the 3rd longest surviving NSW Police Grave in the state
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ?
Rank: Constable
Stations: ?, Parramatta
Service: From ? ? ? to 7 October 1826
Awards: ?
Born: ?
Event date: 23 September, 1826
Event location: Parramatta, NSW
Died on: 7 October 1826
Cause: Shot – Murdered
Age: 30
Funeral date: ? October, 1826
Funeral location: ?
Grave location: old St Johns Cemetery, Parramatta Portion 3
Benjamin RATTY the 3rd oldest known ‘surviving’ Police grave in NSW
BENJAMIN IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
About 11pm on the night of 23 September, 1826Parramatta Police received information to the effect that a party of bushrangers were in the area of the Western Tollgate near Parramatta. Chief Constable John Thorn, Constables Ratty and Wells and a Mr John Piesley immediately proceeded to the area.
It was decided that Constable Ratty would walk down the road carrying a large bundle while pretending to be drunk, in an effort to entice the bushrangers to attempt to rob him. The other police would then surprise the bushrangers and arrest them.
Constable Ratty carried out his role and as he approached the toll-house four men accosted him and took his bundle of belongings. As the police party rode up to arrest the offenders Ratty drew his pistol and several shots were exchanged between the police and the bushrangers.
During this exchange Chief Constable Thorn sustained a slight head wound, one of the bushrangers was killed and Constable Ratty was shot in the back.
He passed away two weeks later.
Benjamin Ratty was a former convict who had been tried at Horsemonger Lane, Surrey in January 1814, and was sentenced to transportation for seven years. He arrived in Australia on the Somersetshire on 16 October, 1814. He was married with no children.
A public subscription provided funds for the funeral, coffin and headstone at the old St Johns Cemetery, Parramatta.
The inscription on his headstone reads:
To the Memory of Benjamin Ratty who departed this life 7th Oct 1826. Aged 30 years. The deceased was a Constable in the Town of Parramatta during seven years and this stone was erected by its inhabitants as a mark of their esteem for his services on various occasions in apprehending Bushrangers & particularly for his intrepid behaviour which will be remembered in the night of the 23rd of September when he received the wound which caused his death from a pistol shot & and which conduct led to the immediate apprehension of a Part of the Banditti.
At the time of his death the constable was aged about 30 years and was stationed at Parramatta. He had been a constable at that location for about seven years.
Most probable GPS Location of this grave, by using the background images and Google Earth is: -33.81730882659942, 150.9981140491085
BENJAMIN RATTY’s grave
Constable William GREEN
| 23/10/2012
Constable William GREEN
Murdered
Windsor
20 August, 1826
Constable William GREEN – NSWPF – Murdered – 20 Aug 1826 – front of headstone. St. Matthews Anglican Cemetery, 1 Moses St, Windsor, NSW. Left Section, Row 22, Plot 10
Constable William GREEN – NSWPF – Murdered – 20 Aug 1826 – rear of headstone It is believed that these words are the illegible wording at the lower half of the headstone on the front.
The Government and General Orders from the Colonial Secretary’s Office dated 14 March, 1822 carried the following direction: “William Green, to be Constable in the Town of Windsor, vice William Ramsay” Appointment to be dated 2nd Instant. He then appears to have carried out his policing duties over the following four years or so until he is mentioned in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser of 30 August, 1826 which carried the following slightly cryptic story:
MURDER On Sunday 20th Instant Captain Brabyn J.P. of Clifton Cottage, on his return from Church, beheld rather an unseemly contrast in the order of things; the female servant was absent from the house, and within view of her master, on the estate, being pulled about by some man, as if in the act of stealing her shawl. A constable was dispatched to bring the stranger to account; the female returned home in a state of intoxication, and the man murdered the constable, William Green, in the most horrid and deliberate manner, returning to the attack of brutality upon the object of his fury, while having a symptom of life. The murderer, Isaac Smith, has confessed his guilt, and related expressions of hideous thought. Smith, after the Inquest, proceeded with some constables, and gave up a pistol which he had secreted.
The newspaper went on to describe the constable as “remarkable for his inoffensive manners, and esteemed in that point, by even the haters and fearers of police discipline; he would not pervert the expressions of his tongue by designing animadversion towards a prisoner in his charge, nor would he give a man a blow when handcuffed; he was plain in the duty he performed, and conducted himself with sobriety and integrity”
At the offender Smith’s trial, Thomas Finch, who was employment of Captain John Brabyn at the time, gave evidence to the effect that he “heard, at about half-past four o’clock on the day before stated, cries of “murder” – they were distant about one hundred yards, or perhaps more – he hastened in the direction from whence the cry seemed to proceed, and found the prisoner (Smith) employed in encouraging a bull-dog to attack the deceased – witness requested Smith to call the dog off, when the latter threatened to “serve” witness the same way if he dared to interfere – witness left the spot for a few moments – spread an alarm – returned with assistance, and found the deceased stretched on the grass nearly lifeless – he was conveyed to the general Hospital. The prisoner with his dog was standing a few yards off. A Windsor constable who took him into custody, deposed to several unfeeling expressions having been subsequently uttered by the prisoner within his victim’s hearing, such as upon his hearing a groan from Green, who lay in an adjoining room, – “Ah, you’d be settled before morning, and stiff.’ The constable further deposed, that upon prisoner being brought near to deceased’s bed, the latter accused him of being his murderer. Prisoner not only confessed the crime, but avowed that he had broken a pistol over the deceased’s head. A waistcoat stained with blood was found on the person of the other prisoner (Moore.) He was the opinion of Mr. Thomas Allen, the examining surgeon, that the severe distinct and fatal wounds on the superior part of the head, had been produced by blows. ( Smith was executed at Windsor on 11 September, 1826. An alleged accomplice named Moore was acquitted.)
At the time of his death the constable had been stationed at Windsor for over four years.
Joseph HAYNES
| 23/10/2012
Joseph HAYNES
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ?
Rank: Constable
Stations: ?, Sydney
Service: From?to 31 January 1824 = over 7 years Service
Thanks to Wayne Hill and his research regarding the discovery of his headstone.
Constable Joseph HAYNES touch plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.
Constable Haynes and Constable Thompson were on duty shortly after midnight on 26 January, 1824 in Sydney when they heard someone call out, “Stop thief”, which set up the hue and cry. They soon heard the footsteps of a number of people running towards them, and seized their opportunity to spring on the man being chased. Constable Thompson was quickly thrown or knocked down, and as he grappled with the offender, Haynes attempted to assist. Two other men then appeared and began attacking the two constables. At this time Thompson“received a blow on the head, which rendered him senseless, it is thought, for a considerable time”, and when he began to recover he heard a deep groaning sound nearby. On investigation he found Constables Haynes lying senseless in a pool of his own blood. The unfortunate man was immediately taken to hospital where he passed away about five days later. He had suffered severe head injuries, almost certainly caused by his own staff, which was found to have a considerable amount of blood and “small particles of skull” adhering to it.
