A respected Victorian western district identity over a century ago had to flee north to Queensland’s Darling Downs to escape southern criminals. A famous detective helped him escape. I told a version of this story live on radio 4WK.

Alexander Liddle was born in 1872 in Portland, Victoria. I’m in the western district to try to discover something about his Victorian past.

Liddle arrived in Queensland with his wife Margaret and three young children in 1907. They bought a portion of the original 1840 Jondaryan station on the Darling Downs when it was subdivided. They called it “Coolanna”. He sold up in the early 1940s and moved to Taroom where he lived on his property “Whitewood.” He sold-up again in about 1950 and retired to Toowoomba where he remained for the rest of his life.

The circumstances of him leaving Victoria in the first place, and crossing paths with one of the great detectives in Victorian history, made for fascinating research.

In 1907, Liddle was standing his Clydesdale stallion on his small property at Cape Bridgewater just west of Portland in Victoria. His brother-in-law was destined to accidentally shoot himself in the chest and bleed to death. In any case, Liddle decided his future was in Queensland, readied his family, and the locals threw him a farewell dinner.

En route, Liddle travelled from country Victoria into the city in Melbourne and that’s where the trouble started and he crossed paths with Tognini the great.

Detective William Tognini of the Criminal Investigation Branch was a sleuth of the highest order. The underworld knew and feared him. In one case he tracked an embezzler to the United States and brought him back which was an extremely rare event back then. With Tognini, no criminal was safe.

Tognini was so famous that a poem was published called “Detective Togini.”

He’s a sleuth of the law,
And Tognini’s his name,
And his feats of Detection
Have gained him much fame.
He can fellow a clue
Like a black-tracker’s dog:
And the best of the “D’s”
Hasn’t much to show “Tog”.

(Truth, Melbourne, 3 April 1915, page 6)

On this occasion with the Liddles in Melbourne, Tognini arrested a man on board the steam ship Warrimoo (pictured top of page) as she was about to depart for New Zealand. The ship was famous for having crossed the international date line precisely as the date changed from 1899 to 1900. She was therefore not only in two different years, but in four different hemispheres and two different centuries – all at the same time!

In any case, Tognini charged the man with having gained by false pretences £9/10/ from a Mr Claude Kerr of Koroit. Kerr’s father was the architect responsible for the first butter factory in the western district.

As Tognini was taking this prisoner to the city watchhouse, he noticed another man who was known to police. Tognini handed the prisoner over to another detective and began tailing his new suspect. The man was in close conversation with another who was obviously from the country, and this was Alexander Liddle. 

Tognini watched the pair walk up the street to the Colonial Mutual Building, where the suspect left Liddle and entered the building. He returned to the street a few minutes later, and again engaged Liddle in conversation. Tognini observed Liddle put his hand into his pocket and draw out a number of coins. He was about to pay over several to his new acquaintance, when Tognini pounced and intervened.

Liddle and his family were in the big smoke Melbourne to board a ship to their new life at Jondaryn in Queensland. He had met the criminal at the wharf who struck up an acquaintance with him, and pointing to some sheep, offered Liddle £2 to look after them during the voyage to Sydney.

The man pretended to go get his luggage but claimed he was without change, and so came back to borrow a few shillings. Tognini charged the man with having fraudulently endeavoured to impose on Liddle, because he didn’t own those sheep at all, and was never going to pay Liddle £2. He only intended to induce the loan and then disappear. This scammer was locked up at the city watchhouse and sentenced on a month’s imprisonment.

The great Melbourne detective Tognini had saved the day. Alexander Liddle was rescued from a city scammer whil on his way to safety and a new life on the Darling Downs.

Liddle lived to be ninety-two years old and passed away in 1964. Today you can visit his grave at the Drayton and Toowoomba cemetery. There’s no clue there as to the drama that unfolded when departing Victoria all those years ago, nor the role the great Detective Tognini played.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON RADIO 4WK.

Photo credits:
SS Warrimoo – Company of Master Mariners Australia.
Detective Tognini – Sun News-Pictorial, Melbourne, 20th December 1923, page 11.
Liddle grave, Toowoomba – Find a Grave uploaded by JT1503 on 2018.