Yvonne TUPMAN
Where are they now ?
Yvonne TUPMAN aged 103 & living in Sydney
Yvonne TUPMAN nee ROBERTSON
aka Yvonne ROBERTSON, Von
Widow of Harry TUPMAN NSWPF # 5450
Mother to Judge Robyn TUPMAN
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # Police Woman # ???
Most probably P/W 0005 or 0009
Rank: Commenced Training at ? Academy on Monday ? ? ?
Special Constable – appointed ? ? ?
Final Rank: ?
Stations: Newtown, School Lecturing, Central ( 1 Division )( 1960s ),
Service: From ? ? 1945 to 12 November 1949 = 3+ years Service
Police Women were Forced to Resign upon being Married. Yvonne & Harry were Married on Saturday 12 November 1949.
Retirement / Leaving age: = ?
Time in Retirement from Police: ?
Awards: No Find on Australian Honours system
Born: Saturday 3 October 1920 in Orange, NSW
Yvonne TUPMAN nee ROBERTSON
aka Yvonne ROBERTSON, Von
Hospital: Burwood, NSW
Last heard of:
Memorial / Plaque / Monument located at: ?
Dedication date of Memorial / Plaque / Monument: Nil – at this time ( October 2022 )
Where are you now ?
PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal@AustralianPolice.com.au
Any additional INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE & THEIR CAREER would be appreciated.
May they forever Rest In Peace
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AustralianPolice.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/NSWFallenPolice/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NSWFallenPolice/
Australian Police YouTube Channel
Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 – 1954),
Sunday 2 October 1949, page 5
POLICEWOMEN LEAVE THE FORCE TO WED
FIVE of the NSW’s force of 14 women police have resigned to get married this year.
One policewoman has been married and four others have become engaged since January.
A senior police officer said: “These marriages are smashing our organisation of women police.
“Wedding bells are beginning to ring like an alarm clock around Police Headquarters.”
Amy Millgate, first uniformed policewoman appointed, said: — “You can’t arrest love, nor can you imprison affection. Right qualities “Anyhow, my Bruce ( First-class Constable Bruce Taylor ) says I would not have been appointed if I had not had a sense of responsibility, with tact, understanding and other qualities needed for successful marriage.
“When a fellow talks like that — well, that’s a proposal.”
Other uniformed police women said that there would he more marriages if it were not for the housing shortage.
Here is a record of how marriage is shattering the women’s police force: — Lorna Fraser now married to Detective Harry North, of Wollongong.
Yvonne Robertson ( Beamish Street crossing, Campsie ) to be married to Plain-clothes Constable Harry Tupman, of Newtown, on November 12.
Nancy Baber ( Cleveland Street School ) to be married to Constable Pat Smith, of Regent Street station, on November 19.
Eva Boyd ( Sydney Girls’ High School ) to be married to Constable Bill Dickson, of Darlinghurst division, in December.
Amy Millgate ( Leichhardt Public School ) to be married to First-class Constable Bruce Taylor, of Central prosecuting staff, early next year.
Main qualifications for a uniformed policewoman are: 25 years of age or over; 5ft 6in; Intermediate Certificate.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article229226093
Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954),
Saturday 4 August 1951, page 44
DEATHS
ROBERTSON William – August 2 1951 at Military Hospital Concord dearly beloved husband of Christina and loved father of Yvonne (Mrs Tupman) Robert, Eric and Vyrna (Mrs Blanch) aged 66 years
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article18216328
Yvonne was interviewed just prior to her 100th birthday by Donna VALANTIS, Diversional Therapist, of the Presbyterian Aged Care, Drummoyne, NSW
The Difference Makers – Celebrating Women Living In Aged Care
The interview with Yvonne commences at 6min 26sec mark
Yvonne is from a family of Service,
Her father, William ROBERTSON, served in the First AIF in France, Somme Valley and was wounded twice at Pozieres before returning to Australia.
Her brother, Bob, served in the Second AIR in the Pacific area and her other brother, Eric, served in the RAAF.
Her husband, Harry, served in the RAAF in World War 2.
Yvonne herself was in the Australian Women’s Army Service ( AWAS ) in Sydney and Bathurst for four years before joining the NSW Police.
Source: Ashfield RSL.
Seated: ( L – R ) Yvonne ROBERTSON / Yvonne TUPMAN, ?, ?
Seated: ( L – R ) Yvonne ROBERTSON / Yvonne TUPMAN, ?, ?
7 October 2020
Yvonne Tupman at PAC Drummoyne – Minnamurra just celebrated her 100th birthday. Minnamurra now has 5 centenarians living at the care home. Happy Birthday Yvonne!
