fired, but Bailey managed to handcuff Norman and restrain him until Constable Grady arrived. Bailey told Grady: ‘He shot me through the back. Don’t let him get away . . . I had a go. I didn’t squib it’. Fatally wounded by the first shot, Bailey died hours later on 12 January 1945 in Orange Base Hospital, his wife at his side.
Norman was charged with the murder and that of Maurice Hannigan, a Sydney shopkeeper from whom he had stolen guns and ammunition. Although he was convicted, the death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Bailey was posthumously awarded the George Cross, instituted in 1940 by King George VI and intended primarily for civilians, which recognized ‘acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger’. The first Australian policeman to be so honoured, he was also posthumously promoted sergeant 3rd class and awarded the George Lewis trophy in 1945 for the most courageous act by a policeman. Bailey was accorded an official police funeral in Sydney and was buried in the Anglican section of Rookwood cemetery. His daughter and son John, who was to join the New South Wales police at the age of 16, also survived him.
Select Bibliography
I. Bisset, The George Cross (Lond, 1961)
L. Wigmore (ed), They Dared Mightily (Canb, 1963)
Police News (Sydney), Feb 1945, p 7, Sept 1945, p 9, Oct 1947, p 44
Sydney Morning Herald, 14, 20 Jan, 8, 22 Feb, 5 Aug 1945, 30 Oct 1946, 11 Sept 1947
Sun (Sydney), 17 Jan 1979
service records of E. G. Bailey (police registry, New South Wales Police Dept, Sydney).
Citation details
Christa Ludlow, ‘Bailey, Eric George (1906–1945)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bailey-eric-george-9403/text16527, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 6 January 2015.
Inquiries into the murder of Maurice Joseph Hannigan (68), who was battered to death in a King-street shop last week, have extended to a town in western NSW.
Detectives from the CIB are in the town, and sensational developments are expected.
New evidence was obtained following a gun duel between Stephen Henry Cunningham, who committed suicide after shooting two detectives at Redfern on Saturday.
Detectives left for the country on Sunday, and it is likely that their inquiries will solve more than one recent major crime.
Wounded Detectives
Condition of Sergeant V. Hughes, one of the wounded detectives, continues to improve daily, and doctors are hopeful now that he will recover. Detective-Sergeant V. Turner, the other shooting victim, is improving rapidly.
Commissioner of Police ( Mr. W J. MacKay ) yesterday promoted both sergeants, and also promoted posthumously Constable Eric George Bailey, who was fatally shot at Blayney on Friday night.
( For the purposes of this website ‘Q’ represents those Police joining between 1 March 1862 ( commencement of NSWPF ) – 23 February 1915 ( Commencement of NSWPF current numbering system )
Rank: Constable – appointed 27 September 1878
Constable 1st Class- appointed February 1884
Stations: Bathurst, Coonamble – Death
Service: From 27 September 1878 to 13 March 1885 = 6.5 years
Awards: ?
Born: 18 August 1856 in Uig, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland
( This cemetery no longer exists and was turned into a Park around 1970 and the headstones removed. See *below )
JOHN IS Mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
John MITCHELL – National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra – 2015
Early in the morning of 12 March, 1885 two prisoners in the lockup at Coonamble overpowered a warder by the name of Michael Langley who had gone into their cell to place leg irons on a third prisoner by the name of Courtney.
He was knocked to the floor and his revolver taken from him.
Hearing the scuffle, Constable Mitchell, acting Gaoler at the time, arose from his bed and ran to the cells to assist.
One of the prisoners, a man named Angel, warned the constable not to come into the cell however Mitchell ignored this and lunged at the prisoner. As he did so he was shot in the chest. He died about 7am the following day.
In a dying deposition given to the Coonamble Police Magistrate on 12 March, Constable Mitchell said, ‘I am acting Gaoler at Coonamble gaol; at about a quarter past six this morning the 12th March inst., I opened the door of the guard room Coonamble Gaol; the Warder just then came into the cell where the convicted prisoners Angel, Thurston, and Courtney were confined; I heard a noise in the cell as if a man was being strangled; I came in and the warder was lying down on the cell floor; Angel was strangling him and Thurston was taking the revolver from him; I made a rush and Courtney knocked me over; Angel then got the revolver and both he and Thurston rushed at the cell door; Angel said “Keep back or I’ll shoot you”; I made a rush to try and get the revolver from Angel when he shot me; they then shut the warder and myself together with Courtney, who did not get away owing to Warder Langley’s threatening to kill him if he moved in the cell and rushed away. “
Both Angel and Thurston managed to escape, however both were later shot to death by police.
James Alfred Courtney, the third prisoner, was later found not guilty of involvement in the murder as he had been found by other police after the murder and escape, still in the cell attempting to assist Constable Mitchell by bathing his wound with cold tea (there was no water in the cell). A recommendation was then made to have his previous sentence reduced.
