Reflections - The Holocaust Tattoo & The Barber Shop.

When I was a kid, I used to sweep the hair in my Dad's Barber shop. I have always equated Dad's Barber shop, in the Gippsland town of Moe, with the bar from "Cheers". Dad used to advertise it as "three chairs, no waiting" and it was the kind of place where "everybody knows your name." I have many fond memories of that Barber shop as a place of rich conversation, friendship and it was a place, through which I learned a lot about the world outside my small town confines. I learned about places and people, their vocations, the lives they led, the dreams they had. 

I also learned a lot about history.

One particular day, when I was maybe eight or nine years old, an elderly gentleman - a regular - came in for his regular tidy up. Despite his thinning, silvery hair, he always requested the same - a short back and sides, and a shave. Dad's work with the cut throat razor was quite a thing to see. It is a skill that you don't often see anymore, so to watch one do it with the skill of my father - it is artistry.

Anyway, this regular. He was an impish fellow, always well dressed and he had a sparkle in his eye, as though he had a deep appreciation of the world. He was always happy. I remember he had an accent. It was lyrical - not in the manner of the Irish or Scottish or even Welsh accents, which were the ones I'd heard the most as a boy in the early 80's. It sounded very much like the accent of our then next door neighbours, Tina and Rudy, who displayed lots of crockery and dinnerware with windmills on them in their home. I was to learn that this man was from Holland. 

For pocket money back in those days, I would man the broom in the Barber shop and sweep up the hair that would fall to the foor as my father clicked his scissors against the comb. Too much hair around the base of the barber's chair was hazardous, so I always swept with a sense of urgency, making sure the linoleum floor was clear (it should be said that an 8 or 9 year old boy armed with a broom and sweeping furiously while a barber is trying to work is just as much a hazard. But I was nothing if not task oriented).

I happened to be sweeping by my Dad's leather and chrome Barber's chair as the eldrely Dutchman sat down. Having stowed his coat and hat on a hook near the waiting chair, he'd dropped into the seat, settled back with a satisfied sigh, glad to be off his feet for a little while and he rolled up his shirt sleeves. As my Dad turned and flicked a barber's cape with the flourish of a matador, I noticed a simple tattoo on the elderly gentleman's forearm. Though it was but a moment, I immediately recognized a series of numbers. 

The gentleman saw my moment of pause and my puzzled expression and he smiled. As the barber's cape floated down and around him, he jutted his arm out from underneath and he showed it to me. 

I hadn't been mistaken. I saw a faded series of numbers, etched into the tanned skin of his forearm.

Max Kaufmann shows his Dachau tattoo --- Palm Beach Daily News photo by Chris Salata.

He explained that he was a prisoner of the Germans during World War 2. I knew a little bit about World War 2 from my own grandfather, who served during that terrible conflict. The elderly gentleman before me said that he was held in a camp in Holland, before being transferred to a place called Auschwitz. I had never heard of that place before. He told me many people were taken there and were given a tattoo, just like the one he had. He told me that it was a dark place and many people had died there, but he had been rescued.

That was the first time I'd ever heard about Auschwitz, the Holocaust or the Jewish people. I sensed, even then, that I been told something important. The encounter with this man has stayed with me. It was such a fleeting moment, but from that, I explored the Second World War in depth and, in particular, the Jewish experience. 

It was around this time, that I turned my attention to writing. In a grade three creative writing class, I wrote a short piece about a war experience from a soldier's perspective. I can't be sure if that occurred around the same time as my encounter with the elderly Holocaust survivor...but I like to think that it did. 

Moments of deep learning come from places and people you might least expect. This was but one of many lessons I took from my Dad's barber shop.

DFA. 

The Victorian Trooper - Dedicated Site Now Live.

Now that I've completed my series of articles tracing the life of my great great grandfather, Joseph Ladd Mayes, I'm pleased to announce that I've launched a dedicated website that contains all of the articles I've presented here in a revised and updated form (always trust an author to pepper the first iteration of anything with grammatical flubs!).

The site is located at The Victorian Trooper

This series is designed to be a living document - that is - a document that I will add to or subtract from as new information comes to hand. Already, in the week since the site went live, I've come across new information that I've been able to add to the site, which is really exciting. I've also been in contact with some great people who are closely associated with efforts to bring more stories about the Victorian Police Force and its officers during the 1850's - 1900's forward. So that's been exciting as well. 

For years, many descendants of good and honest police officers have been ignored and treated with antipathy by many who have perpetuated a myth that the Constabulary in Victoria, Australia was a corrupt and evil one, while bushrangers like Ned Kelly were elevated to something akin to Robin Hood status.

It is my hope that my great great grandfather's story and others like him will be given the chance to be reviewed in a new light - that there were many principled and dedicated policemen during that era whose primary motivation was to uphold the law and protect the community.

I hope you can visit this tribute to my great great grandfather and explore the turbulent historical events he was immersed in.

DFA.

The Victorian Trooper #10 - Legacy & Tapestry: John Adolph Mayes.

(From an original recollection by Allen Mayes - John's Grandson & JL Mayes' Great
Grandson).

Perhaps the most comprehensively documented of Joseph Ladd & Marian Mayes' children, their first, John Adolph was born in Ballarat on the 23rd January 1860, during the period that Joseph Ladd was stationed at Pitfield.

