Police Heritage Site

Visit the site that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the first police officers to die in the line of duty.

Police Corporal William Murray Wickham and Mounted Constable John Dunning Carter were travelling to Overland Corner in response to unrest reported in the area. They left Moorundee, near Blanchetown, by horseback, stopping at the riverfront station of J.H. Wigley overnight.

The officers, laden with heavy uniform and weapons, made the decision to cross the Murray River in a bark canoe that was understood to be in poor condition.

The canoe is believed to have capsized. Only one of the officers could swim. Wickham and Carter drowned on 7 May 1847.

The Police Heritage Site in Wigley Flat was opened on Police Foundation Day on 28 April 1997 by Mr M.A. Hyde, Commissioner of Police. The drowning took place 3 kilometres north-east of this site.

Directly across the Sturt Highway is a history board describing the incident.