Is NSW’s oldest living Detective also our oldest living NRL player?

Bill Harris, showman, sportsman, survivor.

He’s just turned 95 and looks as fit as he did 15 years ago when, aged 80, he set a world record of two minutes for a handstand.

Bill Harris is a remarkable character: for more than 30 years he performed as one half of the world-renowned acrobatic team the Marvettes; he was an elite sportsman, playing rugby union for NSW in 1939 and later first grade rugby league for Canterbury-Bankstown in 1943-44; he served as a policeman for 32 years.

We believe he is the oldest-living NSW detective and member of the state’s drug squad and mounted police.

During his service Bill was the first man to arrest the infamous “Mr Big”, Lennie McPherson (for speeding in Pitt Street in 1944). He made the State’s first arrest for possession of marijuana (a visiting American sailor in 1945). During WWII, he worked with military intelligence tracking down Japanese spies and guarding vital installations 

Bill is the second oldest-living Waratah rugby representative (NSW rugby union rep) and was a Wallaby triallist in 1939 before injury forced him out of contention. We’re trying to confirm whether he’s also the oldest-living NRL first-grade player.

Bill has a remarkably active and retentive memory. He recalls vividly how, when he joined the service in 1938, he was immediately posted to the mounted police because of the riding skills he acquired as a boy in the northern NSW country town of Casino.

“Almost immediately I was given a horse and told I’d be part of the famous Musical Ride the squad performed at big events,” Bill recalls. “Before I knew it I found myself lining up for a performance. I told my instructor that I didn’t know the routine properly. ‘Don’t worry,’ he replied, ‘I know you don’t know it yet but the horse does!’”

Some years later, Bill was one of the first members of the fledgling Drug Squad. “I was sent there because someone had heard that I used to work in a pharmacy in Casino before I joined the police,” Bill says. “Things were done differently in those days.”

Bill recalls the days when waiting for a fingerprint match would take weeks, how he worked with plain-clothes policemen hunting down ‘sly grog’ shops and how he helped arrest some Japanese businessmen acting as spies during WWII in Sydney.

For more than 30 years Bill partnered Thelma Harris and toured nationally and internationally as ‘The Marvettes’, a world-acclaimed balancing act that performed at venues like Sydney’s old Tivoli Theatre.

Bill has three children, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He lives in Sydney where he still lives at home and has an extremely active social life.

Is this the earliest photo of a NSW Police officer?

This is Sir Frederick Pottinger, the controversial Inspector of Police for the Western District of NSW.  Born in India 27 April 1831, he was educated at Eton and succeeded his father as second baronet. But he soon wasted his inheritance and migrated to Australia where he kept his title secret and tried his luck unsuccessfully on the NSW goldfields.

A magnificent horseman, he joined the NSW Mounted Police as a trooper, working as a gold escort between Gundagai and Goulburn. In 1860, the Inspector-General of Police, John McLerie, discovered Pottinger’s heritage and he was rapidly promoted through the ranks. His career faltered after he was sued following a drunken brawl at Young. He was rebuked and posted to the Lachlan River district where he set about hunting the growing band of local bushrangers

When the NSW Police Force was officially constituted under the 1862 Police Regulation Act, Pottinger was appointed Inspector-General for the Western District.

In April 1862, he arrested Ben Hall at Forbes and charged him with highway robbery. But Hall was acquitted and joined Frank ‘Darky’ Gardiner’s gang in time for their infamous Eugowra Gold Escort Robbery, where they bailed up the Lachlan coach and escaped with a massive haul of gold bullion worth 14,000 pounds – the Great Train Robbery of its day.

Pottinger spent a month hunting the gang and eventually caught two of its members, only to have them escape a few days later in a blazing gunfight. Pottinger recovered their cut of the robbery but came under heavy criticism for failing to provide an adequate guard for the escort in the first place and for failing to arrest the other gang members or recover the bulk of the booty (most of which was never found).

Pottinger almost redeemed himself when he staked out Ben Hall’s mistress’ home but Hall slipped away when Pottinger’s pistol misfired. He attracted more public disquiet when he arrested and locked up a young local boy he suspected was one of Hall’s accomplices. The boy contracted ‘gaol fever’ and died.