The constable was born in 1855 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 27 September, 1878. At the time of his death he was stationed at Coonamble, and had previously been stationed at Bathurst.
The original general cemetery in Coonamble was in operation from 1869 to 1912 when it was deemed to be full and closed to further burials. Many years later (probably around 1970), Council removed the headstones and converted the area into a park.
In the preface to her book, “Coonamble Memorial Wall Pioneer Profiles”, local historian Joan McKenzie explains: “When the old cemetery at the end of Warrena Street was cleared about thirty years ago, a number of headstones were retained and embedded on and around a large mound of earth. In 1993, a Federal Government grant enabled the Shire Council to move those headstones to the cemetery in West Coonamble, which had been established circa 1902. ”
Appropriately, the site chosen by Council to devote to the display of those old stones adjoined the historically significant Sexton’s Hut, erected in 1912. The display was organised into three sections: a covered double-sided memorial wall, a group of sandstone monuments and a group of marble monuments. The work was completed to a high standard and dedicated on 12 September 1993. A list of 611 names of persons whose deaths were registered at Coonamble during the period that the old cemetery was in operation, and known or presumed to have been buried at the old site, was inscribed and mounted on the side of the Sexton’s Hut.
Statue of Constable Mitchell who was shot while trying to prevent the escape from gaol of bushrangers Angel and Thurston in 1885. Front Inscription Dedicated to the memory of Constable First Class John Mitchell. Born Scotland 1856. NSW Police Service 27.9.1878 to 13.3.1885. Shot whilst on duty near this site on 12.3.1885 during the escape from Coonamble lock-up by prisoners, Thomas Angel (alias Hobson) and William White (alias Thurston). Constable Mitchell died from his wounds 13.3.1885 and was laid to rest in the old Coonamble Cemetery. Erected in his honour by the police and citizens of Coonamble and District 12.3.1996. Actual Monument Dedication Date: Tuesday 12th March, 1996 GPS of monument: Lat: -30.952500 Long: 148.388056 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. Unveiled by his great grandson.
John Mitchell – Photo Obelisk erected by the Government on the grave of John Mitchell in the old Coonamble Cemetery – no longer in existence.
Bathurst Free Press & Mining Journal ( NSW ) Friday 13 March 1885 page 2 of 4
FRIGHTFUL TRAGEDY AT COONAMBLE.
– * –
A CONSTABLE SHOT.
ESCAPE OF PRISONERS.
( BY TELEGRAPH )
[ FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. ]
Coonamble, Friday.
A shocking tragedy occurred at Coonamble gaol yesterday morning, in a cell where a prisoner named Angel, who had been sentenced to four years for cattle stealing, another prisoner named Courtney, and a prisoner named Thurstone, who had served a sentence at Berrima gaol, were confined.
When the turnkey ( Warder Langley ) entered to leg iron Courtney and Angel, one of the prisoners pounced upon him, and knocked him down and took his revolver. The turnkey called aloud, when Mitchell, a constable, and formerly of Bathurst, hearing the scuffle, rushed out of bed. The prisoner Angel, who had the revolver, told Mitchell not to dare to come in, Mitchell, however, advanced, and Angel fired. The bullet entered Mitchell’s breast just below the heart, and went right through his body and out at the back. Mitchell at once fell, and the three prisoners made their escape with the revolver.
Five miles from town they pulled a boy off his horse, and the escapees got on to the horse, and galloped into the bush. They have been tracked, and hopes are entertained that they will be soon captured. They are armed with revolvers taken from the gaolers.
The tragic affair has cast quite a gloom over the town.
The warder, Mitchell, is still lingering, but no hopes are held out of his recover.
Later.
On the prisoners getting to the gaol yard, they cut Thurstone‘s irons, leaving the sockets on the legs, and crossed the river at the upper end of the scrub, near the old engine, McMahon’s station. The Police Magistrate and trackers on on their tracks.
Constable Mitchell died at 7 am. to-day. Warder Langley is much prostrated, and quite ill from the effects of the encounter, and will not be able to resume his duties for a time.
The South Australian Advertiser Monday 16 March 1885 page 5 of 8
A good deal of excitement prevails at Coonamble consequent upon the death of Mitchell, the gaolor (sic) of the local prison, from the effects of a wound caused by his being shot at by a prisoner named Angel, who recently escaped from gaol with another prisoner named Thurston.
The men Angel and Thurston, who escaped into the bush, have not yet been tracked, although search parties are in pursuit.
The Government has offered £200 reward for their capture.
The Brisbane Courier Tuesday 17 March 1885 page 6 of 8
The troopers sent out in search of the escaped prisoners Angel and Thurstone, who are charged with the murder of gaoler Mitchell at Coonamble, returned last night without finding any trace of the criminals.
Bathurst Free Press & Mining Journal Tuesday 17 March 1885 page 3 of 4
THE TRAGEDY IN COONAMBLE GAOL.