John Adolph was present with the family through the period in the early 1870's when Joseph Ladd was on secondment for the Victoria Police Force overseas, then later at Marysville.

Looking through some photocopies of hand written letters, we find the correspondence between John Adolph and his sister Rebecca. We also find a brief letter from his mother Marian, which is undated. The text of that letter reads as follows;

My Dear Son, 

I see in today's Age that (----) Middleton and C Ward Callan married.

I am glad that your confirmation class is to be open again. Everything is quiet here at present and I hope will continue to. 

Good bye, dear son. God bless and keep you. 

Your Mother. 

His most tangible presence is recorded in March 1878 when, as an 18 year, he was the recorded witness on the death certificate of his mother Marian at Broadmeadows. Sometime afterwards, John Adolph's adventurous spirit saw him leave Victoria for Wilcannia in the south west of N.S.W.

In 1835, explorer Major Thomas Mitchell was the first European to visit the region, in which he traced the Darling River to what is now Menindee. In June 1866, the township of Wilcannia was proclaimed. In 1871, the population was 264, and grew to 1,424 by 1881. During the 1880s, Wilcannia reached its peak, and had a population of 3000 and 13 hotels and its own newspaper, the Western Grazier. It was, with Wentworth, Echuca, Mannum and Goolwa, one of the major Murray-Darling river ports which played a vital part in the transport of goods, notably wool and wheat, in the days of the paddle-steamers.

It is not immediately clear what occupation John Adolph initially pursued in Wilcannia District. In 1888, aged 28, he was awarded a gold medal by the Wilcannia Rowing Club as crew member for winning the “rowing scratch fours” race.

Wilcannia Rowing Club.

He married Julia O’Grady at Wilcannia on 23 June 1895. She was aged 31 and he was 35. A son, John Joseph was born in Wilcannia on 9 September 1896.

(Julia O'Grady (Mayes), date unknown).

(John Adolph Mayes c. 1890's) 

Apart from the medal, his marriage and the birth of his son, no other information is on hand to tell us what sort of life style John Adolph and his family had in Wilcannia.

Between 1896 and 1898 John Adolph moved his family to White Cliffs where he worked an opal mine on Turley’s Hill in partnership with D. Cowan. The pair was said to have barely scratched a living from the mine. In 1898 he purchased two blocks of land at White Cliffs, though no houses were ever built on the land.

A second son Leslie was born at White Cliffs on 6 March 1899. John Adolph was 39.

Julia died at White Cliffs from Brights ( kidney) disease on 14 December 1901. She was aged 36, John Adolph was 41, John Joseph was 5 and Leslie 2.

We can only image the difficult task for John Adolph in raising his two boys. They were cared for during the day by nuns at the Catholic Nunnery. John Adolph never remarried.

A short time after Julia’s death, John Adolph had an accident chopping wood. A chip flew up into his eye causing severe damage. He was taken to a Sydney hospital for a major operation but unfortunately he lost the sight in that eye.

During his mining venture, an alarming incident was recorded when the opal mine John Adolph was working caved in and he was buried alive. The townspeople and miners, with shovels and bare hands worked desperately to dig him out, not sure if he would have survived. Miraculously, he was still alive. His hat had slipped over his face, creating a pocket of air that saved his life.

We do not know if John Adolph or either of his boys journeyed to Melbourne, for the burial of Joseph Ladd in 1902. It is not clear what the relationship with the extended family was at that time.

John Adolph loved his sport and in 1915 aged 55, as a member of the White Cliffs Rifle Club won a gold medal for the 300, 500 and 900 yards shoot.

His two sons eventually left White Cliffs, worked in New South Wales for a time then moved to South Australia where they spent the rest of their lives.

Between 1915 and 1926 John Adolph returned to Wilcannia and started a saddlery business in the main street. The business became a resounding success and, it seems, John Adolph became a prominent member of the Wilcannia community. He was elected the honorary secretary of the Wilcannia Hospital Board. During this period he discovered fraudulent activities by two board members and reported this to the Administration. Unfortunately the word of the members protesting their innocence was such that John Adolph was branded a liar.

John Adolph Mayes' saddlery business, Wilcannia.

This did not deter him from gathering indisputable evidence of their guilt and within a year the two members were charged and found guilty.  

In 1929, aged 69, he  wrote a “History of White Cliffs”. The document is held by the White Cliffs Historical Society.

Bowls at Quorn, South Australia, 1935.

In 1935 he traveled to see his eldest son John Joseph, who was married with a family and living in Quorn South Australia. Two years later he died in Wilcannia on 30 May 1937, aged 77.

Next: Legacy & Tapestry: Joseph Ladd Mayes Jnr...

DFA.

The Victorian Trooper #9 - Twilight By The Sea.

After 35 years of service in the Victoria Police, Sergeant 1st Class, Joseph Ladd Mayes retired in December of 1895. His service record shows he was discharged on a full pension and superannuation payments allowing him to live a comfortable life in retirement. His pension alone was calculated at 138 pounds, nineteen shillings and sixpence annually.

Joseph Ladd, Eugenie and their younger children Joseph Ladd Jr, Edward, Mary and Norman moved to the leafy seaside suburb of Brighton in Victoria.

