William Buckley (convict)
Encyclopedia
William Buckley was an English
convict
who was transported to Australia
, escaped, was given up for dead and lived in an Aboriginal community for many years.
Buckley's improbable survival is believed by many Australians to be the source of the vernacular phrase "you have got Buckley's or none" (or simply "you have got Buckley's"), which means "no chance", or "it's as good as impossible". The Macquarie Dictionary
supports this theory, although the ANU
Australian National Dictionary Centre tends to support a second theory. That the expression was a pun
on the name of a now defunct Melbourne
department store chain, Buckley & Nunn
.
, England
, to Eliza Buckley, an unmarried woman, and was brought up by his mother's parents in Macclesfield
.
He was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but left to enlist in the King's Foot Regiment
. He was soon transferred to the King's Own Regiment
. In 1799, his regiment went to the Netherlands
to fight against Napoleon, under the command of the Duke of York
. Later, in London, Buckley was convicted of knowingly receiving a bolt of stolen cloth; he insisted he was carrying it for a woman and did not know it was stolen. He was sentenced to transportation
to New South Wales
for 14 years.
in 1836, Buckley stood 6' 4" tall, but numerous other heights are reported, ranging from 6' 3" to 6' 7". According to Russell, Buckley "was a tall, ungainly man...and altogether his looks were not in his favour; he had a shaggy head of black hair, a low forehead with overhanging eyebrows nearly concealing his small eyes, a short snub nose, a face very much marked by smallpox, and was just such a man as one would suppose fit to commit burglary or murder".
This general description was echoed by other reports of the day, although not always as flattering. His mental condition also often came into disrepute.
Buckley left England in April 1803 aboard HMS Calcutta
, one of two ships sent to Port Phillip
to form a new settlement under Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins
. They arrived in October 1803, and anchored off the south-eastern side of the bay, near modern day Sorrento
. The new settlement, called Sullivan Bay
, subject to drought and poor soils, soon ran into problems and was abandoned after seven months.
On 27 December 1803 at 9 pm, Buckley and several other convicts cut loose a boat and made their escape. They made their way around the bay, and the party split up in the vicinity of present day Melbourne
. His companions went north-east, hoping to reach Sydney
, which they thought was not far, although it was 1000 km away. Buckley, tired and dehydrated, continued alone around the bay.
, travelling around Port Phillip Bay as far as the Bellarine Peninsula
. In an account collected by George Langhorne in 1835, Buckley told of his first meeting with a small Aboriginal
family group, who treated him with great kindness and with whom he “laboured”, shared food and from whom he began to learn language, before parting company. In the well known account collected by John Morgan in 1852, Buckley describes travelling much further; as far as Painkalac Creek, Aireys Inlet (Mangowak) and Mount Defiance (Nooraki) living alone, off the land. Common to both accounts however, is his significant first meeting with a group of Wathaurung women, several months after his escape. Buckley had taken a spear used to mark a grave for use as a walking stick. The women befriended him after recognising the spear as belonging to a relative who had recently died and invited him back to their camp. Believed to be the returned spirit of the former tribesman, he was joyfully welcomed and adopted by the group. He was given the name Murrangurk which literally meant "returned from the dead".
For the next thirty-two years, he continued to live among the Wathaurung people on the Bellarine Peninsula
being treated with great affection and respect. "By virtue of his age and peaceful ways, Buckley… became a Ngurungaeta, a person of considerable respect among his people and his voice was influential in deciding matters of war and peace" Buckley also became expert with Aboriginal weapons, though despite this, as a revered spirit, he was banned from partaking in tribal wars. He had at least two Aboriginal wives, and almost certainly a daughter by one of them. One of these is said to have been killed by the tribe for preferring an Aboriginal man; but it is also reported that Buckley said he gave her up in order to prevent unrest among the men; preferring to stay alive and to "return to the simple life".
's Port Phillip Association
with a party of Aboriginal people
who had told him about the sighting of a ship at Indented Head
.
