Blaze e-catalogue - Catalog - Page 100
Lillian
Armfield
Right
Photographic description sheets,
State Penitentiary, William Brauner (left)
and Neville Harris (right)
In 1926 Armfield singlehandedly apprehended
two men—Neville Harris and William Brauner
—whose ‘mouths gaped with surprise when they
found themselves confronted by a stern faced
woman who was levelling a loaded revolver
straight at them and inviting them in cold
metallic terms to put up their hands—and to do
it smartly’.
NRS 2467 [3/6118] photo no. 21967; 21963
1884-1971
First woman
police officer
Serving in the NSW Police Force for 34 years,
Lillian Armfield was a trailblazer for women
in the State’s law enforcement agency.
In 1915, the NSW Police Force appointed its first
women, Lillian Armfield and Maude Rhodes,
as special constables. In 1919, it established the
Women’s Branch. Women police patrolled railway
stations, parks, wharves and slum neighbourhoods.
They kept truants and child beggars off the streets,
looked after drunken women and their neglected
children, and monitored hotels, wine shops and
houses of ill-repute to protect women from
‘moral’ danger.
Women police were not meant to be physically
involved in arrests, but this didn’t deter a sometimes
armed Armfield from apprehending suspects.
“Because of her integrity, even
the women of the underworld
respect and admire her, sworn
enemy though she is.”
‘They’re proud of Lillian down at Police H.Q.’,
The World’s News, 2 March 1946, p. 3
By 1947, the Women’s Branch numbered thirty-six
and Armfield became the first Australian woman
to receive the King’s Police and Fire Service Medal.
At the age of 65, Armfield retired and was awarded
the Imperial Service Medal (1949). With no police
pension, Armfield was supported in retirement
by a special fund established by the Lord Mayor
of Sydney.
Above
Lillian Armfield
Photographer unknown, c.1930s, image courtesy
of Norm and Eva O’Brien
law & justice
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