User:Michael Francis Stuart/sandbox

John Sadleir was in charge of the police operation at Glenrowan when the Australian bushranger Ned Kelly was captured, and the other members of his gang were killed. Through Sadleir's cool control of the affray, only two other persons were killed in what could otherwise have been a bloodbath. Late in life Sadleir wrote a book of his career entitled Recollections of a Victorian police officer (1).

John Sadleir was born of Protestant stock at Brookville, just south Tipperary town in Ireland in 1832 (2) the fourth son in a family of nine. Of Protestant stock, His family had descended from a Colonel Thomas Sadleir who was Adjucant – General in Ireland to Thomas Cromwell in 17th-century. A distant relative of John, also called John Sadleir was a major  bank swindler in the 1840s.

John Sadleir emigrated to Victoria, Australia with two of his brothers (Richard and Nicholas) in 1852, John travelling in the first Australian voyage of SS "Great Britain" landing in Melbourne on 12 November (1) a fourth brother, Marshall, emigrated some years later. John joined the police cadets, forerunner of the Victorian police force, three weeks after he landed. Subsequently he was appointed Sergeant (1853), Sub-Inspector (1854), Inspector 2nd.class (1860), Inspector 1st class (1863), Superintendent (1874) and finally Inspecting Superintendent (1892). He retired in 1896 after 44 years continuous service. During this time he moved all over Victoria being posted at various times to Beechworth, Hamilton, Melbourne, Sale, Kyneton, Mansfield and Benalla (1).