Wearing kangaroo skins and carrying Aboriginal weapons, he walked into the camp. The three European men at the camp were William Todd, James Gumm
and Alexander Thomson
who had been left behind to maintain a base whilst John Batman
had returned to Launceston
. They fed him and treated him with kindness. Buckley showed them the letters "W.B." tattooed on his arm. Fearful of being shot, he told them he was a shipwrecked soldier, but a few days later he revealed his identity, to the amazement of everybody present. In September the same year, he was granted a pardon by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur, in Van Diemen's Land
.
, among others; his knowledge of the Aboriginal language was put to good use.
On 4 February, William Buckley accompanied Joseph Gellibrand
and his party, which included William Roberston, one of the financiers of the Port Phillip Association
, on a trip west from Melbourne, heading toward Geelong, where they met with a group of Aboriginal people with whom Buckley had lived. From Gellibrand's diary:
By late 1837, Buckley had become disenchanted with his new way of life—and the people around him—and left for Van Diemen's Land. He remained there for the next nineteen years, until his death in 1856; taking on a number of jobs, including gatekeeper at the Female Factory
, and for a short period at the Immigrant's Home at Hobart.
He married Julia Eagers, on 20 January 1840. According to a contemporary, George Russell, she is said to have been as short as he was tall - so much so that when out walking she was too short to even reach his arm. To remedy this problem he would tie two corners of his handkerchief together, and after fastening this to his arm, she would put her arm through the loop. Julia was the widow of Daniel Higgins, who allegedly had been murdered by Aborigines whilst en route overland from Sydney to Port Phillip in 1839. They were free Irish immigrants. Julia had one daughter, Mary Ann, from her first marriage and whom Buckley later "claimed" as his. Buckley met Julia when she was living at the Immigrant's home with her daughter following the death of Daniel. He "tendered" himself to her and they were married shortly after in New Town, Hobart
, in an Anglican ceremony.
He died in 1856 at the age of 75, following a cart accident near Hobart. After his death, his wife Julia moved north to live with her daughter and husband, William Jackson, and their family. Eventually they moved to Sydney. She died there at the Hyde Park Asylum
on 18 August 1863.
Written when the illiterate Buckley was 72 years old, it was clearly intended to make money for the insolvent Morgan and Buckley. As a result the account has sometimes been dismissed as more the product of Morgan's fertile imagination than a true representation of the Buckley adventures. Its references to the entirely imaginary Bunyip
and the mythical tribe of copper coloured, pot-bellied "Pallidurgbarrans" who supposedly lived in the Otway forests are often cited as evidence of this. However, while acknowledging its limitations, most historians now see it as "close to fact" and consistent with "modern understandings of Aboriginal social life." Tim Flannery
suggests that "Buckley’s intensely human and confronting story" has been "ignored or mentioned only in passing by historians" because it is "so at odds with contemporary preconceptions." Yet another factor, he suggests, is that "studies of Aboriginal Victoria have long relied heavily on archaeological research." He also cites Edward Curr, an early author of Aboriginal studies, who claimed Morgan’s book gave "a truer account of Aboriginal life than any work I have read."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
convict
Convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
who was transported to Australia
Convictism in Australia
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, large numbers of convicts were transported to the various Australian penal colonies by the British government. One of the primary reasons for the British settlement of Australia was the establishment of a penal colony to alleviate pressure on their...
, escaped, was given up for dead and lived in an Aboriginal community for many years.
Buckley's improbable survival is believed by many Australians to be the source of the vernacular phrase "you have got Buckley's or none" (or simply "you have got Buckley's"), which means "no chance", or "it's as good as impossible". The Macquarie Dictionary
Macquarie Dictionary
The Macquarie Dictionary is a dictionary of Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand English. Originally it was a publishing project of Jacaranda Press, a Brisbane educational publisher, for which an editorial committee was formed, largely from the Linguistics...
supports this theory, although the ANU
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
Australian National Dictionary Centre tends to support a second theory. That the expression was a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on the name of a now defunct Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
department store chain, Buckley & Nunn
Buckley & Nunn
The Melbourne department store of Buckley & Nunn first opened its doors in 1851 as a drapery store and, in its heyday, competed creditably with David Jones and Myer . It occupied a succession of buildings in Bourke Street until being taken over by David Jones in 1982.Popular as a retailer of...