A contemporary account of the circumstances of the constable’s death appeared in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser of the 5 February, 1824, declaring that “The murderous wretches, as there are three concerned, will not long escape it is devoutly to be hoped, the arm of relentless and crying justice.”
(The “hue and cry” meant that every able-bodied man in the vicinity had to join in the pursuit of the criminal. This practice evolved into the “warrant”. The staff carried by each constable was for his own protection. Sydney police weren’t given firearms as a general issue for another seventy years after this incident.)
Haynes had arrived in Australia on the First Fleet aboard the ship Alexanderand received his Certificate of Freedom in 1810. He was originally tried at Gloucester on 13 July, 1785 for receiving stolen goods and was transported for 14 years. He was a married man and his wife Mary later made an application to the Governor of New South Wales for a police pension. He is sometimes recorded as Haines, Haynes or Hynes.
At the time of his death the constable was aged 52 years and was serving in Sydney. He served as a constable for over seven years.
Very pleased to announce that the Police Minister, The Hon. Troy Grant MP has awarded a grant to the NSW Police Memorial & Historical Society Inc in the amount of $55,000 to continue the work of marking and restoring the graves of NSW Police officers killed on duty.
Sincere thanks to Danny Webster and Ken Medway, who collectively provided much of the background research and information to support the application, and Ministry staff. A thank you also to those that have offered to assist and be a local point of contact for some of the memorial sites.
A priority list of sites for restoration has been prepared based on criteria such as those sites that remain unmarked, or in need of urgent repairs. We hope to attend to over 20 locations with this funding.
This is a significant step in carrying out much needed work on these sites, we are extremely grateful to the Minister, and hope this will lead to ongoing support. I’d appreciate it if you could share this around your police contacts.
[divider_dotted]
HAYNES, Joseph. Per “Alexander“, 1788
1810 Jun 23
Received certificate of freedom (Reel 6038; SZ758 p.64)
1821 Sep 8
Constable. On list of all persons victualled from H.M. Magazines; with wife (Reel 6016; 4/5781 p.60)
1822
Signatory to petition from the ordinary constables of Sydney complaining of the diminution of their rations (Reel 6055; 4/1760 p.43c)
1824
Constable of Sydney. Murdered Jan 1823 (Reel 6061; 4/1780 p.233)
HAYNES, Mary. Wife of Joseph Haynes, per “Alexander”, 1788
1821 Sep 8
On list of all persons victualled from H.M. Magazines (Reel 6016; 4/5781 p.60)
1824 Aug
Widow. Petition for pension (Reel 6061; 4/1780 p.233)
1824 Dec 31
Received pension as widow of Constable Joseph Haynes (Reel 6039; 4/424 p.445)
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser Thursday 5 February 1824 page 2 of 4
An inquest was convened by George Milndr Slade Esq. Coroner, on Sunday last ( 1 February ), on the body of Joseph Hynes, a constable in the Town of Sydney. It appeared that the deceased was on duty on the previous Monday night ( 26 January ), near Hill’s Tavern, in company with another constable, named Thompson. Between the hours of 12 and 1 o’clock, there was the hue and cry of ” Stop thief” set up ; and, at the same moment, the steps of some persons running towards them. The watchmen put themselves in a detecting posture, and sprang at one man with a hat under his arm ; a scuffle ensued ; and Thompson was thrown down by his opponent. Hynes, the lamented deceased, forthwith went to his assistance ; and, whilst in the act of attempting to secure the fellow, and release Thompson from his grasp, the latter observed two other men, as he lay on the ground, advancing towards them ; and immediately afterwards received a blow on the head, which rendered him senseless, it is thought, for a considerable time.
When Thompson recovered from the violence he had experienced, the first thing that attracted attention was deep groaning. He went to the spot, and found unfortunate Hynes prostrate, weltering in his blood ; The villain had left the hat behind him which, with the staff and hat of the deceased, were lying close to him. The poor man was carried to the Hospital, where, notwithstanding every effort of skill and humanity, he lingered till Saturday night last ( 31 January ), when death relieved him from intense suffering. The deed appears to have been committed with the staff, as it was much stained with blood, and had some small particles of the skull adhering to it, from the severity of the blows.
The murderous wretches, as there are three concerned, will not long escape it is devoutly to be hoped, the arm of relentless and crying Justice.— The inhabitants should co-operate in every possible way, with Government, to bring the monsters to an early doom.— The Verdict was — Wilful Murder against some person or persons unknown.
If we may at liberty to suggest an opinion upon the above transaction, we think that pecuniary reward can have but little influence upon the mind of a murderer. There are, it is said, three parties concerned, dreading each other : as to confidence, there can be but little. If one of the three had only a hope of securing himself, the two would speedily be within the precincts of Justice, and the other would have to wander out his days, like a true descendant of Cain.
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser Thursday 12 February 1824 page 3 of 4
TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD. POLICE OFFICE. 3rd FEBRUARY, 1824.
WHEREAS Joseph Hynes, a Constable at Sydney, was, on the Night of the 26th of January last, whilst in the Execution of his Duty, and having Charge of a Prisoner for Felony, violently beat and so severely wounded and injured, by some Person or Persons unknown; that the said Joseph Hynes hath since died of the Wounds he received on that Occasion ;— And the Coroner’s Inquest having pronounced a Verdict of Wilful Murder against some Person or Persons unknown ; in Order to bring the Offender or Offenders to Justice, a Reward of Two Hundred Spanish Dollars is hereby offered and will be paid to any Person who shall come forward and give such Information as will convict the Offender or Offenders, concerned in the said Murder.
MORE than 200 years after Constable Joseph Luker was bashed to death while investigating a robbery near a Sydney brothel, the officer’s grave has finally been found again.
With the discovery of Constable Luker‘s original grave underTown Hall, the police have solved a Sydney mystery over the burial site of the first officer in Sydney to die on duty.
As the force prepares to commemorate fallen officers on Police Remembrance Day today, the story of Constable Luker’s final resting place can finally be told.
After years searching graveyard records, recent excavations under the Town Hall have revealed Constable Luker was buried in the Old Sydney Burial Ground, which was used from 1792 to 1820. Constable Luker’s grave was marked “assassinated“.
Records show the bodies of three policemen, including Constable Luker, were exhumed in 1869 when building began on the Town Hall site and they were interred at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney’s west.
“It is important to police as an organisation that we ensure we honour and pay respect to those who have served before us and that is why we have continued to search for Joseph Luker’s burial place,” Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said yesterday.
“Joseph Luker paid the highest price for protecting the citizens of the then fledgling colony. No organisation should ever forget the sacrifices of its staff.”