They lived at a house in Union Street, curiously named - "Toronto". Union Street is a particularly lovely street off the Nepean Highway, South East of Melbourne. At that time, most of the houses there faced onto a parkland and small creek - the evidence of which, still exists, providing a quiet sanctuary for the residents. I've had this vision of Joseph Ladd Mayes taking an early morning walk along that creek, perhaps with a Cocker Spaniel in tow for company, to a local corner shop or newsagent to fetch the newspaper the way my grandfather George used to do when he was still alive.

How did Joseph and Eugenie spend their days? Quiet walks along the beach? Joseph sitting on the porch of the house with a pipe and that newspaper while Eugenie knitted or crocheted? What were the lives of Edward, Mary and Norman like at Union Street? Were the elder Mayes children a fixture in their lives? All grown up with families of their own and living their own lives in various parts of Victoria, South Australia and NSW?

It is known that Joseph Ladd was involved in raising funds for his countrymen back in Ireland who were still struggling with the remnants of the Potato Famine. Now retired one wonders whether he involved himself more in the fund raising side of this charity.

The Mayes family saw in a new century, saw the federation of their country and perhaps celebrated the birth of the nation.

Joseph Ladd Mayes died on the 11th July 1902 at their Union Street home after a stroked. He is reported to have lingered for two days. I certainly hope that he did not suffer.

Meticulous to the end, Joseph Ladd Mayes ensured his affairs were in order before he died. Among the family collection, is his last Will & Testament, dated July 4th 1898. It is a fascinating, if simple document, written by Joseph Ladd himself in which he sets out clearly, what his wishes are. He request that the sum of 25 pounds be set aside for his daughter Rebecca Mayes "of Brighton, aforesaid Spinster". Joseph Ladd also made a request that the sum of 20 pounds - but not more than 25 pounds - be set aside for a headstone to be erected for his first wife, Mariann at Bulla just north east of Melbourne. His signature, effected with a frail hand at the end of the document, is a poignant reminder of the man.

Together 'til the end, it would remiss of me not to include Eugenie's signature - written a few days after his death - beside her late husband. 

Eugenie dutifully carried out his last request traveling to the town of Bulla herself to see that Mariann was given a fitting memoriam - one that exists to this day.

Joseph Ladd Mayes' body was ferried from the Union Street house on Saturday, July 12th, 1902 at 3.30PM and was interred, after a small service, at the South Brighton cemetery. His death was recorded in an obituary that appeared in the Brighton Southern Cross newspaper on the 19th July 1902.

Joseph Ladd Mayes, decorated Constable, Senior Constable then, Sergeant 2nd & 1st Class. A loving husband to Mariann Henrietta Piquet, then Eugenie Rebecca Burke. Father of 12 children.

Eugenie lived on for another 37 years - a loving mother and grandmother to a growing family which no doubt enriched her life. I get the sense of a proud and loving woman in the New Years Day 1918 photographs that came into our possession in the early 2000's. No doubt, her family sustained her and, at least partially, filled the void her husband had left.

Eugenie moved from the Union Street residence to New Street, Brighton.  Eugenie Rebecca "Jane" Mayes died after a short illness in 1939 at the Oakwood Avenue home of her son Norman Hector. A love story, spanning twenty years of life while they were alive, continues on into forever. Eugenie Rebecca was buried with her husband.

Joseph Ladd Mayes 1833-1902.

For all intents and purposes, their family might have assumed the memory of their parents might well fade into distant memory. They might further have wondered what the future for the Mayes family would hold. Time tends to weaken the bonds of memory. But, chance discoveries decades later often bring these stories back from the distance and allow them to live and breathe once more.

Next: Legacy & Tapestry: John Adolph Mayes... 

DFA.

The Victorian Trooper #6 - Ned Kelly & The Cave Parties.

In the history of Victoria's criminal past, one figure stands out above all others - Edward "Ned" Kelly. The bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and police murderer is revered and reviled in equal measure and it is clear that he holds an enduring fascination in the cultural lexicon.

(Edward "Ned" Kelly - Australia's most notorious outlaw.)

As a school kid, it was hard to figure out whether Ned Kelly was a folk hero or a murderous criminal - the narratives seemed to come to us in a way that made him seem like some sort of Robin Hood. There always seemed to be a sort of aura surrounding him. With time and a more nuanced reading of the history, only then can one arrive a clearer view of who he was.

In the early 2000's, when my father Stephen made the first significant discoveries about Joseph Ladd Mayes, we had no idea just how pivotal a role he had in the Kelly affair. As Dad delved deeper, we were somewhat shocked at just how central Joseph Ladd Mayes came to be in the pursuit.

In the aftermath of the murders of 3 police troopers at Stringybark Creek in October, 1878 by Ned Kelly, his brother Dan and Joe Byrne, the colony of Victoria had been shocked into agonized attention. It seemed that the Kelly Gang had declared war on what they saw as a corrupt constabulary and initiated an increasingly brazen crime spree across Victoria's North East. In December of 1878, the gang conducted an audacious bank hold up in the Victorian town of Euroa and it became clear that the Police Force had to channel all their resources to hunt down the gang and put an end to their 'reign of terror'.

The Stringybark Creek Police Party. Clockwise from top left: Constable Lonigan, Sergeant Kennedy, Constable McIntyre and Constable Scanlon.

