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Trackers were employed at Porters Retreat (approximately 70km south-south-east of Bathurst) from at least 1903 to 1916 and probably later[ref]SARANSW Police Salary Registers.[/ref]. The settlement was originally known as Glencoe and changed its name in about 1908 to Porters Retreat. As can be seen in the accompanying plan, by 1914 the tracker was living in a hut adjacent to the...
Learn More ►Information about Monty Tickle’s origins are sketchy, but according to his death certificate he was born in about 1900 at Cloncurry, Queensland, to Friday Tickle and Topsy. It is not known when he came to NSW, but by 1921 he was the tracker at Orange in the central-west of NSW. In August of that year he investigated the illegal slaughter...
Learn More ►Jack "Smart Gui" Simpson was born along the Barwon River between Boorooma and Brewarrina in about 1880. Little is known about his parents, Jack Simpson Snr and Louisa Khan. Louisa is thought to have moved to Orange where she passed away. Jack told stories to his family of tracking Jimmy and Joe Governor in 1900 after the Breelong massacre near...
Learn More ►Working at Mount McDonald from June 1882 until the end of 1884, Tommy Pearce’s career is unusual in that it provides evidence that trackers sometime took a holiday. On Friday 27 April 1883, he passed through Carcoar “en route” to Dubbo for a “leave of absence”. The purpose of his trip or why the destination was Dubbo – perhaps he...
Learn More ►The Police Station at Mount McDonald near Cowra was staffed by trackers from 1883 to 1886 and probably earlier. Part of the Milburn Creek Gold Field, trackers played an important role in guarding the gold escort, a coach which traveled to Carcoar and sometimes Blayney carrying the miner's finds. The tracker accompanied the escort and stayed overnight before returning to...
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This website explores the history of Aboriginal trackers in NSW from 1862 when the current NSW Police Force was established through to 1973 when the last tracker, Norman Walford, retired. You can read about the lives of individual trackers and some of the incredible tracking feats they...
There were over 200 NSW police stations that employed Aboriginal trackers between 1862 and 1973. Many were concentrated in the central-west and north-west of the state, the agricultural and pastoral heartland of NSW. This is because one of the main jobs of trackers was to pursue sheep, cattle and horse thieves. Trackers sometimes lived in small huts out the back...
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Pathfinders book Pathfinders, A history of Aboriginal trackers in NSW, written by Dr Michael Bennett and published by NewSouth, is now available from all good bookstores. Click on the link below to order your copy. https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/pathfinders-a-history-of-aboriginal-trackers-in-nsw.do Early History Since the beginning of the colony, government agencies, explorers, surveyors and members of the general public called upon the tracking...
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