Horace Smith, Superintendent of Police in the early 1860s, regularly investigated
strenuous, often violent relationships between settlers and First Nations in
Victoria and the surrounding islands.
1 Notably, Smith was involved in the investigation of the murders of
Frederick Marks and his daughter, as well as
William Brady, who were killed on
Saturna Island and
Pender Island, respectively.
2 While officially a man of the law, Historian Robert Louis Smith describes Horace Smith
as a
rum runner.
3 Beginning in early
1864, suspicions of Smith arose; and the same year a trial for charges of bribery and
corruption began. In a letter from
Governor Kennedy, details and suspicions surrounding Horace Smith, his trial, and concerns of corruption
within the police force as a whole are articulated, including the reception of bribes
on a large and systematic scale.
As
Kennedy notes, the
Acting Attorney General [had] advised that Mr Horace Smith, Superintendent of Police
should be indicted for misdemeanour for having received numerous bribes to permit
gambling in various public houses and for other immoral purposes.
4 After two unsuccessful trials and an inability to come to a conclusive agreement
on the part of the jury, Smith resigned from his position.
5