Sydney City Council found records showing another two officers, Constables Joseph Haynes and John Farmer, were buried on the Town Hall site but nothing is known about how they died.
Constable Luker was on a midnight patrol after a spate of burglaries near prostitute Mary Breeze’s brothel in Phillip St, then known as Back Row, east Sydney Town, in August 1803.
He had been beaten to death and his cutlass guard was wedged in his skull when his body was found near Macquarie St.
In one of the first scandals to rock the police, two of his colleagues were suspected but were never convicted.
A message to his killers was posted on his headstone at the Town Hall site telling them: “My midnight vigils are no more, Cold Sleep and Peace succeed . . . But when my murderers appear, before JEHOVAH’s Throne, Mine will be to vanquish there, And theirs t’endure alone.”
The 35-year-old was a convict who served seven years transportation before joining a fledgling police force.
Mr Scipione urged people to wear a blue ribbon on the right-hand side of their shirt today to show support for police. He said remembering lost officers was a way to offer continued support and comfort to their families.
“It means we will never forget their courage and sacrifice,” he added.
Plaque added on the 200th anniversary of his murder. This plaque doesn’t show the police crest which is forthcoming.
[alert_green]WILLIAM IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
[divider_dotted]
On 1 April, 1819Constable Cosgrove came upon three men, Timothy Buckley, David Brown and Timothy Ford, and believing them to be bushrangers approached them and enquired where they were heading. The three men suddenly took to their heels, so Constable Cosgrove announced his office and called on them to stop. Buckley then turned around and fired a shot at the constable from the musket he was carrying. Constable Cosgrove returned fire almost simultaneously with his pistol. Unfortunately the musket shot had struck the constable, causing a fatal wound.
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser dated Saturday 10 April, 1819 reported on the trial of three offenders charged with the constable’s murder.
COURT OF CRIMINAL JURISDICTION,
Wednesday.-This was a day of serious trial for the murder of William Cosgrove, a settler and district constable upon the Banks of the South Creek, on the 1st of the present month; by the discharge of the contents of a musket loaded with slugs into his body, of which wounds he died the following day. The prisoners were Timothy Buckley, by whom the gun was fired; David Brown, and Timothy Ford, all of whom had been in the Colony but six or seven months, and prisoners in the immediate employ of Government, and who unhappily had not renounced those propensities which sooner or later were to lead them to an unhappy end.
[One] witness declared himself the brother of the deceased; and in the sympathetic feeling of humanity, received from the Judge Advocate the following much to be remembered sentence of condolence. “Witness, you have done your duty to Society; you have acted well in the performance of that duty, and the world has much to regret that you have paid so dearly for it, in the loss of a brother, and of a good member of Society.” The unhappy men were yesterday executed.
The constable arrived in Australia as a transported convict on the vessel Rolla in 1803. He was granted his Certificate of Freedom in 1810. The Colonial Secretary’s Letters of 30 April, 1820 names his replacement at South Creek as Constable William Hill.
At the time of his death the constable was the District Constable of South Creek (now Parramatta) and was previously the Constable and Pound Keeper at Bringelly and Cooke.
[divider_dotted]
[divider_dotted]
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 – 1842), Saturday 10 April 1819, page 2
Court of Criminal Jurisdiction,
WEDNESDAY.-This was a day of serious trial for the murder of William Cosgrove, a settler and district constable upon the Banks of the South Creek, on the 1st of the present month ; by the discharge of the contents of a musket loaded with slugs into his body, of which wounds he died the following day. The prisoners were Timothy Buckley, by whom the gun was fired ; David Brown, and Timothy Ford, all of whom had been in the Colony but six or seven months, and prisoners in the immediate employ of Government, and who unhappily had not renounced those propensities which sooner or later were to lead them to an unhappy end.
The first witness called was Thomas Cosgrove, brother of the deceased, whose testimony was conclusive of the fact. This witness stated, that his murdered brother was a district constable at the South Creek; and that he having seen, and believing the three prisoners at the bar to be bush-rangers, requested him, the witness, to join in pursuit of the suspected persons; all which was readily complied with, and a pursuit accordingly commenced. This was about one in the afternoon ; the deceased went up to the three men (the prisoners at the bar), and found them in conversation with two young men who were brothers of the name of York, one of them a son-in-law of the deceased. The deceased called to the prisoners at the bar, declaring his willingness to point them out the road to the place they were enquiring for, namely the ” Five mile Farm ;” but appearing conscious that they were armed bush-rangers, he hesitated not to require their giving themselves up to him, he being a district constable. This evidence further proved that the prisoners at the bar were in conversation with the two Yorks for many minutes prior to the pursuit which was proposed and persevered in by all the persons who joined in it by the manly boldness of the district constable, who, although a man in good circumstances, had reconciled the apprehension of danger with his manifest line of duty.
This witness, who seemed in his evidence to entertain no sort of feeling that could be construed into a vindictive sentiment, went further on to state, that one of the Yorks, the eldest, had joined in the pursuit ; that his murdered brother had repeatedly required the three fugitives to surrender themselves ; that Timothy Buckley, who had the musket, turned round repeatedly and levelled at them ; that one of the fugitives, Ford, had attempted to wrest the piece from him, but did not succeed ; that the pursuers behaved themselves with great courage and with the most determined zeal in apprehending these three stoutmen, one of whom was armed with a gun, and appeared only to await the moment of murder until the difference of celerity in his pursuers should mark the most needful object. Brown, who was the taller and most powerful of the three, turned several times upon Buckley, who had the gun, and told him to keep a good look out on such a man, meaning the man who was closest in pursuit, and this was the deceased ; who was armed with a pistol, but did not discharge it until after he had received the contents of the musket into his side, breast, and lungs, the charge consisting of eleven or twelve slugs; his pistol afterwards went off, . but hurt nobody. Stricken with death, the poor man then sat down on a bank; was taken home; and lived in anguish until the following day.
This witness declared himself the brother of the deceased ; and in the sympathetic feeling of humanity, received from the Judge Advocate the following much to be remembered sentence of condolance. “Witness, you have done your duty to Society ; you have acted well in the performance of that duty , and the world has much to regret that you have paid so dearly for it, in the loss of a brother, and of a good member of Society.” Cornelins Ryan sworn.- Witness went last Thursday to the house of the deceased to get some wheat ground at his steel mill ; and prior to any other communication the deceased asked him if he had seen, three men of suspicious appearance, whom he considered to be bush-rangers; to which he answered affirmatively, and consented to go with the deceased, whom he knew to be the constable of the district, in pursuit of the run-aways; that the three men, now the three prisoners at the bar, were enquiring of the two Yorks the right road to the Five mile Farm; and the deceased telling them he would show them the right path, they all ran off; on their doing which the deceased ordered them to deliver themselves up to him, as he was the district constable ; that they nevertheless continued to run ; the man (Buckley ) who was armed with the gun, repeatedly turning round, and presenting it at the nearest of his pursuers ; that the deceased was armed with a pistol, which went off on the instant after the explosion of the musket, the contents of which lodged in his body.
