John Creed Lovegrove

John Creed Lovegrove (27 September 1885 – 24 December 1954) was an Australian police officer who worked for much of his career in the Northern Territory. He was officer-in-charge of the Alice Springs Police Station in Mparntwe from 1929 to 1937. In this role he was one of the most senior administrators in the region and took on a number of responsibilities including as the deputy chief inspector of Aboriginals and, later, Protector of Aborigines.

Early life Lovegrove was born at Wellington East, in South Australia, where he was the fifth child of John Duckey Lovegrove and his wife Margaret (née Mason). Little is known of his early life although, as a young man, he worked as a farm labourer.

In August 1925, when stationed at Ranken, Lovegrove married Lilian Eleanor Styles (the sister of Eileen Fitzer), who was from a prominent Northern Territory family, and they would go on to have three children together (Yvonne, Creed and Ian).

In June 1926 Lovegrove was made a police sergeant and on 8 September 1927 he requested a transfer to Alice Springs (Mparntwe) where he commenced service as sergeant-in-charge in December. As the most senior officer in the region Lovegrove filled a variety of roles there including being the mining warden, registrar of motor vehicles, health inspector, deputy chief inspector of Aboriginals (later Protector of Aborigines) and keeper of the Stuart Town Gaol. He also acted as Deputy Administrator of Central Australia for VG Carrington when he was on leave.

Legacy The following locations in the Northern Territory are named for him:

Lovegrove Drive in Araluen/Ciccone, suburbs of Alice Springs. Lovegrove Street in Ludmilla, a suburb of Darwin.