Captain Henry Edmund Pulteney Dana was the Commandant of the Native Police in the Port Phillip District and Victoria (1841-1852) and Commandant of the Mounted Patrol (1852) until his untimely death in November 1852. He does not appear as a Police Magistrate in any of the sources, such as the Victoria Government Gazette , Blue Book, or on Trove . So why do I have him listed as a Golden Colony man?

A 1853 report lists Dana as an “Acting Police Magistrate” [01]. John Pascoe Fawkner , a member of the Legislative Council, had requested a report on gold fields personnel on 10 December 1852. William Turner, a Deputy Gold Commissioner, had prepared this report on behalf of the Chief Commissioner (William Henry Wright), but the report was not tabled in Parliament and ordered to be printed until 27 September 1853.

The relevant part of the report is entitled “Return of all Officers appointed to act upon the various Gold Fields of this Colony, together with the Dates of their several Appointments and Removals, or Resignations, if any (Compiled from Returns furnished to the 15th December 1852).” It is a goldmine (pun intended) of information.

Turner lists four Acting Police Magistrates on the gold fields on page 8: Dana, Shadforth, Harper, and Stewart. These are the Police Magistrates who were not also Gold Commissioners.

Turner has Dana (misspelled as Danna) as Acting Police Magistrate at Mount Alexander (Castlemaine) from 1 January 1852 and “relieved” 31 January 1852. According to Blue Book 1852, Dana was appointed Commandant of the Mounted Patrol on 1 July 1852 [02].

Turner has Robert William Shadforth as Acting Police Magistrate at Mount Alexander (Castlemaine) from 1 June 1852. This one is a little odd as Shadforth had been appointed Resident Police Magistrate at Castlemaine on 11 May 1852 [03]. Perhaps Turner meant “Police Magistrate,” rather than “Acting Police Magistrate.”

Turner has George Mitchell Harper as Acting Police Magistrate at May Day Hills (Beechworth) from 29 October 1852. Like Shadforth, I suspect that Turner meant “Police Magistrate” as Harper was officially appointed on 30 October 1852 [04]. Blue Book 1852 also has 29 October 1852.

Turner has Robert Petty Stewart as Acting Police Magistrate at Bendigo from 11 January 1852 and relieved on 8 December 1852. Stewart was officially appointed Resident (Police) Magistrate at Bendigo on 11 May 1852 [05]. Blue Book 1852 has him appointed as Police Magistrate at Lexton on 1 November 1852 and confirms that his first Government appointment was on 11 May 1852. Accordingly, we can see that Stewart was Acting Police Magistrate at Bendigo from 11 January 1852 (and not an official Government employee) before being confirmed on 11 May 1852.

So, who was Police Magistrate at Mount Alexander from February to May 1852, between Dana and Shadforth? On pages 5 and 6 of Turner’s report – the list of Gold Commissioners – a further four men are identified as Police Magistrates, as well as being Gold Commissioners. These are Fletcher, Mair, Eyre, and Henry Foster.

John Fletcher was appointed Police Magistrate at Castlemaine (Mount Alexander) on 5 March 1852 [06]. He had been an Assistant Gold Commissioner at Mount Alexander since 28 November 1851, so it is likely that Fletcher was Acting Police Magistrate, relieving Dana, before his official appointment. Indeed, Turner lists Fletcher as Assistant Commissioner from 28 November 1851 until “relieved 1st June 1852” and notes that Fletcher was “Also Acting Police Magistrate.” Fletcher resigned due to ill health. The South Australian Register reported that: “Mr Shadforth, Police Magistrate at Kyneton, had been promoted to the Police Magistracy of Castlemaine, Forest Creek, vice Mr Fletcher, who had been compelled to resign in consequence of his dangerous illness” [07]. Fletcher died on 9 or 10 September 1854 [see The Elusive John Fletcher].

William Mair had been a Police Magistrate at Belfast (Port Fairy) since 1 January 1851. He was assigned to Buninyong on 1 October 1851 and was “the Officer appointed to receive the Gold intended to be sent by the escort.” Turner has him as Assistant Gold Commissioner from 3 October 1851 until “Removed 1st January 1852. Also Police Magistrate, removed and promoted 1st January 1852.” From 1 January 1852, Mair took up the role of Commandant of the Mounted Police [08] and was initially responsible for the Government Gold Escort. I do not have any other sources that call Mair a Gold Commissioner. The roles were still evolving at this time. In 1853, and possibly earlier, several Gold Commissioners had the specific responsibility for receiving gold from the banks and miners for despatch to Melbourne. At the beginning of 1854, the role was redesignated “Gold Receiver” and the first four men who transitioned from Gold Commissioner to Gold Receiver were John Green, Thomas Muspratt, Thomas Beagley Naylor, John Wilkinson. The role of Gold Receiver was later transferred from the Gold Commission to the Treasury Department.

Alfred John Eyre was appointed Acting Police Magistrate and Assistant Gold Commissioner at Ballarat and Buninyong on 20 December 1851 [09]. Turner has him appointed on 1 January 1852 and “Also Acting Police Magistrate,” so he replaced Mair. This appointment is confirmed in Blue Book 1852. Blue Book 1853 has him as Police Magistrate from 1 January 1853 [10].

Henry Foster was appointed Assistant Gold Commissioner at Mount Alexander on 4 October 1852 [11]. Turner says that he was transferred to Bendigo as Acting Police Magistrate and Assistant Gold Commissioner on 8 December 1852, though the Blue Book 1853 has 1 January 1853 to 15 March 1853, after which he was appointed an Acting Inspector of Police.