Moments of Red

08/11/2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

By Heather Burke When I imagine the Australian “outback” I think of the paintings of Tom Roberts or Frederick McCubbin and the relatively restrained colour palette they used to represent the landscape. While certainly complex, these colours are relatively dull and reflect the olive greens, straws, ochres, purples and blues of eucalypt, grass, rock and […]

Needles in Haystacks: Why Finding Massacres in the Australian Archaeological Record is So Challenging

07/26/2019.Reading time 30 minutes.

By Lynley Wallis The publication of a map showing frontier massacre sites across Australia by eminent historian Professor Lyndall Ryan has generated enormous public interest in the past 12 months (Figure 1). The map represents a wonderful resource with substantive research behind it. However, users should be aware that the “massacre locations” shown on it (and most […]

All for one and one for all

07/14/2019.Reading time 22 minutes.

By Tony Pagels Before the development of the centrefire cartridge in 1866, the Native Mounted Police (NMP) were issued with a variety of muzzle and breech loading percussion weapons. This assortment of weapons caused confusion regarding ammunition, so the solution was to arm all personnel with the same weapon (QSA846918 In letter 73/2320). The decision […]

The Social Capital of Officers in the NMP

06/30/2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

By Heather Burke In the 1960s French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu offered an influential framework for thinking about the social differences between people. Going beyond straightforward economic theory, he argued that there are three forms of capital that enable society to function and to create the social structures under which we all live. These can theoretically be […]

The Arms Race

04/15/2019.Reading time 17 minutes.

By Tony Pagels ‘The Unwanted Arm’ blog post detailed the introduction of the Westley Richards double-barrelled, breech loading, 20g pinfire carbines purchased in 1867 to replace the antiquated percussion cap, muzzle-loading carbines issued to the Native Mounted Police (NMP). The weapon that superseded the Westley Richards pinfire carbines was the Snider artillery carbine (Figure 1), […]

Who Were the Officers of the NMP?

04/01/2019.Reading time 21 minutes.

By Cherrie De Leiuen In a previous blog we discussed the project’s online database, which holds both the archaeological and documentary evidence that has been collected and will be accessible to the public later in 2019. One database category that is explored in more detail in this post is the NMP officers. At present (April […]

Australia’s Longest Horse Chase: Wentworth D’Arcy Uhr Part II

03/18/2019.Reading time 22 minutes.

By Frank Uhr Although the Native Mounted Police (NMP) were primarily tasked with putting down Aboriginal resistance on the frontier, the Force also did various “normal” police duties. These sometimes included road making, gold escort duty, finding lost or missing persons, and tracking down regular criminals. In the 1897 words of the Commissioner of Police, […]

“I suppose I have had more experience amongst blacks than any other man of my age in this colony”[1]: Wentworth D’Arcy Uhr Part I

03/04/2019.Reading time 19 minutes.

By Frank Uhr My name is Frank Uhr, and I am a 70-something historian living in Brisbane, following and thoroughly enjoying the adventures of the Archaeology on the Frontier team as they help open the veil on men who served in the Qld Native Mounted Police (NMP). You see, my great grandfather Wentworth D’Arcy Uhr (Figure […]

‘It’s the Way it Shatters that Matters’: The Use of Glass by Aboriginal People in NMP Camps

02/18/2019.Reading time 19 minutes.

By Lynley Wallis Most people are well aware (at least in some general manner) of the momentous impact that the arrival of Europeans had on Aboriginal peoples and their ways of life in Australia. What is sometimes less acknowledged are the innovative ways that Aboriginal peoples adapted to the availability of new resources such as […]

“I am, Sir, &c., Tom Coward”

02/04/2019.Reading time 38 minutes.

By Heather Burke Thomas (Tom) Coward was described as many things throughout his life: a ‘thoroughly good explorer’, an ‘experienced bushman’, ‘remarkable and interesting’, tyrannical, irascible, belligerent and domineering. He is one of the better documented NMP officers, chiefly because in his later years he seems to have told his life story to anyone who […]