Acting Sergeant James McDONALD Exposure Sydney 24 June, 1851 The acting sergeant was described as having died from ‘indisposition arising from cold in the discharge of his duties’ after ‘a protracted illness’(probably exposure). It was later also recorded that he had ‘died from illness contracted in the service’ and had ‘died whilst serving in…
Trooper Peter WHITE Illness Muswellbrook 27 December, 1844 On 27 December, 1844 Trooper White shot himself in the Muswellbrook Mounted Police Barracks. Apparently he was considerably upset following the earlier escape of a prisoner (then a criminal offence for police). Two days earlier, on Christmas Day, the officer-in-charge of the Mounted Police at…
Constable John CONNELL Assault – Baton Sydney 23 November, 1841 On the day of his death Constable Connell attended a street brawl outside the Bee Hive Public House in Sydney. The brawl involved (and was probably started by) one Patrick O’Neill (alias Neale or Kelly), described by the Sydney Morning Herald at the time…
Constable William DUNN Shot Berrima 26 November, 1839  On 15 November, 1839 the constable was shot to death at Berrima while making an arrest. At the trial of Thomas Leary, alias Sutton, in April 1841 witness Constable Cassidy told the court that “on the day of the incident, myself and the deceased (Dunn) were…
Constable Daniel RILEY Drowned Goulburn September, 1836 The Sydney Morning Herald of 29 September, 1836 reported that “A constable named Riley, at Goulburn, was drowned some days since in the Wollondilly. The unfortunate man is supposed to have been intoxicated, and in that state stripped himself and went in to bathe. The body was…
Constable Charles WALTON Shot Windsor 29 November, 1832 On Thursday night, 29 November, 1832 District Constable Walton and Robert Roberts (presumably also a constable) were attempting to capture bushrangers who they had been told were in their area. Walton had disguised himself and was hoping to tempt the bushrangers to bail him up. Unfortunately…
Constable Robert McGEE Drowned Patrick’s Plains 19 March, 1832 Constable McGee was appointed a constable at Patrick’s Plains (Singleton) on 1 February, 1832 and was drowned a few weeks later while attempting to swim across Fal Brook. He had arrived in Australia as a convict aboard the ship Agamemnon in 1821, having been sentenced…
Trooper James STEPHENS Shot Bathurst 29 November, 1830 Mounted Trooper Stephens (formerly of the 39th Regiment) was shot at Bushranger’s Hill, near the Abercrombie Caves, near Bathurst, during a shootout with a party of bushrangers known as the “Ribbon Gang” or “Ribbon Boys”. He succumbed to his wounds a few weeks later. No other details…
Constable Andrew KENNY Stabbed Parramatta 4 April, 1830 On 4 April, 1830 Captain Lethbridge of Parramatta had reported to Constable Kenny that one of his assigned servants (a boy convict named Daniel Smith) was absent without leave. Kenny went in search of the boy and soon spotted him in the bush in the company…
Chief Constable Joseph YATES Stabbed Parramatta 14 October, 1818 In early October, 1818 a settler named Christopher Ward, who lived on the Liverpool Road near Parramatta, had a bag of sugar stolen from his home by an employee named Peter Aldamos (alias Peter Adams). On 14 October Ward was searching for Aldamos when he…