William Gow's Police Badges

Yesterday, I found police badges that belonged to my Great Grandfather William Gow (1868 - 1943). As you can imagine, I was quite excited by this unexpected discovery! I took a few snaps of them this morning to share with y'all.

Now, I am only assuming they are badges. If you have other ideas, I'm all ears. I have no idea how William would have worn them with his uniform. The large ones could have also been worn for special occasions. I have e-mailed the NSW State Archives in the hope for further information (after e-mailing the NSW Police).

Great Grandfather William Gow, 1889, Sydney.
[Source: Personal Collection]

A little background information about William's police career -

He joined the police force in Sydney in November 1896 (he left Scotland and arrived in Sydney in 1886). On his application form, he stated that he had been a gardener and fruit grower for 14 years. He was a Probationary Constable for 12 months. In November 1897, he became an Ordinary Constable. In 1905, William was promoted to First Class Constable. According to William's obituary, he was well known throughout the Traffic Department of the Police for 16 years. In 1912, he resigned and returned to farming. He was requested to reconsider his decision but believed farming was his true occupation.

Large police badges

A handful of small police badges