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| North and South Brisbane by Conrad Martens 1852 (National Library of Australia) |
From the early days of free settlement, South Brisbane developed a
reputation as the tough end of town where the residents kept the constables
busy. Often the constables themselves ended up being drawn into the frequent
melees.
ASSAULTING THE CONSTABLES. - At the Police-office, on
Tuesday, Patrick O'Sullivan and John Penn, holding tickets-of-leave, were
brought before the Magistrates charged with having violently assaulted
Constable McBride in the execution of his duty, in South Brisbane, on Monday
evening last.
One of the defendants, Mr. Sullivan, with the big O',
which he insists on being placed before his patronymick, had been breaking
windows at the Brisbane Hotel, and had conducted himself in a very disorderly
manner when the landlady of that establishment gave him into custody.
Constable McBride, in obedience to his orders, was conveying
him to the lock-up, when the other defendant Penn, alias Payne, gave him, in
a half-whisper, a little gratuitous
advice, and told him not to go with the "traps[1],
or he would be confined to the watch-house."
The advice was too palatable not to be followed, and the
word "traps" seemed to have a magical effect on the "Tipperary
Boy", who instantly wrested the constable's staff from its legal owner,
and began to lay about him in the true Donnybrook[2]
style.
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| Caricature of a "Donnybrook" (A ‘Fair Fight.’ Samuel Lover, from “The Neighbourhood of Dublin,” by John Joyce. |
Both friends and foes came in for their share of the
blows, which he dealt about to all and sundry who either did or did not
interfere with him. Two other constables having come to the assistance of
McBride, the defendants were, after considerable difficulty, and some little
coaxing, apprehended and taken to the lock-up.[3]
Remarkably, given the harsh sentences usually meted out at the time,
the Magistrate chose only to impose a fine on the pair of miscreants. He also
declined to cancels their tickets-of-leave which would have been the usual
result of a convict falling foul of the law.
Give the severe labour shortage in the colony, this may have been
understandable. There was also, as The
Moreton Bay Courier observed, the distasteful connection with the Brisbane’s
origins as a penal colony.
The Bench considering that this was an aggravated case,
fined both defendants the sum of £4.10s each, and the Police Magistrate
intimated that their tickets-of-leave would be recommended to be cancelled.
We understand, however, that he has since altered his
determination. This is right and proper, for if the Magistrates think proper to
punish men then holding tickets-of-leave in the same manner as free persons, we
think that is all they should do; for it is high time, now that this is not a
convict colony, that many of the odious regulations affecting this class should
no longer be put in force.[4]
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| South Brisbane from North Quay in Brisbane, ca. 1869 (State Library of Queensland) |
A second all-in-brawl took place in South Brisbane later that year. This
time the constables were not part of the action.
Despite the detailed description of the melee given to the court, no
reason for the initial attack was given. It may have been a territorial
dispute, given that the victim was working on the construction of a fence at
the time.
Perhaps it was considered just part of the rough and tumble lifestyles
prevalent at the time, and not worth pursuing motives.
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| Colonial Police Constable ca. 1868 National Library of Australia |
Assault.-William A. Biggs charged Bernard Sloan, Charles
Sloan, and William Weston with assaulting him, on Wednesday the 26th ultimo.
The parties all reside in South Brisbane. It appeared
from the evidence of Michael Slavin, that, in the morning of the day in question,
he went to nail up some palings which separates his ground from that of Thomas
Boyland, and while in the act of doing so the defendant, Bernard Sloan, jumped
across the fence, knocked him down, and kicked him; the defendant Weston, to whom
Slavin appealed for assistance, urging Barnard Sloan to continue kicking him.
Subsequently, the complainant Biggs arrived, and
commenced dragging Sloan off Slavin, which induced the active hostility of
Weston, who struck Biggs, and a tussle ensued between them in the course of
which Weston came to the ground. Shortly after this, when Weston had again got
upon his legs, Mrs. Slavin came to the rescue, and assisted Biggs in dragging
Bernard Sloan off her husband.
While a boy went after the constable, Barney Sloan struck
Biggs two or three times Weston then called Charles Sloan, who caught Biggs by
the hair, and knocked him down. Afterwards Weston held Biggs by the hair while
the two Sloans kicked him, and a general melee seems to have taken place, until
the rumour that the constables were approaching induced the defendants to
desist.
Such is the substance
of Slavin's statement. The defendants severally denied its truth, so far as the
aggression was said to be on their side, which they attempted to shift to that
of the complainant and Slavin. They were sentenced, to pay a fine of twenty
shillings each, and to find sureties to keep the peace for six months.[5]
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| Cottages in South Brisbane ca.1868 (State Library of Queensland) |
And so the group of combatants returned to their cottages in South
Brisbane, sure to fight another day.
©
K. C. Sbeghen, 2013
[1] One
whose business is to ‘trap’ or catch offenders; a thief-taker; a detective or
policeman; a sheriff's officer. Now only Australian slang. (OED)
[2] A
scene of uproar and disorder; a riotous or uproarious meeting; a heated
argument. After Donnybrook, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, once famous for its
annual fair. (OED)
[3] The
Moreton Bay Courier Saturday 18 March 1848
[4] The Moreton Bay Courier Saturday 18
March 1848
[5] The
Moreton Bay Courier Saturday 5 August 1848
+tower+ca.+1835.png)