Backed by new legislation known as the Outlawry Act, in January 1879 the Victoria Police under the command of Captain Frederick Standish, Superintendent Francis Hare, and Officer Sadlier began a coordinated operation, arresting all known Kelly friends and purported sympathizers, a total of 23 people and held them without charge in Beechworth Gaol.

In February, 1879 the Kelly Gang had crossed the border into New South Wales where they raided the town of Jerilderie. The incident prompted the NSW Government to offer a reward of 4000 pounds for their capture - dead or alive - which, when matched with Victoria's own 4000 pound reward, became the largest ever reward to date in Australia.

In the aftermath of the Jerilderie raid, the Kelly Gang went into hiding, sparking off a man hunt of epic proportions. During the early months of 1879, Francis Hare came into contact with Aaron Sherritt - a lifelong friend of Kelly Gang member Joe Byrne. Whilst Sherritt was a peripheral associate of the Gang, he was encouraged - financially - to act as a police informant and report to Hare, all the goings on at the property of Joe Byrne's mother. Thinking that the Kelly Gang would emerge at some point, Hare concocted a secret operation that would see him assemble some of his most trusted officers into what became known as the Cave Parties.

Now a senior constable, Joseph Ladd Mayes answered the call from Superintendent Hare, who had come to greatly admire Mayes as one of the most capable officers and bush men he had ever known, and traveled from Broadmeadows on horseback to Benalla, where Hare and Standish were assembling the police parties.

(Troopers in pursuit of the Kelly Gang - artists Alfred May and Alfred Martin Ebsworth).

(Police Party photographed at Benalla, Victoria June 20 1879. Joseph Ladd Mayes is standing 4th from left and Frances Hare is standing on his right in the center of the picture. The members in order L to R are O'Loughlin, Kirkham, Mills, Mayes, Sup. Hare, Canny, Faulkiner, Lawless; kneeling are Barry and tracker Moses.)

From Benalla, the parties traveled into the Woolshed Valley near Beechworth. Having secured an agreement from Aaron Sherritt, Hare and Standish were able to establish a rudimentary base of operations at Sherritt's property. The plan was to strike out from Sherritt's at night and ensconce themselves in a series of caves that overlooked the neighboring Byrne farm - owned by Joe Byrne's mother. The hope was that the Kelly Gang would appear from the wilderness and they could be arrested.

Francis Hare put Joseph Ladd Mayes in charge of one group of officers, while the Superintendent lead the other group. As March became April, then May and then June, these Cave Parties conducted the mother of all stakeouts, rotating through day and night, surveilling the Byrne property while the other party rested at the Sherritt home. Aaron Sherritt was said to be feeding them intelligence, suggesting the Kelly Gang would indeed emerge from the wilderness. This kept Hare motivated throughout the long months the Cave Parties operated in the area.    It is not clear whether Joseph Ladd maintained a consistent presence in the Woolshed Valley during the period from February to June or whether he was rotated back to Broadmeadows to enjoy a period of respite with his family.

In the 2003 edition of "The Fatal Friendship", author Ian Jones recalled the reminisces of Francis Hare, who described the operation of the Cave Parties during early 1879;

"Hare decided that he and six men would camp in the clearing, while four men, under Senior Constable Mayes, occupied the upper cave." 

"Hare and his men waited, listening to the night sounds of the Valley, humbled by the great pergola of the Milky Way arched from range to range, momentarily chilled by the shriek of a plover, tension easing to boredom as the hours passed. Then, at 12 or 1 o'clock, Aaron (Sherritt) came ambling up the slope to settle on the ground by Hare and wait another four or five hours for the first lightening of the sky behind the blackness of the peak."

"The Fatal Friendship: Ned Kelly, Aaron Sherritt & Joe Byrne", page 114, Ian Jones, 2003, Copyright © Ian Jones, 2003, Lothian Books.

The uneasy alliance with Aaron Sherritt continued over the course of the next month with Sherritt reportedly going to visit his girlfriend Kate Byrne - the elder sister of Joe Byrne. The aim was to gather intelligence on the possible movements of the Kelly Gang and report back to Hare.

(Aaron Sherritt - friend of The Kelly Gang who became their enemy.)

Concerns were raised in the constabulary about Aaron Sherritt as to whether he was playing both sides - the police and the Kelly Gang but, it seems Francis Hare maintained his trust in Sherritt as a reliable informant. 

Joseph Ladd was singled out during the operation for his conduct and meticulousness as Hare's 2IC. Referencing Hare, Ian Jones cites a passage from the Superintendent's memoir in the footnotes of his 2003 revised edition of "The Fatal Friendship."

"A total lack of debris suggests that Senior Constable Mayes and his four men were a far more responsible and disciplined group than those in the lower camp, who probably relaxed their standards after Hare's departure - by then knowing that the location of the site was almost common knowledge in the Woolshed."

"The Fatal Friendship: Ned Kelly, Aaron Sherritt & Joe Byrne", page 222, Ian Jones, 2003, Copyright © Ian Jones, 2003, Lothian Books.

(Joseph Ladd was described as a proven and well tried man with whom Frances Hare had the utmost confidence.)

Things began to unravel when leaks around the the existence of the Cave Parties emerged back in Melbourne. The costs of resourcing them caused alarm among the top brass. Meanwhile, back in the Woolshed Valley, the viability of the Parties was thrown into doubt when one of the constables was actually discovered by Kate Byrne as he was collecting water from a creek.

