Years active 1882-1896 Died August 28, 1896 Title Commissioner of Police Employer South Australia Police | Name William Peterswald | |
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Full Name William John von Peterswald Born November 28, 1829 ( 1829-11-28 ) Jamaica, West Indies Occupation Chief Commissioner of Police Organization Colony of South Australia Education Elizabeth College, Guernsey | ||
Partner(s) Emily Mary de St Croix Resting place North Road Cemetery | ||
William John Peterswald, of St. Heliers, Adelaide, South Australia, was Commissioner of Police of the Colony of South Australia 1882–1896.
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Origins
William John Von Peterswald was born 28 November 1829 at Jamaica, West Indies and educated at the Edinburgh Academy, Scotland and Elizabeth College, Guernsey. He commanded the 1st Rifle Company attached to the Channel Islands Militia and arrived in South Australia on the Charlotte Jane in May 1853 He then commenced farming at Munno Para, with limited success.
Police career
In 1862 he joined the South Australia Police as Inspector of Metropolitan Police and resigned in 1866 to become Warden of the Goldfields. He rejoined the police in 1874 and rose to the rank of 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. In the latter case, the change was so rapid that in 1884 Peterswald established a branch of native police 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 color of police horses, exclusively selecting the impressive greys for metropolitan duty. This strain, despite being somewhat unsuitable for the outback, was later extended to many rural police horses.
For years Peterswald suffered from diabetes, which was the principal cause of his death in 1896. He was accorded with a state funeral, the procession being watched by large crowds of onlookers.