>> Go Back - page - >> List of Entriess
his death in 1908. Harold attended school at Laura and when the family moved to Baroota he received further
education at a school conducted by the Misses Davidson. As the family was then farming at Baroota, the elder
children assisted on the farm and later worked on properties in various areas of Yorke Peninsula.
After the death of his father in 1908 Whittle with his brothers and sisters assisted his mother to rear and educate
the family of 13 children, a formidable task at that time without the support of a husband, and one which gave
Mrs Whittle great influence with her children.
On I July 1905, Whittle joined the South Australian Mounted Police Force and served in Adelaide, Tanunda,
Naracoorte, Pinnaroo, the last being a wheat-growing centre in the Mallee area of South Australia, where he opened
the new police station on 3 September 1909. Blanchetown on the River Murray was his next station and during
his service there, he married Grace H McKay, daughter of Donald and Margaret McKay, ‘Naaratum’, Penola. It is
noted on police records that his only punishment or reprimand occurred on 24 October 1910, for ‘Using private
trap instead of Police Horse—Fine 5/–.’ His next appointment was at Robe, and during this time, his son, McKay,
was born. Whittle resigned from the force whilst stationed at Robe. For a period of six months (14 January 1914 to
1 July 1914) he was licensee of the Border Inn Hotel, Apsley, Victoria, and on disposal of the business, he travelled
to Darwin where he joined the Northern Territory Mounted Police on 1 December 1914.
After being stationed in the town for a time, he was appointed to Borroloola, arriving there on 23 March 1915
on board SS Leichhardt. His duties included investigation of crime using police horses for patrols. The party,
a mounted constable and an Aboriginal tracker with seven horses, would travel distances varying from 40 to
400 kilometres. The vagrant and itinerant nature of much of the male population made his task particularly difficult.
When members of this class died, as they frequently did, their meagre possessions gave little indication of identity
or next of kin.
On 15 November 1916, Whittle left Borroloola by Captain Luff’s boat, travelling to Thursday Island where he
transhipped to Changtha, arriving in Darwin on 22 December.
Three months later Whittle resigned from the police force and was appointed Town Clerk by Darwin Town
Council, commencing his service on 1 March. His duties were Town Clerk, Treasurer, Rate Collector, Overseer of
Works; he was also Curator of the Cemetery, Registrar of Dogs, Licensing Officer, Inspector of Noxious Weeds,
Inspector of Weights and Measures, and a Justice of the Peace. The later appointment assisted the discharge of his
duties as town clerk—the early 1920s were an era of great unrest in the Territory.
Whittle was a member and Past Master of the Masonic Lodge, Darwin. His wife, Grace, and son, McKay,
joined him on 13 December 1917, travelling from Sydney on board SS Montoro. Grace Whittle was interested
in music, the Victoria League, and joined in the social life of Darwin. She regarded the change in fashions from
ankle-length skirts to mid-calf length as a wonderful concession that made living more bearable for women in
the tropical climate of the Territory. The introduction of ice making by Holmes, the butcher, was an amenity
greatly appreciated by all residents. Whittle designed an icebox which created interest and was copied by other
householders in the town. A daughter, Gweneth, was born on 30 November 1920 and baptised in the old Catholic
Church.
Section 441, Smith Street, Darwin (Certificate of Title Volume 111 Folio 86), Township of Palmerston,
County Palmerston, was purchased on 18 May 1917 and the house erected thereon cost 600 Pounds. The timber
for the building was milled at the Catholic Mission on Bathurst Island. The plan showed a large area, elevated and
divided into rooms opening on to a verandah surrounding the whole building—the result being cool and spacious.
The Commonwealth of Australia under the Darwin Lands Acquisition Act, 1945, later acquired the land.
In 1924, Whittle resigned his Darwin posts and travelled to Queensland, obtaining a position as overseer
on the Cairns-Port Douglas road. He then moved south to an appointment as Clerk of Maranoa Rabbit Board,
at St George, Queensland.
In 1925, Whittle moved to Isisford, in central western Queensland in the capacity of shire clerk and overseer
of works. This was a time of severe drought in the area so the duties were more difficult than in normal years.
The main water supply was from artesian bores and enterprising children used little carts containing small tanks
and drawn by goats to deliver water from the bores to householders—charge one shilling per load.
After visiting relatives in South Australia, Grace and the children joined Whittle. Later in 1925, Whittle again
moved south to an appointment as Clerk of Cambooya Shire Council at Greenmount, Darling Downs. After
resigning from the council in 1929, Whittle obtained contracts with the Queensland Main Roads Commission
which gave valuable experience in bridge building, including a structure built over the Dawson River. In 1930,
the position of Clerk/Overseer of Calliope Shire Council at Gladstone was accepted by Whittle and he capably
managed the combined work for ten years until the clerical workload became too great and he agreed to work as
Shire Clerk only. He resigned this post on 14 March 1947 and he moved to Paroo Shire Council, Thargomindah, in
the capacity of field officer. However, he relinquished this work, due to ill health and retired to Gladstone, spending
his last five months as a patient in the Gladstone Hospital, before his death from bronchial pneumonia and cerebral
thrombosis on 23 June 1955. Grace Whittle died in Gladstone on 12 November 1955. A son, a daughter and two
grandchildren, survive them.
Whittle Park at Karama, a northern suburb of Darwin, honours Harold Herbert Whittle and is a fitting tribute to
his life and work as a Mounted Constable of the Northern Territory police force and Town Clerk of Darwin.
‘Laura Days’, Laura Centenary Celebrations October 6/9, 1972; ‘Pinnaroo—Miracle of the Mallee’, Pinnaroo Historical Society, 1983;
SA Police Records; Licensing Board of Victoria; AA, Darwin records; Letters, Place Names Committee, Darwin; Family records and
photographs.
GWENETH C WHITTLE, Vol 1.