The interstate liner Zealandia arrived at Albany in the evening on 8 December 1914. On board, consigned to the St Georges Terrace branch of the Commonwealth Bank, was £12,000 sent from the bank’s headquarters in Melbourne on behalf of the Commonwealth Treasury. The money was arranged in parcels, 12 neatly wrapped packages, each containing 1,000 one-pound notes.
At Albany, the notes were placed on the train to Perth. They arrived early on 9 December and were immediately transferred to the General Post Office. Three bank clerks collected the money and took it to the bank. Each parcel of money was opened and checked. Ten packets were correct. Two were not. They did not contain the one-pound notes. They instead contained “nothing more than a thousand utterly worthless slips of blank paper.”
The two blank bundles were remarkably disguised. The paper was cut to the exact same size as the notes, and they were tied up and stamped so that they looked almost identical to the other parcels. Only upon close examination could the differences be seen.
The clerks took a closer look at the notes they had. All the numbers ran consecutively. They were missing T179,000 to T180,000 and T182,000 to T183,000. They immediately sent a telegraph to the Melbourne head office and alerted the Western Australian police.
Police believed that the robbery took place “on the other side of the Bight.” That theory was confirmed on 11 December when some of the missing notes were reported to be circulating in Melbourne. The Victorian police were tight-lipped when questioned by reporters, but they confirmed that the people who handed the notes in were being interviewed to ascertain where they had got them from.
Detectives also began questioning the staff of the General Post Office and the Treasury Department in Melbourne. Many were adamant that the notes could not have been swapped, but it soon became apparent that someone with experience handling such packages was involved.
On 12 January 1915, Detective Alfred Burvett fronted the press. He carefully explained how he investigated the case. Once he had received the fake packets from Perth, he examined their composition. The blank paper used was watermarked “Gordon. Extra strong.” It was made in England and was not sold in Melbourne.
He discovered that Gordon and Gotch in Sydney imported the paper. Detective Burvett travelled to Sydney and spoke to their general manager. The staff poured through two years’ worth of sales records. Next, each firm that received the paper handed over their work dockets. He eventually landed on one possibility. Not only had the manager sold the paper, he also remembered it being cut to a very specific size.
The purchase of the paper took place in early September 1914. Adding to their suspicion, the man who bought it had at one time worked for the General Post Office in Melbourne before being transferred to the Treasury Notes branch. In June 1914, he was working as a clerk for the Commonwealth Treasury at the Pensions Office in Sydney. Detective Burvett interviewed him and brought him back to Melbourne. Confident he had his man, he arrested Solly Burvill on 12 January.
Tall and well-dressed, Solly appeared before the Melbourne City Court on 17 February 1915. He was charged with stealing as a Commonwealth officer under Section 71 of the Commonwealth Crimes Act, 1914. If convicted, he faced seven years’ imprisonment.
The Crown’s case was mostly based on the evidence of the blank paper. Solly had bought it in September 1914 from Thomas Batho, the manager for the Sydney socialist newspaper ‘The People.’ Thomas knew Solly used the pseudonym ‘Claude Menzies’ and was also aware that he regularly contributed to the paper under the name ‘Young Omar.’ Solly had purchased 3,000 slips of the paper, which were cut with a blunt guillotine by Ernest Grimshaw. Ernest confirmed that he recognised the “ragged edge.”
Timing and location were also important. The Crown put it to the Police Magistrate that, at the end of October, Solly travelled to Melbourne. He remained there for about a fortnight before returning to Sydney. What they were inferring was that he had left the paper in Melbourne in someone else’s possession.
Detective Burvett gave evidence of his interviews with Solly. When he asked him if he had bought the paper and had it cut, Solly responded, “No. I did not.” He continued to deny that he purchased it, then later admitted that he bought it for another man. He did not give the man’s name and had not seen him since he handed over the paper.
With the interview complete, he searched Solly and found some letters in his possession. The authors’ names were suppressed, but one was said to have worked for the registration branch of the General Post Office in Melbourne. In one letter, the robbery was mentioned.
2,000 quid missed from a packet, and they can’t blame anybody. 100 are in circulation in Melbourne. I don’t think they ever left the Treasury. If they did, the thieves must have got to work on the boat. I can’t make out why they didn’t take the lot.
Solly’s solicitor, Percy Ridgeway, argued that there was no case against his client. Suspicion was not enough. There had to be a “strong probable presumption of guilt based on evidence before he could be committed.” All the prosecution had were “mute slips of paper.” Was that really enough?
For Police Magistrate Patrick Dwyer, it was. He asked Solly how he pleaded. Solly responded, “Not guilty.” On 18 February 1915, he was committed for trial.
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Sources:
State Library of Western Australia; The Stock Exchange of Perth in Stock Exchange Buildings, 49 St Georges Terrace, Perth; E. L. Mitchell; 1913; Call number: BA533/54
State Library of New South Wales; Gordon & Gotch; Clarence & Barrack Streets. (n.d.); Call Number: Home and Away - 34951; Record Identifire: 1kVR0lZn
1914 'A SENSATIONAL THEFT.', The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), 11 December, p. 6. , viewed 11 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28577274
1914 'BANK NOTE ROBBERY', The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1955), 11 December, p. 8. (THIRD EDITION), viewed 13 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79914112
1914 'THE MISSING NOTES.', The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), 12 December, p. 12. , viewed 13 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28577343
1915 'THE BANK NOTE THEFT.', The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), 9 January, p. 10. , viewed 17 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154926099
1915 'STOLEN BANK NOTES.', The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), 13 January, p. 9. , viewed 17 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154922993
Commonwealth Crimes Act, 1914 (No. 12, 1914) courtesy of AustLII (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/ca1914121914109/ca1914121914109.html)
1915 'MISSING BANK NOTES.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 18 February, p. 6. , viewed 21 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1497312
1915 'LARCENY OF NOTES ALLEGED', The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), 17 February, p. 6. , viewed 21 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242265469
1915 'WHO STOLE THE £2000 [?]', Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1929), 18 February, p. 6. , viewed 21 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119882864
1915 'MISSING BANK NOTES.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 19 February, p. 8. , viewed 21 Sep 2023, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1497551
Great story! I miss your personal writing though
That was interesting 🤔