The Disbanding of the Native Police and Post-Script

Between 1850 and 1853, a number of changes were made to the duties of the Native Police Corps that led to its disintegration by the start of 1853. The first was the result of the general social upheaval caused by the onset of the gold rushes. The second was the assignment of the Native Police to guard duty at the Pentridge Stockade. But more importantly, the death of Henry EP Dana in November 1852 spelt the end of the Corps. The loyalty of the Aboriginal troopers was to Dana rather than to the government, and when he died, they left.

With the first discoveries of gold in 1849, the Native Police were assigned to guard over these sites and provide some kind of order. Later, members of the Corps acted as the first police on the goldfields of Ballarat, provided the first gold escort, and collected the new goldfield licences. From very early on, and before the 'official' discovery of gold in 1851, the Native Police were part of the gold rush story and the colonial government's attempt to keep the gold discoveries a secret.

Writing in February 1852, Dana reported how the gold rush, the 'extraordinary revolution of the times' as he called it, had led to a significant number of officers and troopers leaving the Native Police. He wrote to the Colonial Secretary that the Corps was in a 'very disorganized state' and it would take him at least three months to make it effective again. He identified low rates of pay and the lure of the goldfields as factors leading both commissioned and non-commissioned officers to leave the force in great haste. These departures diminished the morale of the remaining Aboriginal troopers. In addition, those who remained did not find the goldfields duties as satisfying as their earlier patrols roaming the Port Phillip District. The result was that many of the longest serving and best troopers also departed the Corps. An example of this was the sudden desertion of four troopers at Buninyong in October 1851. By leaving behind all their equipment, the troopers clearly signalled that they had finished with the Corps.[3]

By May 1852, Dana was reporting an even more desperate situation in the Corps, saying of those remaining or newly recruited that 'with few exceptions they are unwilling to remain in the service'. He observed that many of the men were working for the settlers or going onto the gold diggings. This showed that the Aboriginal troopers, who had made a successful compromise between traditional life and British culture, were now making a similar adaptation to the realities of the gold rush. Once again they had reassessed their options.

Dana's answer to this problem of retaining troopers was to employ more Europeans on higher wages, rather than recruiting more Aboriginal men. A few Aboriginal men would be employed only as trackers. By July 1852, Dana was reporting on the readiness of the new mounted patrol that had been requested for use in the Kilmore area.

Another case of trooper dissatisfaction occurred at the Pentridge Stockade. Troopers were assigned to guard duty at Pentridge between the time of its opening in December 1850 and August 1851. Part of the problem at Pentridge was a squabble between the Superintendent of the prison, Samuel Barrow, and Dana, over control of the detachment. But more to the point, the troopers did not like the work. Guarding lowly criminals, both during the day and at night, particularly during the cold winter months, was not a duty that Aboriginal men who held status in their own communities found satisfying. In July 1851, Dana reported that seven troopers had deserted the stockade, observing that both the work and the conditions were probably not to their liking.

Dana's death in November 1852 led to the final dissolution of the Native Police Corps. The last entry in the Nerre Nerre Warren Day Book on 20 January 1853 is suggestive of an unceremonious ending: 'A blackfellow arrived with his horse (police) to be turned out in the paddock'.

In January 1853 the Victoria Police Force was created. It brought together the various functions that had up until then been spread across a number of separate policing units, including the Native Police. Some ex-troopers sought to return to policing work after the Corps disbanded. One former trooper produced letters of recommendation suggesting he might be suitable for work in the Victoria Police Force as a horse groomer.

Among the ex-troopers of the Native Police, it is probably William Barak who is best known today. After leaving the Corps, one of the things Barak did was to work as an artist. His work (an example of which is shown on this page) is highly regarded today. Barak is also remembered as an important Aboriginal leader. In late 1881 and early 1882 he was one of the leaders in the revolt at the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station. On 19 February 1882 he wrote a letter to the Victorian government in which he argued that the Aboriginal people of the station should be allowed to manage their own affairs.

Aboriginal trackers were used occasionally by the police from the time the Victoria Police was set up, and began to be used more regularly from the 1880s. A group of Queensland trackers was engaged in the search for Ned Kelly. Following this the Victoria Police set up a permanent corps of Queensland Trackers for use in Victoria. Trackers were used by the Victoria Police until 1968.