Frederic Charles Urquhart was born at St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex, England on 27 October 1858.

[2][3] In 1882, Urquhart was appointed to the paramilitary Native Police as a cadet and was promoted quickly to the rank of second-class sub-inspector within the year.

He rounded them up and marched them east to the Leichhardt River where he threatened to shoot dead their traditional healer if he did not make it rain.

[4] In March 1884 Urquhart was transferred to the Cloncurry district to replace the Native Police officer, Marcus Beresford, who had recently been killed in the ongoing conflict with the local Indigenous population.

In July 1884 a well-known colonist, James Powell, was killed by Aboriginals in the region and Urquhart and his troopers were mobilised to conduct a punitive expedition.

Alexander Kennedy, a pioneer Scottish pastoralist in the Gulf Country district, accompanied Urquhart in his mission.

See how the wretched traitors fly smitten with abject fear they dare not stop to fight and die and soon the field is clear.

The Kalkadoon retreated to a rocky hill at the head of Prospector's Creek where they proceeded to pelt the Native Police with stones and spears.

He quickly recovered and led the Native Police in a flanking movement around the hill and proceeded to massacre the resisting group of Kalkadoon.

[7][8] Urquhart and his troopers patrolled extensively around the peninsula and were also assigned a vessel named the Albatross to travel around various islands in the Torres Strait.

In the police vessel, the Albatross, he patrolled the pearling operations in the Torres Strait Islands, arresting striking workers.

Urquhart was promoted to inspector in 1897 and was transferred to Brisbane in order to head the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).

It recommended that Urquhart be transferred out of the CIB and a more competent person be appointed to the role as head of the investigative branch.

Police, together with armed ex-soldiers returned from WWI, fought extended street battles with unionists and Russian immigrants during these riots.

[3] Urquhart was considered a poet of some talent and published several collections of verse including The Legend of the Blacks and Camp Canzonettes.

[17] Frederic's youngest son, Hope Goldie Urquhart, was consistently in trouble with the law particularly in regards to driving under the influence of alcohol.