23 November 2020
NSW Police Force’s first policewoman Yvonne Tupman turns 100
SHE MAY be the most senior serving policewoman currently in the NSW Police Force, but Assistant Commissioner Karen Webb still had some tips to pick up when she caught up with trailblazing centenarian Yvonne Tupman.
Mrs Tupman, who turned 100 last month, was one of the state’s first female police officers, donning the uniform 75 years ago in 1945.
Assistant Commissioner Webb visited the Mrs Tupman at her home for coffee and cake to congratulate her on turning 100 and to hear about the pioneering route she carved as one of the first policewomen in the state.
‘It’s not lost of me the sacrifices and challenges that my predecessors, like Mrs Tupman endured in the past, in building the foundations for policewomen today,” said Assistant Commissioner Webb, who earlier this year became the state’s first female Traffic and Highway Commander.
Born in Orange in 1920, Mrs Tupman (nee Robertson) was 25-years-old and fresh out of the army when she joined.
Along with her female colleagues, Mrs Tupman wasn’t allowed to ride in the police cars or to be involved in more serious police work.
The one duty the women were allowed to perform – directing traffic – sparked great controversy because it was thought the female officers would distract motorists and cause accidents.
She along with just two other policewomen were the first female officers in the state to be tasked with controlling traffic on Sydney’s busy streets, sometimes having to deal with drivers who were reluctant to take instruction from women in uniforms.
Other duties assigned to the first policewomen included attending schools to warn children about speaking to strangers and escorting children to court for various reasons.
“Women were never included in murder (cases), unless they took you along and you took notes (for the male officers),” she told the Central Western Daily.
Stationed first at Newtown in Sydney’s inner-west, Mrs Tupman then returned to the Central West to work at Bathurst station.
It was around this time that she met and hit it off with fellow officer, Harry Tupman. When the two were married, Mrs Tupman was forced to resign from the police force. Mr Tupman went on to become a celebrated detective.
“They didn’t want to once you got married,” she explained. “I had my daughters, that was the most important thing in my life”.
Joining the NSW Police Force in 1987, Assistant Commissioner Webb began her career at Castle Hill Police Station. She served as chair of the 100 years of Women in Policing Committee and was integral in its commemoration celebrations in 2015.
NSW Police Force’s first policewoman Yvonne Tupman turns 100 | The Senior | Senior
One of NSW Police’s first women officers shares her memories of time on the force
Trailblazing female cop Yvonne Tupman joined NSW Police 75 years ago, when life on the force was very different for a woman. Despite being limited to duties such as note-taking and traffic directing, Mrs Tupman loved her time on the beat.
Yvonne Tupman is celebrating a double milestone — 100 years of age and 75 years since she was one of the first women to join the NSW Police.
But the work Mrs Tupman was allowed to do when she joined the force in 1945 — aged just 25 and fresh out of army service — was very different to what women today can expect.
For a start, women police officers were forbidden to investigate criminal cases, with their duties generally limited to traffic direction, advising children of the dangers of speaking to strangers, and “taking notes”.
“Something like covering a murder case was forbidden,” said Mrs Tupman’s daughter Robyn, who is a District Court judge.
“I remember asking mum why she joined the force. I assumed it was to cover serious trials. But she said: ‘No, we weren’t allowed’. Women police were only allowed to accompany the male officers and possibly take notes.
“They were sometimes allowed to direct traffic which, in once case, actually made the papers because of the fact that two women were able to do so without causing an accident.
“That was actually the story. The fact that one male driver remarked that they didn’t tangle the traffic.
“It’s so ridiculous it really makes you giggle.”
Despite the limit on the duties they were permitted to carry out, Mrs Tupman would begin an impressive career, starting in Newtown in Sydney’s inner west before taking up a post at Bathurst.
However, it was there she would meet her eventual husband Harry and, as was the protocol with women officers, she was forced to retire.
In a video interview she gave in 2019, Mrs Tupman recalls the sadness of having to abandon her career because she had chosen to wed.
“My mother always said that the police force gave her an enormous sense of self-esteem and I know she enjoyed it very much. Which made retiring so difficult for her,” her daughter said.
However, her brief career would have a profound effect on her daughters Robyn and Lyn, as well as on the lives of her grandchildren.
Robyn Tupman was recently honoured as a life member of the Women’s Lawyers’ Association of NSW and assists the Women Barristers Forum.
Her sister Lyn is an accomplished special needs teacher.
Yvonne Tupman: One of NSW Police’s first women officers turns 100 | Daily Telegraph
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
19 October 2022
