David Marr
$39.99
Black Inc

Tracing his family tree, author David Marr discovered his great great grandfather, Reginald Uhr, was part of the Native Police in colonial Queensland. Reginald’s brother D’arcy was also a member.

The Native Police served at the frontline of the Frontier Wars at the time Aboriginal people were cleared from the land they had inhabited for thousands of years to allow pastoralists to transform the bush into farmland. And if this quest involved killing the original inhabitants, then the Native Police were the people to do the dirty work.

Despite instructions from British authorities to protect the original inhabitants, Colonial authorities in Australia instead went on a murderous rampage. As Mr Marr finds, British authorities were quite lax in enforcing these ideals, instead turning a blind eye to the ruthless activities of Colonial forces.

Mr Marr uncovers stories of settler violence that would be in hundreds of family trees throughout Australia.

The high number of voters refusing to back the Voice referendum in October 2023 suggests that many Australians have not come to terms with the violent manner in which the nation was settled since 1788. Mr Marr’s efforts at uncovering his family’s past and its role in these atrocities makes for a sobering and informative read.