It's time for - The Police Association Victoria

In thEIR hONOur
In Their Honour
Cadet Edward P.Thompson
Wounded September 26, 1853 Died December 4, 1856
Bushrangers roamed the countryside
when 22-year-old Edward Thompson
joined the Victoria Police Force as a
cadet in January 1853, the Force’s first year.
In September 1853 bushrangers Henry
Bradley and Patrick O’Connor escaped from
Van Diemen’s Land
and forced two
seamen to land them
near Cape Schanck,
an area still known
as Bushrangers
Bay today.
When Bradley and
O’Connor murdered
a man in Brighton a
reward of £100 was
offered and the Force
was put on full alert.
They were tracked
to Gisborne where
a police party was
formed that included
Cadet Thompson. The
escapees continued
their time on the run
attacking people at a
station on Saltwater
River and another
near Kilmore.
Thompson and his
patrol arrived at the
Kilmore station only
minutes after Bradley
and O’Connor fled.
Minutes later a lone
rider approached.
The police thought
this man was a
member of the gold
escort but when
they went to speak
to him they realised he was one of the
bushrangers. Two shots were fired, one
hitting Edward Thompson in the chest.
During the siege that followed Cadet
Thompson lay in desperate need of medical
attention. Two men were sent for the doctor
who arrived the next morning. The bullet had
passed through his lung and Thompson was
seriously ill.
As Thompson began his recovery at the
Kilmore property Bradley and O’Connor
were captured. They both admitted their
guilt and were taken to Melbourne to stand
trial. Within three weeks they appeared
before the Melbourne Criminal Court, were
convicted and sentenced to death. Their
execution took place on double gallows at
Melbourne Gaol a week later. A large crowd
gathered to witness th double hanging.
Cadet Edward Thompson never recovered
his health and finally died from consumption
on December 4, 1856.
The inscription on his headstone reads:
Sacred to the memory of
Edward P. Thompson Esq
Sub-Inspector of Police
Died December 4th 1856
After a long and painful
Illness of the effect of a
gunshot wound received
when in pursuit of some
notorious bushrangers.
Aged 24 years
This stone is erected to his
memory by his brother officers of the
Victoria Police Force.
The grave had fallen into a state of disrepair
and was restored in 1992, with funding
provided by The Police Association.
Since its inception, 30 members of the
Victoria Police Force have been murdered
on the job ... feloniously slain. Their lives and
deaths are commemorated on The Police
Association’s Honour Wall.
The Police Association Victoria Journal May 2011
17