Sydney in Ferment Crime, Dissent and Official Reaction 1788 to 1973 This Book Was Published by ANU Press Between 1965–1991
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) Peter N.Grabosky Sydney in ferment Crime, dissent and official reaction 1788 to 1973 This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991. This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press. This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to a global audience under its open-access policy. Peter N. Grabosky Sydney in ferm ent Crime, dissent and official reaction 1788 to 1973 Australian National University Press Canberra 1977 First published in Australia 1977 Printed in Australia for the Australian National University Press, Canberra (C) Peter N. Grabosky 1977 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copy right Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Grabosky, Peter Nils. Sydney in ferment: crime, dissent, and official reaction, 1788-1973. Index. Bibliography. ISBN 0 7081 0230 1. ISBN 0 7081 1292 7 (Paperback) 1. Crime and criminals — Sydney. 2. Social problems. I. Title. 364.25099441 Southeast Asia: Angus & Robertson (S.E. Asia) Pty Ltd, Singapore Japan: United Publishers Services Ltd, Tokyo iv TO MY PARENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book could not have been written without the encouragement and assistance of scores of people on two continents. Ted Robert Gurr and Louis H. Masotti invited me to join them in undertaking a comparative historical study of public order in London, Stockholm, Calcutta, and Sydney, and provided me with financial and intellectual support at every stage of my work. The project was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Crime and Delinquency of the National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (grant number MH21204). Without question, the greatest substantive contributions were made by the many Australian scholars whom I met during the course of my research. Duncan Chappell introduced me to Australian criminology, and offered helpful suggestions before my departure for Sydney. Greg Woods, of the University of Sydney Law School, rendered immeasur able assistance on matters of criminal law and contemporary criminal justice research. His colleagues, Gordon Hawkins and Paul Ward, pro vided encouragement and intellectual stimulation which will be long remembered and appreciated. Indeed, I shall always remain deeply in debted to the faculty and staff of the Sydney University Law School for the friendship and hospitality extended to me during my stay in Aus tralia. Tony Vinson and the staff of the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research have continued to share the results of their research with me throughout the course of my work. Personnel of the New South Wales Police and Corrective Services Departments were kind enough to interrupt their busy schedules in order to enlighten me with regard to the operational aspects of their respective institutions. I am also grateful to Michael Cass and Philip Arantz for sharing with me their insights on New South Wales police operations. Among the other scholars who gave generously of their time and expertise were Henry Mayer, Jim Hagan, Ronald Francis, Paul Wilson, Graham Parker, David Biles, J. H. Wootten, Ken Buckley, Humphrey McQueen, Robin Gollan, and Merrill Sernack. A special note of thanks is due to Ian Turner, whose hospitality and generosity made my stay in Melbourne as pleasant as it was productive. The staff of the Mitchell Library cheerfully helped me wade through vii A cknowledgments mountains of material. Personnel of the National Library of Australia, the Public Library of New South Wales, and the Archives of New South Wales also facilitated my explorations of their respective holdings. The Photographic Service of the Library of New South Wales rendered heroic service in processing my requests for copies of hundreds of documents. I wish also to express my gratitude to Evelyn Kyle, Kathy Dolan, and Ginny Nicodemus for their assistance in preparing the manuscript, to the staff of the Australian National University Press for guidance, and to Ted Robert Gurr, Greg Woods, and Gordon Hawkins for their thorough and thoughtful comments on earlier versions of the study. Most of the credit for the pages which follow must be shared with the above individuals. Any errors of fact or interpretation remain the responsibility of the author. Burlington, Vermont, 1975 P.N.G. viii CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 1 Growth of the City 4 2 Criminality and Turmoil: Long-Term Trends 31 3 The Early Years: 1788-1809 44 4 The Macquarie Era: 1810-1821 51 5 Lash and Scaffold: 1822-1840 57 6 Towards a Civil Society: 1841-1869 69 7 Past and Future in Collision: 1870-1900 81 8 The Great War and its Aftermath: 1914-1920 107 9 Boom and Depression: 1925-1939 118 10 Vice, Drunkenness, and Cold War Tensions: 1945-1955 133 11 An Age of Lawlessness? 