While it's safe to guess that Joseph Ladd's participation in the Cave Parties lasted from their inception to at least June of 1879, it is doubtful he stayed on through the second half of that year until the eventual disbanding of the Cave Parties in April 1880. The Cave Party operation suffered from being an increasingly expensive operation - for little return. That it's existence became an open secret among the Police and those in the Woolshed Valley who were sympathetic to the Kelly Gang 

In June 1879 Joseph Ladd, then aged 46, took command of the Lancefield Police Station, north east of Melboure. A month later, on the 19th of July, he remarried - to Eugenie Rebecca Bourke, the 26 year old daughter of a farming family originally from NSW. The marriage was solemnized in Keilor. The marriage certificate states that Eugenie Rebecca Bourke was residing in Broadmeadows at the time. 

By June of 1880, circumstances began to unravel for the Kelly Gang. Having discovered the treachery of his best friend - Aaron Sherritt was murdered by his friend Joe Byrne for conspiring against the Kelly Gang. And the Gang themselves made their last stand at Glenrowan in a fierce gun battle with police. Joe Byrne was shot and killed,  Dan Kelly & Steve Hart were both incinerated in a hotel fire and Ned Kelly himself, severely wounded, was captured. We are certain that Joseph Ladd Mayes was not at Glenrowan during the last stand of the Kelly Gang.

Writing in his memoir much later, Francis Hare singled out Joseph Ladd's conduct during the Cave Party operation. He described the Senior Constable as a proven and well tried man with whom he had the utmost confidence.

In amongst the saga of the Cave Parties - another piece of the Kelly Affair had a direct impact on Joseph Ladd Mayes. During the height of the Cave Party operations, Joseph Ladd took charge of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick - who had been stationed at Benalla in the north east of Victoria.

(Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick).

A prominent figure in the Kelly saga, Alexander Fitzpatrick has been regarded as the catalyst for the Affair. In April,1878 - acting on a notice that had been posted in the Police Gazette - Fitzpatrick had attempted to arrest members of the gang at the property of Kelly matriarch Ellen. During a confrontation with the family, Fitpatrick was shot and wounded by Ned Kelly himself. Accounts of this incident vary greatly and there is a healthy amount of skepticism towards those accounts from both sides of the often charged Kelly debate. But most agree, the incident at the Kelly property marked a significant escalation in the war between the Kelly's and the police.

Alexander Fitzpatrick remains a controversial figure in the history of the Victorian Police Force. Opinion about his character has almost, always been in the negative with him being cast as a drunkard and a less than reputable individual.

When he came to the notice of Commissioner Standish and Superintendent Hare at the height of the Kelly Affair, they formed the view that Fitzpatrick was on a hiding to nothing in the constabulary. He was either considered too close to the Kellys or he was responsible for all out war between the police and the Kellys. There were allegations of his being drunk on the job, of associating with the lowest of individuals, even the attempted rape of Ned Kelly's sister Kate.

And yet, following the events at the Kelly homestead and the Stringybark Creek murders, Fitzpatrick was dispatched to Sydney - tasked with looking out for and apprehending Kelly Gang members in case they arrived there to escape the country via ship. Given that he had identified Ned Kelly, Dan Kelly, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart at the Kelly homestead, it was thought Fitzpatrick would be best placed to spot them, should they arrive in Sydney.

Accounts of his poor conduct in Sydney dogged Fitzpatrick however and he was ordered back to Victoria by senior police who feared he was casting the Victorian Police into disrepute. 

Alexander Fitzpatrick was sent to Lancefield in September of 1879, apparently as a last resort where he served 9 months under Joseph Ladd Mayes - until the now decorated Senior Constable could no longer tolerate the insubordinate officer. 

Evidently, he had formed the view, having studied the constable in-situ, whilst gathering information on Fitzpatrick from his previous postings. Joseph Ladd reflected on Fitzpatrick's conduct in 1882.

"he was not fit to be in the police force ... he was associated with the lowest persons in Lancefield  ... he could not be trusted out of sight and ... he never did his duty"
JL Mayes, May 1882.

In recent times, there has been some reconsideration around the history and conduct of Alexander Fitzpatrick and a theory has emerged suggesting the Constable was more a victim of circumstance than a poor officer.

In a 2015 essay titled "Redeeming Fitzpatrick", historian Stuart Dawson presented a minority view of the Constable, arguing that, up until the events at the Kelly homestead in 1878, Alexander Fitzpatrick had an unremarkable service record, with no evidence of poor conduct. In fact, he had been described in a positive light by his superiors in Sydney. The accounts of the incident at the Kelly homestead appear to have relied too heavily on the Kelly side of the incident, where Kelly himself was known to fabricate and misreprsent the truth. The account of Fitzpatrick seem to have been ignored or dismissed because he, too, was regarded as unreliable. It is after the Kelly homestead incident, that Fitzpatrick's career takes a downward turn. 

Dawson argues that the constable's posting to Lancefield was a concerted effort to rid Fitzpatrick from the Force in the aftermath of his Sydney posting. By putting Fitzpatrick under the command of a "strict disciplinarian in Joseph Ladd Mayes - who was said to have already formed a view of the Constable as worthless character - the senior ranks of the Victorian Police Force would achieve that end. As Mayes testified in 1882, Fitzpatrick was charged with derilection of duty at Lancefield and associating with disreputable individuals. Fitzpatrick was to last 9 months before Joseph Ladd Mayes recommended the Constable be sacked from the Force.

