Lost to the Flood: The Unlikely Rise—and Disappearance—of Chief Constable Thomas Webber
In 1853, the Chief Constable of Queanbeyan, Thomas Webber, died and was buried. Not long after, a devastating flood swept through the district. Today, the location of his grave is lost, likely erased by the river that once ran beside Queanbeyan’s early cemetery. But Webber’s story is too vivid to be buried with him.
From Death Sentence to Australia
Born in 1799 in Abbotskerswell, Devonshire, England, Webber’s life could have ended before it truly began. At 22, he was sentenced to death for stealing a tea chest containing two £1 notes. In a time when such crimes often led to the gallows, his sentence was commuted to transportation for life. In 1822, he arrived in Sydney aboard the convict ship Asia, listed as a ploughman from Devon with a ruddy complexion and hazel eyes.
Redemption and Duty
Webber’s new life in Australia began as a convict servant to a Mrs. Drummond in Liverpool, NSW. But he didn’t stay in chains for long. By 1831, he’d earned a Ticket of Leave for his help in apprehending runaway convicts. That same year, he married Mary Oxley, herself a convict, in Parramatta. Their troubled relationship ended tragically in 1834 when Mary drowned in the Georges River after a drunken argument with Thomas.
Despite this personal turmoil, Webber rebuilt. In 1835, he sought permission to marry again—this time to Elizabeth Smith, daughter of fellow convicts. He was granted a conditional pardon in 1839 and formally became a constable, a rare honor for a former convict.
The Chief of Queanbeyan
By 1851, Thomas Webber had risen to Chief Constable of Queanbeyan. It was a dramatic transformation—from a man nearly hanged in England to a lawman in colonial New South Wales. He witnessed his daughter’s marriage in May 1853, then died just weeks later at the age of 51. The cause of death, according to the inquest, was a “Visitation of God”—a term often used for sudden, unexplained natural deaths.
He was buried in the Queanbeyan Church of England cemetery on June 11, 1853.
A Grave Washed Away
But July 1853 brought a catastrophic flood to Queanbeyan. Newspaper accounts describe widespread destruction, including damage to the mill, houses, and the riverside cemetery. During a later court case, a constable testified that attempts to locate Webber’s grave were thwarted—the floods had washed away the earth. His grave, like much of early Queanbeyan, had vanished.
Legacy in the Mud
In 1859, Elizabeth Webber, his widow, received a small pension—a rare acknowledgment of her husband’s public service. Yet the man himself is now remembered mostly in fragments: a stolen tea chest in England, a drowned wife, a life rebuilt through law enforcement, and a grave lost to the river.
Thomas Webber’s story reminds us how precarious both redemption and memory can be. His grave is gone, but his improbable journey from convicted thief to Chief Constable deserves a place in the history of early Australia.
