There was a sensational armed police chase through the city streets of Toowoomba 129 years ago that doesn’t get a mention in the history books. I told a version of this story live on Darling Downs radio 4AK.

In 1896, a young man called Victor Parr was twenty-three years old and working for the Paterson family in Toowoomba. Eight years earlier in 1888 when he was fifteen, Parr and his older brother from Cambridgeshire in England, arrived in Moreton Bay as the only two remittance men aboard the ship the Duke of Argyll.

A remittance man was a British emigrant who was supported by payments from home on the understanding they would stay here. So whatever Parr and his brother had done in England, their family hoped they would do better in the colonies.

The captain of the ship that brought them was really interesting. His name was Captain W.L. Prentice and he was in command of a ship during the little-known Carlist War in Spain. That’s when he was taken prisoner, but because the gaol was full, he was left wandering the streets until he managed to stow away.

Anyway, in 1896 while young Victor Parr was working in Toowoomba, his eccentricities caused his employer Mrs. Paterson to feel uneasy and so he got the sack. Parr went to live in the boarding-house on Russell Street owned by newspaper editor Mr. Donald McLean.

After lunch one day, Parr went to Mr. Matthew Keeffe’s Freemason’s Hotel on Neil Street. Keeffe was a publican, policeman, and would become mayor of Toowoomba. Parr sat down on a couch between two men. One was a well-known character about town Paddy O’Keefe. Paddy and his mate moved into another parlour, Parr followed them but when his language became so colourful that Paddy’s mate turfed him out.

Parr went over to the other side of the road and beckoned for Paddy to follow him, pointed a revolver and fired. He narrowly missed a boy riding past on horseback. The bullet lodged into offices of John Garget who was another mayor of Toowoomba.

About this time Mounted Constable William Wilson was riding along Ruthven Street. He had arrived at the intersection with Herries Street when his attention was attracted by cooey-ing from the Freemason’s Hotel. He cantered over and once appraised of what was happening, took off at a gallop and caught up with Parr on the corner of Hume and Thorn streets. Parr turned and shot at the constable. The bullet missed him but lodged in the back of his saddle. Parr fired a second shot but it flew wide of its mark.

While all this was going on, the boy who had been fired at rode down to the police station and reported the matter.

Meanwhile, Parr rushed into Mrs. Mary McDougall’s residence on Neil Street. She was the widow of a baker in Warwick and made of tough stuff. Parr made his way through her kitchen and into the front bedroom where he tried to hide under the bed. Mrs McDougall chased him out of there, and Parr then tried to climb up the chimney of the front room. Parr couldn’t fit in so went back into the kitchen, and this time was surrounded by the police. 

Constable Carr made a rush to arrest him. At close range Parr aimed his revolver and pulled the trigger, but it failed to go off. Parr was now covered by Constable Bill Bailey with a carbine, and Constable Will Woodside with a revolver. 

That’s when a gun went off and Parr fell dead. One woman nearby vehemently asserted that Parr had been shot by Constable Bailey with his carbine, but a post-mortem examination cleared the constable and Parr was blamed for his own death. 

It was a tragic end to the most dramatic police chase through Toowoomba streets of all time. Four shots were fired and luckily for one constable a fifth bullet misfired. 

As well as his revolver, Parr had on him a pink crystalline substance believed to be strychnine, and a large sheath knife that had been recently ground to a fine edge. By all reports Parr when in a right frame of mind was a very nice person, but it was clear that he had gone out that day intending to cause trouble. 

He was buried the very next day in the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery, and the whole incredible street chase soon faded into history. 

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

Photo credits:
Depiction of the 1896 Toowoomba street chase – Copilot_20250708_072016.
Duke of Argyll, 1873 – Royal Museums, Greenwich.
Captain W.L. Prentice – Sunday Times, Sydney, 8th March 1908, page 8.
Matthew Keeffe, 1900 – State Library of Queensland.
John Garget, mayor of Toowoomba – State Library of Queensland.
Charles Gordon Sebastian Hirst, Freemasons Hotel [Work of Art], 1874 – State Library of Queensland.