Career
William John Von Peterswald commanded the 1st Rifle Company attached to the Channel Islands Militia and arrived in South Australia on the "Charlotte Jane" in May 1853 and commenced farming at Munno Para with limited success. In 1862 he joined the South Australia Police as Inspector of Metropolitan Police and resigned in 1866 to become Warden of the Goldfields. He rejoined the police in 1874 and rose to the rank of Superintendent.
He was appointed Acting Commissioner of Police in 1881 and then Commissioner of Police in 1882 succeeding George Hamilton, in which position he served until his death in August 1896.
Foreign 15 years Peterswald steadily guided the police through ever-increasing responsibilities despite often having a constrained budget. Mounted police were stationed at the frontier of settlement as it expanded throughout Central Australia and the Northern Territory, so much so that in 1884 Peterswald established a branch of native police there.
The difficult conditions necessitated more modern equipment. In the early 1880s Peterswald was responsible for initiating the re-arming of the Police Force.
In early 1881 the Police were issued with 200 of the new Martini-Henry rifles in.455/.577 calibre and long-pattern bayonets, as used by the Volunteer Militia Forces.
Peterswald also recommended that the Mounted Police be issued with the large New Model Number. 3 Smith & Wesson revolver in.44 calibre. Public economic distress and unemployment during the 1880s and early 1890s presented the police with their first experiences of serious industrial unrest, all of which Peterswald handled with firm impartiality.
To improve police esprit de corps he introduced revised uniform patterns and in 1884 encouraged the formation of a police band.
