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1789: The Birth of Policing in New South Wales

On 8 August 1789, Governor Arthur Phillip authorised the formation of a nightwatch at Sydney Cove, drawing eight of the best-behaved convicts from the colony’s population. The Royal Marines, originally tasked with policing duties, had proved unwilling to discipline their fellow convicts, forcing Phillip’s hand. A free settler named John Smith had earlier been appointed as the colony’s first constable, becoming the first recorded police officer in Australia.

The Night Watch was joined by a Row Boat Guard, also composed of selected convicts. The Night Watch was replaced by the Sydney Foot Police in 1790 and evolved into an organised force that endured until the amalgamation of all New South Wales colonial police forces in 1862.

NSW Police Force recruits training with horses revolvers drill and gear

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Australia Colonial History NSW Police Prison Sydney

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1796: First Fleet Convict John Finlow Hanged in Sydney for Murder

John Fendlow (c.1768-1796), a tinsmith convicted at the Old Bailey in 1783 for highway robbery, arrived in Sydney with the First Fleet in January 1788. After time on Norfolk Island, he received a 30-acre land grant at Mulgrave Place in November 1794 and worked as a settler in the Hawkesbury region with his partner Eleanor Byrnes.

On 4 July 1796, Fendlow shot dead his servant David Lane after Lane attempted to assault Byrnes. Byrnes testified that all three had been drinking on a boat that evening, and that Lane had come after her in the house. Fendlow was hanged in Sydney on 8 August 1796.

HMS Mercury after 1809. By William Huggins. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

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Australia Convict History Execution Hawkesbury Murder NSW Sydney

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1963: The Great Train Robbery Nets 2.6 Million Pounds in a Single Night

In the early hours of 8 August 1963, a gang of fifteen robbers, led by Bruce Reynolds, stopped the Glasgow-to-London Royal Mail train at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, Buckinghamshire. Acting on inside information from a senior Royal Mail security officer known only as ‘The Ulsterman’, they had tampered with trackside signals to halt the train. Driver Jack Mills was struck over the head with a metal bar and suffered serious, lasting injuries. The gang made off with 2.61 million pounds, then equivalent to around 64 million in 2024 values.

The robbers hid at Leatherslade Farm, 27 miles from the scene, but police found the hideout. A Monopoly board covered in fingerprints proved to be their undoing. Gang members including Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Ronnie Biggs, and others were arrested and convicted. The ringleaders received 30-year sentences. The bulk of the stolen money was never recovered.

Great Train Robbery - Bank Holiday Windfall

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Buckinghamshire England Gang Organised Crime Robbery Trial UK

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1952: Jaroslav Koci Hanged at Fannie Bay Gaol for the Murder of a Darwin Taxi Driver

George Thomas Grantham, 42, one of Darwin’s best-known taxi owners, picked up two fares on the night of 17 April 1952 and never came home. His body was found two days later in scrub 13 miles south of Darwin, shot in the face and wrist. The two passengers, Czech migrants John Novotny and Jerry Koci, were intercepted near Duchess on a Queensland road, still driving the stolen cab.

At the inquest, Novotny told police: ‘Yes, I shot that man. I am sorry.’ Koci admitted being present at the shooting. Both were tried before Judge Kriewaldt in the Northern Territory Supreme Court. Novotny confessed to buying the rifle in Darwin two days before the killing. Jaroslav Koci was convicted and hanged at Fannie Bay Gaol on 7 August 1952.

Novotny and Koci under police escort for Grantham taxi driver murder

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Australia Darwin Execution Murder Northern Territory NT Trial

1789: The Birth of Policing in New South Wales

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1796: First Fleet Convict John Finlow Hanged in Sydney for Murder

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1963: The Great Train Robbery Nets 2.6 Million Pounds in a Single Night

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1952: Jaroslav Koci Hanged at Fannie Bay Gaol for the Murder of a Darwin Taxi Driver

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