The tragic death of Clarie Pirie

Almost all visitors to Capertee will notice the large memorial park in the middle of the village close to the Glen Davies turnoff. This recreational area, which includes a car park, childrens' playground and toilets, is officially named after Clarence Pirie a notable policeman who was stationed in the community during the late 1950s and early 60s. While many police have served the Capertee district well over the years Pirie deserves lasting recognition as he gave his life to protecting the community.

Senior Constable Clarence Pirie
image courtesy NSW Police

Senior Constable Clarence (Clarie) Roy Pirie was born in Paddington, Sydney, in 1920. During World War 2 he joined the army and served in New Guinea. After the war, in 1947, he joined the New South Wales Police Force, and from 1959 to 1960 he was the Officer-in-Charge at Capertee Police Station. 

On the 13th October 1960 he was asked to look out for two male offenders who had abandoned a stolen car north of Capertee.While patrolling the area the following day, Pirie found two 14 year-olds with a vehicle at a roadside camping site at Jews Creeks south of Capertee. According to police records, these were not the suspects who had abandoned the vehicle the previous day but two escapees from the Yasmar juvenile detention centre in Haberfield, Sydney. While interviewing the youths one of them suddenly produced a stolen .22 rifle and shot the officer twice. The Senior Constable died of his wounds at the scene a short time after. The two youths were arrested the following day and were later imprisoned. Pirie was survived by his wife Frances and four young children.

The memory of Clarie Pirie as well as the many other police who have been killed in the line of duty is commemorated each year on Police Memorial Day which is held near the end of September.

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/national_police_remembrance_day

Jack Dawes's cat

The Capertee district has attracted some eccentric types over the years. One such individual was Jack Dawes who lived in the area during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Jack was a man of very humble means who lived in a water tank in Capertee. His impecunious lifestyle soon attracted the attention of the local police who charged him under the (now repealed) NSW Vagrancy Act. We will leave a newspaper report in the Goulburn Evening Post, of Monday 11th June 1951, to explain the odd details of the case.

The Hermit, Capertee Valley (1988), oil by Sali Herman
image courtasy AASD website

Vagrant Wore Live "Fur" To Keep Warm

A 58-year-old man charged with vagrancy had to be stripped of a large black tom-cat which he claimed he wore to keep him warm when he appeared in Capertee Court of Petty Sessions. The man, Jack Dawes, of Capertee (near Lithgow) was sentenced to three months hard labour.

When Dawes was taken into court, police noticed a large bulge inside his old shirt. Asked what it was, Dawes put his hand into his shirt and pulled out the head of a large tom-cat. He objected when police ordered him to remove the cat in court. He stated that he wore the cat there to keep him warm. He had had the animal for 15 years. The cat was taken from him. After Dawes had been sentenced, Mr. K. Dash, S.M., commented: "I think we'll send the cat with him too. I'm sure we can find a warrant card for it somewhere."

Dawes pleaded not guilty to a charge of having insufficient support. When asked in court how he lived, he commented: "Ben Chifley keeps me!" Apparently Mr. Chifley's patronage was not enough to convince Mr. Dash. He convicted Dawes who was later taken to Lithgow police station. He was then transferred to Bathurst.

Police stated that he lived in a tank in the Capertee district. He had the tank sealed and had to crawl into it through a small hole. Only food stuff which he had with him was cat's meat. He was anxious to take the cat with him.

Some months ago, Det. W. J. Heron, of the Lithgow Police visited the "home" of the accused. He was surprised when Dawes ran-out and sprayed him with eau-de-cologne, explaining that he always kept the perfume on hand for friends.

A big thank you to J. O'Shea, a distant relative of Jack Dawes, for sharing this quirky tale. She believes that her relative died in 1960. In the absence of a photo of Mr Dawes we have reproduced a work by the famous Swiss-born Australian artist Sali Herman (1898-1993), titled 'The Hermit, Capertee Valley'.

Slippery Jack the bushranger

While these days the Capertee district is mostly a law abiding place things were often different in the past. One noteworthy criminal was Slippery Jack a bush-ranger who ran amok robbing local miners huts and sheep stations during the mid-1890s. While the main period of bush-ranging in Australia had passed a generation or two earlier, the hunt for Slippery Jack generated much press attention around the country.

1896 police photographs of the bushranger known as Slippery Jack

From about 1894 reports began to appear of a number of thefts of unattended homes in the local area. In August 1895 the Bathurst Free Press & Mining Journal reported on four robberies of unoccupied miners huts at Palmers Oakey and a bush-ranger daubed 'Slippery Jack' was the main suspect. The paper reported that he got away with some gold, silver, food and supplies.

In February 1896 Slippery Jack's bush camp was discovered by a settler named William Hutchinson at Eagle Hawk's Nest at a deserted high spot near the Sunny Corner to Wattle Flat road. Hutchinson called the police who later attempted to interview the suspected robber at his camp. Slippery Jack tried to shoot at the police but his gun was not loaded. After pelting the police with rocks he escaped into the bush. Not long after a local miner's hut was robbed of all his possessions.

Slippery Jack's bush hut was built of poles and brushwood and covered with bark cut from local trees. Searching his, now abandoned, hut the police found stolen goods including clothing, tents, watches and food. Surrounding his well disguised shelter was a small well cultivated garden consisting of tomatoes, pumpkins potatoes and other vegetables. By this time Slippery Jack was now suspected of being a convict from the French penal settlement of New Caledonia.

After evading capture Slippery Jack relocated up the Turon River, and while there he robbed miners huts. The police were now actively searching for him, and with the aid of Aboriginal trackers traced him to Blackmans Crown in March 1896, but, again, he evaded capture.

On 23 May 1896 Slippery Jack was finally arrested after being shot in the thigh by Constable Preston of Ilford along with several other officers and an Aboriginal tracker named Hughey. The capture took place on Genowlan Mountain, east of Capertee, and according to Bruce Jefferys, writing in The Story of Capertee, Slippery Jack was carried down the mountain to Airly homestead. He was then taken by rail from Capertee to Wallarawang for medical treatment, after which he was sent to Bathurst Police Station.

Despite hardly speaking any English, during formal questioning it became known that the prisoner was a Spaniard who was born in 1834, and he went under several names including Jean Lefung and Juan Larosa. He confessed that he was an escaped convict from the French penal settlement at New Caledonia. He, along with several other prisoners, had escaped from the French colonial prison by boat. To support this story it was noted that the prisoner had marks on his legs caused by leg irons. It seems that our fugitive was a wharf labourer who had been convicted of hard labour for life in France in 1883 for counter-fitting offences before being sent to New Caledonia.

Slippery Jack was found guilty at Bathurst Court for 'breaking and entering a dwelling and house stealing within' and was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Considering his many, alleged, offences in the district the prisoner escaped with a relatively light sentence. Despite this, later that year he attacked another inmate and received an extra years imprisonment for malicious wounding. It is not known what happened to Slippery Jack after his time behind bars.

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