Royal Commission report day 50 page 12

From KellyGang
Jump to: navigation, search

Story of the KellyGang - the Royal Commission Report

previous page / next page

The Royal Commission evidence for 7/9/1881

(full text transcription)

(see also introduction to day 50)

[[../../people/peN_P/nicolsonPAC.html|Ass Com Charles Hope Nicolson]] giving evidence

16901 Of the residents there?— Yes, and that it would be as well for me to be sent up again, Captain Standish did not send me back; he took no notice and made no remarks on the subject. You are also aware that I organized and formed the Glenmore station (I went up and selected the spot myself), which, if it had been kept up, would have checked if not prevented the Kelly outbreak. After the murder of Sergeant Kennedy and his party I was sent up to take charge of the pursuit of the Kellys , and I organized and sent out search parties to scour the country. In justice to Captain Standish , I must say that what I did then was done entirely on my own responsibility, as he gave me full charge of the pursuit and told me he would hold me accountable. At the time of the Euroa robbery I had worked so hard, being in want of leaders-in fact there was hardly a man there that could take us through the country, so that I had myself to go out and take a very active part in riding about with the men and camping out with them, instead of remaining at the principal points to wait for information and act upon it. Of course I had Mr. Sadleir head-quarters, he not being able to go out through being a convalescent at that time. I had been exposed so much during the previous six weeks that I became quite worn out with fatigue, and my eyes became so bad that I could hardly see, indeed for a time I was perfectly blind in one eye. When I came to town I went straight to Dr. Gillbee , my medical man, and he took me at once over to consult Dr. Gray , who after that attended me. I paid my own medical expenses. In fact, I was so eager in the matter that I never thought of sending my bill to the Government. The state of my health was no exception, as many of the men who had been engaged in the pursuit were knocked up from the effects of it and several had to go into hospital. As the Commission is aware, I was relieved by Captain Standish and Mr. Hare on the 13th December 1878 ; they greatly reinforced the police in the district, and took, in addition, seventy of the artillerymen to guard the townships, and also had the services of the black trackers from Queensland . The system of search parties scouring the country was continued by Captain Standish and Mr. Hare until the 3rd July 1879 , when I was ordered to again take charge of the Kelly pursuit. When I arrived at Benalla to relieve Mr. Hare ( Captain Standish having previously left the district), a coursing match was going on in which Mr. Hare was interested ( Mr. Hare was then on leave of absence). The consequence was that I saw little or nothing of him during the day, and it was only in the evening after dinner that I could get any conversation with him. I then found he had no news of the Kellys to give me beyond accounts of various search parties, they having gone out on slight or no information, which were in all cases fruitless. I found Mr. Hare had no information to give me, and I came to the conclusion that he did not then know if the outlaws were in Victoria or not, as Mr. Sadleir can tell you. Finding that the system of galloping after the outlaws was thoroughly exhausted, had entirely failed, and that the police were daily falling in public estimation, and were becoming disheartened, as the whole colony were sneering at their efforts, and that they were unable to obtain information themselves, I determined to endeavor to regain the confidence of the inhabitants, and to employ secret agents to get information upon which the police could act. The people were afraid to trust the police with information lest it should be acted on in such a way that the outlaws could discover from whom it came, which is a common thing in police experience. My first efforts were directed to find if the outlaws were in the colony at all, and then to find their haunts and associates. The force of police at my disposal was greatly reduced and the artillery corps removed entirely, so that 1 determined not to remove the police until I had definite information, so as to make the most of the men I had and lull, the gang into a false sense of security. The printed list of appearances shows how I gradually got to know of the movements of the gang, also the difficulties I had to surmount (owing to the extreme suspicion, bush knowledge, and wariness of these men) to bring about an encounter with the police; and I saw I had a task before me which would probably take as much time as had already been spent in the pursuit of the gang. I enjoined the police to avoid any appearance of Kelly hunting, to go about their ordinary police duties—serving summonses, warrants, &c.–but I kept my subordinate officers well posted in all information which was requisite for them to know. I sent out picked men as watch parties where it could be done without the knowledge of the gang. By this system I got the gang so terrified that they did not know what I was doing or how much I knew, that they dare not break out, and were reduced to the greatest straits, so much so that latterly they were obliged to go and rob workmen's tents on the roads and in the bush for the necessities of life; and I was convinced, from the frequent and reliable information I was obtaining towards the end, that I would have the opportunity to encounter the gang within a few days at the longest. Very much against my inclination, and when I was certain that success was within my grasp, I was relieved by Mr. Hare on the 2nd June 1880 . ....

Previous page / Next page


 ! The text has been retyped from a microfiche copy of the original.

We have taken care to reproduce this document but areas of the original text may been damaged.

We also apologise for any typographical errors.

The previous day / next day . . . Royal Commission index RC_index.html