.
Early life
Buckley was born in Marton, CheshireMarton, Cheshire
Marton, Cheshire is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England on the A34 road 3 miles north of Congleton ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to Eliza Buckley, an unmarried woman, and was brought up by his mother's parents in Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
.
He was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but left to enlist in the King's Foot Regiment
8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot
The 8th Regiment of Foot, also referred to diminutively as the 8th Foot and the King's, was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1685 and retitled the King's on 1 July 1881....
. He was soon transferred to the King's Own Regiment
King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster)
The King's Own Royal Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1680 to 1959. Its lineage is continued today by the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment.-History:...
. In 1799, his regiment went to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
to fight against Napoleon, under the command of the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
. Later, in London, Buckley was convicted of knowingly receiving a bolt of stolen cloth; he insisted he was carrying it for a woman and did not know it was stolen. He was sentenced to transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
for 14 years.
Transportation and escape
Descriptions of the adult Buckley vary. According to George Russell who met him near the Yarra RiverYarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
in 1836, Buckley stood 6' 4" tall, but numerous other heights are reported, ranging from 6' 3" to 6' 7". According to Russell, Buckley "was a tall, ungainly man...and altogether his looks were not in his favour; he had a shaggy head of black hair, a low forehead with overhanging eyebrows nearly concealing his small eyes, a short snub nose, a face very much marked by smallpox, and was just such a man as one would suppose fit to commit burglary or murder".
This general description was echoed by other reports of the day, although not always as flattering. His mental condition also often came into disrepute.
Buckley left England in April 1803 aboard HMS Calcutta
HMS Calcutta (1795)
HMS Calcutta was an East Indiaman converted to a Royal Navy 56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805...
, one of two ships sent to Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
to form a new settlement under Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins
David Collins (governor)
Colonel David Collins was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Van Diemens Land, founded in 1804, which in 1901 became the state of Tasmania in the Commonwealth of Australia.-Early life and military career:...
. They arrived in October 1803, and anchored off the south-eastern side of the bay, near modern day Sorrento
Sorrento, Victoria
Sorrento is a township in Victoria, Australia, located on the shores of Port Phillip on the Mornington Peninsula, about one and a half hours south of Melbourne...
. The new settlement, called Sullivan Bay
Sullivan Bay, Victoria
Sullivan Bay lies 60 km due south of Melbourne on Port Phillip, one kilometre east of Sorrento, Victoria. It was established as a short-lived convict settlement in 1803 by Lieutenant Colonel David Collins. The site was chosen because of its strategic location near the entrance of the Bay...
, subject to drought and poor soils, soon ran into problems and was abandoned after seven months.
On 27 December 1803 at 9 pm, Buckley and several other convicts cut loose a boat and made their escape. They made their way around the bay, and the party split up in the vicinity of present day Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. His companions went north-east, hoping to reach Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, which they thought was not far, although it was 1000 km away. Buckley, tired and dehydrated, continued alone around the bay.
Life with the Wathaurung people
During the weeks following his escape, Buckley avoided contact with Aboriginal peopleIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
, travelling around Port Phillip Bay as far as the Bellarine Peninsula
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
. In an account collected by George Langhorne in 1835, Buckley told of his first meeting with a small Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
family group, who treated him with great kindness and with whom he “laboured”, shared food and from whom he began to learn language, before parting company. In the well known account collected by John Morgan in 1852, Buckley describes travelling much further; as far as Painkalac Creek, Aireys Inlet (Mangowak) and Mount Defiance (Nooraki) living alone, off the land. Common to both accounts however, is his significant first meeting with a group of Wathaurung women, several months after his escape. Buckley had taken a spear used to mark a grave for use as a walking stick. The women befriended him after recognising the spear as belonging to a relative who had recently died and invited him back to their camp. Believed to be the returned spirit of the former tribesman, he was joyfully welcomed and adopted by the group. He was given the name Murrangurk which literally meant "returned from the dead".