1956-1973 142 12 Conclusions 165 Appendix 179 Notes 183 Bibliography 198 Index 207 ix TABLES 1.1 New South Wales population, 1788-1845; selected demographic aspects. 9 1.2 Estimated proportion of New South Wales population resident in Sydney metropolitan area, 1810-1970. 12 2.1 New South Wales: scope and magniture of civil disorder, 1788-1970. 37 4.1 Newr South Wales Supreme Court: committals per 1000 inhabitants, selected offences, 1811-1821. 51 4.2 New South Wales: general offences committed in the Sydney area, 1817-1820. 52 5.1 New South Wales Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction: committals per 1000 population, selected offences, 1819-1824. 57 5.2 New South Wales: corporal punishment of convicts, 1830-1837. 66 6.1 New South Wales: free persons taken into custody for selected offences, 1841-1844. 69 6.2 Sydney Police District: selected population statistics, 1841-1851. 71 6.3 New South Wales: number of executions, 1825-1859. 73 7.1 New South Wales: selected demographic data, 1871-1901. 87 7.2 New South Wales: arrests for selected offence categories, percent Irish born, 1891, 1901. 87 7.3 New South Wales: total apprehensions, percent of those born out side Australasia, 1885-1893. 87 7.4 New South Wales: prisoners liberated under the provisions of the First Offenders Probation Act and subsequent statutes, 1895-1907. 100 7.5 New South Wales: remission of sentence by part payment of fines, 1902-1909. 101 7.6 No. 4 Police District, Sydney: arrests for selected offences related to larrikinism, January-June, 1891-1900. 102 7.7 New South Wales: persons charged and convicted in higher courts, abortion and related offences, 1900-1910. 105 8.1 New South Wales: wages and prices, 1910-1920. 108 8.2 Appeals to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, 1912- 1924. 116 9.1 New South Wales: arrests per 1000 population, selected offence categories, 1925-1936. 119 9.2 New South Wales: percentage of trade unionists unemployed, 1928-1936. 122 9.3 New South Wales: cases of simple larceny dealt with in Courts of Petty Sessions, 1924-1934. 130 10.1 New South Wales: arrests per 1000 inhabitants, selected offences, 1943-1951. 134 10.2 Metropolitan Police District; Vice Squad arrests, selected offences, 1943-1951. 134 10.3 New South Wales: arrests for drunkenness and related offences, 1943-1951. 135 11.1 New South Wales: offences known to the police per 100,000 popu lation, selected offences, 1960-1970. 142 11.2 New South Wales: arrests for drunkenness and related offences, 1960-1970. 143 11.3 New South Wales: arrests for prostitution and related offences, 1960-1970. 145 x 11.4 New South Wales: prosecutions for unlawful abortion, 1960-1970. 146 11.5 New South Wales: arrests for selected offences involving sexual deviance, 1963-1970. 146 11.6 Central Court of Petty Sessions, Sydney: birthplace of individuals convicted, 8 February-8 May 1973. 148 11.7 New South Wales Police Department: size of force, 1960-1970. 157 11.8 New South Wales: trends in custodial and noncustodial correction, 1964-1971. 161 12.1 New South Wales: Determinants of selected Supreme Court con viction rates, 1826-1893. 166 12.2 New South Wales: determinants of selected arrest and conviction rates, 1914-1969. 167 MAPS 1.1 The Settlement at Sydney Cove, July 1788 5 1.2 The Settlement at Sydney, c. 1802 7 1.3 Sydney in 1836 13 1.4 The City of Sydney, 1854 15 1.5 The Sydney Metropolitan Area, 1908 22 1.6 The Sydney Metropolitan Area, c. 1958 28 1.7 The City of Sydney and inner suburbs, c. 1958 29 FIGURES 2.1 Availability of data on crime and institutions of public order in New South Wales. 32 2.2 New South Wales: convictions per 1000 population, serious acquisitive crime, 1811-1892. 33 2.3 New South Wales: convictions per 1000 population, serious aggres sive crime, 1811-1892. 34 2.4 New South Wales: convictions per 1000 population, serious crimes against sexual morality and custom, 1814-1892. 34 2.5 New South Wales: higher court convictions per 1000 population, selected offence categories, 1893-1970. 35 2.6 New South Wales: arrests for crirhes of aggression and offences against sexual morality and custom, per 1000 population, 1879- 1970. 36 2.7 New South Wales: High Court and Quarter Sessions committals per 1000 population, serious crimes of acquisition, 1893-1970. 36 2.8 New South Wales: offences other than traffic violations, arrests per 1000 population, 1879-1970. 38 2.9 New South Wales: drunkenness arrests as percentage of all arrests for offences other than traffic violations, 1879-1970. 39 2.10 New South Wales: crimes of assertiveness, arrests per 1000 popula tion, 1879-1970.