255:(also known as Samuels) and Richard Jackson also were apprehended for their involvement in the crime. Simmonds and Bladders were charged with wilful murder. Simmonds was acquitted at trial for insufficient evidence after convincing the court that the bloodstains on the clothes were caused by his regular nosebleeds. Bladders was also acquitted, after convincing the court that the blood had come from his earlier slaughter of a pig.
146:. After the completion of his sentence he joined the fledgling police force of the colony. On the evening of 25/26 August 1803, while investigating a robbery he was beaten to death, becoming the first police officer killed in the line of duty in Australia. Even though some of his colleagues were implicated in his death no one has ever been convicted of his murder.
220:(equivalent to £2,906.79 in 2023), this being only one of a number of robberies that had taken place in the area. Breeze reported the theft to Constable Luker, who lived on the same street as Breeze's establishment. Luker told Breeze that he believed he knew who was involved, and that he would investigate once his patrol started at midnight.
286:). According to Rachel Franks, the narrative of the events that is most commonly told is that of Samuel, the man they could not hang, not of Luker. Franks believes that the only reason Luker is mentioned in these narratives at all is because he was the first officer of the law to be killed in the line of duty in Australia.
247:
Luker had implicated his fellow constable Isaac
Simmonds in the robbery, when talking with Breeze during the evening before he died. Simmonds was quickly apprehended, and bloodstained clothes were found in his room. A witness had also recognised him earlier, while he was trying to clean blood off the
238:
took custody of the body in order to carry out the inquest. Harris concluded that at least four weapons had been used, three of which were identified: the desk and wheel as well as Luker's own cutlass. He concluded that for the guard of the weapon to be embedded so far into his skull, it would
265:
Samuel was scheduled to be executed on 26 September 1803. When asked for any last words, he again claimed his innocence of Luker's murder and accused
Simmonds. He said that while they were in a cell awaiting trial, Simmonds had claimed responsibility and that the conversation was in
162:
Luker and Roche separately attempted to create a joint alibi, but their stories did not concur. Roche said they met in Spicer Street on their way to work, and Luker said they met in Lamb Alley and went for a beer. The prisoners appeared before the court of the
159:, England. A witness, Simeon Wood, said that the prisoners had carried away the lead on their shoulders and tipped it down a hole into an empty house. When approached, Luker had threatened Simeon with an unopened pocket knife.
154:
Luker and an accomplice James Roche, on 23 June 1789, were apprehended with 84 pounds of lead, worth 10 shillings (equivalent to £77.64 in 2023), that had been removed from the guttering of the house of George
Dowling in
357:
As the headstone no longer exists it is unknown whether the incorrect date of death (19 August 1803) was etched onto the headstone or whether it was just an error in the newspaper's transcription. With the construction of
258:
The inquest took five hours to return the verdict. Russell, Samuel and
Jackson were charged with breaking and entering. Russell was acquitted on insufficient evidence. Jackson admitted the robbery and
227:). He had received sixteen wounds to the head; the guard of his own weapon was embedded in his skull. Found near his body was the wheel of a barrow and Mrs Breeze's desk, both covered in blood.
248:
desk. An associate of
Simmonds and Luker, Constable William Bladders, was also found with bloodstained clothes, and the bloodied frame of a barrow was found in the yard opposite his lodgings.
262:
against Samuel. Samuel pleaded guilty to the robbery but denied any involvement in the death of Luker. Samuel was found guilty of breaking and entering; he was sentenced to be hanged.
848:
270:. There were three failed attempts to hang Samuel: twice the rope snapped and once it unravelled. This was followed by a "public clamour", and within an hour of that response
873:
377:, was launched on National Police Remembrance Day, 29 September 2006. Constable Joseph Luker is the first name on the memorial wall at the National Police Memorial.
196:. She was transporting 220 convicts of which 18 died on the passage, and arrived in Australia on 20 August 1791. His sentence expired in 1796 and Luker as an
758:
216:
On the evening of 25 August 1803, Mary Breeze's brothel was robbed, the thieves getting away with a portable desk, containing legal documents and 24
843:
433:
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369:
In the 1980s and 1990s police associations sought to establish a memorial to police officers killed in the line of duty. The
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on the 28 August 1803. The procession was followed by all members of the constabulary, with four constables as
528:
223:
Luker's body was found before dawn on 26 August 1803, behind Breeze's establishment at Back Row East (now
863:
283:
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to life imprisonment. Samuel was eventually sent to work in the coal mines at King's Town (modern day
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130:
204:, a fledgling police force, which was replaced by the Sydney Foot Police. He married Ann Chapman at
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at the site of the Old Sydney Burial Ground in 1869, bodies were removed and reinterred at
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8:
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Fierce
History: 5,000 years of startling stories from Ireland and around the globe
491:
403:
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404:"The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)"
312:
809:
827:
682:
477:
252:
217:
604:"Writing the Death of Joseph Luker: true crime reportage in colonial Sydney"
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including
Simmonds. A gravestone, engraved with a skull and bones and a
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necessarily have been swung by an assailant who was holding the blade.
205:
197:
179:
164:
783:
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306:, was placed later that year; it was 4 feet (1.2 metres) high. The
617:(Special 45). Australasian Association of Writing Programs: 1–13.
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Another constable, John
Russell, was implicated in the robbery.
