William buckley occupation

William Buckley (abt. - )

WilliamBuckley

Born about in Marton, Cheshire, England

Son of [father unknown] and Elizabeth (Unknown) Buckley

[sibling(s) unknown]

[children unknown]

Died at about age 76in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Profile last modified | Created 9 Mar

This page has been accessed 10, times.

Biography

William Buckley was an English convict who was transported to Australia, escaped, was given up for dead and lived in an Aboriginal community for thirty two years.

Early Years

William Buckley was born in about at Marton Marton, Cheshire, England; his mother was Eliza Buckley.

Buckley had two sisters and one brother. At the age of six he lived with his mother's father in Macclesfield. He was apprenticed to a bricklayer Robert Wyatt but left to enlist in the King's Foot Regiment.

William buckley cave

William buckley book

Why is william buckley important

Why is william buckley famous

He was transferred to the King's Own Regiment. In , his regiment went to the Netherlands to fight against Napoleon, under the command of the Duke of York where he injured his hand. Later, in London, William Buckley was convicted of 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 Australia for 14 years.

Australia

HMS Calcutta

William Buckley was sent to Port Phillip Bay in April aboard HMS Calcutta, one of two ships sent to Port Phillip to form a new settlement under Lieutenant-ColonelDavid Collins.

They arrived in October at the new settlement called Sullivan Bay they started to abandon the site in January because of poor soil and drought with the remainder leaving in June.

Escape

When William Buckley heard that the settlement was about to move to Tasmania, Buckley and several other convicts planned their escape on Christmas Eve knowing that the officers had been drinking and would be less alert than usual .

Some of the convicts stole a kettle, a gun, boots and medical supplies. On 27 December at 9 pm, Buckley and several other convicts cut loose a boat and made their escape to the shore. One convict, Charles Shaw, was shot and severely injured but the others escaped into the bush. 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 km away Buckley, tired and dehydrated, continued alone around the bay.

Living with the Aboriginal People

During the weeks following his escape Buckley travelled around Port Phillip Bay as far as the Bellarine Peninsula, avoiding contact with Aboriginal people. He met a small Aboriginal family group who treated him with great kindness. He shared food with them, and began to learn their language. Before parting company several months later, he met two Aboriginal women from the Wathaurung people.

The women thought Buckley was the reincarnated spirit of their kinsman, possibly because Buckley was carrying the Indigenous man's spear, which he had found near the man's burial mound. He was joyfully welcomed and adopted by the group they called him Murrangurk which, he afterwards learned, was the name of a man formerly belonging to their tribe who had been buried at the spot where he had found the piece of spear.

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, although being considered a revered spirit, he was banned from participating in tribal wars. He had at least two Aboriginal wives and almost certainly a daughter by one of them.

William Buckley (born – – died 30 January ), also known as the "wild white man", was an English bricklayer, and served in the military until , when he was convicted of theft. He was then transported to Australia, where he helped construct buildings for the fledgling penal settlement at Port Phillip Bay in what is now.

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". William Buckley had often witnessed wars raids, and blood-feuds for the next thirty-two years he continued to live among the Wathaurung people on the Bellarine Peninsula.

Returned to civilization

On 6 July William Buckley appeared at the camp site of John Batman'sPort 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 and five Sydney aborigines who had been left behind to maintain a base whilst John Batman had returned to Launceston.

William Buckley, runaway convict, was the first white man to “go native” in Australia. For thirty-two years he lived among the blacks of the Geelong district, Victoria, lived as a blackfellow, having his own lubras, speaking the native dialect.

They fed him and treated him with kindness Buckley showed them the letters "W.B." tattooed on his arm. Afraid 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. While he was in that district a visiting Wesleyan missionary arrived from Van Diemen's land, having a particular interest in the indigenous people.

He was the Rev Joseph Orton,^[1] who recorded in his journal his interesting encounter with Buckley. In September the same year, Buckley was granted a pardon by Lieutenant-GovernorArthur, in Van Diemen's Land.