2 seperate petitions were raised by 100 prominent residents of Lancefield and Romsey following Fitzpatrick's dismissal, calling for his immediate reinstatement. Both petitions were rejected by the Police and Fitzpatrick was dismissed from the Force in 1880.

Was Joseph Ladd over zealous in calling for Fitzpatrick to be sacked? Did senior police - including Standish & Hare - use Mayes as an "instrument" to facilitate Fitzpatrick's removal from the Force, knowing they had a reliable man they could count on? Was Fitzpatrick made a scapegoat for the Kelly Affair? 

There is documentary evidence suggesting that Joseph Ladd Mayes had genuine concerns about Fitzpatrick during his time at Lancefield. One catalyst for Fitzpatrick's removal was the sustained harassment and threats of harm towards a Lancefield man, Maurice Casey and his family. While the details of this incident are sparse, they are recorded on the police record of Alexander Fitzpatrick and in the reports submitted by Joseph Ladd Mayes to the Commissioner of Police in Melbourne. Fitzpatrick was notably cagey about the Casey incident during his own testimony in 1881 and refused to entertain any detailed examination of it. We know Joseph Ladd was a thorough investigator, who would have left no stone unturned in pursuing the truth in any matter that came before him. While his reputation might have been strict, he was also fair and did not stray from proper process.

During Fitzpatrick's Sydney posting, he was said to have befriended a woman named Edith Graham (or Edith Jones), who had been accused of stealing jewellry from her employer, a hairdresser named Pogonowski. Pogonowski had suggested to police that Fitzpatrick (who was married at the time) had more than a casual association with Edith Graham and the two may have even been co-conspirators in multiple instances of theft. The case of the stolen jewellry was resolved when Fitzpatrick directed police to the residence of Edith Graham herself and the stolen goods were recovered. Yet no charges appear to have been laid. It was as a result of this curious incident that Fitzpatrick was recalled to Victoria. The view of the hierarchy there was that his conduct had brought the Force into disrepute.

It was apparent that others agreed with this view. During the Royal Commission, a letter of complaint was tendered from the Inspector General in Sydney, attesting to a litany of complaints over the course of Fitzpatrick's entire career and not just the period from the Kelly incident forward.

The true facts surrounding Alexander Fitzpatrick may never be fully illuminated. He remains a divisive identity whose conduct, revealed in numerous pieces of documentary evidence, was questionable at best. What I do think is fair however, is to question the existing narratives, which do seem to be unfairly skewed in one direction. I do believe the case of Fitzpatrick is more complicated.

By the end of 1880, with the execution of Ned Kelly, Victoria effectively saw the end of one of the most fraught periods in its fledgling history. For Joseph Ladd Mayes, the end of the Kelly Gang marked a turning point in his professional and personal life. Approaching his fiftieth year, Joseph and his new wife Eugenie would see the growth of their family begin, while Joseph would contribute to one of the watershed moments in the history of the Victorian Police Force.

Next: The Royal Commission...

DFA.

The Victorian Trooper #5 - A Sabbatical Abroad.

During our family research a little documented piece emerged that threw a new spin on we thought we knew about Joseph Ladd Mayes.

During the Police Royal Commission in 1882 Joseph Ladd reflected on a period of his life when he spent some time abroad observing police forces in other countries.

"About nine years ago, I saw the police force in England, Ireland & America, and I consider that we have as good  material for a police force in Victoria as any of those countries".

JL Mayes, May 1882.

A study of Joseph Ladd police records reveals little about this journey beyond a rather difficult to read entry dated April 24, 1873. In amongst the painfully cursive copperplate is a mention of a 12 month leave of absence that was signed off by an officer with the police number 2144 about, I did a search at the Public Records office of Victoria some years ago and came across a shipping record that corresponds - roughly - with Joseph Ladd's evidence.

(a cryptic entry in Joseph Ladd Mayes' police record points towards a 12 month leave of absence in 1873.)

In 1874, records of inward traveling passengers on a ship called the Glengarry list five Mayes' returning to the Port of Melbourne. Joseph (aged 37), Mary (aged 37), John (aged 11), Rebecca (aged 9),  Sarah (aged 7).

(The steamship "Glengarry" docked in Hobart, Tasmania c. 1870).

The names of all these passengers correspond with the records in our possession now, particularly in the case of the children since we know all the names of the children Joseph and Mariann had, however the ages of each of the passengers vary quite a bit from the birth dates we have for each child.

At this stage this is all the information we have and the questions we have far outweigh the answers.

Joseph Ladd's evidence to the 1882 Royal Commission into the Victoria Police suggests he was acting in the role of a Consultant for the Victoria Police Force and was tasked with reviewing the operations of foreign police forces in order to improve the Victorian Force. Further it seems, Joseph Ladd offered an Australian perspective to these foreign forces that would assist their own operations.

(Joseph Ladd Mayes - Mayes family collection.)

Much of the life of the Mayes family during this period in the 1870's remains a mystery and we are hoping time will reveal more facts about this unique role Joseph Ladd was given.

His return to Australia in 1874 corresponded with a noticeable up-tick in frontier crime, perpetrated by increasingly brazen and, it would seem, notoriety seeking 'bushrangers'.

