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Molong Police Station
The only recorded tracker at Molong was Tommy who worked from 1883 to 1886. Nothing more about his life is currently known and trackers were not stationed at Molong after he left. A 20th century tracker with a link to Molong was Robert Henry Robinson who worked at Coonamble and Dubbo. His grandmother was Kitty Hanley, who, according to her death certificate, was born at Copper Hill near Molong in the 1840s [ref]DC of Kitty May 1917/004360.[/ref]. Copper Hill was also the site of a tribal battle in the 1860s. An Aboriginal man named Harry was wounded in the fight. The local doctor named Ross cut the spear, which was almost 2m long with three barbs, from Harry’s back. Harry’s recovery was greatly assisted by his wife who applied every day and night for a week, liberal doses of “eucalypti foliage lamentation” heated in a billycan of water. Harry had been working on Dilga run (about 40km north-east of Parkes) and returned to live there after the incident [ref]Molong Argus 26 May 1899: 3.[/ref].
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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