Other witnesses gave evidence to the same effect, proving the murder in the clearest possible manner; and also that the whole three of the prisoners at the bar were actuated by the self-same spirit of hostility, determining on the taking of life rather than surrendering themselves to justice.
The evidence being too clear to admit of a defence, the prisoners when called upon acknowledged being together on the unhappy occasion, Brown and Ford making no further observation than that the gun was in the hands of Buckley, from whom Ford would have wrested it, as appeared by the testimony of Thomas Cosgrove ; but no conception could be entertained that his endeavour so to wrest it was well intentioned ; and with respect to Brown, every witness had sworn that when the three were running from their pursuers, he said repeatedly to Buckley, ” don’t fire until there is occasion.” He stated upon the contrary that his expression had not been until there is occasion, but that his actual expression had been, ” do not fire, for there is no occasion.” Every witness had distinctly sworn to the expression with which he had been challenged, ” do not fire until there is occasion for it;” and he became of course a principal in the murder.
Timothy Ford, a very young man, apparently not exceeding two or three and twenty years of age, was placed on the right hand of Buckley, who was in the center ; and from every appearance seemed to have reconciled himself to an unavoidable destiny. The hour of trial and the hour of death are so closely connected in the case of murder, that this unhappy creature had death precisely in his view, and as much as animated nature would afford, he might be esteemed the appearance of a moving corpse. The unhappy men upon each side of him defended themselves upon the principle that they could not prevent the firing; but why they, would the voice of reason say, associate with a man whom they could not control, bind, or manage, armed with a loaded gun, and conscious of a punishment resulting to all connected with him for any crime he should himself commit.
The only doubt, His Honor observed, was whether the Court was in the possibility of discerning between the unfortunate men at the bar any difference or distinction of crime. That there was only one musket was an established fact ; and that this one musket was the identically presumed defence of all, not mattering in whose particular hand it was, circumstances had sufficiently shewn. The only point upon which the Court could doubt of an equal criminality was, whether there might not have been in the course of the transaction a forbearance, a kindness which even in the criminal would be looked at by his judges with regard; but here nothing of the kind appeared. The man who fired the gun there could be no doubt respecting; but it was the entire wish of the Court to discover if possible a difference in the degree of guilt between the prisoners. One man endeavoured to wrest the musket out of the hands of the actual murderer ; and it is only presumable that if he had got possession of it, he would have committed identically the murder commited by his companion. The man, Brown, had repeatedly desired Buckley, by whom the piece was eventually discharged, not to fire until it was necessary. In the terms until it was necessary there was a tendency to murder.
The investigation had been long and patient ; and for what reason? not to pass a verdict for a murder which was clear in its proof, but to consider whether either or both of the accompanying persons were guilty as principals or as merely accessaries, the Court considering that its judgment would be final, and establishing its verdict upon proofs which left no doubt behind them. Men meeting and combining in an illegal pursuit, what mattered it of what cast or colour their pursuit might be, they were all equally liable to every danger that might accrue therefrom ; and here were three men, escapers from their Government employ, travelling from place to place with a loaded gun ; a gun loaded with eleven or twelve slugs ; the whole of which were deposited in the body of a man whose duty it was to apprehend them, and who in the mild performance of his duty was horribly murdered. Brown had said that his words were not ” do not fire until there is occasion, but that his expression was, ” do not fire, for there is no occasion.” In this turn of expression there is a strong difference ; but the entire weight of evidence is against him. The Court has been particular upon the point, and every witness has sworn particularly to the expression which brings this prisoner to the crime of murder as its immediate instrument & adviser. You heard the unhappy man who was murdered among you say that he was a district constable ; you also heard him require you to give yourselves up to him ; you, Brown and Ford, it is melancholy to remark, saw repeatedly the prisoner Buckley turning round and levelling his piece at his pursuers ; and at length you heard the explosion ; one of you, that is Timothy Ford, having repeatedly told the actual murderer Buckley to keep a strict eye upon his nearest pursuers ; having also endeavoured to wrest the gun away from the man who had it, how was it possible to say for what purpose ; the whole of his conduct was against the slightest sentiment in favour of him. His Honor the Judge of the Court went to considerable length in the retrospection of an evidence which admitted, not of contradiction ; and performed the painful duty of passing sentence of condemnation with that degree of energetic sympathy which has ever distinguished him as a Gentleman of feeling.
The unhappy men were yesterday executed. ( Friday 9 April 1819 )
Two other unhappy criminals, John Green and John Brennan, received sentence of death at the same time, for the crime of breaking into a dwelling house in the day time, and nearly murdering its occupier. They were condemned with the others, under the dreadful stipulation that they might a few days outlive the persons with whom they were at the same time sentenced.
Williams “possible” daughter – Mary Ann COSGROVE – died 20 May 1857 is also in Portion 1 of the same cemetery.
Williams “possible” wife – Mary CROOKS – died 16 September 1842, aged 74, is also in Portion 1 of the same cemetery.
NSWBDM:
Death: V18191147 148/1819 William COSGROVE
Death: V18194290 2B/1819 William COSGROVE
[divider_dotted]
Colonial Secretary Index, 1788-1825
……
COSGROVE, William
1807 Nov 15; 1808 Apr 29
On statements of capital advanced by Gregory Blaxland in his concerns from 27 Dec 1806 to 14 Sep 1808 (Reel 6043; 4/1727 pp.195, 208)
COSGROVE, William. Of Nepean
1811 Jun 12
On list of persons to receive grants of land in different parts of the Colony as soon as they can be measured; at Bringelly (Fiche 3266; 9/2652 p.7)
COSGROVE, William
1812 Sep 12
Permitted to draw cattle from Government herds on credit (Reel 6038; SZ758 p.314)
COSGROVE, William
1816 Jan 16
On list of persons to receive grants of land in 1816 (Fiche 3266; 9/2652 p.23)
COSGROVE, William. Of Sydney
1816 Jan 16
On list of persons to receive grants of land in 1816 (Fiche 3266; 9/2652 p.27)
COSGROVE, William. Per "Rolla", 1803; Poundkeeper and Constable, Bringelly and Cooke
1810 Jan 9
Granted certificate of freedom (Reel 6038; SZ758 p.56)
1818 Oct 31
Gave evidence in case against William Clarke (Reel 6047; 4/1741 p.86)
1820 Apr 30
William Hill appointed as constable in place of William Cosgrove, deceased (Reel 6049; 4/1744 pp.318-20)
1820 May 12
Deceased. Re appointment of his successor (Reel 6007; 4/3502 p.22)
Service: From? ? 1816to 25 December 1817 = 1 year Service
Awards:
Born: 12 July 1768 London, Middlesex, England
Died on: 25 December 1817
Cause: Drowned
Event location: Hawkesbury River
Age: 48
Funeral date:
Funeral location:
Buried at: ( St John’s Cemetery ) Wilberforce Cemetery, Old Sackville Rd, Wilberforce, NSW
( approx. 600 mts east of the Putty Rd )
Grave Location: right section, Row 7, Plot 20
MATTHEW is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
The Sydney Gazette dated 3 January, 1818 reported that “On Friday last Mr. Matthew Everingham, settler and district constable at Portland Head, fell overboard from a Hawkesbury boat, and was unfortunately drowned. On the finding of the body an Inquest was convened, who returned a Verdict Accidental Death. He leaves a large family to deplore his premature destiny.”
