The party boy with a taste for gambling, grog and brothels who became Victoria’s police chief
His party boy lifestyle and taste for gambling, grog and brothels didn’t stop Charles Standish becoming one of the most powerful men in Victoria as chief of police and head of the Freemasons.
Black and White
Don't miss out on the headlines from Black and White. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Captain Charles Standish probably would have liked to be remembered for his roles in the creation of the Melbourne Cup, the capture of Ned Kelly, or the Eureka Stockade.
Or perhaps his powerful roles as grand master of the state’s influential Freemasons, chairman of the Victoria Racing Club, or Victoria’s chief commissioner of police for 22 years.
Instead he’ll be remembered by many as a hedonist, whose love of grog, gambling and a good time was legendary.
Standish is the subject of the 36th episode of the free weekly In Black and White podcast, available today, with Ben Oliver, founder of Melbourne’s Drinking History Tours.
Oliver dubs him the most hedonistic chief commissioner of police Victoria has ever had.
“You’re talking about a bloke who used to throw parties with naked women against black chairs so he could enjoy the juxtaposition of white against black,” Oliver says.
“He was a drunk, he certainly loved to party, a massive gambler, and just a man whose lifelong pursuit of pleasure stopped him from being an effective police commissioner.”
It was once claimed Standish suspended the hunt for Ned Kelly so he could get an update on the Melbourne Cup, and he took Prince Alfred to various brothels during a royal visit.
One brothel owner, Sarah Fraser, later seized the marketing opportunity and put a sign up outside saying “By Royal Appointment”. Standish had to beg her to take it down.
Born into a wealthy, aristocratic family, Standish became one of England’s best-known punters on the racecourses.
He became a bookies’ favourite both for his huge bets and uncanny inability to pick a winner, then was forced to flee England under a false name to escape huge gambling debts.
He spent two years on Victoria’s goldfields during the 1850s Gold Rush, selling sly grog, then snared the prize position of police assistant commissioner of the goldfields, with the help of an old Army buddy.
Oliver says even after Standish was appointed to the role of assistant commissioner, he continued selling sly grog on the side to make a buck.
Standish was a masterful networker, and quickly found his way into the corridors of power of Victoria Police, the Freemasons and the horse racing world, and was a member of the influential Melbourne Club, where he lived from 1872 until his death.
As a lifelong gambler, Standish understood what punters wanted and in 1861 he came up with the idea of an annual horse race called the Melbourne Cup.
In 1883, three years after retiring as chief commissioner of police, Captain Frederick Charles Standish’s long life of hard living finally caught up with him.
He died from cirrhosis of the liver and fatty degeneration of the heart.
Find out more by listening to today’s new free episode of the In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here or Spotify here or on your favourite platform.
And listen to our previous podcasts including Ben Oliver’s interviews on the Melbourne cop who was the “real Sherlock Holmes” and “Australia’s Willy Wonka”, chocolate king Macpherson Robertson.
Check out In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday to see more stories from our fascinating past.
inblackandwhite@heraldsun.com.au