Skip links and keyboard navigation

Call out the militia

The Queensland Government felt that the shearers’ strike of 1891 was so serious, the militia was called out to suppress the unrest. A total of 1442 men were called up for active duty including members of the Queensland Scottish Regiment's C Company based in Rockhampton. On 29 March 1891, an officer and 26 men, almost the entire company, went to Barcaldine by military train to join the group under the command of the Queensland Defence Force Commandant, Colonel G.A. French.

However, one of C Company's recruits did not respond to the call to active service. The name of the absentee was Private W. Kidston, a Rockhampton bookseller. He was struck off the regiment’s roll in May 1891 for non-attendance at drill. Kidston was a driving force behind Rockhampton's Workers Political Alliance and an avid supporter of the union movement. He became a leading Labor figure in central and north Queensland during the 1890s and was elected as the member for Rockhampton in 1896. A government minister for a number of years, he served as Premier of Queensland from 1906 to 1911.

Not all the militia employed to suppress the shearers’ activities adhered to the government line. The Townsville Mounted Infantry served in and around Hughenden from March to May 1891. Captain Wyatt arrived in Muttaburra with his troops and saw 150 mounted unionists parade through town and then head north. As Wyatt had not been ordered to follow, and because there was a break in the weather, the militia played a game of cricket in a local park, with Wyatt taking five wickets. The next day another party of unionists from Barcaldine passed through Muttaburra and set out towards Hughenden. Wyatt's party of mounted infantry and special constables were ordered to follow them this time, putting paid to the return match.

john-heathcote-id.jpg william-fothergill-id.jpg Prisoner identification records. (Courtesy: Queensland State Archives)

Resources

  • (Late) AL Josey, Clerk (Fines) 1965–1974, oral history in conversation with the writer, 2003.

    (Late) Mr JC Graham, Clerk (Magistrates Court Office, Brisbane) 1965–1978, oral history in conversation with the writer, 2003.

    A Walker (Registrar), unpublished correspondence to the Department, Cloncurry, 2003.

    B Bawden (A/Registrar), unpublished correspondence to Department, Nanango, 2003.

    BC Clements, Shorthand writer, oral history, 1980–85, in conversation with the writer.

    Buckley and Wheelwright, No Paradise for Workers, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1988.

    C Lack (ed.), Three Decades of Queensland Political History, Government Printing Office, Brisbane 1961.

    CA Bernays, Queensland Politics during Sixty Years (1859–1919), Government Printing Office, 1921.

    Clem Lack (Ed.), Three Decades of Queensland Political History, Government Printing Office, Brisbane, 1961.

    CMH Clark, A History of Australia Volume IV, Melbourne University Press, 1978.

    CMH Clark, A History of Australia Volume V, Melbourne University Press, 1978.

    CMH Clark, A History of Australia Volume VI, Melbourne University Press, 1978.

    Department of Justice and Attorney-General Annual Report 2003-2004, Queensland Government.

    Department of Justice and Attorney-General Annual Report 2005-2006, Queensland Government.

    Department of Justice and Attorney-General Annual Report 2007-2008, Queensland Government.

    Department of Justice, Justice 74, The Annual Report of the Department of Justice 1973–1974, Queensland Government.

    Department of Justice, Justice 75, The Annual Report of the Department of Justice 1974–1975, Queensland Government.

    DJ Murphy and RB Joyce (eds), Queensland Political Portraits 1859–1952, University of Queensland Press, 1978.

    Eddie Silver (historian), The Townsville Magistrates Court, Townsville, undated.

    EG Whitlam, Foreword to Theodore: His Life and Times, by I Young, Alpha Books, Sydney 1971.

    Final Report on the South-East Queensland Drug Court, Toni Makkai and Keenan Veraar, Australian Institute of Criminology, July 2003.

    G Johannessen (Regional Area Manager), unpublished correspondence to Department, Townsville, 2003.

    General Briefing Note to the Attorney-General from the SPER Registrar, 15 July 2001.

    Government Gazette, 2 April 1862.

    Government Statistician’s Office, Queensland Past and Present: 100 Years of Statistics 1896–1996, Queensland Government, 1998.

    Helen Pedley (Shire Historian and Compiler), The Cardwell Courthouse, Cardwell Shire Council, 28 January 2001.

    http://archiv.radio.cz/history/history14.html, 27.01.04.

    http://australianpolitics.com.au/elections/1983, 10.02.2004.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwina_Currie, 19.02.04.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt,27.01.04.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutually_assured_destruction, 15.01.2004.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww1/homefront/change.html, 13.11.2003.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww1/homefront/conscription.html,13.11.2003.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww1/homefront/economy.html,13.11.2003.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/homefront/controls.html, 11.11.2003.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/homefront/equality.html, 11.11.2003.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/homefront/independence.html, 11.11.2003.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/homefront/legacies.html, 11.11.2003.

    http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/homefront/women.html, 11.11.2003.

    http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/aasmemoirs/menzies.htm, 27.01.04.

    http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P001273b.htm, 15.01.2004.

    http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/statistics/ww2.htm, 11.11.2003.

    http://www.awm.gov.au/events/conference/2002/stanley_paper.pdf, 11.11.2003.

    http://www.backdate.co.uk/Culture.htm,27.01.2004.

    http://www.ballarat.com/eurekaffair.htm, 03.02.2004.

    http://www.cofq.qld.gov.au/1960.html,27.01.2004.

    http://www.cofq.qld.gov.au/1970.html, 03.02.2004.

    http://www.cofq.qld.gov.au/1980.html, 10.02.2004.

    http://www.cofq.qld.gov.au/qld_story_overview.html, 05.11.2003.