For the next thirty-two years, he continued to live among the Wathaurung people on the Bellarine Peninsula
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
being treated with great affection and respect. "By virtue of his age and peaceful ways, Buckley… became a Ngurungaeta, a person of considerable respect among his people and his voice was influential in deciding matters of war and peace" Buckley also became expert with Aboriginal weapons, though despite this, as a revered spirit, he was banned from partaking in tribal wars. He had at least two Aboriginal wives, and almost certainly a daughter by one of them. One of these is said to have been killed by the tribe for preferring an Aboriginal man; but it is also reported that Buckley said he gave her up in order to prevent unrest among the men; preferring to stay alive and to "return to the simple life".
Pardon
On 6 July 1835 William Buckley appeared at the camp site of John BatmanJohn Batman
John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
's Port Phillip Association
Port Phillip Association
The Port Phillip Association was formally formed in June 1835 to settle land in what would become Melbourne, which the association believed had been acquired by John Batman for the association from Wurundjeri elders after he had obtained their marks to a document, which came to be known as...
with a party of Aboriginal people
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
who had told him about the sighting of a ship at Indented Head
Indented Head, Victoria
Indented Head is a small coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, east of Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The town lies on the coast of the Port Phillip bay between the towns of Portarlington and St Leonards.-History:...
.
Wearing kangaroo skins and carrying Aboriginal weapons, he walked into the camp. The three European men at the camp were William Todd, James Gumm
James Gumm
James Gumm was a member of John Batman's party that was involved in the foundation of the city that became Melbourne. While travelling up Salt Water River as part of Batman's party Gumm obtained fresh water by making "a hole with a stick which He did about 2 feet deep and in One hour we had a...
and Alexander Thomson
Alexander Thomson (pioneer)
Dr. Alexander Thomson was elected as the first mayor of Geelong and held the position on five occasions from 1850 - 1858...
who had been left behind to maintain a base whilst John Batman
John Batman
John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
had returned to Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
. They fed him and treated him with kindness. Buckley showed them the letters "W.B." tattooed on his arm. Fearful of being shot, he told them he was a shipwrecked soldier, but a few days later he revealed his identity, to the amazement of everybody present. In September the same year, he was granted a pardon by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur, in Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...
.
Return to Western culture
In 1836, Buckley was given the position of Interpreter to the natives, and as a guide for Captain Foster FyansFoster Fyans
Foster Fyans , soldier, penal administrator and public servant, was acting commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, the first police magistrate at Geelong, and commissioner of crown lands for the Portland Bay pastoral district in the Port Phillip District of New South...
, among others; his knowledge of the Aboriginal language was put to good use.
On 4 February, William Buckley accompanied Joseph Gellibrand
Joseph Gellibrand
Joseph Tice Gellibrand was the first attorney-general of Van Diemen's Land .-Early life:Joseph Tice Gellibrand was born in England, second son of William Gellibrand and Sophia Louisa, née Hynde...
and his party, which included William Roberston, one of the financiers of the Port Phillip Association
Port Phillip Association
The Port Phillip Association was formally formed in June 1835 to settle land in what would become Melbourne, which the association believed had been acquired by John Batman for the association from Wurundjeri elders after he had obtained their marks to a document, which came to be known as...
, on a trip west from Melbourne, heading toward Geelong, where they met with a group of Aboriginal people with whom Buckley had lived. From Gellibrand's diary:
February 5th, 1836: I directed Buckley to advance and we would follow him at a distance of a quarter of a mile. Buckley made towards a native well and after he had rode about 8 miles, we heard a cooey and when we arrived at the spot I witnessed one of the most pleasing and affecting sights. There were three men five women and about twelve children. Buckley had dismounted and they were all clinging around him and tears of joy and delight running down their cheeks...It was truly an affecting sight and proved the affection which these people entertained for Buckley… amongst the number were a little old man and an old woman one of his wives. Buckley told me this was his old friend and with whom he had lived and associated thirty years.
By late 1837, Buckley had become disenchanted with his new way of life—and the people around him—and left for Van Diemen's Land. He remained there for the next nineteen years, until his death in 1856; taking on a number of jobs, including gatekeeper at the Female Factory
Cascades Female Factory
Cascades Female Factory was an Australian prison in South Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.The site comprises five yards, cemetery and outbuildings and is contained within a rectangular city block....
