Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH

18/02/2026

Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH

AKA Reginald CAVANAGH, Reg CAVANAGH

* Nickname: ?

Late of Morriset, NSW

Relations in ‘the job’ ?

Geoff CAVANAGH, NSWPF # 13636

Husband to Vera CAVANAGH – Police Wife

“possible” relation in ‘the job‘: ?

NSW Police Training Centre – Redfern or Belmore Barracks Class # ” pre Class numbers ”

New South Wales Police Force

Uniform # 2059

Regd. # 4395

Rank: Commenced Training at Redfern or Belmore Barracks Police Academy on Monday 3 July 1939 ( aged 24 years, 3 months, 18 days )

Probationary Constable – appointed 25 August 1939 ( aged 24 years, 5 months, 10 days )

Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Constable 1st Class – appointed ? ? ?

Detective – appointed ? ? ? ( NO )

Senior Constable – appointed around 4 December 1954

Leading Senior Constable – appointed ? ? ? ( N/A )

Sergeant 3rd Class – appointed ? ? ? ( N/A )

Sergeant 2nd Class – appointed ? ? ?

Final Rank: = Sergeant

Stations: ?, Phillip St ( 4 Division ), Mullumbimby, Weston, Raymond Terrace, Junee, Newcastle,Morriset ( O.I.C. ) – Death

Service ( From Training Date ) period: From 25 August 1939 to 21 April 1962 = 22 years, 9 months, 18 days Service

Time employed ( Paid ) with NSW Police: From: 25 August 1939 to 21 April 1962 = 22 years, 9 months, 18 days Service

Time in Retirement from Police: 0 years, 0 months, 0 days

Age at Retirement / Leaving: = 47 years, 1 months, 6 days

Awards: No Find on Australian Honours system, although:

Long Service & Good Conduct Medal for 22 years Service – granted posthumously c1962

Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH 04 - NSWPF 4395 - Died 21 April 1962 — Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH
AKA Reginald CAVANAGH, Reg CAVANAGH. Photo taken 1939

Born: Monday 15 March 1915 in Kempsey, NSW

Died on: Saturday 21 April 1962 in Wallsend, NSW

Age: 47 years, 1 months, 6 days

Organ Donor: Y / N / ?

Cause: injuries received during an arrest in 1956

Injuries Event location: Commercial Hotel, Junee, NSW on 23 June 1956

Diagnosis date: 1956 – 8 years prior to death

Funeral date: ? ? ?

Funeral location: ?

LIVE STREAM ? ( N/A )

Wake location: ?

Wake date: ???

Funeral Parlour: ?

Buried at: Sandgate Cemetery, 116 Maitland Rd, Newcastle, NSW

Grave Location: Section: Catholic 3 Row: 85 Plot: 70

Grave GPS: -32.8667259, 151.7055969

Memorial / Plaque / Monument located at: ?

Dedication date of Memorial / Plaque / Monument: Nil – at this time ( February 2026 )

REG is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance * BUT SHOULD BE died as a result of injuries received and also took seriously ill whilst On Duty.

( last checked on 21 April 2026 and still does NOT appear on the National Police Wall of Remembrance. )

FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
If you have anything further to add to what is recorded here, please get in touch.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal

May they forever Rest In Peace

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AustralianPolice.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NSWFallenPolice/

Australian Police YouTube Channel

On 23 June, 1956 the sergeant was involved in the violent arrest of an offender at the Commercial Hotel, Junee. During the incident the sergeant suffered injuries to his kidneys which subsequently led to a number of operations and ongoing medical treatment for many years afterward.

On the morning of 14 April, 1962 Sergeant Cavanagh, then the Officer In Charge of the Morisset Police Station, collapsed on duty and was conveyed to the Newcastle Hospital. He remained in a semi-coma until he sadly passed away a week later. The cause of death was kidney failure caused by his injuries in 1956.

R. E. Cavanagh of Junee was promoted from Constable 1st Class to Senior Constable around 24 December 1954 as advertised in The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 24 December 1954 on page 3 of 12.

The sergeant was born on 15 March 1915 and joined the New South Wales police Force on 25 August, 1939. At the time of his death he was stationed at Morisset.

Source: Beyond Courage by Retired Sgt Danny WEBSTER

Death Certificate Registration # 11427/1962

Fathers name: Ernest Joseph

Mothers name: Mary Elizabeth

Reg’s son, Geoff, last saw his dad being carried out of the Morisset Police Station on a stretcher to an ambulance in full uniform but never saw him again.