Constable Everingham was still news well over a century after his death. The Barrier Miner of 4 June, 1929 reported the following story.
Matthew James Everingham arrived in Sydney on the ship Scarborough in 1788. In 1791 he was married at Parramatta to Elizabeth Rhymes by the Rev. Samuel Marsden. In the same year he was granted 50 acres of land, then described as “at the Ponds two miles N.E. of Parramatta“. Later he settled on the Hawkesbury River, on the farm afterwards known as Andrew Everingham’s Farm. He also became the owner of land at “Richmond Hills“, believed to be now in the Kurrajong district. He was appointed and remained district constable till his death in 1817. In that year he was drowned in the Hawkesbury River and was buried at Wilberforce, where his grave can still be seen.
At the time of his death the constable was stationed at Portland Head (Hawkesbury).
EVERINGHAM, MATTHEW JAMES (1769-1817), settler, was convicted in London on 7 July 1784 and sentenced to transportation for seven years. Shortly before his conviction he was employed as a ‘servant‘ by an attorney of the Middle Temple, hence the subsequent references to him as ‘attorney’s clerk‘. Allegedly ‘in great distress’ he had obtained two books by false pretences from the servant of another attorney, and these he had offered for sale.
Windsor and Richmond Gazette, NSW. Friday 5 February 1932 page 6 of 12 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/8914125?zoomLevel=3&searchTerm=Matthew%20James%20EVERINGHAM&searchLimits=
Windsor and Richmond Gazette NSW Friday 21 June 1929 Page 11 of 16
Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 – 1954),
Friday 23 August 1929, page 7
THE EVERINGHAM FORTUNE?.
NEWCASTLE CLAIMANT
NEWCASTLE has produced a claimant for the Everingham millions in Mr. Ernest Edward Chaseling, who declares that he is a direct descendant of Matthew James Everingham.
He says that his grandmother, Ann Everingham, was a daughter of Matthew. She married John Chaseling in 1818, and his father, Joshua Watford Chaseling, was a son of that union. Mr. Chaseling has two brothers and two sisters.
Matthew Everingham, history tells, was drowned in the Hawkesbury River before he could leave for England to claim £200,000. That was in the early part of last century. Interest on the money has accumulated until the sum of eleven million pounds is said to be now awaiting its rightful claimant.
Mr. John Chaseling, son of Thomas Chaseling I., who married Miss Ann Everingham, one of the three daughters of pioneer Matthew J. Everingham (obit. 1817), is interred, as also is his wife, Mrs. Ann Everingham Chaseling, in the private vault of Matthew James Everingham II., which is situated at ‘Knight’s Retreat Farm,’ near Sackville, on land specially set aside by the will of second Matthew James Everingham as a burial place for any of the Everinghams in descent, or kindred. — “MARMINGA.”
Matthew James Everingham (1769-1817), settler, was convicted in London on 7 July 1784 and sentenced to transportation for seven years. Shortly before his conviction he was employed as a ‘servant’ by an attorney of the Middle Temple, hence the subsequent references to him as ‘attorney’s clerk’. Allegedly ‘in great distress’ he had obtained two books by false pretences from the servant of another attorney, and these he had offered for sale.
He arrived in the First Fleet transport Scarborough and was employed by Assistant Commissary Zachariah Clark. On 13 March 1791 Everingham married Elizabeth Rymes of London, who had arrived in the Neptune on 28 June 1790 and in July he settled on a 50-acre (20 ha) grant near Parramatta. In December Watkin Tench noted that ‘the Attorney’s Clerk’ appeared to find the cultivation of his own land ‘not half so easy a task as he formerly found that of stringing together volumes of tautology to encumber or convey that of his neighbours’; but for once Tench was unjust. Far from being ‘out of his province’ Everingham succeeded as a settler. In 1800 he signed the address to Governor John Hunter setting out ‘the grievous and intolerable burdens’ under which the settlers at the Field of Mars had long laboured; soon afterwards he disposed of his grant to Andrew Hume and like many of the early grantees moved to the Hawkesbury where farming prospects were better. By 1803 he was well established at Portland Head, but in 1804 his home and farm buildings were burned by natives and he, his wife and servant were speared, though happily their wounds were not fatal. In 1816 he acquired 130 acres (53 ha) at Richmond Hill, and became a district constable. A year later, on 25 December 1817, he was accidentally drowned in the Hawkesbury. In a memorial to the colonial secretary in 1825 his widow claimed, apparently without financial result, that he had died while in the execution of his constabulary duties.
Everingham was survived by five sons and four daughters, and was buried in St John’s cemetery, Wilberforce. His career was not spectacular, but over a long period he discharged his duties faithfully and worked steadily as a pioneering settler.
Matthew married Elizabeth Rimes on 13 March 1791 and from that union they had 11 children.
1. Mary (23 December 1791–24 January 1792)
2. Sarah Elizabeth (9 June 1793–29 March 1874)
3. Matthew James (10 May 1795–22 November 1884)
4. William (6 August 1797–6 September 1859)
5. George (9 December 1799–15 April 1881)
6. Ann (7 November 1802–19 March 1849)
7. Elizabeth (10 June 1805–24 June 1879)
8. John Rymes (October, 1806–?)
9. James (25 December 1809–25 July 1895)
10. Maria (6 August 1811–24 February 1835)
11. John (20 July 1814–29 May 1875)
Matthew passed away Hawkesbury River, New South Wales∼
Matthew James Everingham (1768-1817), settler, was born in London on 25? July 1768, son of Joseph Everingham and his wife Mary.
He was convicted in London on 7 July 1784 and sentenced to transportation for seven years.
Shortly before his conviction he was employed as a ‘servant’ by an attorney of the Middle Temple, hence the subsequent references to him as ‘attorney’s clerk’. Allegedly ‘in great distress’ he had obtained two books by false pretences from the servant of another attorney, and these he had offered for sale.