Pottinger again attracted unwanted public attention when he attended the Sydney trials of the Eugowra robbers following their subsequent capture. He was jostled in the street and had a confrontation with a member of the Legislative Assembly.

He had mixed results in trying to crack down on other bushrangers in his area and pushed his superiors’ patience beyond breaking point when he broke regulations to ride in the Wowingragong races in January 1865 in a bold attempt to lure Ben Hall and his gang out into the open. The Commissioner had had enough and he dismissed Pottinger from the force on 16 February 1865.

Locals held protests seeking his reappointment and sent petitions asking that his dismissal be reversed. While on his way to Sydney to plead his case, Pottinger accidentally shot himself in the chest with his pistol while jumping aboard a moving coach. He lingered long enough to be taken to Sydney but died on 9 April 1865 at the Victoria Club in Castlereagh Street.

His gravestone in St Jude’s Church Randwick reads:

“Sacred to the memory of Sir Frederick Pottinger, Baronet, formerly off the Grenadier Guards, and for many years a zealous and active officer of police, New South Wales. Born 27^th April 1831, died 9^th April 1865. This monument is erected by his friends in the colony.”

If you have an older photo of a NSW policeman, please contact me

I'm writing True Blue ... 150 Years of Service & Sacrifice, to celebrate next year's 150th anniversary of the official founding of the NSW Police Force. I'm keen to hear your stories and see your photos and memorabilia.

A HERO IN WAR AND PEACE

The yellowing headline in the Sydney Morning Herald of Monday 10 April 1933 is chilling: “Constable and Baby killed: Struck by Motor Cycle. Tragic Accident at Newtown”.

The story records the deaths of Constable Rus Stephenson and baby Fay Moon: two road statistics but, as always, so much more than that. The accident snuffed out one life almost before it began and it robbed the NSW Police Force of one of its genuine heroes.

Ruston George Stephenson was 46 when he died. He had served with great distinction in the AIF in WWI in the famed 58^th Battalion under the renowned leader Brigadier Harold “Pompey” Elliott. It was Elliott who personally recommended Stephenson for the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his bravery under fire at Bellicourt, near St Quentin in France toward the end of the war.

The recommendation, dated 9 October 1918, read:

“For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during operations north east of Bellicourt, 29 September 1918 - 1 October 1918. This N.C.O. (non-comissioned officer) worked all night 29^th/30^th September continuously under fire, re-organising parties who were wandering in front of our line, bringing them into the front trench and then guiding them across to their position on the left flank. He also brought in a considerable number of wounded men who were lying out in front of the line. When the machine gun fire became so heavy that he could not get any more in daylight he went back to the R.A.P. and procured stretcher-bearers, guiding them to the wounded and continued carrying throughout the night still under heavy fire until the trench was clear of wounded. His courage and untiring devotion to duty was an inspiration to all.”

Rus Stephenson was also a fine athlete - a very tall man for his era at just under 6ft 2in - who represented Australia in the heavyweight division of the International Boxing Tournament held in London after the war at the Royal Albert Hall on 11 December 1918.

Stephenson was much loved in the force and the community, where he worked with children’s sports, and his death shocked the force. His fellow officers and citizens farewelled Ruston Stephenson in style, with full police honours.

More than 500 uniformed police, including Commissioner Childs, marched eight-abreast behind the Police Band and the Mounted Police, accompanied by a massive public response from George Street Sydney to Regent Street Mortuary Station. 

One of the eulogies called him “the best of mates”, another came from a former comrade in arms: “We mourn the loss of a man of high moral worth … He was loved and respected by his comrades for his personal qualities were such as to command true friendship.”

How many more unsung Police heroes are out there waiting for us to find them and honour their service and sacrifice? 

If you know of other NSW police heroes, please tell contact me 

I'm writing True Blue ... 150 Years of Service & Sacrifice, to celebrate next year's 150th anniversary of the official founding of the NSW Police Force. I'm keen to hear your stories and see your photos and memorabilia.