The following is a copy from the news report of the government inquiry into the conditions of the police services
in Australia in 1835.
This section of the report covers the district of Parramatta.
Reports for the remaining districts (Van Diemens Land, Maitland,Goulburn,Paterson,Argyle, Wollongong,
Patricks Plain,Yass Plains,Invermien etc) can be found at Genseek's Police History
The Committee (consisting of the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney General,
Mr Berry, H.H.M'Arthur, and Mr Bell ) was appointed to "..enquire into and report upon the establishment
and strength of the Police Force and all it's branches, to what extent
it may be expedient to maintain it, and the expense it will occasion, and
to enquire into the capacity and condition of the Gaols in the colony,
and to report what additional buildings appear to be required, and
the probably expense of providing them.." .
presented by © J.Fawcett (Genseek) 2002 |
Tuesday 9th of June 1835.
Samuel Wright, Esq, Police Magistrate at Parramatta,
brought in and examined:
The Parramatta district extends from Best's farm (Wiseman
Road) on the north,to Lansdown Bridge on the south, a distrance of
twenty two miles, and from Haslams Bridge on the east to Deans inn
on the west, fourteen miles. The circumference of the district is
about eight miles. Its population amounts to between five and six
thousands persons.
The present police force is composed of one chief constable,
one assistant chief constable, eighteen ordinary constables and one
scourger. Of the constables, one is stationed at Kissing Point,one
at Duval, one at the junction of the Windsor and North roads, one
at Prospect and one at Concord. The constables at Kissing Point and
Concord act also as lock-up keepers at these places.Two more are
employed at Parramatta, one as lock-up keeper, and the other as
office keeper,and in charge of the Records. The scourger is a
prisoner-of-the crown; and exclusively employed as such. This
distribution leaves one chief constable,one assistance chief constable,
and eleven ordinary constables for the duties of the town of
Parramatta and the rest of the district. The principal and heaviest
duties are escorts to and from Windsor, Penrith,Liverpool and Sydney
especially, serving summonses and subpoenas from the Supreme Court
and the Court of Quarter Sessions, and the nightly watch in the town.
I think the cases brought before the Parramatta Bench amount
to sixty a week on an average, and seven out of ten are convict
cases.
I consider that five additional constables are required;
four for the town of Parramatta, and one for the district of the
Field of Mars,besides the one now stationed there; as this district
is very populous, one constable is not sufficient for it. The
greatest distance that suitors or complaintants hvae to travel to
the Parramatta Bench does not exceed fourteen miles.
Six unpaid magistrates reside in the district, three of
whom are regular in their attendance at the Bench on Saturdays,
which is our Bench days.
I hold a police court daily; and,whenever the assistance
of a second magistrate is necessary, it is to be had without any
difficulty.
The salary of the clerk of the Bench is £150 a-year. He
is also the registrar of the Court of Requests. His duties of clker
to the Bench are so heavy that he is obliged to provide an
assistant at his own expense to enable him to perform them.
From three to five troopers of the mounted police are
generally stationed in the district; they are never employed on
any but police duties, and then only when required to act at a
distance.
Difficulty is always experienced in procuring suitable men
for constables; amongst those employed I find ticket-of-leave men
as efficient as any, but I prefer free immigrants of sober habits,
and steady natives, for the office.
My salary as police magistrate is £300 a-year, without any
allowance.
It is,I think,necessary to add that the jail at Parramatta
is a very old and ruinous building; so much so that I am of opinion
that a heavy fall of rain of no very long continuance would be
sufficient to bring it down.It contains three rooms:two for males,
and one (in a seperate yard) for females.The rooms for male prisoners
do not afford space enough for more than sixty, yet I have known
considerably more than one hundred to be crowded into them at the
same time. Its very great insecurity is another strong objection
to this jail. To remedy this evil, a military guard is now necessary
from which one sentry is obliged to be posted within it, and another
on the outside.
The watchhouse has hitherto been too small, but an additional
room is now being built,which will afford sufficient accomodation
for some years to come. "
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