During the 1882 Police Royal Commission, Joseph Ladd reflected on a period in the mid 1870’s when he spent time abroad observing foreign police forces.
“About nine years ago, I saw the police force in England, Ireland & America, and I consider that we have as good material for a police force in Victoria as any of those countries” ~ JL Mayes, 31st May 1882.
Joseph Ladd police records reveals an entry dated April 24, 1873 granting a 12 month leave of absence.
The Victoria Police, seeking to improve its policing practices and standards, undertook a mission to consult with and observe foreign constabularies, discuss and evaluate policing practices and further develop procedures. At the suggestion of Frances Hare, Joseph Ladd was appointed a an envoy and consultant, tasked with travelling abroad, spending time with overseas police services and reporting back.
In early May 1874, the Mayes family departed Melbourne on the tall ship ‘Northumberland’ traveling first to London, then Ireland before crossing the Atlantic to America.
After the bitter years in Pitfield and the unpredictability of Marysville, this sabbatical abroad must have been a welcome reprieve – particularly for Mariann who had suffered considerably through the loss of a child, the distress brought on by her husband’s treatment at the hands of the Ballarat Detective Branch and his encounters with hardened bushrangers. The Mayes family likely visited Joseph Ladd’s sister Sarah who was residing in Dublin. One can imagine the Dobbs Ferry reunion with Joseph Ladd’s mother Rebecca and Mariann’s large extended family. It is notable that, by then, Joseph Ladd’s brother John was a decorated Civil War veteran, having served as a Union rifleman during several brutal campaigns. This was recorded in the family “Bible” that was handed down through John Adolph’s family much later.
For the three Mayes children – John, Rebecca and Sarah – such a voyage would have been the experience of a lifetime, seeing parts of the world that they would have only known through stories told to them by their ‘Papa’. Theirs would have been experiences to cherish for the remainder of their lives.
The family returned to Australia in 1874, on another tall ship called the Glengarry, which landed them on the Port Melbourne docks and a city that had grown considerably in the years since Joseph & Mariann first set foot on Australian soil.
Joseph Ladd received his next posting to the small township of Broadmeadows (known today as Westmeadows), approximately 17 kilometres north east of the city. Though it was a relatively new settlement, Broadmeadows was comfortably close in metropolitan terms to Melbourne in stark comparison to the harsh goldfields of Ballarat and the wild mountain country of Marysville. At first glance, it seemed the idyllic environment to raise a family. The station house and residence were newly built and situated close to amenities.
Joseph Ladd continued to develop as a no-nonsense and dedicated lawman, perhaps employing the fruits of his year abroad into his policing style. As nascent suburbs like Broadmeadows evolved and grew, the challenge for officers to maintain law and order and develop relationships with townspeople grew accordingly. Joseph Ladd managed this well – although it wasn’t without its challenges.
With assistance from researcher Noeleen Lloyd, a recent discovery in the Victorian Public Records Office sheds light on a curious conflict between Joseph Ladd and the operators of the Broadmeadows Post Office – George & Mary Couser.
The Couser’s presence in Broadmeadows dates back to the early 1860’s. George Couser was himself a Mounted Constable there however, by the 1870’s he and his wife Mary were operating the Post Office and an adjacent store.
It appears the Cousers took a disliking to Joseph Ladd and set about trying to have him removed from Broadmeadows through a campaign of spurious complaints to the Commissioner of Police at the Richmond barracks. From correspondence between Joseph Ladd Mayes himself and the Commissioner, the troubles between the Cousers and Joseph flared in around August 1876 when Joseph Ladd prosecuted Mary Couser for selling alcohol illegally and possibly engaging in prostitution.
The Cousers recruited a number of people into their letter writing campaigns as well as aiding less literate, townsfolk – particularly individuals who had run afoul of the law – in drafting long, rambling letters about Joseph Ladd, making unsubstantiated claims about his conduct and accusing him of less than honorable behavior.
Over the course of 1877, the Cousers wrote numerous complaints to the Richmond Depot, triggering an thorough investigative process. Witnesses were sought and interviewed and Joseph Ladd willingly participated, providing statements of his own.
The complaints fell apart when it became clear there was no substance to them. In the instances where complaints made by other parties, it was revealed that the hand of George and Mary Couser had been involved in them.
The written complaints reveal an increasingly bizarre pattern of behavior – from Mary’s in particular. The couple regularly insulted Joseph Ladd and members of his family in public and there were instances of Mary physically assaulting both Joseph Ladd and his daughters.
Things came to a head in September 1877 when Mary Couser attempted to launch court proceedings against Joseph Ladd by alleging he had verballed her in public – only to perjure herself in the courtroom when several witnesses gave evidence that nothing of the sort happened.
The Couser’s behaviour became extreme enough to attract the attention of the Postmaster General in Melbourne who threatened to revoke their license if they continued to behave in a manner that brought the Post Office into disrepute.
Following that September court case, it appears the feud had burned itself out and, as far as is known at the time of revising (February 1st, 2022), there were no further complaints from the Couser’s. .
Why had the Couser’s taken such a disliking to Joseph Ladd and his family?
From the documentary evidence, it appears they enjoyed a certain level of influence in Broadmeadows and they were indeed engaged in questionable activity. The influence and freedom they enjoyed was usurped with the arrival of the formidable Mounted Constable. A character reference provided for Joseph Ladd Mayes by noted architect and surveyor Evander McIver makes explicit the suggestion that the townsfolk could no longer enjoy their unfettered pursuits in the presence of so uncompromising a lawman. McIver, having engaged with Joseph Ladd routinely, expressed his confidence in the Mounted Constable.
George Couser apparently served 3 years as a Mounted Constable in the district but, to date, there is no information that explains why he left the force. Perhaps jealousies were ignited by Joseph Ladd’s arrival in the township. The Cousers had their own share of heartbreak with the loss of a child, Lucy in 1869 to whooping cough. Perhaps this caused some mental distress in Mary that came out in public displays of violence.
Whatever the case, the saga was bizarre and pointless and it was to have an unhappy conclusion for the Mayes family.
In 1878 tragedy visited upon the family when Marrian died suddenly following a stroke. Her death plunged the family into a period of untold grief. Joseph Ladd gave a glimpse of this during the 1882 Royal Commission, recalling his earlier experiences on the Ballarat Goldfields. He was convinced that his persecution by senior detectives – as a result of his solving the Burke murder, coupled with his later false imprisonment on trumped up charges, brought on a depression that ultimately killed his wife. Curiously, he made no mention of the Couser saga during those hearings.
Did Marrian suffer some form of PTSD that resulted in a long period of poor health and eventual decline? Was she at greater risk of dysentery because of poor mental health? We just don’t know. Marrian Henrietta Mayes (Piquet) – daughter of a Swiss preacher, wife and mother is buried at the Bulla Cemetery, north west of Melbourne.
Joseph Ladd Mayes appears to have had little time to grieve. In the North East of Victoria, a tinder box of conflict was threatening to erupt in an all out conflagration. Once again, he was sought out by his superior, Superintendent Francis Hare for an audacious assignment that would see him plunged into one of most notorious sagas in Australian history…
Next: Ned Kelly & The Cave Parties…
DFA.
The Victorian Trooper 