English

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Noun

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field police (uncountable)

  1. (Tasmania, now historical) A police force charged with maintaining order beyond towns and other settlements, in the countryside or bush. [from 19th c.]
    • 1871, Marcus Clarke, Old Tales of a Toung Country:
      He was some years under my orders when I was police-magistrate of the Oatlands district, during which period he acted successively as my assistant-clerk, constable of the field-police, leader of several roving bands in quest of the aborigines, and one of the directors of the Oatland volunteers.
    • 2017, Nick Brodie, The Vandemonian War, Hardie Grant Books, page 14:
      Arthur had established a field police in 1825, with an initial complement of 300 men.