Byrock Police Station View the Map

Trackers were employed at Byrock Police Station from 1884 to at least 1938.  The career of the first Byrock tracker, Jack Todhunter, was tragically short.  He contracted typhoid fever two months after starting the job.  He was transferred to Dubbo Hospital when his condition deteriorated and he passed away there on 10 March 1885.  Little is known about Todhunter.  He may have acquired his surname from the Todhunter pastoral family who occupied land in the Warren district on the Macquarie River [ref]Death Certificate of John Todhunter 1885/007521; Byrock Police Diary of Duty and Occurrences SARANSW 3/2985; Brennan C.J. 1988. Across the Black Soil Plains: A History of the Warren District. Warren Shire Production[/ref].

Todhunter was soon replaced by another tracker named Jack who was brought over from Brewarrina.  Jack held the position from April 1885 to June 1888, undertaking a variety of roles from patrolling the railway line to delivering messages to nearby pastoral properties.  He was a talented horseman, riding his mount up to 25 miles per day as part of his job.  In September 1885, he was sent to the Bogan River at Gongolgon to look for stolen horses.  At Christmas 1886, he helped apprehend a man suffering from mental illness who had leapt from the train.    And in June 1887, he led a successful search for a boy who had gone missing on the expansive Kenilworth Run to the north of Byrock.  No further trace of Jack has been found after he left the Byrock Police [ref]Byrock Police Diary of Duty and Occurrences SARANSW 3/2985[/ref].

The tracker with the longest tenure at Byrock was Frank Williams of Gundabooka.  He was transferred to Byrock from Dubbo in early 1917 and held the job until April 1938 when he moved to Bourke.  His most prominent local case occurred in February 1929 when he investigated the theft of cash, cheques and a fibro suitcase from a Byrock warehouse.  Williams testified in the court that the footprint of the main suspect matched those found at the scene of the crime.  The suspect was later convicted.  Aside from police work, Williams enjoyed hunting locally for kangaroo, continuing a tradition taught to him by his Ngemba Elders whose country it was [ref]Western Herald 27 February 1929: 2 & 20 April 1929: 5; NSW Police Gazette 6 March 1929: 193; Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW)  2005.  Aboriginal Women’s Heritage – Bourke.  Department of Environment and Conservation, Sydney: 2[/ref].

Byrock Police Station - Related Trackers:

Frank Williams ►