Buckley was given the position of Interpreter to the natives in , and as a guide for Captain Foster Fyans among others.

His knowledge of the Aboriginal language was put to good use, but by Buckley had become disenchanted with his new way of life and the people around him. He left for Van Diemen's Land he taking on a number of jobs, including gatekeeper at the Female Factory, and for a short period as an assistant storekeeper at the Immigrant's Home at Hobart.

Later Years

On 27 June , he was married to Julia Eager, at St. John's Church, New Town Hobart, by the Reverend T. J. Ewing. 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.

William buckley children: In he served in the Netherlands and was wounded in action. After his return to England, he was convicted at the Sussex Assizes on 2 August of having received a roll of cloth knowing it to have been stolen, and was sentenced to transportation for life.

Julia was the widow of Daniel Higgins who allegedly had been murdered by Aborigines while en route overland from Sydney to Port Phillip in They were free Irish immigrants. Julia had one daughter from her first marriage, Mary Ann, 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.

William Buckley died in at the age of 80, when he fell off his gig at Greenpond(s) - near Hobart.

William buckley cia William Buckley (), 'wild white man', was born at Marton, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, the son of a small farmer. He was reared by his maternal grandfather, who sent him to school and apprenticed him to a bricklayer. He joined the Cheshire Militia, and later the 4th Regiment.

After his death his wife Julia moved north to live with her daughter and son-in-law, William Jackson, and their family. Eventually they moved to Sydney she died there at the Hyde Park Asylum on 18 August

When William Buckley went to live in Tasmania it was said the aboriginal people mourned for Buckley .

When Buckley was taken away in the ship, the natives were much distressed at losing him, and when, some time after, they received a letter informing them of his marriage in Hobart town, they lost all hope of his return to them and grieved accordingly.

Research Notes

The original death registration of William appears to show a date of death of 31 January, rather than the currently shown 30 January. 31 January is what has been transcribed on-line.

William buckley biography australian convict William Buckley (born – – died 30 January ), also known as the "wild white man", was an English bricklayer, and served in the military until , when he was convicted of theft. He was then transported to Australia, where he helped construct buildings for the fledgling penal settlement at Port Phillip Bay in what is now.

However, the script is somewhat difficult to read and 30 January could be correct. On balance, the date has not been changed at this point (13 Apr ).

According to this newspaper report, he died 30th January. 'COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE.', The Tasmanian Daily News (Hobart Town, Tas. : - ), Friday, 1 February, p.

4. , viewed 17 Nov , Retrieved 17 Nov by Alan Salt

Sources

↑ of whom, see his profile ORTON

Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed 16 Dec
Libraries Tasmania, Names Index: Name: Eagers, Julia; Record Type: Marriages; Gender: Female; Spouse: Buckley, William; Gender: Male; Date of marriage: 27 Jan ; Registered: Hobart; Registration year: ; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES
Libraries Tasmania, Names Index: Name: Buckley, William; Record Type: Deaths; Gender: Male; Age: 80; Date of death: 31 Jan ; Registered: Hobart; Registration year: ; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES
Australia, Tasmania, Civil Registration, ," database with images, FamilySearch (://QS9Z5 : 3 October ), William Buckley and Julia Eagers, 27 Jan ; citing Marriage 27 Jan , Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, line #, Archives Office of Tasmania, Hobart; FHL microfilm 7,,
"BillionGraves Index," database, FamilySearch (://VZS-WJS : 15 September ), William Buckley, died ; citing BillionGraves ( : ), Burial at Battery Point (Saint George) Burial Ground, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
William Buckley Wikipedia
History of Colonial Melbourne
Australian Geographic: On this day - William Buckley, retrieved 8 Jul Over years ago on this day, William Buckley's unlikely emergence spawned the phrase: 'Buckley's chance'
"The Life and Adventures of William Buckley" by John Morgan ANU open research.
Encylopedia of Exploration , Howgego, Australian Settler