Mounted Police Of Victoria & Tasmania by John O’Sullivan

Mounted Police

Of Victoria & Tasmania

by John O’Sullivan

Rigby, 1980, First edition
Black and white photographic plates
ISBN: 0727013556
Hardcover with dustjacket

Condition: Very Good
minor edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing and bumping to corners and covers, introductory pages re-enforced with tape.  Dustjacket neat with light rubbing and chipping. (see photographs)

“In the ‘Roaring Days’ of the colonial era, a tiny force of police troopers was all that stood between the peaceable members of the community and those who would have overwhelmed them.  To begin with, the ‘men of the mounted’ in Victoria and Tasmania were small irregular forces which maintained order in huge areas of sparsely-settled land.  They protected the settlers from armed bushrangers, marauding Aborigines, and escaped convicts, and their work demanded courage and endurance from both horses and men.
When the lure of gold brought many thousands of newcomers, the role of the mounted police became even more important.  The nucleus of a regular police force emerged, and the troopers were soon engaged in desperate action against lawbreakers of many kinds.
Bushrangers became an increasing menace and the mounted police had to tackle many such armed ruffians, until the problem slowly faded after the defeat of the Kelly gang.  The turbulent times gradually became more settled, and the trooper on his horse became familiar and respected figure in remote country areas.”