>> Go Back - page - >> List of Entriess
the management of the Government Battery at Maranboy because Oliver wished to avoid any suspicion of bias on
his own part. He noted that ‘the equity of [Playford’s] verdicts, either as Warden or Special Magistrate, have never
been questioned. The parties in any case brought before him for decision, go there with a feeling that justice will
be given without fear or favour’. Yet Justice Roberts thought little of his judicial skills, observing in 1923 that
‘he was never a good magistrate and is gradually becoming impossible’. Nevertheless, the community perception
was otherwise, and such of his work that remains indicates that, for a layman, he had a sound grasp of legal
principles and was not afraid to reach unpopular conclusions if the evidence warranted it. Playford was involved
as a magistrate in hearing a number of very unpopular charges. In 1919, he heard charges against the union leaders
Harold Nelson and Robert Balding for assaulting Inspector Waters at the time of the Government House riots in- The charges were clearly politically motivated. Playford dismissed the charges (quite correctly) on technical
legal grounds. Subsequently further charges were brought differently based. Playford this time convicted and
imposed small fines instead of committing for trial to the Supreme Court, despite warnings in the Parliament
(published in the Northern Territory Times) that Nelson could face 60 years’ gaol. The Supreme Court also on
technical legal grounds later set these convictions aside. In 1921, he was involved in the gaoling of protesters
involved in the ‘no taxation without representation campaign’ and in 1930 with the conviction of protestors
involved in the sit-in at Government House.
After his retirement, Playford returned to Adelaide, travelling overland. For a time he amused himself writing
laconic articles for The Honorary Magistrate, but his spirit for adventure soon called and he sailed to England as a
passenger in a windjammer via Cape Horn, later remarking that he was never happier than when in a storm at sea
in a sailing ship. He died, aged 86, in Adelaide on 17 September 1950.
The Advertiser, 26 September 1950; B Burke, History of the Colonial Gentry, 1970; S Cockburn, Playford. Benevolent Despot, 1991;
W Crocker, Sir Thomas Playford, 1983; R K Johns (ed), History and Role of Government Geological Surveys in Australia, 1976; T G Jones,
Pegging the Northern Territory, 1987; D Lockwood, The Front Door, 1968; Manning’s Place Names of South Australia, 1990; Northern
Standard, 22 January 1925, 14 October 1930, 26 May 1931, 9 December 1932; Northern Territory Times and Gazette, various editions between
1911–1930; personal communication and papers courtesy A Asche, QC, Dr J Playford, M N Playford, T C Roberts; J Playford, ‘Thomas
Playford’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1988; T Playford, Notes of Travel in India China and Japan, 1907; Reasons for Judgment,
Quelch v Story, Roberts J, Supreme Court of the Northern Territory , 23 June 1924; J Shaw (editor), ‘Sir Thomas Playford’, Collins Australian
Encyclopaedia , 1984; Who’s Who in Australia, 1959.
DEAN MILDREN, Vol 3.
PLOWMAN, ROBERT BRUCE (1886–1966), Presbyterian patrol padre, administrator, businessman, public
servant and author, was born in South Melbourne on 25 October 1886, the eldest son of William and Margaret
Plowman. He left school at the age of 11 to help support his mother and the younger children. At the age of 23,
he enrolled at Scotch College, Melbourne, to study the subjects required to commence training for the Ministry of
the Presbyterian Church. At the end of the second year, his funds were exhausted and having applied to the Home
Mission Committee for acceptance as a ‘Home Missionary’ (lay pastor), he was appointed to Balmoral, a parish in
the Western District of Victoria.
On 26 September 1912, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia appointed John Flynn
Superintendent of a ‘Special Home Mission Area’ to include the Northern Territory and adjacent regions, soon
known as the Australian Inland Mission (AIM). Plowman was present at the historic launching of the Mission and
heard the appeal for a volunteer for a new type of ‘nomadic ministry’, later known as ‘Patrol Padre’. Plowman
was so stirred by what he believed was the answer to his dream that he sought out Flynn and offered himself for
immediate appointment. Flynn was impressed by his eagerness but the Mission Board was seeking an Ordained
Minister. It was the Treasurer, a shrewd Scot, who clinched the appointment when he suddenly asked: ‘How many
senses are there? Six. What’s the sixth? Horse sense. You’ll do.’ Plowman’s offer of his services in a voluntary
capacity for five years was accepted with the proviso that he would receive all his expenses.
For the first year he acted as Flynn’s locum with the Smith of Dunesk Mission, a semi patrol from the northern
Flinders Ranges to Maree and beyond in South Australia. While Plowman was exercising his ‘horse sense’ seen
in the sensitivity of his initial contacts with the copper miners and pastoralists, Flynn had freedom to plan his
mammoth assignment. In January 1913, Flynn set out from Oodnadatta by mail coach to Horseshoe Bend and then
with ‘Texas’, the next mailman, by camel to Alice Springs. After conferring with Sergeant Stott, Ida Standley
and many others, Flynn returned ready to establish the groundwork of his ‘Mantle of Safety’, a bush hospital and
a padre as the boundary rider patrolling the area served by the ‘Nursing Hostel’, the title he later used.
In 1914, conjointly with the appointment of Nurse Jean Finlayson, Sister Bett’s replacement at Oodnadatta, South
Australia, Flynn inaugurated his first Patrol Ministry with Plowman. Plowman’s patrol area stretched from William
Creek, Arkaringa and Granite Downs in the south to Tennant Creek Telegraph Station in the north, encompassing
the area served by the Oodnadatta Hospital and the future one at Alice Springs. The previous November Flynn had
sent Plowman to Oodnadatta with 160 Pounds to buy camels, riding and packsaddles and all the equipment needed
for months on the trail. Harry Gepp, an experienced bushman and local storekeeper, selected five good camels and
initiated Plowman into the basic skills needed to handle them.
Plowman arrived back in Oodnadatta on 13 February 1914 from his first annual leave in Melbourne, and
10 days later set out on a ‘trial’ patrol with a local stockman, Billy Gregg, visiting stations between Oodnadatta
and William Creek. All went well and on 10 April, he was back in Oodnadatta to make final plans for his first
trip north. Having formed a friendship with Bob Purvis, a well-known Centralian bushman and later cattleman
who was heading north, Plowman suggested that they travel together. Purvis, who became his life long friend,