Hartley Court House - 1837 to 1937

9
HARTLEY AND ITS COURT-HOUSE. 21
The early Police Magistrates at Hartley had full proof of this.
Many a constable was no sooner engaged than he had to be
dismissed for drunkenness, abusive language, or connivance
with prisoners. Because of the official hold on them, ticket-ofleave
holders were more satisfactory constables than free men.
The biography of such men would yield rich reading. For
instance one ticket-of-leave man, aged 43, active, intelligent,
able to read and write, who was recommended for the position
of constable, had been an overseer at Norfolk Island, then
constable at Liverpool, after which he was employed driving a
horse team between Bathurst and Sydney.
The course of events in 1839 gives some idea of the conditions
at the Court-House in its early days. In January the Police
Magistrate complained of the insufficient number of constables,
there being only two. Although the sheep shearing wTas over
it was impossible to induce anyone to enter the service, since
work in private service was much less and the pay much higher.
The district of Hartley had little to recommend it to a constable
for the necessaries of life were at least fifty per cent, dearer
than in Sydney and not readily procured. Moreover, although
the district duty was weighty, the escort duty was most severe,
the police at this station undertaking nearly all the escort duty
between Bathurst and Penrith. Arriving at Bathurst with
prisoners the constable from Hartley would be given any prisoners
for delivery at Penrith under warrant for Sydney or Penrith.
The two constables then on the establishment were constantly
on the road, one of them having marched seven hundred miles
within two months. Such duty incurred great fatigue and more
expense than the pay of 2/3 a day would admit. Only the
desire to obtain a conditional pardon prevented this ticket-ofleave
man from resigning. The Police Magistrate drew attention
to the inadequate pay and the inadequacy of the staff. The
staff in May, 1839, consisted of a chief constable in receipt of
£75 per annum, one ordinary constable receiving 2/9 per day,
two ordinary constables receiving 2/3 per day, a watchhouse
keeper who received 3 /- per day and a scourger 2/6 a day.
A n I n g e n i o u s E s c a p e .
A bout this time an ingenious escape was made from the
Lock-up. A dangerous prisoner was kept on a chain by the