A local Senior Constable has gained recognition for a fellow officer who fell while in the line of duty in 1882 who will be honoured this Friday in Murringo.
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Hume Highway Patrol Leading Senior Constable Pat Smith applied to have the late Senior Constable Francis Drum formally included on the NSW Police Force Roll of Honour after he stumbled across the story by accident when a local told him there was a police officer buried at the Murringo cemetery.
"I've been in town for 23 years and never knew about it (the grave)," Mr Smith said.
He soon discovered the police officer was Senior Constable Francis Drum who passed about on January 12, 1882.
"I took it upon myself to research the matter and find out what the hell happened to him," Mr Smith said.
Using the internet Mr Smith searched online to find all the newspapers from the time, made contact with the State Archives and the Police Justice Museum to find as much information as he could, including the coroner's reports so he could investigate the matter further.
"What I found was he had been in the police force for 20 years," Mr Smith said. "He was married and had six children, he was Officer in Charge of a two man station at Murringo."
According to Mr Smith that was the frontier of the settlement 'back in those days'.
Mr Smith believes that on the day he died Mr Drum was out riding his police issued horse collecting the electoral roll, a job he was lawfully bound to do. During his ride he fell with his horse and passed away from a broken neck. Mr Drum was then buried in the cemetery and all but forgotten about until Mr Smith began to investigate the matter.
Mr Smith submitted a report and recommendation to the Commissioner asking for Mr Drum to be considered to officially included on the NSW Police Force Roll of Honour. The submission was approved and Mr Drum will now be honoured on the wall in Sydney. This Friday at the Murringo Cemetery a graveside memorial service will be held in conjunction with Police Remembrance Day 2019 from 11am followed by a morning tea.