Death of his wife – Vera

https://www.australianpolice.com.au/vera-cavanagh-widow-of-reg-mother-of-geoff/

Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH 03 - NSWPF 4395 - Died 21 April 1962 — Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH
AKA Reginald CAVANAGH, Reg CAVANAGH

Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH 02A - NSWPF 4395 - Died 21 April 1962

Reginald Ernest CAVANAGH 01A - NSWPF 4395 - Died 21 April 1962

* Story behind any Nickname:

Nothing further, than what is recorded above, is known about this person at the time of publication and further information and photos would be appreciated.

**********

Cal
23 April 2014.

Updated 16 February 2026 with Regd. #, DoB, Joining date and calculations.

Updated 21 April 2026 with new, younger, photo of Reg – supplied by his son, Geoff.

Updated 1 May 2026 with additional information.

Thomas David GREGORY

18/02/2026

Thomas David GREGORY

aka David Thomas GREGORY

Late of Grose St, Parramatta

New South Wales Police Force

Regd. # ?????

Rank: Constable 1st Class

Stations: ?, Dundas, Parramatta, Parramatta Court House

Service: From ? ? 1921 to ? ? 1953 = 32 years Service

World War I

Australian Imperial Force ANZAC

Regiment: 5th Reinforcements /56th Battalion / 14th Brigade – Flers, France from February 1917

Enlisted: 3 April 1916 at Goulburn, NSW as David Thomas GREGORY

Service # 2515 / N13219

Rank: Private

Embarkation: to France on 30/9/1916. Wounded. Gunshot wounds to leg and arm ( walking wounded )

Next of kin: Thomas GREGORY

Religion: Anglican 5′ 11.5″ tall, 155 lbs in weight, Chest = 34 / 38″. Dark Comp. Grey eyes. Brown hair.

Single / Married: single

Returned to Australia: 22 February 1919 Discharged: 14 April 1919

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/212365/

Awards: Imperial Service Medal – granted 5 March 1954

Born: ? August 1893 in Queanbeyan, NSW

Died on: 31 March 1962

Age: 69

Cause: ?

Event location: Parramatta, NSW

Event date: 31 March 1962

Funeral date: ? ? ?

Funeral location: All Saints Church, Parramatta

Buried at: St Paul’s Cemetery, 233 Marsden Rd, Carlingford

Memorial located at: ?

In loving memory Dear husband Thomas David GREGORY died 31st March 1962 Aged 68 years A loving wife & Mother Mildred Jane GREGORY Died 26th May 1972 Aged 59 years <br /> — In loving memory
Dear husband
Thomas David GREGORY
Died 31st March 1962
Aged 68 years
A loving wife & Mother
Mildred Jane GREGORY
Died 26th May 1972
Aged 59 years

[alert_yellow]THOMAS is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow]

*NEED MORE INFO

FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal

May they forever Rest In Peace

NSWBDM:

Birth: 30233/1893

Marriage: 16981/1921 – Mildred Jane DUFFIELD

Death: 15132/1962

Cumberland Argus (Parramatta, NSW : 1950 – 1962), Wednesday 2 May 1962, page 2

Parramatta’s first ‘P.D.’ driver

Hundreds mourn death of ex-police officer

A former policeman, who drove the first ‘PD’ car ever used in Parramatta, died recently after nine years’ retirement from the force.

He was Constable First Class Thomas David Gregory ( 68 ) and he is survived by his wife and two married sons and daughters. Many senior police officers joined the guard of honour outside All Saints Church following the funeral service.

Constable Gregory, who served for many years in Parramatta and Dundas, retired from the force in 1953 after 32 years service.

Popular

A returned soldier from World War I, he was popular with children throughout the district for his care and attention while directing traffic at the city’s busiest intersections.

A former fellow – officer said yesterday that Constable Gregory was one of the most popular officers ever to serve in Parramatta. He said Const. Gregory was a familiar sight throughout the district driving a ‘bullnozed’ PD car in 1925.

Tributes

Const. Gregory was later transferred to duty in Parramatta Court House, and on his retirement, tributes to him were paid by Judges, Senior Counsel and other members of the Bar. His death came as a blow to the hundreds of people who knew him during his police service and since his retirement.