We do not know how long Joseph Ladd, Marrian John Adolph, Sara and Rebecca remained in Marysville. We have evidence that puts the family in the hamlet of Broadmeadows, north of Melbourne in the period from 1876 to June 1879.

(Lancefield, Victoria - date unknown.)

In 1878, whilst at Broadmeadows, another tragedy was to befall the family when Mariann died suddenly, following what we believe was a stroke. The event undoubtedly plunged the family into a period of untold grief. Joseph Ladd gave a glimpse of his grief during the 1882 Royal Commission when he called his earlier experiences on the Ballarat Gold-fields. He was convinced that his persecution by senior police in Ballarat - as a result of his solving the Burke murder, coupled with his later false imprisonment on trumped up charges, brought on a depression that ultimately killed his wife.

Did Mariann suffer some form of PTSD that resulted in a long period of poor health and eventual decline? Was she at greater risk of dysentery because of poor mental health? We just don't yet know. Mariann Henrietta Mayes (Piquet) - daughter of a Swiss preacher, wife and mother is buried at the Bulla Cemetery, north west of Melbourne.

Joseph Ladd Mayes appears to have had little time to grieve afterwards. In the North East of Victoria, a tinder box of conflict was brewing and, once again, Joseph Ladd was sought out by his trusted superior Superintendent Francis Hare for an audacious assignment that would see him plunged into one of most notorious sagas in Australian history.

Next: Ned Kelly & The Cave Parties.

DFA.

The Victorian Trooper #4 - Brush With A Brushranger.

The township of Marysville, nestled in the vast Yarra Ranges National Park in Victoria, was established in 1864 as a way point for prospectors heading to the gold fields of Woods Point & the Upper Goulburn. With the establishment of the Yarra Track, Victoria had its first, major eastern arterial and Marysville, which had initially struggled to cope with the regular transit of prospectors, trades people, professionals and families, had - by 1870 - begun to prosper and its population swelled accordingly. The need for a policing presence in Marysville was the subject of numerous requests to Melbourne from the nearby stations at Healesville, Woods Point and Jamieson. Increasing reports of crime had been received from those stations and the evolving population at Marysville were growing fearful.

We have documents in our possession that puts Joseph Ladd Mayes in Marysville in August 1867 and in command of "a" station. I emphasize "a station" because, the doucments reveal that Marysville did not have a dedicated Police Station at that time. After some considerable amount of to-ing and fro-ing between Marysville & Melbourne between Jospeh Ladd and others, a house became available for the Victoria Police to purchase from a Mr. Robert Mayne, Marysville's storekeeper & Post Master and, on the urging of Jospeh Ladd, the property was secured.

It was soon discovered that the property was a less than stellar purchase.

Throughout 1868, Joseph Ladd corresponded regularly with Victoria Police, detailing his requirements for the newly acquired police buildings at Marysville. On July 29th, 1868 for example, he forwarded a comprehensive list of repairs to the OIC at Jamieson Station that included;

"Outside of building will require require painting, spouting (which was not originally supplied). Chimneys, being built of slab and paling, inside lined with brick and stone, will all require to be fixed, the foundations having sunk. The wall paper in the rooms is loose and hanging and would require a general overhaul. One door and fastening is required for yard purposes, there being no back door to the premises, and all the other doors will require overhauling and painting. The water closet will be required."

JL Mayes, July, 1868.

The correspondence continued throughout the remainder of 1868, with Joseph Ladd routinely requesting additional funds for repairs and improvements to the Marysville Station - and he got them - some 30 pounds in funds. It becomes clear, reading through the documents that he wasn't one to settle for half measures and he knew what was needed for a well equipped station.

Joseph Ladd quickly established his reputation across the district as a thorough and principled lawman who commanded respect. Entries transcribed from the original Marysville Station watchouse record along with his official police record details of investigations, arrests made and prisoner outcomes. One can view numerous reports of his good conduct written in an exquisite cursive copper plate. 

With three growing children in John Adolph, Sara and Rebecca, we can assume Joseph Ladd & Mariann Mayes lived a contented life in the township where they were, by all accounts, a well liked family.

(Marysville, Victoria - 1870.)

With the rapid eastern expansion - off the back of newly discovered gold deposits at  settlements like Woods Point, Jamieson, Jericho, the Upper Goulburn and Walhalla, it was inevitable that crime would follow. Now established in Marysville, Joseph Ladd would encounter lawless bushrangers and devious men - not only among the civilian population but within his own ranks. By the close of the decade, several notable criminal figures had emerged in Victoria and were garnering considerable notoriety. 

One of these figures was a bushranger known as Harry Power.

(Henry Johnson a.k.a - bushranger Harry Power).

Born Henry Johnson in Waterford, Ireland in May, 1819, he grew up in Lancashire, England becoming an apprentice saddler at aged 16, then joining a peasant uprising against British troops. During this time, Johnson received saber wounds to his right cheek and brow, which were to become his distinguishing marks.

Having been charged and convicted of stealing a bridle and saddle in Lancashire, Johnson was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment and transported to the colony of Australia. By 1848, Johnson, now a free man, had moved to Sydney and took up the permanent identity of Harry Power. Power was engaged driving cattle all over this colony and New South Wales, and afterwards in exploring and cutting a track across vast swathes of the colony. In a few years he became a competent bushman, knowing almost every mile of the country. During all this time he appears to have engaged in honest living, even keeping horses near Geelong in Victoria.