The following, which is a more detailed account of the shooting of the gaoler, Constable Mitchell, and the escape of two prisoners from the Coonamble gaol, is abridged from the Coonamble Independent : —
After the trial of the prisoner Thomas Angel, at the Quarter Sessions, he, together with two other convicted men, Thurston and Courtney, was locked up for the night in a cell in the gaol.
Thurston had riveted irons on, whilst Angel, who it was surmised was shamming illness, and Courtney, were unfettered.
On the following morning, Mitchell gave orders to the warder to leg-iron Courtney, who was told off to act as cook. The warder was in the act of stooping down to leg-iron Courtney when the three prisoners set upon him, got him down, and endeavoured to strangle him. They seized his revolver in the struggle, leaving him powerless and half stunned. Mitchell jumped into the cell to assist the warder, and it is surmised, was tripped up by Courtney. Mitchell regained his feet and Angel was standing at the cell door with the revolver in his hand, Thurston having gone outside, and Courtney being on the inside.
Angel told the warder that if he (the latter) attempted to stir he would blow his brains out. At this juncture Mitchell jumped from Courtney towards Angel, when the latter deliberately shot at Mitchell. The gaoler fell from the effects of the shot, leaving the warder disabled, and Courtney in the cell. The door of the cell was thereupon bolted by either Angel or Thurston on the outside.
Thurston rushed down the passage with a tomahawk in his hand, and Angel went into the guard room. Angel ran quickly to a Mrs. Canham who was present, caught hold of her by the hand, and wanted to lock her up in a cell. She refused to go, when Angel held the revolver to her forehead. After some parleying, Angel let Mrs. Canham’s hand go, and the two men went through the front door.
Drs. Cortis and Tressider, were quickly in attendance, and upon examination it was found that poor Mitchell was shot in the right breast, the bullet having passed clean through his body, coming out at the lower portion of his back.
From the first the case was pronounced hopeless and the deepest sympathy was evinced for the unfortunate gaoler, his wife, and family.
Poor Mitchell, after lingering until Friday morning, succumbed to the effects of the bullet wound, and his untimely end is universally and deeply regretted. He was a thoroughly efficient officer, esteemed at headquarters, and deservedly respected in Coonamble.
He leaves a wife and children totally unprovided for.
Launceston Examiner ( Tasmania ) Tuesday 24 March 1885 page 2 of 4
A verdict of wilful murder has been returned against the escaped prisoner Angel and his companion Thurston, also against another prisoner who was in the cell at Coonamble Gaol when Warder Mitchell was shot.
The two men have not as yet been re-captured, and the Government have offered £200 reward.
Bathurst Free Press & Mining Journal ( NSW ) Wednesday 25 March 1885 page 2 of 8
MURDER OF ACTING-GAOLER MITCHELL —
The following notice appears in Friday’s Gazette:-
Whereas on the morning of the 12th instant, two prisoners, named William White, alias Thurston and Thomas Angel Hobson, escaped from the Coonamble Gaol ; and whereas one of the said offenders, previous to escape, fired at and mortally wounded Constable John Mitchell, the Acting-Gaoler, who has since died; and whereas at a Coroner’s inquest held upon the body of the said John Mitchell, a verdict of wilful murder was returned against the said offenders, William White, alias Thurston and Thomas Angel alias Hobson, and James Alfred Courteney, who was confined in the same cell with the two prisoners who escaped.
Notice is hereby given that a reward of £200 will be paid by Government for such information as shall lead to the apprehension of each of the said offenders, William White alias Thurston and Thomas Angel alias Hobson.
Description of Offenders. —
White alias Thurston, is 29 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches high, medium build, brown hair and eyes ; a native of New South Wales ; a drover.
Angel alias Hobson, is 27 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches high, dark, beard and whiskers, good looking.
The Goulburn Evening Penny Post Thursday 26 March 1885 page 2 of 6
The Coonamble Outrage.
The Dubbo Despatch regrets to say that the men Angel and Thurston, who escaped from Coonamble gaol, and who have been declared by the Coroner’s jury guilty of the murder of Warder Mitchell, are still at large.
Some information regarding their movements has been gathered by Senior-constable Cusack, of Gilgandra.
On Monday he reached a hut in the warrumbungles, and discovered that the two had been there on the previous Saturday night, Thurston only then got the leg-irons off. He had out the connecting chain, and tied up along each leg the piece of chain. It was not, however, till he reached the hut that he managed to get the rivetted rings off his legs, which were in a fearful condition. They were very much swollen.
Thurston was scarcely able to walk, and several times he had to be carried on his companion’s back. Cusack and other troopers are now hunting the pair in the mountains.
The Government has offered a reward of £200 each for the apprehension of Angel and Thurston.
