Richard Purvis Marshall (3 April 1818 – 15 August 1872) was a British pastoral squatter and high ranking Native Police officer in the colonies of New South Wales and Queensland.
The invading armed British settlers augmented with constables under the command of Commissioner Richard John Bligh from Warialda were unable to defeat the Aboriginals and as result some squatting leases were abandoned.
He recognised the need for a strong paramilitary force to enforce British control in the MacIntyre River region and recommended legislation to set up a Native Police to be deployed in the area.
[3] This force rapidly extinguished Aboriginal resistance in the region in a number of skirmishes including those at Carbucky, Beeboo and along the Severn River, where the indigenous groups "suffered so severely" in their defeats.
When Frederick Walker and his troopers were to leave to patrol and pacify the Condamine River region to the north, the settlers of the MacIntyre, including Richard Purvis Marshall, wrote a letter to the government demanding a continuation of the protection given by the Native Police in their area.
Further missions resulted in aboriginals being killed at Booranga and there was a large "dispersal" at Copranoranbilla lagoon, where Marshall divided his troopers along each side to entrap an indigenous camp.
In 1851, Marshall's 1st Division was deployed to the Burnett and Wide Bay regions where missions extended across a number of pastoral stations including Toomcul, Widgee and Rawbelle.