New podcast: The Victorian cop who was the real Sherlock Holmes

He was the scourge of Melbourne’s villains and scoundrels, but unlike the fictional London sleuth, his crazy undercover exploits and bizarre disguises were real. LISTEN NOW

Detective Inspector John Christie, front row second from right, with customs officers and police during raids on illicit stills near Warnambool in October 1867. Picture: HWT Library

John Christie was dubbed “Australia’s Sherlock Holmes” — a master of disguise every bit as crafty as the famous English detective.

He was the scourge of Melbourne’s villains and scoundrels, from smugglers and forgers to drug traffickers and thieves.

The Melbourne detective went deep undercover in an array of creative disguises — a travelling tinker, an Anglican pastor, even a black minstrel — to solve cases and catch crooks.

But unlike the fictional London sleuth, Christie and his enviable costume collection were entirely real.

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The police detective and later Customs inspector is the subject of the latest In Black and White podcast episode, available today, with Ben Oliver, founder of Melbourne’s Drinking History Tours.

Oliver points out Christie became a police detective in Melbourne in 1867 — 20 years before Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes.

“Christie was actually the original Sherlock Holmes, before Sherlock Holmes was Sherlock Holmes,” Oliver says.

Christie disguised as a travelling tinker, mending furniture. Picture: State Library of Victoria

Christie out of disguise.

“There are some really interesting parallels. They both used deduction to solve crimes; they both loved dressing up and going undercover.

“They were also well known for their unique way of solving crimes, using things like surveillance.”

But Oliver says there was one distinct difference between Holmes and Christie — their attitudes to drugs.

While Holmes dabbled in cocaine and morphine, Christie spent much of his career fighting the drug and alcohol trade.

In one of Christie’s most extraordinary undercover cases, Oliver says the Scottish-born detective painted his face black to catch a thief who stole a man’s watch and two rare coins.

“Christie’s brilliant idea was to dress up as an African-American minstrel, complete with blackface, colourful costume and pantaloons, and with a banjo,” Oliver says.

“It’s crazy, because these days obviously if you were dressing up in blackface, A, it’s incredibly racist, but, B, it’s pretty obvious you’re a white dude dressed up in blackface.”

He even disguised himself as an African-American minstrel to solve a theft. Picture from “Damn You, John Christie!” By John Lahey, which in turn got the photo from “The Reminiscences of Detective Inspector Christie” by JB Castieau.

Christie spent most of his career fighting the drug and alcohol trade.

The “minstrel” travelled from one pub to another, playing music and singing, hoping the thief would identify himself by tossing him one of the stolen coins for his efforts, and Christie could then arrest him.

But the ruse did not go quite as planned. Listen to the podcast to find out what happened.

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here, on Spotify here or on your favourite platform.

Read more on the earlier episodes, from the slum boss and her relationship with a footy great, to the one-legged gang that ruled Melbourne’s streets.