The following is their description: White, alias Thurston, is 20 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches high, medium build, brown hair and eyes, a native of New South Wales, a drover;
Angel, alias Hobson, is 27 years of age, 5 feet inches high, dark beard and whiskers, good looking.
Courtney, who was also included in the coronial jury’s verdict of murder, arrived at Dubbo on Wednesday, and is now in gaol.
Evening News ( Sydney ) Friday 27 March 1885 page 3 of 8
COWRA. March 25.
The Victim of a Ruffian.— The deepest regret and sympathy were evinced here when it became known that Constable Mitchell, formerly lock-up keeper of this town, had been shot dead by one of the prisoners in the gaol at Coonamble, where he was acting gaoler at the time of his melancholy death.
The deceased leaves a wife — very ill at the time of the occurrence — and two little children.
All the particulars of the case are by this time very well known to our readers, so that we will not state them here.
After the perpetration of the cowardly deed, the murderer and one of his accomplices escaped from the gaol, and have since eluded all attempts at capture. A large reward has been offered for their capture.
Bathurst Free Press & Mining Journal Saturday 28 March 1885 page 2 of 12
THE COONAMBLE TRAGEDY.
The following is the principal evidence taken at the inquest on the body of Acting-Gaoler Mitchell, who was shot by the escaped prisoner Angel: —
Michael Langby states, I am warder at the Coonamble Gaol ; I remember the morning of the 12th inst. Thursday ; about a quarter past six o’clock I knocked at the outer gaol door ; the door was opened by the Acting-Gaoler ; received the keys of the cells from him ; put my revolver on me as usual before I entered the cells ; unlocked the door opened it and went in ; Mitchell was then in the passage but had no arms on him; I knelt down to put the leg irons on the prisoner Courteny; the prisoners knocked me down ; the three prisoners in the cell were Angel, Thurston and Courteny ; I could not see who knocked me down because I was kneeling ; they must have stunned me for I don’t recollect hardly what happened for a few minutes after ; when I came to my senses again I was lying on my back; Angel was at the door of the cell with my revolver in his hand, he pointed the revolver at me and said, ‘ I’ll shoot you dead if you stir ;’ with that the gaoler jumped from the corner of the cell to the door ; Mitchell was then in the cell ; saw the shot fired by the prisoner Angel, it took effect on the gaoler Mitchell in the breast; Mitchell stated in the presence of Courtney that Courteny tripped him up before the shot was fired ; Mitchell fell after receiving the shot ; I heard the prisoners Angel and Thurston outside the cell door for a few minutes ; after the prisoner Courteny made some attempt to move near the door ; I was then standing on my feet as Mitchell received the shot ; the other prisoners did not attempt to rescue Courtney, but left him behind ; when Mitchell was shot Angel, Mitchell, Courtney and I were present ; Thurston had gone out into the passage ; when the prisoner Angel went out, he bolted the door and left Mitchell, Courtney and I in the cell ; Mitchell got up once after he was shot and then fell again ; Courtney wouldn’t let me put the leg irons on ; afterwards put on one of the leg irons, and I believe Constable Newby put the other on; saw the wound in Mitchell‘s breast it was such a one as would be made by a bullet.
By a Juror: It might be a quarter of an hour or 20 minutes from the time the cell door was closed upon me before the police came; can’t say which of the three prisoners took the revolver from me; had my senses when the shot was fired ; I saw Angeldeliver the shot ; knew the prisoners were dangerous characters; my orders are when I have committed men in charge to put on my side-arms or revolver ; when I first saw Mitchell at the cell he was standing behind the door, in the passage ; I think when Mitchell sprang from the cell he was engaged with Courtney ; I don’t think I did sing out for Mitchell ; I might have done so when I was stunned ; I don’t remember doing so.
James Alfred Courtney, a confinee in Coonamble gaol, deposed to Langley‘s coming into the cell to leg-iron him ; somebody gave Langley a shove behind, and knocked him and me over ; it must have been either Angel or Thurston; I was getting up, when Angel hit me in the eye and knocked me down ; I went to get up again when Langley caught me by the throat and Mr. Mitchell rushed into the cell ; he knocked against me, and sent me flying into the corner of the cell ; saw Angel at the door pointing a revolver at Langley ; Mitchell left me and made a rush at Angel, when the latter fired the revolver ; the shot struck Mitchell in the right breast; Mitchell staggered, and I caught him. ( After some words as to the putting on of the leg-irons, witness continued ) : I went and sat down alongside Mitchell; Mitchell said, ” Courtney, get me some water, for God’s sake ;” afterwards bathed Mitchell‘s head with some tea, and then searched and found where he had been wounded ; Mitchell said ” My God, Courtney, I’m dying ;” the sergeant then came to the cell door, walked in, and asked what was the matter, and Mitchell said ” I’m shot;” Mr. Boyd asked who shot him, and Mitchell replied ” Angel;”. the other prisoners did not call out after them — they did not speak to me that I know of ; Mr. Mitchell did not say anything to me when he put his hands on me ; he may have said to me ” You vagabond, you’re as bad as any of them ;” I don’t recollect him saying so ; Mr. Mitchell made no remark about the blood on my neck ; I can’t swear he never mentioned anything about throttling me ; am positive Angel struck me in the face ; I did not know the prisoners were going; I was not assisting or abetting in any way in the escape.
