Upfield, Arthur

Upfield, Arthur (1888-1964), was an English-born Australian author. He gained international fame for his novels about Detective Inspector Napoleon (Bony) Bonaparte, a policeman of Aboriginal and European ancestry. The kindly, self-confident, and clever Bonaparte appears in more than 30 novels, beginning with The Barrakee Mystery (1929). Upfield included extended descriptions of the Australian landscape in his detective novels.

Australian detective story writer Arthur Upfield
Australian detective story writer Arthur Upfield

Arthur William Upfield was born on Sept. 1, 1888, in Gosport, Hampshire, England. He settled in Australia in 1911 and traveled the Australian bush (remote countryside) as a sheep herder, gold miner, cowhand, and fur trapper before starting his writing career. While working in the bush, he became friends with a man of Aboriginal and European ancestry who became the model for Napoleon Bonaparte. Upfield also wrote short stories and journalism about Australian history and geography. He died on Feb. 13, 1964.