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. 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.
While officially a man of the law, Historian Robert Louis Smith describes Horace Smith
as a
rum runner.
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.
After two unsuccessful trials and an inability to come to a conclusive agreement
on the part of the jury, Smith resigned from his position.