However, Power was charged with horse stealing near Sandhurst, Bendigo in an incident that has since been considered questionable. Regardless, Power was sentenced to several years in gaol, after which it seems, he turned to a life of crime for several years. It was during this period of time, that Power had recruited a protégé, a talented young horseman named Edward Kelly.

(Edward "Ned" Kelly - date unknown).

Having come onto the radar of the Victorian Police Force, following a brazen prison break by Power, Superintendent Frances Hare turned to Joseph Ladd Mayes at Marysville when it came to light that Harry Power was operating in the Mansfield area in North Eastern Victoria. A significant reward of 500 pounds had been offered for the capture of Power and in 1870 Hare tasked Joseph Ladd with putting together a crack team to deploy into the ranges in an attempt to arrest Power.

Joseph Ladd together with a Constable Potter and and aboriginal tracker set out from Marysville, moving along the Acheron track (now the Maroondah highway) through rugged bush land. Gathering intelligence from a number of local property owners, it was confirmed that Harry Power had indeed been seen in the area of Mansfield. One landowner named Bindon had pointed the trio towards a tree into which Harry Power had allegedly cut his signature.

The most significant piece intelligence however, one gleaned by Joseph Ladd Mayes himself, was that Harry Power regularly visited the home of a Jimmy Quinn at a settlement called Glenmore. The trio was told that they could stake out the Quinn property with a strong likelihood that they would catch Power successfully.

However, in order to get close enough to catch Power they would have to leave their horses and supplies at Mansfield and head into the harsh country around Glenmore on foot.

(Joseph Ladd Mayes - by 1870, he was in a senior role at Marysville in Victoria.)

The trio continued on to the Mansfield depot where they were confronted by a police party of about 14 men lead by an imposing Superintendent named Furnell.

Upon being questioned rather forcefully by Furnell as to why they were here in Mansfield Joseph Ladd said that they were acting on the orders of Superintendent Hare and that they were attempting to catch Power.

This apparently did not sit well with Furnell who was most likely after the very same man. Furnell's indignation was recalled vividly by Joseph Ladd in 1882.

"...and he said 'Go back to your station and do not leave it without an order from me.' He never said, 'How long have you been from your station?' or anything else, but simply, 'Go right back to your station'"

Joseph Ladd was to add during that recollection that Furnell;

"...seemed as if he were going to jump down my throat."

(The capture of Harry Power - artist unknown).

Joseph Ladd, Constable Potter and the aboriginal tracker were forced to return to Marysville as they were ordered. Joseph Ladd was of the view that Furnell ranked higher than Francis Hare, therefore he had no choice but to obey. And so they returned - without giving Furnell any of the critical intelligence that would enable them to capture Power and end a infamous bush ranging career. Furnell hadn't given them the opportunity. 

More fool Furnell.

Joseph Ladd Mayes instead filed a report to his trusted superior Francis Hare. Two weeks later, acting on that very report, Francis Hare and Superintendent Charles Nicholson successfully captured and arrested Harry Power - in the very place that Joseph Ladd knew the bushranger would be - the Quinn property at Glenmore.

(Power's Lookout - photographer unknown.)

During the 1882 Royal Commission Joseph Ladd was asked whether he felt he had been deliberately shifted by the Superintendents so that they would be positioned to capture and ultimately take credit for the arrest of Harry Power. Joseph Ladd replied no. It was his belief that Frances Hare would have trusted Joseph Ladd's ability to catch Harry Power unequivocally.

"I do not believe there is any man in the police force would give a man more credit for an act he would perform than Mr. Hare." JL Mayes, May 1882.

One questions whether Joseph Ladd was perhaps naive on this point as it was known that fierce rivalries existed among the senior police not the least of which between Frances Hare and Charles Nicholson.

The capture of Harry Power is said to have been the spark for a wider conflict between the Victoria Police and their enemies in the colony - inspiring bushrangers and lawless men and women to defy the establishment. Among these was Harry Power's protégé, Edward "Ned" Kelly, whose rise to infamy is well documented. 

For Joseph Ladd Mayes, it seems he returned to Marysville where he continued as the senior officer through until 1874. 

One precious artifact that survived in physical form at the Marysville Police Station was the Station's Watchhouse Log. Several years ago, the great grandson of Joseph Ladd Mayes - Stephen Mayes - recalls visiting the Marysville Police Station and being able to view the duty book first hand. This was a huge leather bound document, in which all pertinent information relating to the running of the station was recorded. It carried information about the running of the station, prison entries, progress reports and other information. Due to its size, Stephen recalled that the book had entries dating back to the time when Joseph Ladd Mayes was stationed at Marysville. His own handwriting appeared in several pages of the duty book. 

Tragically, that duty book was lost during the Black Saturday bush fires in February 2009. 

A little known aspect of Joseph Ladd Mayes' life - that only came to light fairly recently in our family - illustrates the esteem with which Joseph Ladd Mayes was held by the senior ranks of the Victorian Police Force. An opportunity arose for Joseph Ladd to undertake a secondment of sorts abroad and he took time out from his active duty role at Marysville to fulfill the request. 

Next: A Sabbatical Abroad...

DFA.