He arrived in the First Fleet transport Scarborough and was employed by Assistant Commissary Zachariah Clark.
On 13 March 1791 Everingham married Elizabeth Rymes of London, who had arrived in the Neptune on 28 June 1790 and in July he settled on a 50-acre (20 ha) grant near Parramatta.
In December Watkin Tench noted that ‘the Attorney’s Clerk’ appeared to find the cultivation of his own land ‘not half so easy a task as he formerly found that of stringing together volumes of tautology to encumber or convey that of his neighbours’; but for once Tench was unjust.
Far from being ‘out of his province’ Everingham succeeded as a settler.
In 1800 he signed the address to Governor John Hunter setting out ‘the grievous and intolerable burdens’ under which the settlers at the Field of Mars had long laboured; soon afterwards he disposed of his grant to Andrew Hume and like many of the early grantees moved to the Hawkesbury where farming prospects were better.
By 1803 he was well established at Portland Head, but in 1804 his home and farm buildings were burned by natives and he, his wife and servant were speared, though happily their wounds were not fatal.
In 1816 he acquired 130 acres (53 ha) at Richmond Hill, and became a district constable.
A year later, on 25 December 1817, he was accidentally drowned in the Hawkesbury.
In a memorial to the colonial secretary in 1825 his widow claimed, apparently without financial result, that he had died while in the execution of his constabulary duties.
Everingham was survived by five sons and four daughters, and was buried in St John’s cemetery, Wilberforce.
His career was not spectacular, but over a long period he discharged his duties faithfully and worked steadily as a pioneering settler.
Birth 12? July 1768
London, Middlesex, England
Death
25 December 1817
Wilberforce, New South Wales, Australia
Cause of Death
drowned
Cultural Heritage
English
Religious Influence
Anglican
Passenger Ship
Scarborough (1788)
Occupation
convict
emancipist
farmer
police officer
Key Events
First Fleet (1788)
settler/indigenous contact
by A. J. Gray
From the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, 1966
Constable George was drowned near Parramatta, probably on Friday 30 May, 1816. Little is known of the incident other than the Sydney Gazette article of 15 June, 1816 which reported that Thomas George, a constable of Windsor, was unfortunately drowned near Parramatta during the late inclement season. He left Parramatta to return to Windsor on Friday 13th and was missing until Tuesday last, when his body was discovered in a water course, which it is supposed he had attempted to wade through, but was unhappily foiled in the attempt by the force of the current, which precipitating him into deeper water, every effort to save himself proved ineffectual.
At the time of his death the constable was stationed at Windsor.
[divider_dotted]
Joseph LUKER
| 23/10/2012
Joseph LUKER ( LOOKER / LUCAR )
also spelt Lucar and Looker
the first Australian police officer to be killed on duty
Late of ?
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ???
Rank: Constable with Sydney Foot Patrol
Stations: Sydney ( eastern side of the Settlement )
Service: From ? ? 1796 to 26 August 1803 = 7 years Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Born: ? ? c 1765 – 68
Died on: 26 August 1803 ( 15 years after the First Fleet sailed into Sydney Cove )
Age: 35
Cause: Assault – Murdered with a Cutlass
Event location: ?
Event date: 26 August 1803
Funeral date: ? ? ?
Funeral location: ?
Funeral Parlour:
Buried at: the Old Sydney Burial ground. ( the site of the present Sydney Town Hall )
Body exhumed ( to make way for the Town Hall building ) and, allegedly, moved to Rookwood Cemetery.
Rookwood having no known records of the body’s location nor that of the Headstone
Memorial located at: ?
[alert_green]JOSEPH IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
[divider_dotted]
FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
On the night of 25/26 August, 1803 Constable Luker was patrolling Back Row East, Sydney Town. His intention that night was to endeavour to capture a number of burglars who had recently committed several offences on homes in the area. In the early hours of the morning, during his patrol near Mary Breeze‘s dwelling (where an offence had been committed earlier that night) Constable Luker was set upon by a group of offenders and beaten to death. He suffered horrific head wounds and when found had his cutlass guard embedded in his skull. Another constable, Isaac Simmons, was strongly suspected of the murder however this allegation was never sustained, although he was almost certainly guilty. For the offences of stealing and Luker‘s murder Joseph Samuels was sentenced to death (commuted when three attempts to hang him failed) and John Russell was acquitted. Constables Isaac Simmons and William Bladders were both also found not guilty.
Australia’s first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette of Sunday 28 August, 1803 reported the story of Constable Luker’s murder and the ensuing enquiry in some detail, informing its readers that “Joseph Luker, a Constable, whose time of duty commenced at twelve o’clock, went off his post, as is conjectured, at or rather before daylight, with a design of examining the brush behind Back Row; but was shortly afterwards found on the edge of the road leading to Farm Cove, a breathless corpse, shockingly mangled, and with the guard of his cutlass buried in his brain”
The same newspaper reported on 6 November, 1803 that “A Grave-Stone has lately been erected over the head of the late unfortunate Luker, with an Inscription and Epitaph descriptive of the circumstances of his death”. The headstone, which was four feet (1.2m) in height, bore the following inscription (with an incorrect date of death).
Sacred to the Memory of
JOSEPH LUKER, Constable;
Assassinated
Aug. 19 1803. Aged 35 Years.
Resurrexit in Deo.
——————
My midnight Vigils are no more,
Cold sleep and Peace succeed;
The pangs of Death are passed and o’er,
My wounds no longer bleed.
But when my murderers appear
Before Jehovah’s Throne,
Mine will it be to vanquish there,
And theirs endure alone.
At the time of his death the constable was stationed in Sydney, at the eastern side of the settlement. He was an ex-convict who had been transported on the Atlantic in 1791, and had been a free man since 1796. He was the first Australian police officer to be killed on duty.
( Back Row East is now Phillip Street, Sydney and his beat included Mulgrave St and the site of the murder lies in the area bounded by Phillip Street, Hunter Street, Macquarie Street and Martin Place.)
[divider_dotted]
Luker ( ‘LUCAR’ ) was deported as a convict from Middlesex, England and disembarked at Port Jackson from the Atlantis in 20 August 1791 as part of the Third Fleet and aged around 26 years. It is also reported that Luker may have been aged 33 at the time of death.
Joseph ‘LUCAR‘ was tried at the Old Bailey along with James ROCHE on 8 July 1789 for stealing 84 lbs of lead from the home of George DOWLING on the night of 23 June 1789. The value of the lead was 10 shillings. Both ‘LUCAR‘ & ROCHE were convicted by Mr Justice Wilson, and sentenced to be transported for 7 years. Those that stole lead from roofs were known as ‘Bluey Hunters‘.
After spending 19 months in prison, they departed England on 27 March 1791 and arrived in Sydney on the Atlantic in August 1791.
