The North Kalgoorlie Police Station, known as the Piccadilly Police Station, 40 Hare Street, Piccadilly. Photo House owner.
This photograph shows Constable (Later Sergeant) Jeremiah John JONES and his wife Evelyn Mortimer nee HOLLOWAY and their infant daughter Eveleyn Margaret Jones, born 1903 in Kalgoorlie (their only child). Jeremiah was born in May 1873 at Wangaratta, Victoria to Owen Jones and Ann Kennedy. He died in Merredin WA in 1932 and is buried there. Constable Jones applied for a transfer due to health reasons in 1905 after being on the Goldfields for 9 years, the station was taken over by Constable William Culpitt.
Evelyn Mortimer Jones nee Holloway -Evelyn was actually born at Glenrowan in 1878 – Photo Ancestry.com
The WA Post Office Directory for 1905 shows the resident officer in charge was Constable J J Jones (674). The building survives today intact but with a sympathetic extension that blends seamlessly with the older parts. Very few changes have been made internally over the years, and the two cells with their peepholes and thick doors and bars above are now used as storage rooms. Even the two garden beds as seen in the old photos still exist. The building is located over the road from the old Fire Station building in Hare Street, Lamington, which, although of similar brick, was built much later in 1936, on the site of a previous fire station building.
40 Hare Street, Lamington 2018 – Photo M Sharp
The first North Kalgoorlie Police Station was a rented private house located on the corner of Bourke and Peers Sts, Lamington. This was a four-roomed building which has now been replaced by a modern house. The lot was located at the rear of the now petrol station in Bourke Street. It was opened on the 4th of October, 1902. This building proved unsuitable, and the police station was moved to 13 Melba Street, Lamington on the 28th Oct 1902. On the 29th of July 1904, Constable Jones moved into the new police station located in Hare Street (above). The Station would remain at that address until its closure on the 25 Jul, 1924, when it was sold as a private house.
One of the police houses, 13 Melba Street, Lamington – Photo M Sharp
As an aside story: When Jeremiah John JONES was a child, his mother, Ann Jones nee Kennedy, was running the famous Glenrowan Hotel where Ned Kelly had his last stand in 1880. He was actually in the hotel building when the siege took place when he was 5 years old, so Jeremiah is a link to this well-known event in Australia’s history. If you want to read about Anne Jones, you can here. The story of Ann Jones, Ned Kelly and the Glenrowan Inn
Moya Sharp
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That is an amazing connection to Glenrowan and Ned Kelly!