1. Arthur William Upfield was an English-Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force, a mixed-race Indigenous Australian.
11 Facts About Arthur Upfield
1. 2.
Arthur Upfield's books were the basis for a 1970s Australian television series entitled Boney, as well as a 1990 telemovie and a 1992 spin-off TV series.
3.
In 1911, after he did poorly in examinations towards becoming a real estate agent, Arthur Upfield's father sent him to Australia.
4.
Arthur Upfield sailed from Brisbane on 24 September 1914 to Melbourne.
5.
Arthur Upfield fought at Gallipoli and in France and married an Australian nurse, Ann Douglass, in Egypt in 1915.
6.
Arthur Upfield was discharged in England on 15 October 1919.
7.
Arthur Upfield created the character of Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, based on a man known as "Tracker Leon", whom he said he had met in his travels.
8.
Arthur Upfield was said to have read Shakespeare and a biography of Napoleon, and to have received a university education.
9.
Late in life Arthur Upfield became a member of the Australian Geological Society, involved in scientific expeditions.
10.
Arthur Upfield led a major expedition in 1948 to northern and western parts of Australia, including the Wolfe Creek Crater, which was a setting for his novel The Will of the Tribe published in 1962.
11.
Arthur Upfield's novels were held in high regard by some fellow writers.