In a Church marriage register, on the 3 January 1797, ( *it is reported ) the man himself signed his name as Joseph LOOKER.
*Night Watch in Sydney Cove by Louise Steding
Marriage Certificate of Joseph Looker & Ann Chapman, 3 January 1797
MORE than 200 years after Constable Joseph Luker was bashed to death while investigating a robbery near a Sydney brothel, the officer’s grave has finally been found again.
With the discovery of Constable Luker‘s original grave underTown Hall, the police have solved a Sydney mystery over the burial site of the first officer in Sydney to die on duty.
As the force prepares to commemorate fallen officers on Police Remembrance Day today, the story of Constable Luker’s final resting place can finally be told.
After years searching graveyard records, recent excavations under the Town Hall have revealed Constable Luker was buried in the Old Sydney Burial Ground, which was used from 1792 to 1820. Constable Luker’s grave was marked “assassinated“.
Records show the bodies of three policemen, including Constable Luker, were exhumed in 1869 when building began on the Town Hall site and they were interred at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney’s west.
“It is important to police as an organisation that we ensure we honour and pay respect to those who have served before us and that is why we have continued to search for Joseph Luker’s burial place,” Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said yesterday.
“Joseph Luker paid the highest price for protecting the citizens of the then fledgling colony. No organisation should ever forget the sacrifices of its staff.”
Sydney City Council found records showing another two officers, Constables Joseph Haynes and John Farmer, were buried on the Town Hall site but nothing is known about how they died.
Constable Luker was on a midnight patrol after a spate of burglaries near prostitute Mary Breeze’s brothel in Phillip St, then known as Back Row, east Sydney Town, in August 1803.
He had been beaten to death and his cutlass guard was wedged in his skull when his body was found near Macquarie St.
In one of the first scandals to rock the police, two of his colleagues were suspected but were never convicted.
A message to his killers was posted on his headstone at the Town Hall site telling them: “My midnight vigils are no more, Cold Sleep and Peace succeed . . . But when my murderers appear, before JEHOVAH’s Throne, Mine will be to vanquish there, And theirs endure alone.”
The 35-year-old was a convict who served seven years transportation before joining a fledgling police force.
Mr Scipione urged people to wear a blue ribbon on the right-hand side of their shirt today to show support for police. He said remembering lost officers was a way to offer continued support and comfort to their families.
“It means we will never forget their courage and sacrifice,” he added.
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), Saturday 23 May 1931, page 9
A STORY OF 1803.
“The Man They Could Not Hang.”
(BY W.R.S.)
The fatal legend “Death” appears with lamentable regularity at the foot of recorded proceedings of the Australian Criminal Courts in the concluding years of the 18th century, but as will later be shown, pardons and remissions were as frequently granted by subsequent Governors, as they were by Phillip at the beginning of the settlement in Sydney. Remembering the harshness of the Criminal Code, one is repelled by documents which denote the sacrifice of life for relatively trivial offences, but the extraordinary developments of the case recorded here, which are probably unique in actual human experience, bring it within the historic purpose of the present articles.
A BURGLARY AND A MURDER.
A long series of documented records of evidence before the Lieutenant-Governor in the Court of Criminal Jurisdiction led the writer to follow up the sequel to the trial of a number of persons charged with burglary and murder, which was narrated in the Sydney “Gazette” of October 2, 1803. Reducing the story of the crime from a pile of depositions in the possession of the Supreme Court, it appears that one night in August, between 7 and 8 o’clock, the dwelling house of a settler named Breeze was entered, and a desk containing jewellery, money, and valuable documents was removed. The matter was promptly reported to the Chief Constable, who stationed watchmen through the night in the bush at the back of the dwelling. One of the watchmen, Joseph Luker, came on duty at midnight, and at once set out on a patrol. Early in the morning the desk was found, and not far away the body of Luker, who had been brutally murdered. So fiercely had he been attacked that the guard of his cutlass was found imbedded in his brain. The gruesome discovery caused horror throughout the settlement. The Sydney Militia Corps were called to arms, and blockaded every avenue of escape from the town, and frantic search for the assassins began, every officer, military or civil, including the Lieutenant Governor, joining in the hunt.
Suspicion was at first attached to a man named Bladders, who was charged and held, but before long others were arrested. Many witnesses were examined, the Court adjourned from day to day, and excitement in the town reached fever heat.
EIGHT SENTENCED TO DEATH.
The arrest of Bladders followed a finding of a Coroner’s Court composed of twenty “very respectable Inhabitants.” The boon of trial by jury had not yet been conferred on the colony, though agitation for the reform was growing amidst the free population, and the tribunal charged with the final jurisdiction was still of the military type, created by letters patent at the landing. As the facts were sifted, suspicion swung steadily in the direction of four men, Joseph Samuels, John Ruffell, Bladders, and Isaac Simmonds, and the final solution appeared in sight when Samuels, while denying the murder, confessed the theft, and assisted the Government officials to recover portion of the loot which had been buried in the bush. Ruffell was also charged with the theft, but after trial was acquitted. The more serious charge of wilful murder was preferred against Isaac Simmons and William Bladders, but the Court were of the opinion that the evidence offered by the Crown was insufficient to convict, so that they also were discharged.
The sitting had been a sensational and protracted one, and the Court passed sentence of death on no fewer than eight persons. Immediately after the trial Governor King exercised his prerogative and remitted the penalty, in three cases, to transportation for life. Samuels and another man named James Hardwick, who had been sentenced to death for theft of clothing, were removed to gaol for immediate execution. The convictions took place on September 23, a Friday, and the executions were ordered for the following Monday. The gallows at the time had been removed from the original site in the camp to Castle Hill, and the condemned prisoners were conveyed from the city prison overnight to a gaol at Parramatta.
REPRIEVED UNDER THE GALLOWS.
An echo of the profound sensation created by the hanging of Samuels is to be found in a description written by a reporter of the Sydney “Gazette,” whose feelings are alternately swayed by horror, pity, and religious fervor.
“The two men were brought up to the scene of execution in a cart at 9 o’clock in the morning, and both conducted themselves with becoming decency. The chaplain, the Reverend Samuel Marsden, at once commenced his ministrations with Hardwick, while Samuels, who was a Jew, was being prepared by a person of his own profession. Upon leaving Hardwick, the chaplain walked over to Samuels, who was urged to purge his conscience at the last moment by revealing his part in the crime. Prominent in the multitude of spectators surrounding the hill was Simmonds, who had been brought in custody from George’s Head to witness the lawful end. At first Samuels declined to make any statement, declaring that he had taken an oath, in Hebrew, with Simmonds, while in prison, to preserve secrecy and silence. Yielding to persuasion, however, he afterwards stated that Simmonds had told him that the constable had surprised him with the desk belonging to Mary Breeze, and that he had ‘knocked him down and given him a topper for luck.’ Also, that the tragedy would not have happened if the whereabouts of the stolen money had not been concealed from him. It is not to be wondered at,” says the “Gazette,” “that testimony like that, proceeding from the lips of a dying man, whose only probable concern was to ease the burden of his conscience in the hour of death, should at once remove all doubt, if such remained, as to Simmonds’s guilt, and the feelings of the multitude broke forth in invective.”