A long guard of honour of friends and former fellow officers stood in respect as the cortege left from his Grose Street home. Rev. O. Crawford conducted the service at All Saints Church, and later at the graveside in St. Paul’s cemetery, Carlingford.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131330825

Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 – 1950), Monday 22 June 1936, page 1

Wireless Patrol in Crash

Chase of Stolen Car

FENCE KNOCKED DOWN

Constable Gregory’s promptness and presence of mind averted what might have been a fatal crash In Church-street, Parramatta, early on Sunday morning, when a stolen car, travelling at over 70 miles an hour, swerved in front of the Parramatta Police wireless patrol car.

Constable Gregory, who was driving the wireless car, turned quickly to avoid a collision. A front tyre blew out and the car, getting into a broadside skid, ran on to the footpath,knocked down a fence and finished up in a hedge.

The accident occurred after the two cars had crossed Lennox Bridge. The driver of the stolen car, who was accompanied by a man and a woman, swerved in front as the police drew abreast.

Despite the high speed at which it was travelling, the patrol car received relatively small damage. With Constable Gregory were Constable Tompkins ( operator ) and Detective Booth.

The stolen car disappeared.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/104685983

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate (NSW : 1876 – 1954) , Monday 9 March 1931, page 4

TWO MEN CHARGED

Fugitive Shot in Knee

SYDNEY Sunday.

When one of two men failed to stop after being challenged by the police in Sydney-road, Granville last night, Constable Gregory fired three shots, one of which struck a fugitive in the left knee. The man was conveyed to the Parramatta Hospital, and admitted. The other man made no attempt to escape when the police made their challenge. Subsequently both men were charged.

The police visited a house in Auburn and recovered £300 worth of property, alleged to have been stolen.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/137689789

Nepean Times ( Penrith ) Saturday 20 July 1929 p3

BETTING CHARGE FAILS

Constable GREGORY from Parramatta and Constable GREGORY from No. 3 Division ( Darlinghurst )

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/100925502

Thomas David Gregory

Block 110D Woden District

Thomas David Gregory was born in 1893 in the Queanbeyan district on NSW. Some sources, including his enlistment papers, state his name as David Thomas Gregory although birth and baptismal records give his name as Thomas David Gregory. His grandfather and father were rural workers at properties around Duntroon and Tharwa and Gregory is associated with Royalla, NSW where he too was a farm labourer.

Gregory enlisted in April 1916 with the 56th Battalion and joined his unit near Flers in France in February 1917. The 56th Battalion fought at Louverval and Bullecourt during April and May 1917. Gregory was gassed at Polygon Wood in Belgium in September 1917. He rejoined the 56th Battalion in June 1918 and was wounded three months later at Péronne on the Somme River where he was shot in the ankle, leg and forearm.

After the war, Gregory worked for a few months at the Royal Military College, Duntroon before applying for a Soldier Settlement block. In his application, he indicated he wanted to graze sheep, that he was single with no dependents and that he had £250 in capital.

Gregory was granted the lease on Woden Block 110D of 208 acres (84 hectares), one of the smallest blocks in the District of Woden. Jerrabomberra Avenue (now the Monaro Highway) boarded the block on the west and Narrabundah Lane on the north. The lease began on the 3rd April 1920 for 25 years at an annual rental of £50/10.

The Commonwealth never intended for anyone to be able to make a living from Woden Block 110D; Gregory certainly didn’t. He applied for an advance of £168/15 to buy 150 ewes as well as funds to build fences worth about £35. However, it seems that Gregory did not stock his block but sublet it, as he wrote in 1922, “for 2 years to Messrs Hardy and Reid.”

Google Maps image of area c2013 with Woden Block 110D boundary in red.

By 1922, Gregory had moved to Parramatta, NSW where he married and also joined the New South Wales Police Force. William Harris, a neighbour at Jerrabomberra, looked after the block on Gregory’s behalf. He held onto Woden Block 110D until May 1931 when he transferred it to another neighbour, Hector McIntosh, who in turn sold it to Hugh Read in 1934. Thomas Gregory retired from the NSW Police in 1953 as a Senior Constable and died on the 31st March 1962 in Parramatta.

http://www.archives.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/562506/ACT_Rate_Book_1927.pdf

http://www.archives.act.gov.au/repatandrabbits/thomas_gregory