POLICE

A policeman watches as the Inn starts to burn.

The Victorian police were also known as 'The Traps'. Many of the police in search of the Kelly gang were on horseback and as such were called 'Troopers'.

The police involved in the siege at Glenrowan were from at least five areas including, Queensland (trackers), Beechworth, Wangaratta, Benalla and our lonely officer at Glenrowan itself.

Two policemen standing beside the Inn.

There were only a handful of police at Glenrowan during the beginning of the siege and the gang could have either escaped or taken them on with greater effect by calling on the many sympathisers who were close by.

The police had a few rogues amongst their ranks and a couple of good guys as well. The Royal Commission inquiry found that the police involved had much to answer for. Two even wrote books to justify what happened, Supt Hare and Sadleir. We often read in books about the Kelly story, that the police were the cause of the 'outbreak', that they were dishonest etc. It was also said that Ned had a burning hatred for the police of his time. What should be remembered is that after Glenrowan, men who joined the police force included descendents of the Kellys (King) and the Lloyds.

So what was it like to be a policeman in 1880?

In Ned's day, being a member of the Victorian police force meant one was part of a poorly
paid and overworked occupation.
They were paid pathetically low wages and had to work under all kinds of weather conditions.
They were only entitled to 12 days off per year, working Sundays and all public holidays. One
would have to ask the question, why would one want to become a policeman? There appeared
to be no shortage of applicants, either.
Is it any wonder that policemen were happy to take money from the Stock Protection Society?
Equally, we should not be surprised that they eagerly soaked up the 'blood money' from the
Kelly Reward board.

According to Police Historian Robert Haldane, the Victorian police were the lowest paid in
the colony. He said that the combination of the high cost of living ,low wages and a requirement
that your uniform had to paid for, prompted the recommendation that a policeman should not
marry for 5 years in order to cover these costs. (even the army paid for uniforms)

By regulations, a policeman had to be up and at it by 05:30 am and on parade by 06:00am.
If they were not on night duty, then they had to be in bed by 10pm.

The single or unmarried policeman faired somewhat better than his married counterpart.
A single chap could live free in a 'barracks', such as the one provided by Ann Jones after the
siege. A married man had to cover all these costs and add to that the cost of providing for
a family. The only advantage of being married was that perhaps you were not on call in the same
way as a single 'live in' policeman. (unless you were living in police accommodation such as Bracken
lived in Glenrowan and were then subject to being on call, or in his case, being 'bailed up').

When a constable was transferred, be it at his request, or against his wishes, he had to cover
removal costs alone. Officers (of rank) however received an allowance for this. Rank had its
privileges and this was but one of them.

Unfortunately, a situation existed that the more efficient the policeman, the more chance he
would be transferred about regularly.

In order to save money whilst hunting the Kelly Gang, constables were transferred to the
locality of the search, rather than pay them traveling allowances, the hierarchy however did
not miss out on such allowances.

In the 1880's, policemen were not paid for overtime. If injured a policeman had to have his
medical treatment at the hospital in Melbourne. This was not only difficult for the married
man who was stationed miles away, he also lost half of his wages to pay for his stay!

Under such conditions as stated above, it is a wonder anyone wanted to 'serve & protect',
yet many did and did a good job under often harsh and trying circumstances. Sure they
had some 'underachievers', but in the main they did their best.

Above, the blurry image of a policeman taking cover behind a tree at Glenrowan.