By a Juror : The night before the other prisoners were not sleeping together; did not hear any conversation in the night ; I went to sleep; previous to going to sleep heard Thurston say, ” The mountains would be a good place, or the gulf;” heard Thurston say “Oh, curse these irons.”
By the Coroner: the prisoners did not take me into their confidence at all ; they were strangers to me ; did not assist in taking, nor did I see who took the revolver from Langley ; did not intentionally trip Mitchell; the Gaoler and I were good friends ; he was as good as a father to me ; never struck a blow at Mitchell in anyway ; never heard prisoners planning to escape ; the only thing I heard was Thurston saying one day, ” If he goes to sleep we can get away out of the carriage.”
Harry Tressider, legally qualified practitioner residing in Coonamble, deposed having made a post mortem examination of the body of deceased and as to the cause of death by the bullet wound. ‘The death of Mitchell was consequent upon a gunshot injury.
James Newby, Constable of the Police deposed : I remember Thursday, the 12th inst., on the morning of that day when opening the cell door, heard a great row inside and asked what was up. Saw prisoner Courtney standing in the middle of the floor unironed. Afterwards completed putting on the irons in consequence of Langley‘s being much exhausted; whilst I was putting on the irons Constable Mitchellcrawled over to me on his hands and knees and took hold of me by the hand, I said, ” Who shot you;” the prisoner Courtney said, “It was a cruel b — — y thing of Angel to shoot him like that,”Mitchell said ” You vagabond, you’re as bad as any of them you held the old man’s feet;”Mitchell said, ” When I came in the door was open, they had the old man down and Thurston trying to strangle him, Angel was trying to get the revolver from him, I rushed and struck at Thurston, and when I did this man knocked me down (meaning prisoner Courtney) ; he said we both fell and got our holts in the corner and I throttled him; the next thing I heard, was somebody saying if you move I’ll shoot you; on looking up I saw Tom Angel with the revolver pointing, I jumped up and rushed at him and as I rushed at him I was shot.
Prisoner Courtney was sitting down 3 or 5 feet from me during the conversation which lasted 2 or 3 minutes ; I looked at Courtney‘s neck to see if he had been throttled and I saw three distinct marks as if done by finger nails on his neck and I said, ” You did throttle the wretch. “ I then left and went to the door and saw Warder McGuier ; Prisoner never tried to contradict Mitchell‘s statement about knocking him down.
The dying declaration of John Mitchell, taken before the P.M. Coonamble, 12th March instant. ‘I am acting Gaoler at Coonamble gaol; at about a quarter past six this morning the 12th March inst., I opened the door of the guard room Coonamble Gaol ; the Warder just then came into the cell where the convicted prisoners Angel, Thurston, and Courtney were confined ; I heard a noise in the cell as if a man was being strangled ; I came in and the warder was lying down on the cell floor ; Angel was strangling him and Thurston was taking the revolver from him ; I made a rush and Courtny knocked me over; Angel then got the revolver and both he and Thurston rushed at the cell door; Angel said ” Keep back or I’ll shoot you ;” I made a rush to try and get the revolver from Angel when he shot me; they then shut the warder and myself together with Courtney, who did not get away owing to Warder Langley’s threatening to kill him if he moved in the cell and rushed away. “ After the Coroner’s address to the jury, explaining the law as applicable to the case, a verdict was returned by the jury as follows : ‘ That the deceased John Mitchell came to his death on Friday, the 13th inst., from the effects of a gun shot wound inflicted on him by Thomas Angel, and we also find that William Thurston and James Alfred Courtney were accomplices in the act, and therefore find a verdict of wilful murder against the three of them.’
The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 31 March 1885 page 7 of 12
A man was arrested at Granville last evening by Constables Harrison and Wilson on suspicion of being Angel, the Coonamble gaol escapee, who shot Warder Mitchell on the 12th instant. The man corresponds in almost every particular with the description given of Angel. He is very reticent, however, and, in reply to the questions of the police, he merely slated that he was a shearer. He will be brought up before the local Bench to-morrow.
The South Australian Advertiser dated 13 April, 1885 described the shooting and capture of the murderers.
CAPTURE AND DEATH OF THE COONAMBLE MURDERERS. Sydney, April 13.
