|
The article below is from The
Police Association Journal, Issue 6 June 2003
Magazine of the Police
Association Vol 69 Victoria
Sitting alone at his one-man police station in Cobden in
1884, Mounted Constable James Murdoch Arthur surely
never imagined he would be remembered, let alone honoured,
in 2003, at
a Victoria Police 150th anniversary ceremony.
Yes, he'd helped capture Ned Kelly a Glenrowan, but now he spent his days
patrolling the south west Victorian township on his horse, breaking up
pub brawls and pouncing on illicit whisky distillers.
Yet on the 26th of March this year a his Camperdown Cemetery gravesite, his
descendants joined senior police for a special service.
Organisers of the commemoration hoped to mark the contribution of all
police by highlighting the service to law and order of one man
during the fledgling years of the state.
And Mounted Constable Arthur's career wasn't all easy.
He'd only been in the force two years when, known for his bush
and shooting skills, he was put on "outlaw duty" which meant he
spent six months hunting the Kelly gang, eventually helping to
bring Ned down at Glenrowan in 1880.
That just led to trouble for the young policeman.
Despite it being noted by a superintendent that he acted "bravely and
well" Arthur clashed at the siege scene with a sergeant,
who claimed Arthur had threatened to shoot him to stop him
firing indiscriminately in the direction of fleeing hostages.
Feeling his reputation at stake, Arthur went though the process
of begging to be examined by the police commission of inquiry.
Constable Arthur's 35-year career, which included stints at Geelong
and Camperdown, exemplified the difficulties facing mounted troopers at
one-man country stations in the late 19th century.
Cobden was no sleepy hollow. In 1892, the population of 800
swelled when 200 construction workers arrived to build the rail-
way line. Along with them came sly grog shanties, drunkenness
and fighting.
Police today confronting drunken brawls can call for back up
and have sophisticated communications equipment. Mounted
Constable Arthur had his horse, his wits and his strength.
Some of his duties would make a tough policeman of today
shudder.
He was responsible for recovering dead bodies from remote
areas, strapping them up with him on his horse and taking them
back to town. Perhaps worse, he was known to have captured
escaped mental patients the same way lugging them back to
security on the horse as well.
The owner of The Cobden Times had Constable Arthur forever
under scrutiny.
He complained that Constable Arthur was often not around
when needed in town, he was instead holed up in the forest
hunting illicit whisky distillers or sorting out trouble some miles
away on the railway line. Recognising one policeman cannot be
everywhere at once, he campaigned for a boost in numbers. a
call that went unheeded by the government.
One can only imagine Constable Arthur's circumstances one
S u n d ay in 1892, when he saw fit to place a dead body in the
Cobden lockup from midday until the afternoon of the next day.
The newspaper was on the attack.
"Had it been necessary to make an arrest on Sunday evening,
what would he have done with them?
We should like very much to know if the building has been
fumigated and properly cleaned out.
We unhesitatingly say it is not decent to place the dead in a
lockup, notwithstanding the fact that he was poor and friendless
while alive."
Such was the lot of the country one-manner.
Constable Arthur's bravery was, however, heralded in the newspaper
following a house fire.
The mounted policeman was forced to become chief fire officer,
which resulted in the following editorial.
"Too much praise cannot be given to Constable Arthur, who, at
considerable personal risk fought the flames in their stronghold,
tearing down the burning canvas, throwing water on the walls
and ceiling and all the time keeping as cool as a cucumber."
In 1914, Constable Arthur retired after 12 years at Camperdown
as a senior constable. The newspaper there heralded his service to
policing and called for some lasting form of recognition for him.
Well, now he has it. The March service came 79 years after his
death at the age of 70. There was one thing about Constable
Arthur though, he didn't like the limelight. It's a good thing he
didn't have a crystal ball.
 From the Warrnambool Standard. ( a selection only of the original text)
Police gather to honour a pioneering officer
March 27, 2003
|
|
|
Fred Don, left, Heather Rands and Arthur
Clarke gather at the grave of their ancestor, the late Mounted Constable
James Murdoch Arthur. (code 030326AM09)
Picture: ANGELA MILNE
|
SEVERAL descendants of one of south-west Victoria's pioneering police
officers yesterday gathered at the Camperdown cemetery for a remembrance
service.
Mounted Constable James Murdoch Arthur was born in Port Fairy and spent many
years as officer-in-charge of police stations in Cobden and Camperdown, where he
was buried in 1924.
The service, also attended by many senior police officers, was held to honour
Constable Arthur and to commemorate 150 years of Victoria Police.
.
- Report: DANIELLE PERKINS
|