    http://www.hcourt.gov.au/justices_02.html, 20.11.2003.

    http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq42-1.htm, 05.11.2003.

    http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760626.html, 19.02.04.

    http://www.lexscripta.com/articles/fitzgerald.html, 10.02.2004.

    http://www.newsmax.com/showinside.shtml./?a=2002/9/8/161305, 26.02.2004.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/2.htm, 20.11.2003.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/9.htm, 13.11.2003.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/11.htm, 03.02.04.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/12.htm, 10.02.2004.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/14.htm, 26.02.2004.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/16.htm, 26.02.2004.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/23.htm, 28.10.2003.

    http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/25.htm, 10.02.2004.

    http://www.oesr.qld.gov.au/views/statistics/topics/demography/demo_fs.htm, 13.11.2003.

    http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au, 15.01.2009

    http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Parlib/Parl_Information/Elections/Election_results.pdf, 15.01.2004.

    http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/uktable.htm, 26.02.2004.

    http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14222122, 27.01.04.

    http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/timewalks/brisbane_1920/171908.htm, 27.01.04.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWwarsawpact.htm, 15.01.2004.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDperestroika.htm, 10.02.2004.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDthatcher.htm, 10.02.2004.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWwilsonW.htm,13.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MOedwardVII.htm, 05.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MOgeorgeV.htm, 13.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRbaldwin.htm, 20.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRchurchill.htm, 15.01.2004.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRgeorge.htm, 20.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRmacdonald.htm, 28.10.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRwilsonHa.htm, 27.01.04.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhoover.htm, 20.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAprosperity.htm, 20.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAreagan.htm, 19.02.2004.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USARnewdeal.htm, 28.10.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArooseveltT.htm, 05.11.2003.

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAtrumanD.htm, 15.01.2004

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WARboer.htm, 15.10.2003.

    http://www.towardfreedom.com/2002/jun02/oilandempire.htm, 26.02.2004.

    http://www.watergate.info/, 03.02.04.

    http://www.watergate.info/ford/fordswearing-in.shtml, 03.02.04.

    http://www.whitlamdismissal.com/overview/, 03.02.04.

    Humphrey McQueen, One hundred years of judicial activism, Australian Financial Review, 3 October 2003.

    I Young, Theodore: His Life and Times, Alpha Books, Sydney 1971.

    Iraq Peace Team / Voices in the Wilderness—The War Against Iraq: A Brief History 1990–Present: http://iraqpeaceteam.org/pages/history.html, 19.02.04.

    J Blake (Acting Registrar), unpublished correspondence to Department, Gladstone, 2003.

    JM Roberts, The Penguin History of the World, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, UK, 1990.

    Joanne Scott et al., The engine room of government: the Queensland Premier’s Department 1859–2001, University of Queensland Press.

    JP Webb, A brief history of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Brisbane (internal document), 1999.

    KH Kennedy, The Mungana Affair: State Mining and Political Corruption in the 1920s, University of Queensland Press, 1978.

    M Davidson (Registrar), unpublished correspondence to Department, Ingham, 2003.

    McLuhan, M.(1964): Understanding Media. New York: Mentor

    ME Bice (Registrar), unpublished correspondence to the Department, Charters Towers, 2003.

    Mr I McEwan, Director, State Reporting Bureau, Oral history in conversation with the writer, 2003.

    NE Bawden (Area Registrar), unpublished correspondence to the Department, Ipswich, 2003.

    Neville Bullen, The Shearers’ Strike, www.muttaburra.com/history.php, 15.10.2003.

    Office of Economic and Strategic Research, Queensland Treasury, Brisbane.

    Peter Charlton, Our Queensland, Book 3, p51, The Courier-Mail and the Sunday Mail, Brisbane, 2002.

    Peter Hitchens, ‘A party split from top to toe’, The Spectator, 4 October 2003

    purpleplanetmedia.com/bhp/pages/scramble.shtml, 15.10.2003.

    Queensland Past and Present: 100 Years of Statistics, 1896–1996, Government Statistician’s Office, Brisbane, 1998.

    R Muirhead (Registrar), unpublished correspondence to the Department, Bowen, 2003.

    R Norris, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, Melbourne University Press.

    RA Manzoni, oral history, in conversation with the writer, 2003.

    Robert Blake, The Conservative Party from Peel to Major, Arrow Books, 1998.

    Robert Hughes, Nothing If Not Critical: Selected Essays on Art and Artists, Penguin, USA, 1992.

    RP Bertoni, CSO, 0ral history, 1984–89, in conversation with the writer.

    RW Mack (Registrar), unpublished correspondence to Department, Ayr, 2003.

    RW Muirhead (Registrar), unpublished correspondence to Department, Bowen, 2003.

    Simon Schama, A History of Britain, Volume 3, BBC Worldwide Ltd, London.

    The Courier-Mail, Tuesday 3 September 1968, p3,

    The Justices Act 1886.

    WT Kinivan (Registrar), unpublished correspondence to Department, Proserpine, 2003.

    www.watergate.info/ford/pardon.shtml, 03.02.04.

  • Telegram to Sir Samuel Walker Griffith
  • Queensland’s first Solicitor-General
  • Bibliography

Contacts

Department of Justice and Attorney-General

Address
State Law Building
50 Ann Street
Brisbane QLD 4000

Postal address
GPO Box 149
Brisbane QLD 4001

Phone
+61 7 3239 3520
+61 7 3239 6777

Email
mailbox@justice.qld.gov.au

Last reviewed
1 February 2010
Last updated
7 March 2012

Rate this page

  1. How useful was the information on this page?
 
Close window

Send this page to a friend

*
*
*