Joe Flick (c.1865 – 28 October 1889) was an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

outlaw famous for being one of the few people to have killed a

Native Police Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...

officer. He also wounded the well-known British colonist Frank Hann in a

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

at Lawn Hill Station in the colony of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Early life

It appears that Flick was born in the Mehi River region of northern

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 ...

around the year 1865. His father was Henry (Harry) Flick, a German-Australian stockman who worked at the Mungyer property near Mallowa. His mother was an Aboriginal woman, who was probably of the

Gamilaraay The Gamilaroi, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Austr ...

people. Due to his mixed Aboriginal heritage, Joe Flick was judged by colonial Australian society to be a ''

half-caste Half-caste is a term used for individuals of Multiracial, multiracial descent. The word ''wikt:caste, caste'' is borrowed from the Portuguese or Spanish word ''casta'', meaning race. Terms such as ''half-caste'', ''caste'', ''quarter-caste'' an ...

'' or '' yellow boy'', derogatory terms designed to belittle his worth as a human based upon his darker skin. Despite the social stigma, Flick was accepted as a legitimate son by his father and spent at least part of his childhood on Mungyer Station where he was taught how to be a stockman. At the age of 13, Flick was injured by a horse while mustering on the property, resulting in a broken femur. He was treated at the hospital in

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire Local government in Australia, local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Hi ...

, where he made a good recovery.

Move to Queensland

Around 1880, Harry Flick took his Aboriginal wife and Joe north with him to the colony of Queensland, where they found work near Charleville, with Harry's wife presenting herself as a stockman. Harry soon assaulted and abducted an Aboriginal "half-caste" girl named Lizzie from the

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

homestead belonging to William Jenkins. Local policeman later caught Harry. He was found guilty of assault and sentenced to six months hard labour at the jail in

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

. Joe, who was around the age of 15 when this happened, was placed in the care of police at Charleville while his father was incarcerated. In the early 1880s, after being released from prison, Harry Flick took his son Joe further north where they found employment on the Lawn Hill Station property of pioneer pastoralist Frank Hann. By this stage, Joe Flick had become a smart and athletic young man who was an expert horseman, an excellent marksman and was well regarded in the region as a good worker.

Arrest for attempted murder

However, in April 1888, trouble again occurred over the possession of another Aboriginal girl who went by the name of Kitty. While journeying to

Burketown Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Cairns and west of Normanton, Queensland, Normanton on the Albert River (Gulf Sa ...

for supplies, a quarrel over Kitty happened at the Beames Brook Hotel which resulted in Joe Flick firing a shot at the hotel's proprietor James Cashman which narrowly missed him. Cashman made a complaint to the police, and Flick later gave himself up to Constable Henry Hasenkamp. Flick was arrested and sent to the jail at Normanton to await trial. However, when he found out that he would be tried for attempted murder, Flick made his escape over the prison wall.

Escape and re-arrest in the Northern Territory

Flick stole some horses and made his escape hundreds of kilometres to the west into the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

which was then a frontier part of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Flick knew some of frontiersmen establishing grazing properties there and thought he could lay low out of trouble as an anonymous stockman. Conflict between the British colonists and the local Aboriginal people was ongoing at the time of Flick's escape and while travelling through the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also ca ...

he had a skirmish with the Aborigines in which he was slightly injured. Eventually he arrived at Hodgson Downs Station along the Hodgson River. The manager, James Crawford, allowed him to work as a stockman there. However, officers of the local mounted

soon heard of Flick hiding out and in March 1889, a patrol led by Constable Robert Stott took him into custody at Hodgson Downs. Flick was chained with heavy irons and was led to Palmerston to be formally arrested. On the journey, Flick attempted to escape at Mount McMinn but was shot in the back and wounded by Stott before being recaptured. Flick was held in remand at Fannie Bay Gaol in Palmerston until July 1889 when he was extradited to Queensland to face trial for the attempted murder of James Cashman. Constable Hasenkamp escorted Flick on a ship back to Normanton where he was again placed in jail awaiting trial.

Fugitive after second escape

With the aid of an accomplice who somehow was able to provide him with a small saw-blade, Flick was able to cut through the timber floor of his cell at the Normanton jail and escape. He acquired a horse and some firearms and headed toward Turn Off Lagoon on the Nicholson River where there was a

barracks. Flick knew that the officer and the Aboriginal troopers at the barracks would be used to track him down, so he went there and stole and shot their horses, and intimidated the troopers before fleeing to the south.

Shootout at Lawn Hill

The Native Police officer at Turn Off Lagoon, Senior Constable Alfred Wavell, was able to procure some fresh horses and tracked Flick to Frank Hann's Lawn Hill station on 27 October 1889. On seeing the troopers, Flick shot one of their horses and under fire, fled to the dining hut located next to the homestead. Hann had been out the last few days hunting down "the blacks" who lived on what he regarded as his property. Consequently, he had lots of ammunition stored on site, and in the dining hut where Flick had now barricaded himself was around 250 cartridge rounds. Wavell and his troopers then surrounded the hut. With his revolver in hand, Wavell approached the hut, but Flick was following his moments and with a single shot, hit Wavell in the chest, killing him instantly. Hann then called on Flick to surrender to which Flick responded that he would if Hann came up to the door of the hut. As soon as Hann opened the door, Flick shot him through shoulder. The wounded Hann, tried to shoot Flick but missed. Flick retreated to the hut, while Hann painfully made his way back to where the troopers were positioned. He then ordered the troopers to riddle the hut with bullets, which they continued to do for most of the rest of the afternoon. In the evening, Hann ordered a ceasefire to see if Flick was dead, but a storm came up which provided cover for Flick to escape from the hut. On the following morning, the troopers searched the hut but only found a lot of Flick's blood. They tracked his trail of blood to a creek bank that was covered in tall grass. The troopers with Hann's "black boy" named Nym went to enter the grass, but Flick was waiting and shot Nym fatally through chest. Again Hann ordered the general bombardment of the area with rifle-fire which lasted for the rest of the day. One of the troopers claimed to have shot Flick through the head, but couldn't be sure. Hann then ordered the grass to be set alight to remove the cover and smoke Flick out if he was still alive.

Death

Hann and the troopers watched the area around the creek all night but nothing of Flick was heard or seen. The next morning, they found that the fire had cleared most of the grass, Flick's dead corpse was soon located, riddled with bullet-holes. He was buried on the spot where he was found. Flick's grave at Lawn Hill is marked by an iron framework. Nearby are the graves of Alfred Wavell and Nym, each with neatly carved headstones.

Legacy

Joe Flick is regarded as one of the last great

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 ...

s and is a significant figure in that he was an Aboriginal man who killed an officer of the Native Police, a force which killed thousands of Indigenous people. His story has been made into two notable semi-fictional novels; '' Man Tracks'' by Ion Idriess and ''Outlaw'' by Greg Barron.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flick, Joe Australian outlaws 19th-century Indigenous Australian people People from New South Wales 1889 deaths 19th-century Australian people