Justice & Police Museum

From Water Police Office to museum
The complex that now houses the Justice & Police Museum was once one of the colony’s busiest legal hubs, with a daily parade of offenders – and the odd goat. Additions and improvements mark the evolution of the site’s function as courts and police station

Flat out access: unfolding the parchment pardon of Samuel Henry Horne
The conservators at the Western Sydney Records Centre treat items from across Museums of History NSW collections. A recent example is the 1832 absolute pardon of convict Samuel Henry Horne

Permanent display
Alexander Riley, legendary Aboriginal police tracker
The remarkable talents of Aboriginal trackers who worked for NSW Police in the 20th century are featured in a display at the Justice & Police Museum
Saturday 1 April

Women police in NSW: a history of firsts
A collection of photographs at the Justice & Police Museum document the hard-won firsts, beginning in 1915, that led to women attaining equal status within the NSW Police Force

Convict turned constable
A recently donated letter, signed by the governor of NSW in 1832, offers a tangible connection to the story of Samuel Horne, a convict who rose to the rank of district chief constable in the NSW Police

First Nations
Alexander Riley, legendary Aboriginal police tracker
The remarkable talents of Aboriginal trackers who worked for NSW Police in the 20th century are featured in a display at the Justice & Police Museum

Glass-plate photography
The collection of glass-plate negatives held in the State Archives and Justice & Police Museum are endlessly fascinating and revealing

Come in spinner!
Gambling in Australia is regulated by the state and some types of gambling are illegal. The game Two-up, with its catch cry of ‘Come in Spinner!’, is legal only on Anzac Day and only in some states
