Mounted Constable Willshire with Aboriginal police

William Henry Willshire (10 March 1852 – 22 August 1925) was an Australian police officer who worked in Alice Springs in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

of Australia. He was the first police officer to be charged for murder in Australian history, after killing a group of

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Tempe Downs Station Tempe may refer to: Places * Vale of Tempe, Greece * Tempe, Arizona, United States * Tempe, New South Wales, a suburb in Sydney, Australia * Lake Tempe, Indonesia * Tempe, Bloemfontein, South Africa, an area outside Bloemfontein, home to various m ...

Early life

Willshire was born on 10 March 1852 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

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 ...

. He was the son of a schoolmaster James Doughty Willshire and his wife Emily Elizabeth (née Schlenkrich).

Alice Springs posting

In 1878, he joined the

South Australian Police Force South Australia Police (SAPOL) is the police force of the Australian state of South Australia. SAPOL is an independent statutory agency of the Government of South Australia directed by the Commissioner of Police, who reports to the Minister for ...

and was posted to Alice Springs four years later. By 1883, he was promoted to first-class mounted constable, and then took charge of a

native police Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentie ...

force consisting of six men, investigating incidents such as cattle spearing. In 1886, he established the police station at

Heavitree Gap The Heavitree Gap, or ''Ntaripe'' in the Arrernte language, is a water gap in the Northern Territory of Australia in the MacDonnell Ranges. It is the southern entrance to the city of Alice Springs and in addition to the Todd River it carries the ...

. He also built a short-lived outpost at Boggy Hole near

Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort town since 1971. It is situated on the riv ...

. It was closed after three chained prisoners were shot in the back by police while allegedly escaping. By 1890, he was responsible for more than 13 deaths of Aboriginal people, although that number may have been higher due to poor documentation of incidents.

Murder trial

In 1891 Willshire's men attacked a group of sleeping Aboriginal people camped at Tempe Downs Station, killing two. The incident was investigated by the then Sub-Protector of Aborigines,

Frank Gillen Francis James Gillen (28 October 1855 – 5 June 1912), also known as Frank Gillen and F. J. Gillen, was an early Australian anthropologist and ethnologist. He is known for his work with W. Baldwin Spencer, including their seminal work ''T ...

. Upon his recommendation, Willshire was the first policeman charged with murder, and stood trial in Port Augusta. Pastor Kempe of Hermannsburg Mission helped Gillen to bring him to justice. The case was highly controversial. Public subscriptions raised £2000 for Willshire's bail and paid for his defence by Sir

John Downer Sir John William Downer, KCMG, KC (6 July 1843 – 2 August 1915) was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia, from 1885 to 1887 and again from 1892 to 1893. He later entered federal politics and served as ...

, the grandfather of Australian politician

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...

. While Aboriginal witnesses gave evidence, Willshire was acquitted. While there was significant public support, there was also outrage from those who opposed the finding, many of whom questioned the validity of the legal process. After the trial, Willshire was transferred to the Victoria River district in 1893 but was permanently removed from the position in 1895 for fear of further controversies and returned to Adelaide.

Later life

Willshire wrote a semi-autobiographical book, ''A Thrilling Tale of Real Life in the Wilds of Australia'', in 1895. He later applied for the position of state Protector of Aborigines, but was unsuccessful and resigned in 1908. Willshire married Ellen Sarah Howell on 13 September 1896 at

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

, South Australia. They had a son and a daughter. He died on 22 August 1925 in Adelaide. A street in The Gap, a suburb of Alice Springs, is named after him.

References

{{reflist, 30em People from the Northern Territory 1925 deaths 1852 births