Alfred Searcy (4 January 1854 – 1 October 1925) was a
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
n public servant and writer.
He was based in Darwin from 1882 to 1896 and was a booster for development of northern Australia during and after his time there.
Family and education
He was the son of William Searcy, clerk and policeman, and his wife Charlotte Edwin, née Roffe, and brother of
Arthur Searcy
Arthur Searcy (6 January 1852 near Mount Barker, South Australia – 9 December 1935 in Harrow Road, St Peters, South Australia) was President of the Public Service, Deputy Commissioner of Taxes and Stamps and President of the Marine Board in So ...
who also had a distinguished career as a South Australian public servant. His parents, and uncle Frederick Searcy, had arrived at Port Adelaide on 3 September 1849, on the ship ''Louisa Baillie''.
He attended Dumas' school, Mount Barker, later Pulteney Street School, Adelaide, until 1869.
On 10 February 1876, he married Jane Annette Rainsford, daughter of Joseph Rainsford and Jane née Brown at
Holy Trinity Church, Adelaide
Trinity Church (also known as Holy Trinity Church Adelaide, is an Australian evangelical Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church located at 88 North Terrace, Adelaide, North Terrace in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. Trinity C ...
.
Alfred Searcy died on 1 October 1925 in Adelaide and was buried in North Road Cemetery.
Career
In 1869, he was indentured as a journalist with
The Advertiser, joining the customs department in 1873. In the period before 1882, he received the certificate of the
Royal Humane Society
The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in England in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near dro ...
, London, for saving a woman from drowning and became a captain in the Port Adelaide Rifle Company.
From 1882 he was sub-collector of customs in Darwin, Northern Territory and implemented new customs arrangements generally and licensing and duty arrangements for Macassan trepangers. He was promoted in 1888, however for health reasons his wife and children returned to Adelaide in 1890. He joined
Paul Foelsche
Paul Foelsche (30 March 1831 – 31 January 1914) was a South Australian police officer and photographer born in Germany,Noye, R. J.'Foelsche, Paul Heinrich Matthias (1831–1914)' ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', National Centre of ...
and Edward Robinson on several voyages.
He remained in Darwin until 1896, when he became clerk assistant and
sergeant-at-arms
A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, s ...
in the South Australian House of Assembly, a position previously held by his brother, Arthur. He became Clerk of the House in 1918 and Clerk of the parliaments in 1920.
Writer
''In Northern Seas'', published in 1905 collected newspaper articles about his period in the Northern Territory. He reworked and extended the material as ''In Australian Tropics'', published in 1907, with ''By Flood and Field'', published in 1911, being a fictionalised account of the earlier books.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Searcy, Alfred
History of South Australia
History of the Northern Territory
1854 births
1925 deaths
Public servants of South Australia
Customs officers
People from Darwin, Northern Territory
Australian male writers
Burials at North Road Cemetery