Sergeant JIPP
Sergeant JIPP
Assault – Brawl
Hill End
1853
The sergeant was apparently killed in a brawl at a Hill End gold miner’s camp in 1853 and was buried on the spot at a place which later became the Hill End Racecourse. A stringybark tree at the site was blazed and inscribed with the sergeant’s name and the year of his death. Later, after white ants had begun to attack the tree, the author Harry Hodge placed a sandstone marker at the site with the inscription “Sgt Jipp, 1853”. This marker has long since disappeared.
Despite continuing research, no further details have so far been found regarding this incident. The only known record of this death appears to be a brief mention in Harry Hodge’s book The Hill End Story (1973). As such, there remains a serious degree of doubt as to the accuracy of this claim.
At the time of his death the sergeant was apparently stationed at Tambaroora (Hill End) and may have been a soldier attached to either the Gold Escort or the Mounted Police.