784:"The Establishment of the National Police Memorial in Canberra"
267:
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54:
725:
641:
639:
366:. Luker and two other policemen were among these bodies.
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on 8 July, where they were found guilty and sentenced to
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651:
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Australian police officers killed in the line of duty
663:
874:
Convicts transported to
Australia on the Third Fleet
759:"Mystery solved in time for Police Remembrance Day"
736:"The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser"
572:
320:Sacred to the Memory of Joseph Luker, Constable;
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434:"July 1789, trial of Joseph Lucar, James Roche"
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392:
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597:
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460:Death on Night Watch: Constable Joseph Looker
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211:
387:
129:) was a British convict transported to the
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498:. Brown, Son & Ferguson. p. 123.
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102: 1797–1803)
423:
400:inflation figures are based on data from
711:"The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales"
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657:
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289:
826:
553:
529:"The murder of Constable Joseph Luker"
338:The Pangs of Death are past and o’er,
178:On 27 March 1791, Luker departed from
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401:
844:Australian people of English descent
13:
757:Jones, Gemma (28 September 2007).
520:
350:Mine will it be to vanquish there
332:My midnight’s Vigils are no more,
16:Murdered Australian police officer
14:
885:
186:, aboard the 12-gun sailing ship
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99:
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484:
451:
121:– 26 August 1803) (also spelt
1:
713:. 4 September 1803. p. 3
438:Old Bailey Proceedings Online
380:
344:But when my murderers appear
335:Cold Sleep and Peace succeed
115:
34:
869:Burials at Rookwood Cemetery
738:. 6 November 1803. p. 3
683:"The Man They Couldn't Hang"
535:. Dictionary of Sydney Trust
326:Aug 19, 1803, Aged 35 Years
7:
854:People from New South Wales
341:My Wounds no longer bleed.
57:, Colony of New South Wales
10:
890:
462:. Camden: In Focus Press.
353:And theirs t’endure alone.
294:Luker was interred at the
859:People murdered in Sydney
688:The Sydney Morning Herald
558:. The O'Brien Press Ltd.
347:Before Jehovah’s Throne,
212:Murder of Constable Luker
131:Colony of New South Wales
86:
78:
70:
62:
43:
30:
23:
814:National Police Memorial
810:"Constable Joseph Luker"
788:National Police Memerial
458:Steding, Louise (2016).
371:National Police Memorial
296:Old Sydney Burial Ground
816:. OSKY. 27 August 2021.
602:Franks, Rachel (2017).
527:Franks, Rachel (2019).
402:Clark, Gregory (2017).
310:was transcribed in the
260:turned state's evidence
243:Investigation and trial
173:7 years' transportation
554:Murphy, Colin (2018).
355:
225:Phillip Street, Sydney
318:
280:commuted his sentence
236:New South Wales Corps
533:Dictionary of Sydney
316:on 6 November 1803:
290:Burial and memorials
763:The Daily Telegraph
691:. 26 September 1953
623:10.52086/001c.25833
276:divine intervention
66:Bludgeoned to death
63:Cause of death
398:Retail Price Index
373:at King's Park in
329:Resurrexit in Deo
864:Deaths by beating
648:, pp. 16–17.
496:The Convict Ships
364:Rookwood Cemetery
157:Mile End New Town
109:
108:
79:Years active
51:(aged 37–38)
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360:Sydney Town Hall
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74:Police constable
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409:MeasuringWorth
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313:Sydney Gazette
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192:, part of the
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150:Transportation
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133:on the 12-gun
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47:26 August 1803
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323:Assassinated
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272:Governor King
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253:Joseph Samuel
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834:1760s births
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792:. Retrieved
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766:. Retrieved
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740:. Retrieved
715:. Retrieved
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693:. Retrieved
686:
677:
670:Steding 2016
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658:Steding 2016
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646:Steding 2016
626:. Retrieved
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581:, p. 4.
579:Steding 2016
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135:sailing ship
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112:Joseph Luker
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49:(1803-08-26)
25:Joseph Luker
18:
839:1803 deaths
794:28 December
742:28 December
717:25 December
695:25 December
443:24 December
300:pallbearers
232:John Harris
202:Night Watch
200:joined the
194:Third Fleet
144:Third Fleet
119: 1765
92:Ann Chapman
38: 1765
828:Categories
381:References
206:Parramatta
198:emancipist
180:Portsmouth
165:Old Bailey
71:Occupation
768:5 January
628:5 January
539:4 January
478:965890297
284:Newcastle
208:in 1797.
82:1796–1803
494:(1959).
375:Canberra
274:claimed
230:Surgeon
189:Atlantic
139:Atlantic
514:3778075
308:epitaph
304:cutlass
234:of the
218:guineas
184:England
104:
96:
790:. OSKY
562:
512:
502:
476:
466:
268:Hebrew
169:London
127:Looker
87:Spouse
55:Sydney
607:(PDF)
415:7 May
123:Lucar
98:(
94:
796:2021
770:2022
744:2021
719:2021
697:2021
630:2022
611:TEXT
560:ISBN
541:2022
510:OCLC
500:ISBN
474:OCLC
464:ISBN
445:2021
417:2024
278:and
125:and
44:Died
31:Born
619:doi
396:UK
167:in
830::
812:.
786:.
761:.
727:^
685:.
638:^
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613:.
609:.
586:^
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508:.
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425:^
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389:^
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116:c.
100:m.
35:c.
798:.
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114:(
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