Joseph Pawelka
On the Run 1911
Arsonist, burglar and three times gaol escapee, Joseph Pawelka was born in West Oxford, Canterbury in 1887. His parents, Jozef and Louisa (born König) were both born in Moravia. The family moved to Kimbolton in the Manawatū in the 1890s.
In 1909 at Ashurst, Pawelka married Hannah Elizabeth Wilson. The marriage was unsettled and Hannah requested a separation order. In February 1910, the couple appeared at Palmerston North Police Station following a disagreement and Hannah asked for police protection as Pawelka had a fire arm which he then surrendered. During a search of his house, the police found several stolen items. Pawelka was arrested and charged with theft. He was remanded in custody but escaped the gaol using two upturned buckets to scale the wall of the yard, and fled on a stolen bicycle.
Pawelka was recaptured two days later at Awahuri and sent to Wellington’s Terrace Gaol. Two days later on 23rd March, he was transferred to police cells on Lambton Quay. The gaoler, Constable John Gallagher, removed Pawelka’s cell mate but failed to lock the cell door behind him. Pawelka took advantage of the opportunity and escaped again.
Over following few weeks, a trail of crimes marked his journey north. On 2nd April, a couple disturbed a masked burglary in their Palmerston North home. This began a fortnight of further burglaries and arson. On 5th April, Palmerston North High School and a shop were burnt down through arson. Local Sergeant John McGuire was shot during one struggle with Pawelka on 10th April, and died four days later. A £100 reward was offered and military volunteers and armed civilians patrolled the streets of Palmerston North.
The chase came to an end when Pawelka was surprised by Constables Jim Thompson and John Gallagher in a cowshed at Ashurst on 20th April. This was the same Constable Gallagher who left the cell unlocked in Wellington. After a series of trials in the Supreme Court, on 8th June 1910, Justice Theophilus Cooper sentenced Pawelka to 21 years imprisonment.
Throughout the court trials, Pawelka was held at the Terrace Gaol. In early August 1911, he made his first attempt to escape, followed by a second failed attempt on 14th August. On 17th August, his third attempt was successful and he was ‘at large’ for over an hour before being recaptured under a house in Woolcombe Street. On 27th August he finally succeeded. Pawelka removed the grille from his cell window (the screws having previously been replaced with wood shavings and soap). The last recorded sighting of Pawelka was as he ran from the gaol towards the Botanic Garden. He was never recaptured.
His wife Hannah gave birth to a little girl named Iris on 24th July 1910. Pawelka never saw his daughter. Hannah obtained a divorce from Pawelka and died in 1963, aged 82.
And what happened to Pawelka? Family lore says he was assisted to Canada, via Suva and that his mother’s prayer book was annotated with the date of his departure (16th February 1912). The NZ Truth newspaper published a different account in 1913:
‘Up to now, the police authorities are in profoundest ignorance of what became of him after he stepped over the clay bank outside the prison walls. Here two Russians came in. On a secret diplomatic mission themselves, they determined to aid their compatriot in his break for liberty. A cab was waiting in Woolcombe-street into which Joe jumped, and orders were given to drive to the Thorndon railway station. On the way a change of clothes was effected. Arrived at the station, three men got out of the cab, paid the driver and disappeared. They then wended their way backwards towards the wharf, where they were joined by, what were in appearance, a laboring man and woman, who saw them aboard a boat due to sail for Lyttelton.’ (NZ Truth, 23 August 1913, p5)
The article continued that they joined a coal boat at Greymouth and sailed to Newcastle, travelled overland to Queensland and got to Thursday Island. From there they separated and Pawelka went to Mexico where he had remained ever since.
References:
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3p17/pawelka-joseph-john-thomas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pawelka
(1913, August 23). Joe Pawelka Placed. NZ Truth, 5.
Ancestry Trees
Portrait of Joseph John Pawelka, who has escaped from the Terrace Gaol in Wellington. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 30 August 1911, p.29. Courtesy of Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19110830-0029-03
These are the fingerprints of Joseph Pawelka, an infamous prison-escapee and subject of New Zealand's then-biggest manhunt. They were taken on 28 April 1910 after Pawelka, armed with two loaded revolvers, was surprised by Constables Jim Thompson and John Gallagher in a cowshed at Ashhurst (near Palmerston North). Retrieved 23 August 2026 from: https://digitalnz.org/records/32270713/fingerprints-of-infamous-prison-escapee-joseph-powelka
Six fires in eight days - the latest outbreaks in Palmerston North. Buildings in Palmerston North which were destroyed by fires set by escaped prisoner Joseph John Thomas Pawelka: 1. The Palmerston North Boys' High School as it appeared before the fire. 2. All that was left after the outbreak. 3. The ruins of the Palmerston North Sash and Door Factory, which was destroyed by fire on the same night as the High School. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 20 April 1910, p.19. Courtesy of Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19100420-0019-01.