William John Peterswald (1829-1896) was Commissioner of Police of the

Colony of South Australia A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

1882–1896.

Origins

William John von Peterswald was born 28 November 1829 in Jamaica, West Indies, where his father, also named William, managed a large plantation, and received his early education at the

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

. His parents returned to Scotland when slavery was made illegal, and Peterswald's education continued at the Military Academy, Edinburgh, and Elizabeth College at

Saint Peter Port St. Peter Port () is a town and one of the ten parishes on the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2019 was 18,958. St. Peter Port is a small tow ...

, Guernsey, where he commanded the 1st Rifle Company attached to the Channel Islands Militia. The family moved to Liverpool, where his father died, and Peterswald lived for a time on the Continent then went over to

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

, where some time later he married the

Greffier In some countries using (or formerly using) French as the language of the legal system, a greffier is the clerk to a legislature or to a court. The word greffe refers to the records kept by the greffier or to the department of government under th ...

's daughter. Peterswald and his wife emigrated to South Australia on the ''

Charlotte Jane ''Charlotte Jane'' was one of the First Four Ships in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury in New Zealand. Maiden voyage The ''Charlotte Jane'' departed from England in 1848, bound for Sy ...

'', arriving in Adelaide in May 1853. He ran a dairy farm at Munno Para for seven years without success, but the voluntary militia company which he raised and commanded was noted for its smartness.

Police career

Having lost his money on the farming venture, he settled in Adelaide, where he gained employment as assistant clerk of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

. In 1862, following the murder of Pettinger at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

, he applied for the now-vacant post of Inspector of Metropolitan Police under Major Warburton, which he won despite his having no experience or knowledge of policing. Four years later he was forced to resign due to insolvency, resulting from his failed dairying venture. Once again the vacancy was filled from outside the police force, this time by T. W. Bee, previously Relieving Officer with the

Adelaide Destitute Asylum The Destitute Asylum was a government-funded institution in Adelaide in the colony of South Australia, designed to support those of its citizens who had no means of financial support, especially new arrivals and mothers with children. It was fi ...

. In 1868 he was made Warden of the Barossa goldfields, which had suddenly become active and needed a firm hand to deal with the expected disputes. In August 1873 an exchange of positions saw Bee moving in two steps to Inspector of Licensed Premises and Peterswald returned to Inspector of Metropolitan Police and in 1875 the position was upgraded to Superintendent. He was appointed Acting Commissioner of Police in 1881 and then Commissioner of Police in 1882, succeeding George Hamilton, in which position he served until his death in August 1896.

Legacy

For 15 years Peterswald steadily guided the police through ever-increasing responsibilities despite often having a constrained budget. As a particular challenge, the police under his leadership established law and order between both European settlers/pastoralists and indigenous communities as the frontier of modernity expanded throughout the vast distances of Central Australia and 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 ...

. In the latter case, the change was so rapid that in 1884 Peterswald established a branch of

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 ...

there. The difficult conditions necessitated more modern equipment. In the early 1880s Peterswald was responsible for initiating the re-arming of the Police Force. In early 1881 the Police were issued with 200 of the new Martini-Henry rifles in .455/.577 calibre and long-pattern bayonets, as used by the Volunteer Militia Forces. Peterswald also recommended that the Mounted Police be issued with the large New Model No. 3 Smith & Wesson revolver in .44 calibre. Public economic distress and unemployment during the 1880s and early 1890s presented the police with their first experiences of serious industrial unrest, all of which Peterswald handled with firm impartiality. To improve police esprit de corps he introduced revised uniform patterns and in 1884 encouraged the formation of a police band. He also introduced uniformity in the colour of police horses, exclusively selecting the impressive greys for metropolitan duty. This strain or breed, despite being somewhat unsuitable for the outback, was later extended to many rural police horses. The "police greys" remain a proud tradition of the South Australian Police Force. For years Peterswald suffered from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, which was the principal cause of his death. He was accorded with a state funeral, the procession being watched by large crowds of onlookers. His headstone is marked 'This monument was erected by the members of the South Australian Police Force as a mark of esteem and respect for their beloved departed officer' . In later years Peterswald lived at "St. Heliers", on the corner of Ward and Jeffcott streets,

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

. His wife, Emily Mary Peterswald, who was a daughter of Charles de Ste. Croix,

of the Island of

, died 19 April 1916 at her residence on Buxton Street, North Adelaide, also named "St Heliers".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterswald, William 1829 births 1896 deaths People educated at Edinburgh Academy 19th-century Jamaican people Australian Anglicans Commissioners of the South Australia Police Settlers of South Australia Burials at North Road Cemetery