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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
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HYDE, CONSTABLE W.

Adjourned debate on motion of Ms Chapman:

That this house congratulates the South Australian Police Association on the re-dedication of the grave of Constable William Hyde on the centenary of his murder while in the execution of his duty.

(Continued from 19 February 2009. Page 1659.)

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (12:42): It gives me great pleasure to rise on this motion. I need to put on the record the fact that William Hyde, who was murdered in 1909, was my great great-uncle. Indeed, on 4 January, when we attended the re-dedication of his grave at the Catholic section of the West Terrace Cemetery, we had four generations in attendance, which was quite remarkable, including—

The Hon. S.W. Key: Standing up or lying down?

Mr PENGILLY: All standing up—two of William Hyde's nieces from my side of the family—that is, the Hyde side of the family—Aunty Ann Sharrock who was 95 and who came up from Portland and Mrs Sheila Dowsing from Victoria. It was a remarkable situation. We had probably 70 or 80 people there. I had my son and my mother with me. My 85 year old mother was sitting alongside her 95 year old aunt throughout the period of the service, which was very ably conducted by the Catholic police chaplain and addressed by Commissioner Mal Hyde, who, incidentally, is no relation to William Hyde.

William Hyde was shot in early January 1909. He played cricket in the morning for his local cricket side and I think he hit 59 runs, and that afternoon he had to go to work. He was a foot constable and, in the course of his work, he was called to the Marryatville Hotel, where some people who were regarded as villains and who were wearing jackets with their collars turned up and hats looked as though they were going to raid the nearby tram station.

Constable Hyde went there, called to them and chased them. He actually caught one of them and brought them to the ground. He had him pinned to the ground when the other two came back and one started firing shots. One of the shots hit Constable Hyde in the cheek and he died a couple of days later in hospital.

It is worth noting that 15,000 people attended his funeral. This was in January 1909—15,000 out of Adelaide's population, which was quite remarkable. My mother is very clear, they used to go for a drive up there. They lived at Royston Park when she was younger and they quite often used to visit the place where Uncle Bill Hyde (they always called him 'Uncle Bill') was shot. Members of the family have always referred to the fact that William Hyde was shot—they preferred that terminology; they never said he was murdered—but the reality is that the police records quite clearly show that he was murdered; there are no two ways about it. The perpetrators were never caught.

The Police Association of South Australia sought to restore and rededicate Constable William Hyde's grave, and that was done on 4 January. It was a very pleasant occasion. It was also a very poignant occasion to stand there with so many of his relatives who had come from near and far, all over Australia. Some had come from Queensland. I had brought my mother over from Kangaroo Island the preceding night, and my great aunt had come from Portland: Barbara Lightbody and her husband Max had brought Aunty Ann over from there. The service was conducted particularly well and was followed by a morning tea at the Police Club in Carrington Street. I cannot applaud loudly enough the efforts of the Police Association of South Australia. I wrote to Mark Carroll and congratulated him on what they did.

It was not necessarily a sad occasion, it was an occasion of remembrance, and the media followed it quite well. I was talking to the chaplain (who was Catholic) after the gathering (at some stage one side of our family changed their religion from Catholic to Anglican, for some reason), and I said, 'There's not much room here,' because if you walk down that aisle section you can barely move between the end of the graves. I said to him, 'Why are they so close together at the end?' and he said, 'To keep us away from the protestants.'

It was a very great occasion, and to sit 100 years later in that cemetery where William Hyde was buried so long ago and to recall that 15,000 people had attended that funeral was really quite remarkable. I know that it meant an enormous amount to his two nieces who were there. Aunty Ann Sharrock, whom I have known for a long time, of course, and who is as bright as a button at 95—and I hope that if I make that great age I am as good as she is; she is quite remarkable—

The Hon. R.B. Such interjecting:

Mr PENGILLY: I may still be in this place, member for Fisher, but I doubt it. I would like to think that I was capable of being here. Aunty Ann was born some four or five years after Constable Hyde was murdered. A large picture of him hangs in the Police Club in Carrington Street, and he was a very good looking and upstanding chap. He was not married, unfortunately—or fortunately, I guess, at the time.

It is a story that has remained in our family for well over 100 years now, going into the next decade, and we have passed it down. My eldest son Tim, who is 28, attended the ceremony and he certainly took a lot of it on board. Other cousins of mine were there, along with my mother and my uncle, David Morris, who is also over 80.

This meant a great deal to us, and I once again want to mention what a wonderful job the Police Association of South Australia did. I thought we were tremendously fortunate that it chose to restore this grave and remember those events of so long ago. I will forward this speech to the relatives I can find who were there that day. To those who organised the event, those who worked with the Police Association and everyone involved, I extend the grateful thanks of a great, great cousin of William Hyde.

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (12:50): I will make some brief remarks in relation to the motion brought before the house. I commend the deputy leader (the member for Bragg) for moving this motion congratulating the Police Association on the rededication of the grave of Constable William Hyde. I noticed with interest an article in the most recent edition of the Police Association magazine concerning the rededication of the grave of Constable Hyde. As we have heard from the member for Finniss, this particular policeman was a relation of his—a great, great uncle.

It draws to our attention that policing is certainly in certain circumstances quite a dangerous profession to engage in. It is very rewarding, no doubt. I know quite a number of policemen and policewomen who serve the community of South Australia extremely well in fulfilling their duties as police officers. My next door neighbour, in fact, is a policeman, with whom I grew up. He originated from Broken Hill but used to come and stay with his grandparents, our neighbours, during the school holidays and we would play together as young lads. He lives in that property now, so our friendship has continued through the decades into adulthood, and I understand he fulfils his duties extremely well, even though he has had some personal tragedy to deal with in his life.

Speaking more broadly in relation to police matters, I have enjoyed establishing a quite strong relationship with the police in my district of Kavel, particularly Superintendent Tom Reinerts. I enjoy the relationship that I have with Superintendent Reinerts and, if there is any issue that arises concerning law and order, or whatever the related matter might be, Superintendent Reinerts is only a telephone call or an email away, or I can make a quick visit to the Mount Barker station to discuss those issues, and he is more than prepared to take up those matters.

I think it is an indication of how the police operate, for want of a better word, within the community and that they do engage actively within the community. They are not just enforcers of law and order: they engage in community activity and, obviously, with local elected representatives—council members and members of state and federal parliament—and no doubt through the history of the state that relationship has been good.

I note from previous comments made in Hansard that the member for Goyder made some comments in relation to reading some of the articles of a historical nature concerning the plight of police officers in days gone by. I also enjoy reading those particular articles about how policing was carried out in earlier decades, particularly before we had modern forms of communication and transportation. Transportation was by walking, bicycle, horse or, particularly in the rural regions, train. To bring criminals to justice they often brought them on trains to the city to face court.

I know that train transport was the mode of the day to travel any particular distance. Even when they became more common, the reliability of cars and the pace at which they could cover a distance was limited, and so train transport was obviously the mode of transport to get from one part of the state to another in a reasonable time and with some form of reliability.

The point I want to make is that Constable Hyde died in the course of carrying out his duty. We know that, over the past century (and Constable Hyde's death took place in 1909), a number of police officers have been killed in the line of duty, and we should always be respectful and honour the contribution they make to the safety of this state's community. With that brief contribution, I commend the motion to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mrs Geraghty.

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