Royal Commission report day 30 page 11
The Royal Commission evidence for 15/6/1881
(see also introduction to day 30)
[[../../people/peN_P/oconnorPinsp.html|'Insp Stanhope O'Connor]] ' giving evidence 11791 He objected on the first occasion to your only taking two, is that it?— No; when I came, sitting in the office with him, he said, “Now, O'Connor, what is the way you work?” I said, “Well, sir, I would like to take two white men, Victorian constables; I would like them for watches at night. I can trust everything to my boys with that one exception, and they are no good for that.” “Why,” he said, “you take two men, you do not know what kind of men those outlaws are. If you leave your horses anywhere, they will turn round and hamstring or shoot your horses. You must not think of such a thing. I would not allow it. You must take not less than six or seven men.”
11792 Then, from the first, he did that?— That was the day before we started out. And then he said to me, “Whenever you leave your horses, it would be advisable to leave a couple of those men with them, and mind, O'Connor, you go out in full charge of the whole party.” Turning round to Mr. Sadleir, he said, “Mind, Sadleir, although you are superintendent of police, you are not over O'Connor.” That has reference to the first party, and the other parties were just the same. The first time I ever heard Captain Standish breathe a word about our uselessness on account of the size of our parties was after this quarrel. I did not hear it officially, but I heard it reported.
11793 How long was that ago?— This would be about a couple of months after Mr. Nicolson went up to take charge. I heard it reported, “Standish is trying to get the men without O'Connor. He would like to break them up. He says it is no use trying to work with such a large body of trackers, a couple would be enough, and that O'Connor will not allow his men to work without himself.” This was just the report that I heard at this time. I wish to state to the Commission that I never did refuse to allow my men to be worked with or without myself. Captain Standish has, without consulting me, actually sent up from Melbourne for me to send two of my men down to Sandhurst for work, and I have done so without a murmur. The only objection I had was to separating the men permanently; and my opinion was that it was simply done to show that my services were no longer of any use, because the moment my men were I distributed over the country I could not supervise all of them, and I took that as what his idea was.
11794 Then I understand the gist of your disagreement with Captain Standish is that you considered he was trying to circumvent you—to take the men away from you and to show that you were not required?— Exactly, to show that I was not required.
11795 And that he became more offensive after this private quarrel that you spoke of than he was before towards you?— Privately before he was always on friendly terms, but most insulting sometimes but still always kept up a friendly relationship between us—that is in private matters; but after this quarrel of course all private friendship ceased, and until the Glenrowan time I think I only saw him once for a few minutes when he came up to Benalla.
11796 In your report you say of the Glenrowan affair— “Mr. Hare and myself were considering the best course to adopt when Constable Bracken rushed down on the platform and gave us the information that the outlaws were in Jones's public-house. Mr. Hare and I ran up towards the house, he talking to me, and when at a short distance from the front of the place were stopped by a volley of bullets from its verandah;” did you go through the wicket gate that time?— No
11797 Where did you stop?— Well, I should imagine it was about five yards from the wicket gate, the railway side of the wicket gate, and I most emphatically state what I saw with my own eyes that Mr. Hare might have been in the wicket gate, but he was not through it, because there was no fence between him and me. I recollect no other men besides Mr. Hare, and simply knew him because he spoke to me— whether any other man was between—they were coming up and passing us probably. I could not mention any one man except Mr. Hare, he was speaking to me running up—that is how I knew who he was.
11798 There was no fence between you when he was wounded?— When the shooting first commenced and when he called out, there was no fence between him and me.
11799 Then you absolutely contradict those statements which have been sworn to?— I most solemnly swear that what I state happened within my own eyesight. I do not say he did not go through the gate after he was wounded, but when he was wounded he was at the gate or in the gate, but he was not through it, and I was five yards from him. I noticed him because he sang out to me—“O'Connor, I am wounded, I am shot in the arm, I must go back” —one after the other, and he turned back to the station I imagined.
11800 Did he pass you?— He went behind me, and that is all I know about him.
11801 Did you see him any more?— I swear solemnly I never saw him from that moment till I met him in the evening in his bed. He never came up to the fence where I was again.
11802 Then you assert it was almost simultaneous with the first firing he cried out “I am wounded”?— We had just replied. I had not time to load again. I was in the act of loading when he spoke to me, and he only addressed me on the first go off when he was passing behind me. I heard him speaking, I heard him say something about “wretches,” I do not remember any more than that. It must have been almost simultaneously with the firing, because I had not time to load my breech-loading rifle. I was in the act of loading when he spoke and I looked round at him, and he was then passing back to my rear. I was in no trench or drain, I was standing out in the open with the other men.
11803 Then you did not hear him at all cry out to cease firing?— I most solemnly swear nobody ever called out “Cease firing” until I did. After that it was taken up all along the line. What made me sing out that was I heard the women, and that was the first intimation I had of there being anybody in the house except the outlaws.
11804 Were you near enough to see whether he reloaded?— I was five yards away from him.
11805 You would notice the action if he had reloaded?— I noticed the fire of his gun, and before I could load again he spoke to me, and I had fired the same second as his bang, and he sang out, “O'Connor, I am wounded,” and turned round with his back to me and commenced to walk down to the platform, and he never loaded his gun I swear, in my sight.
11806 He could not have loaded it there?— Not while he was with me. I can hand you in the statement of Rawlins at the time where he states that he had the gun immediately Mr. Hare was wounded.
11807 And he carried it to the platform?— Yes.....
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