Fred Maynard was the third child of William Maynard, an English labourer, and Mary Maynard, an Aboriginal woman. Mary Maynard died during childbirth in 1884, after which Fred and his brother Arthur were taken by a Protestant minister, who forced them to work long days, beat them, and housed them in a stable. However, during this time Maynard learned to read and the minister gave them access to his library. In his early teens, Maynard and his brother escaped the minister and moved to their sister's home in Sydney. From this point, Maynard travelled extensively, working a number of different jobs: photographer, gardener, drover and bullock driver.
In 1907, Maynard returned to Sydney, working as a wharf labourer in Woolloomooloo. Here, Maynard was exposed to unionist ideas, and came into contact with American and Caribbean Negroes who brought with them exciting new political ideas, in particular, those of Marcus Garvey, the leader of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. In February 1925, Maynard and Tom Lacey founded the Australian Aboriginal Progress Association, which advocated for the right of Aborigines to determine their own lives. The decision to create this organisation was heavily influenced by Maynard's own experience of being torn from his land and family in his youth. The Association wrote letters to newspapers and the Aboriginal Protection Board, and in 1927 petitioned the NSW Premier, Jack Lang, for the return of Aboriginal land. During this period, Maynard traveled extensively around the NSW North Coast protesting the theft of Indigenous held land. The Association spread throughout NSW, with eleven active branches. Maynard participated in public debates with public figures in opposition to changes to the administration of Aboriginal reserves. Maynard's vocal and staunch opposition to the Aboriginal Protection Board led to a series of public statements by the Board in an attempt to discredit Maynard. These efforts eventually led to the dissolution of the AAPA. Maynard died from gangrene poisoning following an accident on the Sydney wharves.
Legacy
In addition to his contemporary impact on the efforts of the Aboriginal Protection Board to steal Aboriginal land, Maynard's vocal style of opposition has had a significant influence on successive generations of activists in NSW indigenous communities. Fred Maynard's grandson, Professor John Maynard is a notable Australian historian, specialising in Aboriginal history and the influence of early African-American politics on Aboriginal politics.