At 10 o’clock the two criminals reascended the cart, and when just about to be launched into eternity, a reprieve for James Hardwick arrived, and was announced by the Provost Marshal.
THE ROPE BREAKS THREE TIMES.
The “Gazette” proceeds: “Samuels devoted the last awful minute allowed him to earnest and fervent prayer. At last the signal was given, and the cart drew from under him, but by the concussion, the suspending rope was separated at about the centre, and the culprit fell to the ground, on which he remained motionless, face downwards. The cart returned, and the criminal was supported on each side until another rope was obtained, in lieu of the former one. He was again launched off, but the line unrove, and continued to slip until the legs of the sufferer trailed along the ground, the body being only half suspended. All who beheld the man’s protracted suffering were profoundly moved.
To every appearance lifeless, the body was again raised and supported on men’s shoulders while the executioner prepared anew his work of death. The noose was adjusted and the body gently lowered, and when left alone again, fell prostrate to the earth, the rope having snapped off short, close to the neck.
PROVOST-MARSHAL IN TEARS.
The scene which followed numbed the writer’s powers of description. Emotion could no longer bear repression, and the Provost Marshal, he tells us, charged with humanity sped off to his Excellency’s presence to plead for mercy. The success of his mission completely overcame him. A reprieve was announced and, adds the “Gazette,” “if mercy be at fault, it is the dearest attribute of God, and surely in heaven it may find extenuation.” Samuels, it appeared, when the Provost Marshal arrived with the tidings, which diffused gladness throughout every heart, was incapable of participating in the general satisfaction.
The half-strangled prisoner slowly recovered and uttered incoherent remarks, and when fully restored to consciousness, by surgical aid, had no recollection of what had passed. The “Gazette” concludes its account: “And may the hateful remembrance of these events direct his future course.”
A test was made of one of the ropes which failed at the execution. It was found to be defective in the short section where the break occurred, the remaining length, even with two strands severed, being capable of supporting three 56lb weights.
( This remarkable miscarriage had an immediate effect, in ways which will be described in a further article on primitive punishments, suggested by a somewhat mysterious document discovered in the Court archives. )
Australia’s first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser of 28 August, 1803 reported the story of Constable Luker’s murder in some detail.
“ROBBERY.
On Thursday night, between the hours of seven and eight, the dwelling-house of M. Breeze, at the corner of Back Row, was broke into, and robbed of a Desk containing £24 or thereabouts in cash, viz. £12.10 in Dollars, 3 Guineas, 3 Pieces of Gold, value £2 each, and some Copper Coin; as also an Order on Captain Bishop, drawn by Captain Park in favour of Mary Breeze for £20 and an Agreement for the Purchase of her house.
The Robbery was effected by entering the premises at the back during her absence from home: the frame of the door was broke by means of a prise, or purchase; and although a quantity of wearing apparel and other property lay open in the bed-room, yet nothing but the desk was taken away. Information being immediately lodged with the Chief Constable, he posted watchmen in the back brush during the greater part of the night; the vigilance of one of whom, we have too ample reason to conclude, occasioned his most barbarous and dreadful murder.
Joseph Luker, a Constable, whose time of duty commenced at twelve o’clock, went off his post, as is conjectured, at or rather before daylight, with a design of examining the brush behind Back Row; but was shortly afterwards found on the edge of the Road leading to Farm Cove, a breathless Corpse, shockingly mangled, and with the guard of his cutlass buried in his brain; the sheath lay near the body; and his hat more than 20 yards distant. The wheel of a barrow was found near the spot, the carriage of which was traced to the yard of Sarah Laurence, at the opposite corner of Back Row, whose Skilling was inhabited by persons on whom suspicion of the Robbery had fallen. The carriage of the Barrow appeared to be stained with blood: from which and other circumstances William Bladders, alias Hambridge, was immediately apprehended, with several other suspected persons.
The velocity with which the necessary measures of Enquiry were adopted, could only be equalled by the Public Anxiety to discover the Perpetrators of the inhuman act. The New South Wales Corps were out under Arms, and blockaded the Town at every avenue, while the strictest search was made throughout; and all persons of suspicious character were thereby secured, and brought before the Coroner’s Inquest, which assembled between the hours of nine and ten.
John Harris, Esq. Surgeon of the New South Wales Corps, strictly attended the Enquiry, and inspected the Body; as did also Thomas Jamison Esq. Surgeon General, and Messrs. Mileham and Savage, Assistant Surgeons to the Colony.
On the head of the deceased were counted Sixteen Stabs and Contusions; the left ear was nearly divided; on the left side of the head were four wounds, and several others on the back of it. The wretch who buried the iron guard of the cutlass in the head of the unfortunate man had seized the weapon by the blade, and levelled the dreadful blow with such fatal force, as to rivet the plate in the skull, to a depth of more than an inch and a half…”
At the time of his death the constable was stationed in Sydney, at the eastern side of the settlement. He was an ex-convict who had been transported on the Atlantic in 1791, and had been a free man since 1796. He was the first known Australian police officer to be killed on duty, and as such he is listed in the official New South Wales Police Honour Roll.
[divider_dotted]
Joseph Luker (c. 1765 – 26 August 1803) (also spelt Lucar and Looker) was a Sydney foot police officer who was recorded as the first police officer to be killed on duty in Australia. It is Australia’s oldest cold case.[1]
Luker had been deported as a convict from Middlesex, England and disembarked at Jervis Bay from the Atlantis in 1791, as part of the Third Fleet after a voyage of 146 days. In 1796, Luker was declared a freeman and became a police constable.
On 26 August 1803, Luker was on a routine night patrol of Back Row East, now Phillip Street, Sydney, where a series of robberies had occurred.
When his body was found the next day, he had suffered 16 horrific head wounds, with the guard of his cutlass embedded in his skull.
Four men later faced court for his murder – Joseph Samuel, Isaac Simmonds, Richard Jackson and James Hardwicke. Three were acquitted, as were two fellow constables. Samuel was originally sentenced to death for his role in a robbery, but this was commuted to life imprisonment after three attempts to hang him had failed. Simmonds was strongly suspected of involvement in Luker’s death, but this was never sustained in court.
First Officer Killed on Duty in In the Line of Duty: A Special Supplement Commemorating National Police Remembrance Day and the Dedication of the National Police Memorial, Canberra Times, 29 September 2006, page 7 a&b.
