City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

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DAREBIN HERITAGE STUDY STAGE 286After 1847, the encampment numbers declined dramatically and the need for Thomas tooccupy the Protectorate Quarters was no longer there. Indeed in 1848 the whole protectoratesystem was dismantled and eventually replaced with the Board for the Protection of Aborigines.Thomas was, however, retained until 1860. Thomas and the Board lobbied for land to bereserved on the Merri Creek for Aboriginal people to use as a gathering place when they visitedMelbourne, but the proposal was rejected due to it being too close to a township (Clark &Heydon, 2004:58, 74).Wurundjeri headmen Wonga (Billibellary’s eldest son) and Barak lobbied by petition anddeputation for a reservation of land. Finally in 1863, a station was established at Corranderkand many people of the Woiwurrung language group moved there with the hope that thisplace would be their promised land (Ellender & Christiansen, 2001:112; Attwood & Markus,1999:41-5).6.2 PolicingAboriginal policing in VictoriaDarebin has seen two periods in which Aboriginal people contributed directly to policing inVictoria. The first was during the 1840s when the Native Police Corps Headquarters waslocated at the confluence of the Yarra and Merri Creek. While this location is outside thepresent boundaries of the Darebin municipality, the reason it was sited here was because at thetime the area contained an established series of Aboriginal encampments that extended wellinto present-day Westgarth. The second period was in the early and mid twentieth centurywhen Murri trackers from Queensland were employed by Victoria Police and based atBundoora.Native Police CorpsThe Native Police Corps was established in 1837, partly as a response to the need for law andorder in the fledgling colony, there being no European Police force, and also as an attempt bythe government to ‘civilise’ the men who joined the corps. The Aborigines viewed the Corps asa vehicle through which they could share in the power and authority of the Europeancolonisers and perhaps through which they could extend their influence within Aboriginalsociety. This is evidenced by the fact that all the headmen of the tribes around Melbourneserved with the force at some stage (Fels, 1988:3).The Native Police Corps was initially based at Narre Narre Warren with Charles de Villiers ascommandant. With the help of the Wurundjeri clan headman, Billibellary, a small force of menwas recruited. However, due to a number of reasons, especially the distance of the site fromMelbourne, the scheme failed. In 1842, it was re-established with Henry Dana as thecommanding officer. A location for the Corps headquarters near Melbourne was desired due tothe fears of European settlers along the Darebin Creek and Plenty River (Lemon, 1983:16).The confluence of the Merri Creek and Yarra River was chosen, and as mentioned above thissite was also occupied by an Aboriginal encampment and William Thomas’ Protectorate hut.The reason for locating the Corps at the Merri Creek was probably due as much to thepresence of the Native encampment as it was to the proximity of Melbourne, but thisrelationship seems to have flowed both ways. The size of the encampment dramaticallyincreased when the Corps arrived (Clark & Heydon, 1998:63), perhaps because of theadditional rations that were available, but also because of the increased proximity betweenfamily members that could be enjoyed. However, the more the numbers grew at theencampment the more the government wanted to disperse them and so the encampment sizeand extension northwards into the Darebin area was directly influenced by the presence of theCorps.It was during the Native Police Corps occupation at Merri Creek that Billibellary enlisted as anofficer. His position as a headman was accommodated and as such he was not required toundertake any duties. He didn’t participate in drills and did not have to travel outside his
VOLUME 2: THEMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORYcountry. He did, however, dress in the uniform in the evenings and perform his own drill,marching between his mia mia and Thomas’ tent. In 1844, the Corps relocated to Narre NarreWarren. At this time Barak enlisted as an officer, probably the most well known member of theCorps (Fels, 1988:235).In 1853, the Native Police Corps was disbanded. However, Aboriginal involvement with thePolice continued in the later nineteenth century.Aboriginal TrackersDuring the hunt for the Kelly gang following the Stringybark Creek murders in 1878, theVictoria police employed local Aboriginal men to help track the gang. Many of these mencame from Coranderrk and William Barak was among these. Six trackers were also broughtfrom Queensland to assist in the chase and this began a lengthy period of Victoria Policecontracting Queensland trackers (Presland, 1998:27). This formally began in 1881 and lasteduntil the 1960s.After originally being sited at Dandenong, the Victoria Police Stud Depot was moved toBundoora Park in 1931. The Trackers were accommodated at the stud farm in a two roomeddwelling, a former railway fettlers hut that still stands at the site today. The first two trackerswho stayed there were Norman Brown and Billy Roma (Presland, 1998:72).From that time to 1953, when the stud facilities were moved to Westmeadows, around 15Aboriginal trackers lived and worked at the Bundoora depot, including Tim ‘Tippo’ Powder,George Rigby, Bowman Johnson and Charles Williams (Presland, 1998:163-4). Their maintask was tracking criminals or lost people, however, they were also required to distribute forageto the horses, clean stables and perform livestock handling tasks as well as some domesticlabour with the stud master (Presland, 1998:96).The role was an isolated one, and became increasingly lonely as the Victorian Policecomplement of Trackers was dropped from two to one. The personal activities of the Trackerswere generally heavily circumscribed by the force. The men generally lived by themselves asrequests for wives or family to move to Victoria were generally denied by Victoria Police,although Charlie Williams’ wife and daughter lived with him at the Bundoora depot for a briefperiod, but this was an exception (Presland, 1998:121).It is not known whether any of the trackers had connections within the broader FitzroyAboriginal community, but it is known that trackers such as Tim Powder would often spendtheir off-duty day at favourite hotels in Fitzroy (Presland, 1998:121). Trackers also regularlyhiked into Reservoir for their shopping. Jeanne Primmer, who grew up in nearby Reservoirremembered:Also when we swam in the creek, the black trackers from the Police Paddock in Bundoora used tocome across on the stepping stones as we called them. They’d be all dressed in their best clothes togo to Reservoir for their shopping. They didn’t speak to us and always crossed quietly on the stonesas we were swimming (Jones, 1994:89).Maintaining law and order in DarebinDarebin’s first police station was opened in 1854 in temporary quarters on the Police Reservein Walker Street in the Township of Northcote. A bluestone police station and residence wasbuilt in Walker Street in 1861. It was designed under the Public Works Department’s ChiefArchitect, William Wardell. The police station highlights the government’s attempt to makethe township, now Westgarth, the centre of the Northcote district. However by this stage themain settlement was already at Rucker’s Hill. The police station remained in use for thirtyyears and continued as a police residence until 1938. In 1891, a new red brick police stationwas built in the centre of Northcote, in James Street, just around the corner from the CourtHouse (Lemon, 1983:50, 96, 104, 112; Butler, 1992).Many years later, a former army drill hall in Green Street Westgarth became the headquartersof Victoria’s Police Bands.87
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City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

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