Frederick William Pottinger
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, son of Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, and his wife Susanna Maria, née Cooke, of Dublin.
He was educated privately and in 1844–47 at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, Pottinger purchased a commission in the Grenadier Guards
Grenadier Guards
The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
in 1850 and served in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
until 1854. Active in social life, he lost much of his adoring mother's wealth on the race-course. In 1856 he succeeded his father as second baronet
Pottinger Baronets
The Pottinger Baronetcy, of Richmond in the County of Surrey, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 27 April 1840 for Lieutenant-General Henry Pottinger, the first Governor of Hong Kong from 1843 to 1844. His eldest son, the second Baronet, emigrated to Australia...
and soon dissipated his inheritance. Forced by debt to leave England, he migrated to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. After failing on the goldfields he joined the New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
police force as a mounted trooper. A superb horseman, he spent the next few years on the gold escort between Gundagai
Gundagai, New South Wales
Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town...
and Goulburn
Goulburn, New South Wales
Goulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...
.
Probably because of conditions imposed by his family who still supported him with funds, Pottinger kept his title secret but in 1860 it was discovered by the inspector-general of police, John McLerie, and promotion came rapidly. In November he became clerk of petty sessions at Dubbo and on 1 October 1861 assistant superintendent of the Southern Mounted Patrol. Although determined to succeed in his career he was involved in a drunken brawl at Young
Young, New South Wales
-Demographics:On census night, 7 August 2001, there were 6,821 people counted in Young. There were 238 people who identified as being of Indigenous origin in the 2001 Census...
on 20–21 December 1861. Sued, he received a public rebuke from Charles Cowper
Charles Cowper
Sir Charles Cowper, KCMG was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five different occasions from 1856 to 1870....
for his 'highly discreditable' behaviour. Posted to the Lachlan, he proved himself an indefatigable but unlucky hunter of bushrangers.
Under the 1862 Police Regulation Act Pottinger was appointed an inspector of police for the Western District. The Act was bitterly criticized and Pottinger seen as a symbol of its defects. In April 1862 he arrested Ben Hall at Forbes
Forbes, New South Wales
-Notable residents:*Carolyn Simpson - Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales; Member of the first all-female bench to sit in an Australian court*NSW Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt was born and raised in Forbes....
on a charge of highway robbery, but he was acquitted. Soon afterwards Hall joined Frank Gardiner
Frank Gardiner
Frank Gardiner was a noted Australian bushranger of the 19th century. He was born in Scotland about 1827 and migrated from to Australia as a child with his parents in 1834,. His real name was Francis Christie, though he often used one of several other aliases including Gardiner, Clarke or Christie...
's gang which on 15 June 1862 robbed the Lachlan escort of some £14,000. Quick in pursuit, Pottinger remained on the trail for a month, and arrested two of the bushrangers. They escaped several days later in a gun battle but Pottinger recovered the stolen gold taken by the prisoners. Criticized for his failure to send an adequate guard with the escort and his return without prisoners, Pottinger was praised by others for his determination and endurance. On the night of 9 and 10 August Pottinger and a party of police surrounded the house of Gardiner's mistress, Kate Brown, but the bushranger escaped when Pottinger's pistol misfired. They arrested a young boy on suspicion of being an accomplice and allowed him to remain in the lock-up without comforts; his death in March 1863 from gaol fever further diminished Pottinger's reputation. On 27 September 1862 Pottinger had appeared before a Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
court on a charge of assault.
In February 1863 Pottinger attended the Sydney trials of the escort robbers; jostled by larrikins in the street he again became the subject of public notice. He also threatened J. J. Harpur with his whip for charges made against him in the Legislative Assembly. Meanwhile the bushrangers in his district became more active. He later captured Patrick Daley
Patrick Daley
Patrick Daley was a 19th Century Australian bushranger.Patrick was born at Yass, New South Wales in 1844 and was only a lad when he became associated with John O'Meally...
, but on 17 August 1864 failed to arrest James Alpin McPherson
James Alpin McPherson
James Alpin McPherson otherwise known as The Wild Scotchman, was an Australian bushranger active in the area around Gin Gin, Queensland in the 19th century....
.
In May 1863 the inspector-general had directed the police to act on their own initiative. Early in January 1865 hoping to lure Hall and his associate, fellow bushranger John Dunn
John Dunn (bushranger)
John Dunn was an Australian bushranger. He was born at Murrumburrah near Yass, New South Wales. He was hanged in Darlinghurst Gaol.-Criminal career:...
, into the open, Pottinger rode in the Wowingragong races in breach of police regulations. Despite his justifiable claim that his action 'fully warranted the discretionary departure in point from the letter (tho' not the spirit)' of the regulation he was dismissed from the police force on 16 February 1865. Protest meetings against his dismissal were held on the diggings and in the towns, with petitions for his reappointment. On 5 March 1865 at Wascoe's Inn in the Blue Mountains on his way to Sydney to seek redress, Pottinger accidentally shot himself in the upper abdomen while boarding a moving coach. He recovered enough to be moved to the Victoria Club in Sydney where he died intestate on 9 April 1865 and was succeeded by his brother, Henry, as 3rd Baronet
Pottinger Baronets
The Pottinger Baronetcy, of Richmond in the County of Surrey, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 27 April 1840 for Lieutenant-General Henry Pottinger, the first Governor of Hong Kong from 1843 to 1844. His eldest son, the second Baronet, emigrated to Australia...
. He was buried at St Jude's Anglican Church, Randwick
Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Randwick...
.
See also
- Pottinger BaronetsPottinger BaronetsThe Pottinger Baronetcy, of Richmond in the County of Surrey, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 27 April 1840 for Lieutenant-General Henry Pottinger, the first Governor of Hong Kong from 1843 to 1844. His eldest son, the second Baronet, emigrated to Australia...