The Coonamble murderers were captured on Friday night by Sergeant Burns and Constable McKinley at Mr. Stewart’s store, Green’s Swamp. On the arrival of the police at the door of the store Thurston immediately shot Stewart dead. Constable McKinley and Sergeant Burns then fired simultaneously, and killed Thurston and severely wounded Angel, who has since been removed to the Gulgong lockup. Medical assistance was immediately obtained. Inquests will be held to-morrow. Later intelligence has just been received stating that the prisoner Angel died on Sunday morning in gaol. Both prisoners were fully identified. The tragedy caused great excitement.
Our Sydney correspondent telegraphed last night : –Mrs. Georgina Mitchell, matron of the Central Police Station, Sydney, died suddenly on Monday night. She was a recognised fingerprint authority, and had a remarkable memory for prints. Her husband, Constable John Mitchell, was shot dead by two prisoners, Angel and White, when they were escaping from “Coonamble Gaol in 1885.”
Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser (NSW : 1886 – 1942),
Friday 11 April 1919, page 4
Tragic Memories Recalled.
DEATH OF MRS. MITCHELL.
The sudden collapse and death last Monday night of Mrs. Georgina Mitchell, matron at the Central Police Station, while she was collecting a parcel at the parcels office on the Central Railway Station, removes an interesting figure in the gaol history of New South Wales. Most of Mrs. Mitchell‘s services was in the position of matron at the old Water Police Station, in Phillip Street, which she occupied for a great number of years.
She was a recognised fingerprint authority, and always assisted the police in the taking of the prints of criminals convicted at the Water Police Court.
It is said that her memory for prints was remarkable.
When the Water Court was abandoned, Matron Mitchell was transferred to the Central Station.
Mrs. Mitchell‘s husband was Constable John Mitchell, acting gaoler at Coonamble lock-up, whose murder in 1885 was a very tragic incident in a sensational escape from the cells made by two notorious criminals, Angel and White.
This affair involved two cold blooded murders.
Mitchell was called into the cell in which the two prisoners were confined on the pretext that one of them was ill. The constable was bending over the man, who was shamming sickness, when the other knocked him down, and, snatching his revolver from his belt, shot him dead. The ruffians then secured the keys of the gaol, and, having let themselves out, took to the bush.
When they reached a store near Mudgee, which they intended to stick up, the men were not a little surprised to find the police awaiting their arrival, and, thinking that the storekeeper had given the warning, they shot him dead too. The police opened fire on the murderers, one of whom was despatched with a bullet, while the other was captured by Senior Sergeant Day, who afterwards became Inspector-General of Police, after he was wounded. He died the following day. Mrs. Mitchell was 58 years old. One of her sons is a member of the postal detective staff at the G.P.O., and another is Ald. J. G. A. Mitchell, of Coraki, G.M. of the North Coast District M.U., I.O.O.F., to whom the sympathy of many friends will go out in his bereavement.
After migrating to Australia some time before about 1876, John Mitchell spent the first few months in Queensland before moving to New South Wales where he spent the remaining years of his life.
He worked as a coachman before joining the Foot Police on 27 September 1878. When 25 years old he married Georgina Diehm (24) at Lidsdale, Wallerawang. John Mitchell was promoted to Constable First Class on February 1884. He was transferred to Coonamble to replace the lockup keeper who had died from heatstroke on 7 January. On 12 March 1885 he was shot when trying to prevent the escape from gaol of bushrangers Angel and Thurston. He died the next day. With his wife and two children – three year old John George Alexander and six month old William James McRae – John Mitchell had been living in the residential portion of the building which had been erected in Aberford Street in 1877 as the Court House/Watch House. At that time and until 1886, it served as the Police Station as well as lockup keeper’s residence attached to the gaol.
A statue of John Mitchell, standing on a pedestal in front of the Police Station in Aberford Street, Coonamble, was unveiled by his great grandson on 12 March 1996. Police and civic dignitaries, Coonamble citizens and Mitchell family descendants were present at the ceremony. John Mitchell was shot in the building which stood on the site in 1885. The plaque reads:
Dedicated to the memory of Constable First Class John Mitchell, Born Scotland 1856
NSW Police Service 27.9.1878 to 13.3.1885
Shot whilst on duty near this site on 12.3.1885 during the escape from Coonamble lock-up by prisoners
Thomas Angel (alias Hobson) and William White (alias Thurston).
Constable Mitchell died from his wounds 13.3.1885 and was laid to rest in the old Coonamble Cemetery
Erected in his honour by the police and citizens of Coonamble and District 12.3.1996.
Georgina Diehm was born 16 February 1860 at Swyers Swamp, NSW, daughter of Johann Georg Michael Diehm and Maria Eva Flegler (see separate file in First Families 2001).
Georgina married her husband John Mitchell at Lidsdale in 1880. After only five years of marriage, she was widowed. She raised her two sons alone and most of spent the remaining years of her life in Sydney.
