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The reunion and social function of 1934 attended by the Acting Administrator, Mr J A Carrodus, justice Wells,
the Returned Serviceman’s League (RSL) and others paid tribute to this remarkable nurse when she was made a
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). The Northern Standard called her ‘a true Australian Lady’.
She retired at the age of sixty years in 1939, just before the Second World War. In post-war years, the nursing
profession sought to have her name included with other Territory nurses in the suburban streets of Moulden at
Palmerston: Constance Court now serves as a reminder of her contribution to Territory nursing.
Northern Standard, 30 July 1934; AA CRS A3 27/16863, CRS A1928 25/6698; Administrator’s Report 1937–38.
JACQUELINE M O’BRIEN, Vol 1.STOTT, CAMERON GORDON HEASLOP (1905–1965), policeman, was born on a ship en route to Cooktown
on 14 January 1905. His mother may have been disturbed by his premature entry into the world but the Chinese
crew were delighted, first at the happy event of a birth on the ship and more so when they heard that the infant had
been born with a cowl over his face. To them, such an occurrence guaranteed the safety of the vessel.
Stott’s parents, Robert and Agnes Stott, were stationed at Borroloola during his first years and one of his
most vivid memories was that of viewing Halley’s Comet, in 1910, from the deck of a ship in the Roper River.
The family moved to Alice Springs in 1911 where the children were educated by pioneer teacher Ida Standley.
At the age of 13, Stott attended Scotch College in Adelaide.
After leaving college, Stott worked for a time on a station near Adelaide and for the South Australian railways at
Terowie before joining the Northern Territory Police Force in 1924. For four years, until the death of Robert Stott,
father and son served in the force together, the elder in Alice Springs, whilst the young Stott rode on horseback to
his first posting at Rankine River on the Barkly Tableland.
In 1928, Stott went on leave to Adelaide, where he met the girl who was to become his wife—but not until
12 years later. After serving for a time at Borroloola and Roper River, in 1934 he was sent to Tennant Creek to
join Constable Harold Cameron who had recently opened the first police station on the goldfield. It was not much
of a police station—a bough shed served as an office, whilst the men camped in their swags and cooked on an
open fire.
Stott was to ride thousands of kilometres in the course of his duties, both on horseback and on camels.
One memorable camel patrol, in 1935, was over 2 000 kilometres in three months into the Tanami Desert.
Stott developed an affection for the ungainly beasts and he described them as being ‘as good as watch dogs’ in that
they would jump up at the least unusual noise, thus alerting him to any danger. Camels, because of their ability to
carry great loads, meant that he could travel in style, with cooking pots and frypans, and so was able to prepare
stews and puddings—a wider variety of meals than was possible on horse patrols.
In 1940, Stott married Eileen O’Shea, whose parents arrived from Queensland in the ship Changsha in 1909.
As the ceremony was scheduled for 7 am because of the long flight to Adelaide for their honeymoon, the wedding
breakfast was held the night before. With this back-to-front arrangement, Eileen joined the ranks of ‘the loneliest
women in the world’; policeman’s wives who waited alone at lonely outposts while their husbands were away on
patrol for weeks at a time. After their honeymoon, she went straight to Timber Creek and it was two years before
she saw another white woman.
After the bombing of Darwin in 1942, Eileen was evacuated to Adelaide but returned in 1943 to Timber Creek.
Traffic through the area increased as a steady stream of drovers brought cattle from outlying stations to supply beef
to army camps near Katherine. In 1948, Stott was transferred to Elliott.
In 1959 Stott and his wife were transferred to the comfortable station at Daly River where for the next six years
till his death, he cruised the river in a boat fitted with an outboard motor, patrolled his ‘beat’ in a Landrover and
communicated with headquarters via a radio transceiver that had replaced the old pedal wireless of former years.
He had seen many changes since joining the force, as had the Territory itself in the years since 1883, when the
first Stott arrived to take up his duties. The two men served a combined total of eighty-seven years in the Northern
Territory Police Force.
Citation, Darwin, December 1965.
O V DIXON, Vol 1.STOTT, ROBERT (1858–1928), was born in Edinburgh, Kincardine Shire, Scotland on 13 July 1858. As a young
man, he and two friends travelled to Australia and settled in Adelaide where he worked at various occupations
before joining the South Australian Police Force as a Foot Constable in August 1882. He was transferred to the
Northern Territory police in 1883 and arrived at Palmerston in December of that year.
Police at the time travelled widely, by horse or camel, in the course of their duties. In addition to regular six-
to eight-week patrols, it was often necessary to mount a special mission. Such was the case in 1884, when he,
with Corporal Montagu and Mounted Constables Macdonald, Luck and Cox travelled to investigate an attack
by Aborigines on a group of miners travelling toward Southport. Similar attacks were reported at other areas.
The Daly River was a problem area and by December, residents of the Limmen and Roper rivers also became
fearful for their safety and made application to the Minister for Education (whose brief included the police force)
for police protection.
In view of the large tracts of harsh, virtually unknown country traversed by police patrols, it was decided to
recruit black trackers to assist the mounted police. The original trackers were stationed at Elsey with Constable
Cornelius Power in charge. The January 1885 Government Resident’s Report stated that difficulties had arisen
in connection with blacks and cattle in an area stretching from Newcastle Waters to Katherine and from Victoria