Histories of Green Square - City of Sydney

Chapter 8 – Green Square and the Thin Blue Line
Chapter 8 Green Square and the
Thin Blue Line:
Crime, Law & Order in
the Green Square Area
8.1 Introduction
The histories of crime, law and order are important to recover.
By looking at what was being policed in different periods
we can learn what behaviour society—or some sections of
it—wanted controlled. These included, for example, practices
associated with working class pastimes, such as gambling, the
consumption of alcohol or bare knuckle prize fighting. We
can see which crimes the community took seriously and
which crimes they did not. At a general level, it may also be
possible to gauge what respect, or otherwise, the community
had for the police and for law and order.
Of course the crimes are sometimes stories in themselves.
Some were sensational, like the Mt Rennie rape case, which
caused deep anxiety and enormous debate in Sydney in the
1880s. Others were not sensational but give an idea of what
sort of ‘ordinary’ crimes were taking place at the time. Crime,
and the policing of it in a particular area, also reflects the
kind of people who live in this area, and how the population
changed over time.
8.2 Crime, law and order at the local level
The history of crime, law and order in the Green Square area
is varied and interesting, but not always straightforward to
research and reconstruct. While there are few problems in
tracing key events or charting information such as the establishment
or closure of police stations, crime is, by its very
nature, complex. The question of what a crime actually is,
is in itself a contentious question, as the definitions have
changed.
In the nineteenth century, for example, vagrancy was a
crime, as was a husband deserting his wife, but today these
practices are not considered criminal. Perceptions of crime
are another factor to take into account. How seriously
should a crime like illegal S.P. (Starting Price) betting be
taken when the majority of the community did not consider
it a crime? And what about crime statistics? Did they or do
they reflect the everyday personal lives and experiences of
people who have lived in the Green Square area?
There are also problems with the sources for the history of
crime. Up to 1946 there are gluts of information for some
periods, which are difficult to represent unless readers are
interested in a complete litany of names, dates and events.
More recent times offer the opposite problem. Official
records on specific crimes are increasingly restricted as one
draws closer to the present, to protect the lives and reputa-
© Scott Vance
Scott Vance
tions of persons still living, or their relatives. Information
might be gleaned from sources such as newspapers, but this
is a highly selective record, as only stories considered by
editors as newsworthy are printed.
Another problem is placing crime in geographical boundaries.
The term Green Square has only recently been coined
and has not been an official area in relation to gathering of
information such as crime statistics. So we cannot focus on
Green Square specifically—but in a sense this is appropriate, as
people’s experiences of crime would not be limited to theoretical
geographical boundaries anyway. The sly grog shops and
brothels centred in nearby Surry Hills in the 1920s and 1930s,
for example, and recent riots and racial tensions centred in
Redfern, have impacted beyond strictly narrowly defined
boundaries into the Green Square area.
Perhaps the best way to approach the history of crime, law and
order is to take typical ‘slices’ at different periods in the Green
Square area, and compare these with more detailed accounts
of the few sensational or extraordinary events. It also possible
to look at this history in tandem with what was happening in
the broader area of Sydney. To start with, this means looking
at the establishment of an organised police force and how it
came to the Green Square area.
8.3 The beginnings of the police
At the start of settlement in New South Wales, policing was
a military responsibility, but gradually provisions were made
for non-military watchmen and constables. 1 In 1833 an Act
was passed for the appointment of two or more magistrates
for the town and port of Sydney, ‘they being empowered to
select men for a police force’. 2 Another Act was passed in 1838
to expand the police force in principal country districts. It
was, however, generally considered that the non-professional
policing system that emerged from these Acts was inefficient,
and lacked co-ordination and structure.
8.3.1 ‘Bluebottles’ and bare-knuckle prize fighting
Nevertheless these police had a wide variety of duties to
perform and problems to try and control. One activity they
policed in Sydney occurred at the outskirts of the Green
Square area around this time—bare-knuckle prize fighting.
Patrons and participants made their way to the Cooks River,
especially around the 1840s, to fight, watch and bet on the
result. Bare-knuckle prize fighting was a very popular sport
at this time and, although it was not actually illegal, the
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