You and Your Family:
I am Kathy Pearson, nee Dwyer, wife of Bruce Pearson who is the great grandson of John and Georgina. We have three adult children and three grandchildren. My email address is kathypea@yahoo.com.au and we live in Cundletown, NSW. Apart from the first generation of children of each couple, I have entered only my, or Bruce’s, direct line of descent, for the purpose of protecting the privacy of those relatives who may not wish to have their details included. However, if any other descendants of these couples wish to have their families included, please contact me.
See also Margaret Bohan; Annie Clement; William Clement; Melina Clothier; Sarah Coleman; James Colley; Johann Georg Michael Diehm; Oliver Dwyer; Eleanor Ewing; John Farley; Maria Farley; Maria Eva Flegler; Lucy Hetherington; Jemima Hughes; George Hutchinson; Margaret MacFarlane; Donald McDermid; Duncan McDermid; Sarah McDermid; Christopher McRae; Jonathan Pearson; Anne Taylor Pretty; Mary Stewart; Peter Thomas; James Pater Field Walker; Josiah Wesley Walker.
Life Before Australia:
John Mitchell was born in Glasgow in 1856, the son of John Mitchell and Ellen McRae.
Descendants
Children
MITCHELL, John George Alexander 1
MITCHELL, William James McRae 2
Grandchildren
MITCHELL, Minnie Florence 1
Great Grandchildren
PEARSON, Bruce Trevor 1
NB: Superscript behind each descendant name represents the lineage number of that descendant.
This family information was last updated by KATHY PEARSON on the 11 February, 2001.
For the purposes of this website ‘Q‘ represents those Police joining between 1 March 1862 ( commencement of NSWPF ) – 23 February 1915 ( Commencement of NSWPF current numbering system )
Rank: Constable – appointed 7 January 1863
Senior Sergeant – appointed ? ? ?
Final Rank: Senior Sergeant
Stations: ?, Cowra – Death ?
Service: From 7 January 1863 to 1 May 1872 = 9+ years Service
Awards: ?
Born: ? ? 1840, Wick, Scotland
Died on: 1 May 1872
Cause: Shot – Murdered
Event location: Binni Creek, Cowra, NSW
Age: 31
Funeral date:
Funeral location:
Buried at: Anglican section of the Young General cemetery
Memorial at: Cowra Police Station, 88 Brisbane St, Cowra, NSW
INSCRIPTION: Sacred to the Memory of Andrew SUTHERLAND Sergt. ( Sergeant ) of Police Native of Wick, Scotland. Aged 31 years Who was shot on the 1st May 1872 whilst in the discharge of his Duty at Binnie Creek near Cowra. ” Thou carriest them away as with a flood ; they are as a sleep ; in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up ; in the evening it is cut down and withereth.”
ANDREW IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
On 1 May, 1872 the sergeant was returning to Cowra from Bathurst Court.
During his journey he was told that two men who were wanted for robbery, George Gray and William Bristow, were at Daniel Horan‘s hut at Binnie Creek, twelve miles from Cowra.
The sergeant rode over to investigate and as he neared the door of the dwelling the offenders suddenly emerged and shot him to death.
The Clarence and Richmond Examiner dated 7 May, 1872 provided a brief account of the tragedy, which tends to suggest that the offenders were known to the sergeant.
SERGEANT SUTHERLAND SHOT DEAD BY BUSHRANGERS –
CARCOAR ” Thursday – I regret to have to announce that Sergeant Sutherland, of the Cowra police force, was shot dead last evening, by bushrangers, at a place about five miles from Cowra.
It appears that two armed men called on a settler named Daniel Oram, whose house is distant about two miles from Cowra and demanded food, which he placed on the table for them.
Sergeant Sutherland, who was going home from the Bathurst Assizes, rode up to the door during the meal, and was dismounting, when one of the men stopped to the door, gun in hand, and said, “I have been looking for you, you wretch,” and then shot him through the heart, causing instant death.
The men then went off and Oram started to Cowra, and upon arriving there, informed the police, who are now in pursuit of the murderers.
The fate of the unfortunate but brave officer is universally regretted. He leaves a wife, and had only been married a few months.
The sergeant was born in 1839 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 5 January, 1863.
At the time of his death he was stationed at Cowra.
The Queenslander
Sat. 9 Aug 1873 p 10
ST. GEORGE.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) July 31.
We have also to record the arrest of a man named Frank Riley alias George Gray by Sergeant Cranney, on the charge of murdering Senior-sergeant Andrew Sutherland, of the New South Wales force, at Hordern’s hut, Beni Creek, on the 1st of May, 1872.
The prisoner had been staying in town for some few weeks, and left accompanied by another man with the avowed intention of going to the Surat races, but parted with his comrade about three miles from Weribone, his comrade going on into Surat, while he went out into the bush to camp.
Sergeant Cranney, in the meantime, appearing to have some clue to his identity, followed the pair, and finding that only one had reached Surat, returned on his tracks, and camped in the bush for two nights endeavouring to ascertain the whereabouts of the prisoner.
