Born in England, Upfield moved to Australia in 1911 and fought with the Australian military during the First World War.

Following his war service, he travelled extensively throughout Australia, obtaining a knowledge of Australian Aboriginal culture that he would later use in his written works.

In addition to writing detective fiction, Upfield was a member of the Australian Geological Society and was involved in numerous scientific expeditions.

In The Sands of Windee, a story about a "perfect murder", Upfield invented a method to destroy carefully all evidence of the crime.

At the time of sailing he had the rank of Driver and was with the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade Train (5 Company ASC [Army Service Corps]).

Before returning to Australia, Ann gave birth to their only child, James Arthur, born 8 February 1920.

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.

[7] He 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.

"[2] His grandson, William Arthur Upfield holds his grandfather's copyright, and the trademark 'Bony', keeping the works in print.

When my own Jim Chee of the Navaho Tribal Police unravels a mystery because he understands the ways of his people, when he reads the signs in the sandy bottom of a reservation arroyo, he is walking in the tracks Bony made 50 years ago.

Novels would be read out in serial form on the radio, including: From 1972 to 1973, Fauna Productions (also responsible for Skippy the Bush Kangaroo) produced a 26-episode television series.

When he suddenly became unavailable, Fauna's John McCallum flew to London in panic and was lucky enough to audition New Zealand actor James Laurenson on his last day there.

Offered the lead role, Laurenson hurriedly flew to Australia, reading "Bony" books all the way over.

At the time, many of the books were reprinted with the spelling altered to "Boney" on the covers (although retaining the original in the text), and featuring a photo from the relevant episode.