, and for a short period at the Immigrant's Home at Hobart.
He married Julia Eagers, on 20 January 1840. According to a contemporary, George Russell, she is said to have been as short as he was tall - so much so that when out walking she was too short to even reach his arm. To remedy this problem he would tie two corners of his handkerchief together, and after fastening this to his arm, she would put her arm through the loop. Julia was the widow of Daniel Higgins, who allegedly had been murdered by Aborigines whilst en route overland from Sydney to Port Phillip in 1839. They were free Irish immigrants. Julia had one daughter, Mary Ann, from her first marriage and whom Buckley later "claimed" as his. Buckley met Julia when she was living at the Immigrant's home with her daughter following the death of Daniel. He "tendered" himself to her and they were married shortly after in New Town, Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, in an Anglican ceremony.
He died in 1856 at the age of 75, following a cart accident near Hobart. After his death, his wife Julia moved north to live with her daughter and husband, William Jackson, and their family. Eventually they moved to Sydney. She died there at the Hyde Park Asylum
Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
The Hyde Park Barracks is an internationally significant, impressive brick building and compound designed by convict architect Francis Greenway between 1818–19; originally built at the head of Macquarie Street to house convict men and boys....
on 18 August 1863.
John Morgan’s The Life and Adventures of William Buckley as history
Almost all we know of Buckley’s life with the Wathaurung people is based on the 1852 account written by John Morgan, entitled Life and Adventures of William Buckley.Written when the illiterate Buckley was 72 years old, it was clearly intended to make money for the insolvent Morgan and Buckley. As a result the account has sometimes been dismissed as more the product of Morgan's fertile imagination than a true representation of the Buckley adventures. Its references to the entirely imaginary Bunyip
Bunyip
The bunyip, or kianpraty, is a large mythical creature from Aboriginal mythology, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes....
and the mythical tribe of copper coloured, pot-bellied "Pallidurgbarrans" who supposedly lived in the Otway forests are often cited as evidence of this. However, while acknowledging its limitations, most historians now see it as "close to fact" and consistent with "modern understandings of Aboriginal social life." Tim Flannery
Tim Flannery
Timothy Fridtjof Flannery is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist....
suggests that "Buckley’s intensely human and confronting story" has been "ignored or mentioned only in passing by historians" because it is "so at odds with contemporary preconceptions." Yet another factor, he suggests, is that "studies of Aboriginal Victoria have long relied heavily on archaeological research." He also cites Edward Curr, an early author of Aboriginal studies, who claimed Morgan’s book gave "a truer account of Aboriginal life than any work I have read."
See also
- Eliza FraserEliza FraserEliza Fraser was a Scottish woman whose ship was shipwrecked on the coast of Queensland, Australia, on 22 May 1836, and who was captured by Aborigines. Fraser Island is named after her....
- StrandloperStrandloperStrandloper is a novel by English writer Alan Garner, published in 1996. It is based on the story of a Cheshire labourer, William Buckley.-Plot summary:...
, a novel about Buckley by Cheshire author Alan GarnerAlan GarnerWith his first book published, Garner abandoned his work as a labourer and gained a job as a freelance television reporter, living a "hand to mouth" lifestyle on a "shoestring" budget...
. - SallustSallustGaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust , a Roman historian, belonged to a well-known plebeian family, and was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines...
Further reading
Flannery, T. (ed.)(2002) Morgan, J. The Life and Adventures of William Buckley; 32 Years a wanderer amongst the Aborigines of the then unexplored country around Port Phillip, now the Province of Victoria. p. xxvi. First Published 1852. This edition, Text Publishing, Melbourne, Australia. ISBN 1 877008 206External links
- Buckley, William (1780 - 1856), Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
, Online Edition - Buckley's Chance, Frederick Ludowyk, Australian National UniversityAustralian National UniversityThe Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
- William Buckley, Hindsight, Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
/ Radio NationalRadio NationalABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy... - William Buckley, Culture Victoria