R. B. Hetherington: law and order on the Mount

(Brisbane, Qld. : 1900-1953), 29 November 1914).

Gladstone-born Robert Blain Hetherington (1861-1944) (caricaturised above) served as Police Magistrate and Gold Warden in Mount Morgan from 1912 to 1914. He worked at the Mount Morgan Court House and Police Station Complex in Hall Street (pictured above), which today is State heritage-listed used as the Mount Morgan Police Station.

Mr Hetherington’s 1914 caricature is accompanied by a verse, which provides some information about his important public roles and character:

‘As Warden and as Magistrate His record will inspection bear; More anxious to be loved than great, And ever courteous, kindly, fair, He does his duty day by day, Heedless of what the world may say’.

Criminal matters before Mr Hetherington regularly involved drunkenness, obscene language, theft and assault. A couple of examples are as follows:

‘At the [Mount Morgan] Police Court this morning, before Police Magistrate, Mr. R. B. Hetherington, James Jackson was again fined £1*, with the option of seven days in the cells, on a charge of drunkenness’ (‘Police Court’, Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878­1954), 26 October 1912). *£1 was a large portion of the average weekly wage in 1912.

‘At the [Mount Morgan] Police Court this morning before the Police Magistrate, Mr. R. B. Hetherington, William Pelin, aged forty-nine years, labourer, pleaded guilty to the charge of having used obscene language. He was fined £2, with the option of fourteen days imprisonment’ (‘Mount Morgan’, Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878-1954), 20 September 1913).

Mr Hetherington also presided over the Licensing Court – mainly dealing with hotel and slaughtering licences. Considering the vast number of pubs in the local area at the time, Mr Hetherington would have been kept busy with hotel licence applications, renewals and transfers.

Continued on Page 15

Mount Morgan in Pictures from Page 14

Mr Hetherington held another significant role as Mount Morgan’s Gold Warden. During the weekly sitting of the Gold Warden’s Court, he dealt with, for example, mining disputes and applications for miners’ homestead leases. In this role, he also wrote a monthly report to the Queensland Minister of Mines about the Mount Morgan mine – published in the Queensland Government Mining Journal. An extract from one of his reports shows that he was abreast of the latest local mining news and developments:

‘The following is the report forwarded to the Mines Department by R. B. Hetherington, Gold Warden, Mount Morgan … A total of 18,723 tons of copper gold was extracted and sent to the smelters … Included in this month’s returns is 2793 oz. of gold worth £11,753, obtained from the mundic works clean­up, which is almost completed … Old Dee River rush –several men are testing the alluvial ground on the banks of the Dee River and its beds, with fairly good results. Struck Oil – there is some talk of opening up the old Struck Oil claim…’ (‘Mount Morgan Goldfield’, Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878-1954), 9 November 1912).

After two years in Mount Morgan, the Justice Department transferred Mr Hetherington to Bundaberg, then Warwick, where he retired in 1931 (aged 70). His career as magistrate spanned twenty­five years. He passed away on the Sunshine Coast in 1944 (aged 83).

The following three local men, also caricaturised as ‘Pretty Pets’ in the historical weekly tabloid, Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900-1953), knew Mr Hetherington through their work.

MOUNT MORGAN CITIZEN’S CLUB

Please continue to donate to the donation box located at the counter of Wattle Bee Next NewsXpress or online donations at mycause.com.au/page/297958/ save-our-history.

The Citizen’s Club held a stall on Saturday at the Golden Mount Festival where we received a lot of interest for our projects.

Colonial Bush Dance: Coming up on Saturday, 20 May is a Colonial Bush Dance with Nicholai, the Capricornia Dance Exchange, Line dancing and dance moves led by Tony. Always a fun time!

Doors open at 7pm, Adults $10.00 entry, and children

$3.00. Refreshments and snacks available, bar is open.

There will be raffles and a lucky door prize. We really appreciate everyone who comes along, with each fundraiser we get closer to completing the restoration of our beloved Soldiers Rooms’.

Hire: The Soldiers’ Rooms is available for events, and we have chairs and trestle tables available for events elsewhere. For Bookings call 0419 605 662 for availability. Members receive discounted rates.

Next Meeting: Sunday, May 21 at 10:30am at the Soldiers Rooms. New Members welcome. To get in touch, email mountmorgansoldiersrooms@gmail. com.

Like and follow “Mount Morgan Soldiers’ Rooms” and “Mount Morgan Arts Precinct” on Face book to keep up to date.

Submitted by Kirra Swain