Becoming faint from fasting, he went to Weribone Station for food, and just dropped on to the man he was looking for, and who had also been there on the same errand. The officer arrested him at once, and prisoner was taken to Surat and remanded to Roma, and we believe by this time is on his way to Brisbane.
This is the second arrest of New South Wales offenders made by Sergeant Cranney during the past few months, the other being that of James Madgwick, whose capture and exploits were narrated in your columns a short time since. Sergeant Cranney was also the officer who arrested the notorious Patrick Collins.
A plaque commemorates Sergeant Andrew Sutherland who was fatally shot in the line of duty as a New South Wales Police officer.
Sergeant Second Class Andrew Sutherland was shot whilst on duty at Binni Creek near Cowra on May 1, 1872. On May 1, 1872 he was returning to Cowra from Bathurst Court. En route he was told two offenders wanted for robbery, George Gray and William Bristow, were at Daniel Horan’s hut at Binni Creek, 12 miles from Cowra.
The Sergeant rode over to investigate and as he approached the door of the dwelling, two offenders emerged and shot and killed him. Gray and Bristow were subsequently arrested but both were later released without charge. No-one was ever convicted of the crime.
Actual Event Start Date: 01-May-1872
Actual Event End Date: 01-May-1872
Actual Monument Dedication Date: 01-March-2012
Front Inscription:
In memory of
Senior Sergeant Andrew SUTHERLAND
who was fatally shot whilst on police duty
at Binni Creek near Cowra
on the 1st May 1872.
The Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser of 20 May, 1872 reported on the magisterial inquiry which was held at the Cowra courthouse before Mr G. Campbell J.P, “touching the death of Andrew Sutherland, who was shot dead by a ruffian at the residence of Daniel Horan a farmer living on Binni Creek…” One witness to the murder, Mrs Eliza Seery, gave the following evidence.
“I am the wife of James Seery, and reside at Binni Creek.
About 4 o’clock in the evening of Wednesday, the 1st inst., two men rode up to Horan’s hut on two dark looking horses.
Mrs Horan and I were in the hut at the time. They bid me good day, and asked if I had seen a bay horse, to which I replied “No”. One then said to the other, “We’ll get down and have a light”. The taller man was the spokesman.
He remarked that the weather was very dry.
The dogs began to bark. I went out to see what they were barking at, and observed Sergeant Sutherland riding towards the place.
The tall man asked me who was coming, and I answered, “Sergeant Sutherland”. The smaller man then walked outside, and Sutherland called him to the corner of the hut.
After talking to the sergeant for a short time, the man came towards the door, when I heard Sutherland ask him who was inside.
Sutherland then rode up to the door, and told the man who was inside to come out, or he would shoot the two of them.
The tall man, who was in the hut, said, “I won’t” and went towards the door.
The sergeant then got off his horse, when the tall man fired at him.
He said, “I’ll shoot”, before he shot at the sergeant.
Directly after the shot was fired, Sutherland, let his horse go, and ran towards a tree standing near the hut.
The man followed Sutherland and fired two shots, one after the other, as quick as he could.
The Sergeant, whose back was towards the man who shot at him, fell before he got to the tree. He fell directly after the last shot was fired.
There were only three shots fired.
The man was within a yard or two of Sutherland when the last two shots were discharged. This man brought Sutherland’s horse, and rode him away immediately after firing the last shot.
I did not see the smaller man of the two after the first shot was discharged.
I ran to the Sergeant when he fell, and asked if he was dead. He made no reply.
He was not quite dead, but never spoke.
Mrs Horan came directly after, and I told her to run for some water. She got some water, which she poured over the Sergeants mouth. He died while I was standing by him. He was lying partly on his side, and partly on his back.
Horan came up, and asked what was the matter. I told him the sergeant was shot dead.
Horan reported the murder to the police.”
The Brisbane Courier of 11 August, 1873 was to later report on the arrest of one of the offenders by Queensland Police Sergeant Cranney.
“We have also to record the arrest of a man named Frank Riley alias George Gray by Sergeant Cranney, on the charge of murdering Senior-sergeant Andrew Sutherland, of the New South Wales force, at Hordern’s [sic] hut, Beni [sic] Creek, on the 1st of May, 1872.
The prisoner had been staying in town for some few weeks, and left accompanied by another man with the avowed intention of going to the Surat races, but parted with his comrade about three miles from Weribone, his comrade going on into Surat, while he went out into the bush to camp.
Sergeant Cranney, in the meantime, appearing to have some clue to his identity, followed the pair, and finding that only one had reached Surat, returned on his tracks, and camped in the bush for two nights endeavouring to ascertain the whereabouts of the prisoner.
Becoming faint from fasting, he went to Weribone Station for food, and just dropped on to the man he was looking for, and who had also been there on the same errand.
The officer arrested him at once, and prisoner was taken to Surat and remanded to Roma, and we believe by this time is on his way to Brisbane.”
