thumbnail, Official portrait of Frederick Pottinger Sir Frederick William Pottinger, 2nd Baronet (27 April 18319 April 1865) was a police inspector in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, who gained fame for his fight against

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

Early life

Pottinger was born in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, son of Lieutenant-General Sir

Henry Pottinger Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Baronet (3 October 1789 – 18 March 1856) was an Bombay Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the first governor of Hong Kong from 1843 to 1844. ...

of the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, and his wife Susanna Maria, née Cooke, of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He was educated privately before attending

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

from 1844 to 1847.

Career

In 1850, Pottinger purchased a commission in the

Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

and served in

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until 1854. Active in social life, he lost much of his adoring mother's wealth on the race-course. In 1856, he succeeded his father as second baronet and soon dissipated his inheritance. Forced by debt to leave England, he migrated to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. After failing on the goldfields he joined the

police force as a mounted trooper. A superb horseman, he spent the next few years on the gold escort between

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

and

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

. Probably because of conditions imposed by his family who still supported him with funds, Pottinger kept his title secret but in 1860 it was discovered by the inspector-general of police,

John McLerie John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, and promotion came rapidly. In November he became clerk of petty sessions at

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

and, on 1 October 1861, assistant superintendent of the Southern Mounted Patrol. Although determined to succeed in his career, he was involved in a drunken brawl at

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one's age is low, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an America ...

on 20–21 December 1861. Sued, he received a public rebuke from the

New South Wales premier The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

, for his "highly discreditable" behaviour. Posted to the Lachlan area, he proved an indefatigable but unlucky hunter of

bushrangers Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia, and applied to ...

Inspector of police

Under the 1862 Police Regulation Act, Pottinger was appointed an inspector of police for the Western District of New South Wales. The Act was bitterly criticised and Pottinger seen as a symbol of its defects. In April 1862, he arrested Ben Hall at

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on a charge of

highway robbery A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to foo ...

, but Hall was acquitted and joined

Frank Gardiner Frank Gardiner (1830 – c. 1882) was an Australian bushranger who became notorious for his lead role in the largest gold heist in Australian history, at Eugowra, New South Wales in June 1862. Gardiner and Gardiner-Hall gang, his gang, which in ...

's gang, which robbed the Lachlan escort of some £14,000 on 15 June 1862. Quickly in pursuit, Pottinger remained on the trail for a month, and arrested two of the bushrangers. They escaped several days later in a gun battle but Pottinger did recover the stolen gold. Criticised for his failure to send an adequate guard with the escort, and his return without prisoners, Pottinger was praised by others for his determination and endurance. On the night of 9 and 10 August, Pottinger and a party of police surrounded the house of Gardiner's mistress, Kate Brown, but the bushranger escaped when Pottinger's pistol misfired. ::Up started then Sir Fred. and his men, with cock'd carbine in hand,
And call'd aloud on the Ranger proud, on pain of death, to "stand";
But the Ranger proud, he laughed aloud, and bounding rode away,
While Sir Frederick Pott. shut his eyes for a shot, and miss'din his usual way.'Snowy River' (1862). That incident earned Pottinger the nickname "Blind Freddie", which has since entered into the Australian vernacular. The police arrested a young boy on suspicion of being an accomplice of Gardiner, and allowed him to remain in the lock-up without comforts. The boy's death from

gaol fever Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

in March 1863 further diminished Pottinger's reputation. On 27 September 1862, Pottinger appeared before a Bathurst court on a charge of assault. He again became the subject of public notice in February 1863, when he attended the Sydney trials of the escort robbers and was jostled by

larrikin Larrikin is an Australian English term meaning "a mischievous young person, an uncultivated, rowdy but good-hearted person", or "a person who acts with apparent disregard for social or political conventions". In the 19th and early 20th centurie ...

s in the street. He also threatened politician Joseph Harpur with his whip for charges made against him in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

. Meanwhile, the bushrangers in his district became more active. He later captured

Patrick Daley Patrick Daley (6 July 1844 – 29 April 1914), known informally as 'Patsy' Daley, was a 19th-century Australian bushranger. Daley was the younger cousin of John O’Meally, a member of Frank Gardiner’s gang of bushrangers who robbed the go ...

but, on 17 August 1864, failed to arrest James Alpin McPherson. In May 1863, the inspector-general had directed the police to act on their own initiative. Early in January 1865, hoping to lure Hall and his associate, fellow bushranger John Dunn, into the open, Pottinger rode in the Wowingragong races, in breach of police regulations. Despite his claim that his action "fully warranted the discretionary departure in point from the letter (tho' not the spirit)" of the regulation, he was dismissed from the police force on 16 February 1865. Protest meetings against his dismissal were held on the diggings and in the towns, with petitions for his reappointment.

Death

On 5 March 1865, at Wascoe's Inn in the Blue Mountains, while boarding a moving coach on his way to Sydney to seek redress, Pottinger accidentally shot himself in the upper abdomen. He recovered sufficiently to be moved to the Victoria Club in Sydney, but he died

intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without a legally valid will, resulting in the distribution of their estate under statutory intestacy laws rather than by their expressed wishes. Alternatively this may also apply ...

on 9 April 1865, and was buried at St Jude's Anglican Church,

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

. He was succeeded by his brother, Henry, as 3rd Baronet.

Notes

References